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– The rich are called rich because they live richly,’ Varsonofyev moved the ashtray on the table closer to him and crushed the butt of his cigarette in it, ‘I don’t know what you want to find, Andrei, but you won’t get anything here. We don’t kill the rich in Istra, the rich die here.

His voice is heavy, hoarse, and kind of slow. For the past hour Andrei Zhuk has been trying to find out if the captain found anything suspicious during his examination of the place where Milyutin died, and instead of answering his questions, Varsonofyev successfully shares his life experience with him:

– I gave you the coroner’s report, I showed you the inspection report. What more do you need?

– There was a call that Miliutin had been killed, wasn’t there?

– I think it was one of his neighbors who called. Came into the lot when he

saw the gate was open. Then into the house, because it wasn’t locked. Found a dead man and called, in a panic, thinking he’d been murdered. And then ran away because he was a coward. People in this village are nervous because they have money and they’re afraid of everything. We didn’t find any traces of violence on

the corpse and nothing was missing from the house. The deceased’s wife confirmed it. And the autopsy showed that he died of a brain haemorrhage. He’s lucky he didn’t die in agony. Otherwise we would have had to take him to the hospital, he would have been lying there like a vegetable, demanding care, and then he would have presented himself anyway. But this way, he’s off the hook and right in the dungeon. I mean, to the cemetery.

– Did he have any papers with him, a will or a note?

– We found him at a table with nothing on it but an empty glass. Apparently he drank some water and gave up. It happens,” Varsonofyev lit a cigarette, blew a

puff of smoke in Andrei’s direction, closed his eyes tiredly, “is it okay that I

smoke?

– Oh, Silych, Silych, you didn’t help me as a cop, you didn’t give me a single clue. What am I going to tell my client now, who is convinced that Miliutin was killed?

– And you tell him the truth, then you won’t have to lie.

***

“Well, it’s all over, and thank God!” was the first thought that came to Andrei Zhuk when he told Pronyakin the whole truth that it was impossible to prove the murder of Miliutin, just as it was impossible to challenge the conclusion that his death was a natural cause.

They met in the same place where they had met the first time, at the Second Breath tavern. He handed him a copy of the medical examiner’s report and waited with undisguised interest for his client’s reaction. When he had finished reading it, Pronyakin nervously crumpled the paper into a small lump and tossed it on the table toward Andrei with the words:

– Well, no so no. Then find the will. I’m sure whoever stole it is responsible for Milutin’s death. Can you do that, cowboy?

– Do you have any ideas, Kirill, who could do it?” quipped Zhuk, surprised that Pronyakin didn’t fire him right after he failed to collect the evidence.

– I know for a fact that it was the widow and her daughters,’ said Proniakin, tapping his knuckle eloquently on the table and pointing to the crumpled-up death certificate; ‘and she must have had help from one of Milyutin’s many enemies. And he had a lot of enemies. Start making a list of them.

– And who will tell me their names?’ asks Andrei, ‘The list must be long, long, long?

– We need to find the artist Okhaltsev. And talk to him. Properly, heart to heart. I’ll give you his number. Call him, but be sure to call him,’ he throws 500 rubles on the table, ‘I’ll take a piss, and you buy us something to drink and eat.

“If they send you to get a drink, then it ‘s time to tell the customer to go to hell. Otherwise it will be even worse. But 10% of 7 billion is not lying on the road. For that kind of money you could clean the floors here.

In the end, self-interest trumps pride, and Andrei buys two shots of vodka and two herring sandwiches.

***

– You didn’t cheat me, thank God, you didn’t. You ordered exactly what you were supposed to order. Let’s drink to it,’ Pronyakin greedily downed a shot of vodka and then savored his drink with a sandwich with herring and chopped green onions, ‘How I miss it,’ he closed his eyes and sniffed greedily, ‘I love such places of power, where people don’t pretend. You and I are completely different, but our goal is the same – to escape from here, never to return. I don’t know about you, but people make me sick. I want my own ivory tower and nobody around. I want complete solitude.

