Читать книгу Seven Elephants - - Страница 2

The old folders smelled of dust and time. Anna carefully turned the yellowed pages of the twenty-year-old case file, trying not to damage the fragile sheets. The Tver Police Department archives reluctantly shared their secrets.

"I remember this case," Mikhail Stepanovich Granin, former special investigator, now retired, lowered himself heavily into the chair opposite her. His once-black hair had turned completely gray, but his eyes retained the keen, attentive gaze of a professional. "Some things you never forget. Fifteen-year-old Katya Voronova. Good student, studied music. Disappeared on her way home from music school."

Anna took out Sophia Velichko's photograph. Granin studied the girl's face for a long time, then sighed heavily.

"They look alike. God, how similar they are… Blonde, smiling. He always chose similar ones."

"Tell me how you tracked him down back then."

Mikhail Stepanovich closed his eyes, as if watching scenes from an old film.

"Viktor Rogov appeared in Tver six months before it happened. He got a job as a teacher at the music school—piano class. Brilliant education, excellent recommendations. All the documents… later we discovered the documents were forged. Perfectly done, but forged."

Anna made a note in her notebook. History was repeating itself—an impeccable cover story, meticulously planned preparation.

"He behaved flawlessly," Granin continued. "Colleagues described him as a talented teacher. Parents were delighted. Katya… she was one of his best students. She was preparing for a competition. Rogov volunteered to give her additional lessons."

"How did he become a suspect in the case?"

"Chance. Pure chance. One of the students saw Katya getting into Rogov's car that evening. The boy didn't think anything of it—maybe the teacher was just giving his student a ride home. He only remembered a week later when missing person posters went up all over the city."

Granin stood and walked to the window. Outside, the same dreary November rain continued to drizzle.

"You know what the most frightening thing was? Not the signs of violence, not how he tried to cover up the crime. The most frightening thing was his calmness during interrogations. Absolute, soul-freezing calmness. He talked about what happened as if he were describing an ordinary music lesson."

Anna pulled another document from the folder—a forensic psychiatric evaluation from twenty years ago.

"Fully sane. No signs of mental disorders," she quoted.

"Yes," Granin nodded. "But you know what's interesting? His lawyer insisted on a second evaluation. Claimed his client had a split personality. And the psychiatrist… the second psychiatrist almost believed it. Rogov knew how to be convincing. He played to the audience masterfully."

"Just like now," Anna said quietly.

"What?"

"His lawyer is again demanding a psychiatric evaluation. Claims his client suffers from a personality disorder. That he wasn't aware of his actions…"

Granin turned sharply toward her: "Don't let him slip off the hook. Last time he only got eight years. Eight years for a murdered girl, for a destroyed family! And then—early release for good behavior. And now—a new victim."

Anna approached the window, standing next to Granin. A pigeon sat on the windowsill, huddled against the rain.

"Tell me," she hesitated, choosing her words. "Back then… did you notice anything unusual in his apartment? Any strange items or objects?"

"Ah, you mean that…" Granin smiled sadly. "The collection of porcelain elephants. Six of them. During the interrogation, he said he was waiting for the seventh—for complete happiness. We decided it was just a coincidence. Strange, but a coincidence."

Anna was pierced by a sharp sense of foreboding.

"What happened to those elephants?"

"They were included in the case as material evidence. Later, when the case was closed, they should have been destroyed. But…" Granin faltered. "I kept them. All these years, I've kept them. As a reminder that evil can hide behind the most innocent mask."

"I need to see them," Anna said firmly.

Granin nodded: "I knew you would say that. They're at my home. Let's go."

Leaving the archive, Anna cast a final glance at the photograph of young Rogov. The man who had transformed an innocent legend about seven elephants into a terrible tale of shattered lives.

And the rain kept pouring down, washing away traces of the past, but not the memory of it.