‘I will speak to the man and report back to you. If there are to be any disciplinary repercussions from this affair, I will bear the full brunt.’
‘Oh, you are very noble now! Tell me, how much do they pay?’
‘What has that to do with anything?’
‘It may provide a motive! Do you not see? We have before us a case of multiple murders. Three children so far. That is to say, three that we know of. Who profits from the deaths of these children? Why, you do, Ilya Petrovich! That gives you a motive. You may consider yourself a suspect!’
‘You are not serious.’
‘Am I not?’ Suddenly Porfiry could not suppress the full force of his rage any longer. ‘How much did they pay you for Mitka’s body?’ The shouted question snagged abrasively on the muscles of his throat.
‘Five roubles.’
‘What is your cut from that?’ Porfiry made an effort to calm his voice. The question came in a tremulous whisper.
‘If the Tsar does not wish us to engage in such enterprise he should pay us a living wage in the first place.’
‘How much?’
‘Four roubles. And fifteen kopeks.’
‘What a strangely precise figure! No doubt that beguiles the poor policeman into thinking that his takings are impeccably calculated.’
‘Will that be all?’
‘No, I am not finished with you yet. Have you had any recent communication with the Medical-Surgical Academy?’
‘Recent?’
‘They did not inform you of our inquiries there?’
‘I do not … believe so.’
‘And you know nothing about the removal from the academy of a ledger detailing all the bodies received from the police — the ledger in which your initials were entered?’
‘The book has gone missing? Then you have no evidence against us?’
‘Do not celebrate too soon. A witness has named you as the policeman responsible for selling Mitka’s body.’
‘Witnesses may be mistaken.’
Before Porfiry could give full vent to his exasperation, Virginsky returned. He held up and shook the small box containing the ring.
‘You have taken your time,’ snapped Porfiry.
‘They could not find it at first. It was not where it should have been. However, we turned the evidence room upside down and it came to light.’
‘Thank God for that. This case is slipping through our fingers as it is. I could not have borne it if we had lost another piece of evidence.’ Porfiry waved abruptly to dismiss Salytov, though he could not bring himself to look at him.
29 The enemy within?
‘An ugly business,’ winced Verkhotsev when the policeman was gone.
Porfiry frowned at him. It was easy to forget that he was a senior officer in the Third Section, such was the impression of affability and sympathy that he was able to create. And, of course, he was Maria’s father, Porfiry reminded himself. ‘You asked to see the ring,’ he said, nodding to Virginsky, who handed over the box.
Verkhotsev turned the ring in his fingers. ‘I am pleased that you kept the details of the design out of the newspaper. This is highly incendiary, of course. You realise that.’
‘I too am relieved that the design was not published, but I can claim no credit for it.’ Porfiry could not prevent himself from glancing at Virginsky.
‘You are sure that this corresponds to the marks on the children’s necks? You have taken your measurements carefully? A lot may come to hinge on those measurements.’
Porfiry’s mood was not improved by Verkhotsev’s labouring of the point. ‘You may rest assured that in this department we are scrupulous in the gathering and recording of evidence.’
‘As I am sure you realise, this evidence is highly circumstantial. If it comes to constructing a case around it, there must be no discrepancy. Otherwise your case will fall apart.’
‘I am grateful to you for the benefit of your counsel. I had not realised that the officers of the Third Section placed such store in the integrity of forensic evidence. Is it not more usual for you to proceed on the basis of hearsay and informants’ testimony?’
‘Our methods are not the issue. You and I are both agreed that what is needed here — for the good of the state, I might add — is for the judicial process to be open and above board. All eyes will be on the conduct of this case, from the very highest to the lowest in the empire. There will be those who will seek to use the outcome for their own purposes. There must be no clumsy mistakes, and in saying that I am pointing the finger not at your department but at my own section. I will be frank with you, Porfiry Petrovich. There are some amongst my colleagues who would seek to control the outcome of your investigation from the very outset. It is simply too dangerous, they would argue, to allow you to discover whatever is there to be discovered. But I am of a contrary opinion. Such tactics are in the long run counterproductive. Besides, I have my daughter to think of. The truth, Porfiry Petrovich — we must set our sights on attaining the truth. Nothing less will do.’
Verkhotsev closed the lid on the evidence box. ‘Please ensure that this is returned to its proper place.’ He gave the box a deliberate shake, causing the ring to rattle inside, before relinquishing it to Virginsky. ‘I thank you for sharing it with me.’
‘Not at all,’ replied Porfiry. He watched Virginsky go. ‘Perhaps I may beg a favour in return, a reciprocal display of trust. Now that we are to be openly working together, I wonder if you would be so good as to call off your spy.’
‘My spy?’
‘Slava. The man the Third Section sent to be my personal servant. He is, in fact, a poor servant and a poorer spy. He serves neither of us very well.’
‘I know nothing of any spy.’
‘Come now, there is no need to maintain the pretence.’
‘It is not a pretence, I assure you. We have not sought to spy on you.’
‘Then who is he? He is some kind of infiltrator, I feel sure, if only for the way he has sought to involve himself in our investigation. I admit that I was amused at first. I thought that his presence here might even prove useful to me. It was, after all, a way of communicating with the Third Section.’
‘Which no doubt you would exploit to pass on disinformation,’ chided Verkhotsev wryly.
Porfiry pursed his lips and blinked ambiguously. ‘But he no longer amuses me. Especially if, as you assert, he is nothing to do with you. I shall dismiss him immediately.’
‘No. Do not do that. He may yet prove useful. We must ask ourselves who would benefit most from knowing the progress of your investigation.’
‘Cui bono? Curiously, that is the principle he himself advised me to apply.’
‘Well? Where does it lead us in this instance?’
‘You are suggesting that he is something to do with one or other of the crimes I am investigating? That he may be a murderer?’
Verkhotsev shrugged. ‘It is a brilliant and bold masterstroke, is it not? Where better to go to ground than in the apartment of the man set to hunt you down? He can keep a watchful eye on how you are faring in your enquiries, thereby ensuring that he stays one step ahead of you at all times. If he gains your trust he may even be able to direct your investigation away from himself. And if he discovers that you are closing in on him … why, he is perfectly placed to take evasive action. Or — we must admit the possibility — to terminate your investigations in a manner appropriate to his criminal nature.’
Porfiry looked with alarm towards the door to his private apartment. ‘That is not a very comforting supposition.’
‘It is better to be prepared. In any case, you must not arouse his suspicions. If he imagines that you are on to him, he may feel himself backed into a corner. At the same time, if you simply dismiss him from your employ, we will lose him for good. No, you must keep him close to you.’
‘That is all very well for you to say.’
‘There is no need to be unduly afraid.’