Читать книгу Secret Target - Сергей Бакшеев - Страница 11

Elena Petelina could not shake the burdensome impression that her as of yet fruitless interrogation of Inna Maltseva had made on her. The chief suspect in the brutal murder had not answered a single question. She had clammed up and stared at the detective as if Petelina were some news anchor, speaking an alien language on the TV. Where was her mind? What was she thinking about? Why didn’t she try to defend herself? At one point, the semblance of a smile had softened her tightly pursed lips. That was when Elena had asked her about the little girl’s photograph in her purse. Elena had clutched at this straw but, try as she might, not a single peep had followed.

Someone rapped on the door. Detective Petelina turned away from the window, instinctively adjusted her cardigan and fixed her hair. In the doorway stood a heavyset, forty-five year old man in a mackintosh, an ascot and large glasses with thick frames.

«Arkady Borisovich Krasin, psychiatrist,» the doctor introduced himself. His was the signature on Inna Maltseva’s prescription. «You wished to see me?»

«Please come in, Dr. Krasin.»

The psychiatrist noticed the coat rack and took off his mackintosh, unveiling a tweed jacket with ornamental elbow patches.

«May I?» he indicated the armchair next to the desk.

Elena nodded and Krasin sat down. From behind his glasses, his clingy gaze traversed across the desk and down to the detective’s feet; it clambered its way up the detective’s figure and stuck intently to her face. Petelina found herself the subject of an unabashed examination by a pair of hazel, half-squinted eyes. She began to feel uncomfortable: She was accustomed to observing the faces and mental states of her guests – not vice versa. Petelina sat down behind her desk, shuffled some papers, opened and closed a drawer and adjusted her laptop’s screen.

«Please, feel yourself at ease, Detective Petelina,» Krasin said graciously.

Okay, this is too far!

The detective shut her laptop and looked defiantly at the psychiatrist.

«I’d like to remind you that it was I who invited you here and not the other way around,» she said.

Krasin leaned back in his chair and let a smile ooze across his face.

«Your uniform flatters you. I like women in uniform. The female body in a male guise connotes a volatile admixture of emotion and reason. Two opposing elements and which will be victorious remains an open question.»

Petelina made a show of turning on the voice recorder and rattled off in an icy voice:

«I am more interested in a different kind of question. I called you, Dr. Krasin, to discuss a patient of yours with you.»

«I am all ears.» The psychiatrist leaned forward officiously. «Whom do you have in mind?»

Elena could clearly make out his aquiline nose with its prominent bridge which looked custom made to support the glasses resting on it. Or had his toucan’s beak evolved to accommodate the hefty frames’ tectonic pressure?

«Inna Maltseva.»

«Inna… is not a simple case.»

«How long have you known her?»

«About three months. I was treating her for depression.»

«Is her affliction related to her familial relationships?»

«Yes and no.»

«Could you explain what you mean, please?»

«I am a doctor. For me, the physician-patient privilege is sacro – »

«Inna Maltsev is the main suspect in a brutal murder.»

Krasin threw up his hands.

«I am aware of the horrible tragedy that has occurred in her family. It is a very sad – »

«How did you find out?» the detective latched on.

«He husband, Dmitry, called me. He was cursing, accusing me of being unprofessional, that kind of thing. Tell me, did Inna really commit such a horrible act?»

«Let’s not change the subject, Dr. Krasin. Please answer my questions. And so, what were the symptoms of Mrs. Maltseva’s depression?»

«Please understand that in our society, people go to the psychiatrist as a last resort – they are at the end of the line and have nowhere else to turn. More often than not, their relatives force them to take this step. Accordingly, Inna’s husband first brought her to me.»

«Did you know him prior to that?»

«No. One of his acquaintances recommended me to him. Word of mouth is the best advertisement for a doctor. For a lawyer too, by the way. As for a detective… Well, obviously your clients aren’t exactly eager to find you.»

«Unfortunately, I am not lacking in clients.»

«You know, me too,» Krasin laughed. «What is happening to this country!»

«I would like to know the cause of Inna Maltseva’s depression.»

«That is a sad topic. Inna was being treated for a long time. Not by me, but by an OB/GYN. She was diagnosed with recurrent pregnancy loss. This disease causes systematic early-term miscarriages due to genetic errors. Do you have children Detective Petelina?» Krasin asked suddenly.

«We are talking about Mrs. Maltseva at the moment,» the detective reminded the psychiatrist yet again.

«Of course.» Krasin splayed out his palms before himself in a peacemaking gesture. «You know, I am happy to see a woman in charge of this case. A reasonable woman. You will understand Inna’s condition better than a man would. I am sure that you have a child. Just one. Did I guess correctly? A girl, most likely. A lovely girl who resembles her mother, who loves her very much. Now, imagine that the daughter vanishes. Dies!»

Elena started. Even though twelve-year-old Nastya would sometimes get sick, Elena refused to ask for medical leave. Of course, the grandmother lived right next door, but last winter when Nastya came down with a 104 degree fever…

«I’m not interested in discussing this.» Elena stood up from her desk, noisily scooting back the chair.

The psychiatrist seemed satisfied with her extreme response.