– Tell me, Cyril, what will you do with the paintings after we find the will and they become your property?

– I might as well burn them. In public. That would be an act of conscious vandalism. All five thousand paintings, including the famous Shtyrev. I may be cursed into eternity, but it would be more glorious than Herostratus.

– May I join your company,” the painfully familiar woman’s voice made Andrew’s whole being shudder. In front of him stood his ex-wife, wrapped in a strict pantsuit, like a knight in armor. How irresistible she was; time had only done her beauty good.

– Madam, what brings you here?’ admiringly exhaled Pronyakin, ‘Would you like to join us? Vodka?

– willingly, boys,’ Anna confidently squeezed herself between the two men and felt how each of them, touching her, frantically released endorphins, which greedily absorbed her aura, ‘But, first, I would like to talk to you.

– With us two or with us one?” specifies Pronyakin.

– With you, Kirill Aleksandrovich. I have nothing to say to Mr. Zhuk.

– And how do you know me?” surprised Pronyakin.

– Who doesn’t know you after the scandal you caused at the wake of the collector Milyutin? The whole of Moscow is talking about you. I am detective Anna Zhuk, I was hired by the family of the deceased to represent their interests in the case to protect the honor and property of the family. I would like to ask you, how did you find out about the will, do you have a copy or the original and do you have evidence of the murder of Milyutin by his family?

– Oh, oh, oh, why did the damned charming girl have such a prosecutorial tone? I felt at once like a defendant in court,” tried to joke Proniakin, but seeing Anna’s determined mood, decided to get out of harm’s way.

– I’ll go away for a few minutes, and Andrei will take my place,’ said Pronyakin in a curt voice, and beckoned the detective after him, whispering in his ear conspiratorially, ‘Keep her here till I get away. She needn’t know that we have nothing but suspicions.

– So are you going to tell me everything you know?” reminded Anna, displeased that Pronyakin was whispering to her ex-husband and was clearly up to something.

– I’ll tell you everything I know, but not until I get back,” Promised Pronyakin and ducked into the corridor leading to the restroom, at the very end of which there was an emergency exit to the street.

Left alone, the former spouses gave vent to their feelings and began to quarrel, continuing the verbal altercation interrupted several years ago.

– Are you still as secondary as your ridiculous cowboy hat? Still playing John

Wayne, even though you’re not a figure!

– Do you want me to dress like Sherlock Holmes? Smoke a pipe and wear caps and tweed jackets? You’re still the same fury in heels. All you can do is bite

people.

– Well, let’s just say I won’t bite you You’re not even human.

– True. Then who am I?

– You are an imbecile. Your intelligence is equal to that of a monkey.

– Whoever said anything about macaques, not you. The monkey and the glasses. And by the way, in case you hadn’t noticed, you were tricked. Pronyakin’s gone and he’s not coming back.

– Your office? And where will you take him then, since there’s nowhere lower to fall? Only the subway is lower!

– Madam,’ a customer at the next table interjected, ‘you don’t drink on the subway. It’s forbidden. Only the pit on Khokhlovka is lower. There’s no roof over your head there at all.

Anna looked at the uninvited interlocutor with such scalding contempt that he, with the words: “I’m leaving, I was wrong,” hurried to move to the far corner of the liquor store, away from Anna.

– It’s amazing,’ Andrew adjusted his hat, as if to see if it was in place, ‘It’s been a long time, and you still hate me. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that you took this case just to annoy me.

– You’re right, as always. At the same time, I’ll make some money, help the widow get rid of the parasite.

– Jesus Christ, Anna, fear God. Do you really think that Pronyakin is lying? If there was a will, that’s easy to establish. And if Pronyakin isn’t lying about the will, he’s not lying about anything else. At the very least, Miliutin was threatened. Otherwise, why would he hide from his family?

– Because he was manipulated. He’s schizophrenic. Didn’t you know that? Somebody told him they were going to kill him, and he believed it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Pronyakin. And rest assured, I will unravel this intrigue, get to the truth, and expose the scoundrel.