Sherlock stared at the man. “I gather that you can understand English. If you possess a modicum of intelligence, you should be able to answer my questions. Olgert Bercerosky? No, you are not Olgert Bercerosky, are you? Does the name mean anything to you?”
“What is this bother?” Tzybin spat in English. He had a strong Russian accent. “Call a lawyer. A Russian lawyer! I say nothing!”
“Indeed.” Sherlock put up a hand. “As you wish, Mr. Tzybin—so I shall call you, for I do not know your real name. However, I do know that you were forced to go to Vladivostok after your involvement with the Narodnik movement. From there you were hired to travel to Japan. Your employer prepared the papers for your voyage. You have never met the man who rented this storeroom for you, however you were promised a considerable payment for your services. You were directed to gather goods of a typically Japanese nature, and to do so without discrimination. You previously had the means of contacting your employer, and have begged at least once to know when payment for your services might be expected.”
Tzybin did a double take. Then he lunged at Sherlock, as though to take a swing. A policeman twisted his arm and kept him from moving. Tzybin’s face grew apoplectic. “Bastard, he mocks me! Who is he? Tell me who this is!”
“I am the one asking the questions. The truth is I had no prior knowledge of your history. I see an unusual mark upon your hand, as if from a previous bruise. You were struck by a farming instrument, I believe. You went to the villages as a Narodnik, to incite the peasants, but were instead beset by vigilantes. As the son of I assume an at least middle class family, you received formal education in English. After the Narodnik movement failed, however, you were hounded by police and found it impossible to obtain regular employment. You are desperate to receive your payment, thus you opened the door so quickly upon our knock. You froze when you first saw me. Until I spoke you were unaware that I was an Englishman, and as you had never met your employer in person believed I might be him. But you are clearly not very bright—it should be obvious that your employer would not arrive in the company of the police.”
Tzybin kicked at the air repeatedly in unconcealed rage. As the police held him firmly, however, none of his kicks reached anywhere near Sherlock. He spewed a stream of Russian invectives.
“But how did you know he had a means of contacting his employer, and had begged for payment?” Ito asked.
“Previously he had stolen only household decorations and furnishings. He later turned to clothing and personal items. Obviously he had asked for payment before, but had been forestalled with a directive to steal different items instead.”
“He could have been told to do so in advance.”
“No. No long-term plans guided our thief. He thought payment would arrive in a matter of days. If not, he would have lived in less shabby surroundings. Only look at the manner in which he has stored his ill-gotten gains and you will agree.”
Tzybin’s cursing switched to English. “English pig, you think you are something!”
Minezaki sighed. “We’ll question him at the station. Bring him along.”
The policemen hauled the man away. He made no attempt to resist, but continued to glare at Sherlock. Minezaki and Sonoda went with them.
Ito remained behind. “He was only hired, then? How can you be sure?”
“Because that is the only possibility,” Sherlock said, his tone dejected. “Anyone searching for Olgert Bercerosky would search first for suspicious Russians. Naturally a Russian man holed up in the countryside and supporting himself through a series of thefts would draw particular attention.”
“You mean he was only a smokescreen for Bercerosky?”
“Yes, a smokescreen, or perhaps we should say bait, for the police. Once Tzybin had drawn police attention, Bercerosky would realize he too was is in danger. I have just blundered into the criminal’s trap.”
“You’re saying Bercerosky planned this whole thing?!”
“Quite brilliantly, I should say. He even anticipated what we would think about the different items being stolen. He is a clever opponent.”
“And the beer ticket? Was that also bait set by Bercerosky?”
“No. The ticket was discovered on the opposite shore. The Japanese police are not capable enough to have identified this location on their own. I’m sure Bercerosky would have realized that.”
Ito was not sure whether to take this comment as condescension or conceit. “How did you identify the location, then?” he asked.
Sherlock jerked his head toward the open door. “Do you recognize that piece of rope, lying there?”
Ito blinked in disbelief. There was a long piece of rope inside the storeroom, with a flask tied into the middle.
“I see it! It’s a sling. Hand-made, but a sling.”
“Tzybin discovered a piece of paper, folded in four, in the clothing of one of the dolls he had stolen. A piece of paper that appeared to include a name and address, written in Japanese. How would he have reacted? As a professional thief, he would know better than to travel far to dispose of the paper. He might have been stopped while carrying it, which would have provided evidence of his crimes. Dropping it into the river, meanwhile, would have led investigators upstream.”
“So instead he threw it all the way across the river? But how could a piece of folded paper fly so far?”
Sherlock walked through the door. He kicked one of the chemical vials lightly, sending it rolling across the floor. “When saltpeter is dissolved in water it absorbs the surrounding heat, cooling the water. The addition of common table salt creates ice. It is an elementary chemical experiment. All the necessary equipment is here now. The ticket was encased in a clump of ice. Likely a ball of it, to ensure it would fly.”
“So that is why the ink on the ticket was smeared.”
“He used the sling to throw the ball of ice with the paper inside. Naturally he did so at night. Much better to dispose of the paper this way, though it would take some time to create the ice, than to risk carrying it about with him in order to dispose of it by hand.”
“As a foreigner he would have drawn attention. With all the thefts, there was a high risk he might have been stopped by the police for questioning.”
“By aiming for those fields he ensured the noise of the ice hitting the ground would remain unnoticed. And with the recent warm weather, the ice would have melted by morning. These beer tickets are as valuable as money. The Japanese are very civic-minded and whoever discovered such a ticket would likely surrender it to the police. Though far from certain, such a discovery might seriously disrupt the investigation. The opposite shore of the river would appear to be the least likely location for a suspect—it was excellent cover.”
“Even still, why go through so much trouble over a single beer ticket…”
“Thieves inspect their items thoroughly. Whenever an item is found that might lead investigators to them, they consider how that item might be used to cover their trail instead. The common thief takes pleasure in such pursuits. We discovered Tzybin’s trick with the beer ticket purely by coincidence. He probably had several such ploys.”
Ito felt overwhelmed. “This is hard to fathom. What could inspire someone to think of such a thing, using chemistry to create bits of ice?”
“I have attempted the experiment several times myself, as well. You cannot begin to imagine the number of glass instruments I have shattered in pursuit of my hobbies.”
Ito had to admit that behavior, while eccentric, was still better than spending his time with cocaine. Besides, an eccentric mind was needed to discern the bizarre habits of the common thief.