«And here are the emotions! You are uncomfortable, anxious – though I only mentioned death in passing, without going into detail. But Inna lost her child four times. Four times! She sensed and witnessed their deaths with her own eyes. Her own body took part in the deaths of her children, rejected her fruits like something alien and she could do nothing about it. Nothing! Can you imagine?»

The psychiatrist fell silent. Elena recalled her own fears during her pregnancy. Her stomach whined.

«Inna has an obsessive fantasy of having a child. It is, unfortunately, impossible,» continued Krasin in a calm voice. «This is the cause for her depression. I tried to remove this dependence, but… Hers is a very difficult case.»

Elena returned to her desk and forced herself to go on with her work.

«Did Mrs. Maltseva suffer from nervous breakdowns or sudden fits of rage?»

«Who doesn’t?» smirked the psychiatrist. «I just observed one myself…»

«Did you come here to piss me off?»

«Honestly?»

«I don’t advise lying to a detective.»

«This is my method Detective Petelina. Mere talk does not suffice in helping one understand a person’s internal world. One must compel the subject to lose its cool. Induce stress and one may observe the psychosomatic state of the individual – as plainly as with an MRI. Then, the psychic pressure points are revealed and one may press on them as one wills. Or, if the opposite effect is desired, one may apply pressure to the areas of tranquility and appeasement and thereby return the subject to a state of psychic equilibrium.»

Elena realized that she herself had resorted to such methods during her interrogations. She smiled.

«And what did you learn about me?»

«You have a strong personality. I don’t envy your suspects.»

«And yet you yourself seem intent on becoming one.»

«What?» a touch of anxiety flashed across the psychiatrist’s eyes.

«You will find very interesting people to talk to in our holding cell, Dr. Krasin. There’s enough material there for several monographs.»

Krasin snorted several times, nervously imitating laughter.

«I understand. A professional jest.»

«If you understand, then please start answering my questions. I asked you about Inna Maltseva’s fits of rage.»

«The prescription is lying right there in front of you, Detective Petelina. It is for a very potent substance, but one that is absolutely justified in this case. If Inna was taking her pills regularly, loss of control would have been impossible. But if she forgot a dose, her organism may have rebelled. Unfortunately, I can only ensure that the medicine is being taken at the in-patient facility. Mrs. Maltseva stayed with us for two weeks. After that, I monitored her only as an outpatient.»

«Okay, let’s assume she missed a dose. What then?»

«Depends on the circumstances. Though, her illness predisposes her more to making a scene.»

«Did you talk to Dmitry Maltsev regularly?»

«Naturally. It is impossible to improve a person’s mental condition without familiarizing oneself with their family and surroundings.»

«And what was the relationship like between husband and wife?»

«It was fractured. But it could not have been otherwise. They had to deal with the endless attempts to get pregnant followed by the struggle to keep the baby, culminating each time with failure.»

«Take a look at this photograph.» Elena offered Krasin the photo of the three-year-old girl. «Do you recognize this girl?»

«No. I’ve never seen her before.»

«Mrs. Maltseva had it in her purse.»

The psychiatrist became pensive.

«A strong, obsessive idea always manifests as something concrete. It is possible that Inna imagines that her unborn child looks exactly like this girl. It is vital for her to have a real image of her fantasy. As for the photo itself, she could have found it anywhere.»

«We discovered Mrs. Maltseva beside the body. Everything points to her guilt. She behaved calmly, maintaining that she did not kill her husband, but as soon as she saw that the dead man wasn’t him, she fainted. She hasn’t said a word today. She refuses to speak.»

«Did you take her medicine away?»

«Yes. She is not allowed to have it in the holding cell with her.»

«You cannot leave Inna without her medicine,» Krasin began to fret.

«I can have her transferred to the prison hospital.»

«God no! Do you know what kind of doctors are working there? There aren’t any psychiatrists there, are there? I hypothesize that, due to severe stress, Inna’s memory has blocked out any horrible recollections. Even with the help of medicine, you won’t get anything out of her.»

«What should we do then?»

Krasin entwined his fingers self-importantly and furrowed his brow.

«There is one surefire way to bring someone back to reality.»

«What’s that?»

«Hypnosis.»

The detective looked at the psychiatrist incredulously.

«Yes, that’s right, hypnosis. Hypnosis alleviates fear and dismantles internal barriers that the unconscious mind uses to defend itself. The subject becomes truthful and regains its memory. Hypnosis is a form of treatment. I tried a couple sessions with Inna. They yielded favorable results.»

«Interesting.» Elena traced a large spiral with her pencil on the sheet of paper before her. When her mind was occupied with something, she would often draw mindless doodles that would surreptitiously depict her state of mind. At the moment, Elena remembered that hypnosis – as a method of influencing a person’s psyche in order to bring their memory back – had long since been used by the special services of the developed world. It had been employed in Moscow as well, just not in her division.

She decided to risk it:

«And if I were to ask you to perform a session here, in my presence? What would you say?»

Krasin looked around.

«I think we can easily do it right here in your office.»

«When?»

«Detective Petelina, I am a busy person – as are you. Since I am already here, why put it off?»