Same Day
An area with a radius of roughly five hundred metres from the point where Larisa’s body had been found had been searched as part of the official investigation. Even without any experience in murder investigations that area seemed small to Leo. Nothing had been discovered except the girl’s clothes, discarded some forty or so paces from the body deeper into the forest. Why were her clothes — her shirt, skirt, hat, jacket and gloves — located in a neat pile so far from her body? The clothes showed no trace of blood, they bore no knife marks, no slashes or cuts. Larisa Petrova had either been undressed or she’d undressed herself. Perhaps she’d tried to run away, towards the edge of the forest, only to be caught just before the clearing. If that was true she’d been running naked. The killer must have persuaded her to accompany him, maybe offering money for sex. Once hidden in the relative depths of the forest, once she’d taken her clothes off, he’d attacked. But Leo was finding it difficult to apply logic to this crime. The incomprehensible details — the soil, the removal of the stomach, the string — were alien to him and yet at the same time he couldn’t stop thinking about them.
There was little chance of finding anything new regarding Larisa’s death, even allowing for incompetence and oversight. Therefore Leo was in the conflicted position of needing to find a second body. During the winter these forests would be deserted, a body could lie here for months, preserved as Larisa’s body had been preserved. Leo had reason to believe she wasn’t the first victim. The doctor had suggested the killer knew what he was doing, that he had a competence and assuredness that came from practice. The method suggested a routine, a routine suggested a sequence. And then, of course, there was the death of Arkady — a fact that Leo held in abeyance at this time.
Searching by a combination of moonlight and discreet use of his flashlight, Leo’s life depended on being undetected. He believed the general’s death threat absolutely. However, his need for secrecy had received a setback when the man working in the train station, Aleksandr, had seen him walking into the woods. He had called out and Leo, unable to think of a plausible lie, was forced to tell the truth, saying that he was collecting evidence regarding the young girl’s murder. He’d then asked Aleksandr not to mention this to anyone, claiming that it would compromise the investigation. Aleksandr had agreed and wished him luck, remarking that he’d always presumed the killer had been on a train journey. Why else was the body so near the station? Someone who lived in the town would know far more secluded areas of forest. Leo had agreed that the location was suggestive, making a mental note to himself to check up on this man. Though he seemed nice enough the appearance of innocence counted for little. Although, Leo mused, innocence didn’t count for much either.
Using a map stolen from the militia’s office, Leo had divided the forests surrounding the railway station into four areas. He found nothing in the first area, which was where the victim’s body had been found. Much of the ground had been trampled under hundreds of boots. Not even the bloody snow remained, removed no doubt as part of the effort to erase all trace of this crime. As far as Leo could tell, the remaining three areas hadn’t been searched: the snow was untouched. It had taken him an hour or so to cover the second grid, by which time his fingers were numb with cold. However, the advantage of the snow was that he could move relatively quickly, scanning large sweeps of ground for footprints, using his own tracks to mark sections that he’d covered.
Having almost finished the third area he paused. He could hear footsteps — the crunch of snow. Turning the flashlight off, he moved behind a tree, crouching down. But he couldn’t hide — they seemed to be following his tracks. Should he run? That was his only chance.
— Leo?
He stood up, turning on his flashlight. It was Raisa.
Leo lowered the beam out of her face.
— Were you followed?
— No.
— Why are you here?
— I’m here to ask you that question.
— I told you. A little girl was murdered, they have a suspect but I don’t think—
Raisa interrupted, impatient, abrupt.
— You don’t think he’s guilty?
— No.
— And since when has that mattered to you?
— Raisa, I’m just trying—
— Leo, stop, because I don’t think I can stomach you telling me you’re here doing the right thing, motivated by the principles of justice, or honour. Let’s be blunt. This is going to end badly and when it ends badly for you, it ends badly for me.
— You want me to do nothing?
Raisa became angry.
— I’m supposed to bow down to this personal investigation of yours? There are innocent people suffering all across this country and there’s nothing I can do about it except try and not be one of them.
— You believe that keeping our heads down, doing nothing wrong, that protects us? You did nothing wrong before, they wanted to execute you as a traitor. Doing nothing is no guarantee we won’t be arrested anyway — I’ve learnt that lesson.
— But you’re like a child with a new fact. Everyone knows there are no guarantees. It’s about risk. And this is an unacceptable one. You think if you can catch one genuinely guilty person all those innocent men and women you’ve arrested will just fade away? This isn’t about any little girl, it’s about you.
— You hate me when I toe the line. You hate me when I do the right thing.
Leo turned the flashlight off. He didn’t want her to see him upset. Of course, she was correct, everything she said was true. Their fates were stitched together; he had no right to embark on this investigation without her approval. And he was in no position to argue morality.
— Raisa, I don’t believe they’ll ever leave us alone. At a guess they’ll wait a couple of months, maybe a year, between my arrival here and my arrest.
— You don’t know that.
— They don’t leave people alone. Perhaps they need to construct a case against me. Perhaps they just want me to rot in obscurity before finishing me off. But I don’t have long. And this is how I want to spend that time, trying to find the man who did this. He needs to be caught. I appreciate that doesn’t help you. However, there’s a way for you to survive. Just before I’m arrested they’ll double the surveillance. At this point, you should go to them, feed them some story about me, make a show of betraying me.
— What am I supposed to do until then? Sit in that room and wait? Lie for you? Cover for you?
— I’m sorry.
Raisa shook her head, turned around and walked back towards town. Alone, Leo switched the flashlight on. His energy was sapped, his movements sluggish — his thoughts were no longer on the case. Was this nothing but a selfish, futile enterprise? He hadn’t gone far when he once more heard the sound of footsteps in the snow. Raisa had returned.