‘No, I do not see. Some kind of fraud has been perpetrated here, I’ll warrant.’
‘No fraud. My transformation to Arabhood was sanctioned by the authorities. I went through all the proper channels. It was my wife’s idea. She heard that Arabs are retired from the service with twice the pension of ordinary Russians. “Ask them if you can retire as an Arab,” she said. And so I did. I put forward a petition, stating my reasons — ’
‘Reasons? What reasons could you possibly have?’
‘Well, my main reason was that I could do with the extra money.’
‘That is a reason any of us could put forward!’
‘There is nothing to stop you.’
‘And your petition was granted?’ Salytov was incredulous.
‘My boss took pity on me. To be honest, I think the idea amused him. At any rate, he put me down on the rolls as an Arab and I retired on an Arab’s pension. I recommend it, sir, when the time comes for you to retire.’
‘I will not pass myself off as an Arab, not for any money.’
‘It’s twice the pension.’
‘Enough!’ barked Salytov. ‘We have come for Rakitin. Does he still reside with you?’
‘He does.’
‘And is he at home today?’
‘I have not seen him go out, your Honour.’
Salytov gave a nod of satisfaction. But the look he turned on Tolya was entirely devoid of mercy.
*
A knot of misery and fear tightened in his chest. The lieutenant was leaning with his back against the wall, next to the door jamb, looking out at him. If the door was opened, Salytov would be out of sight of anyone inside the room. Tolya could not look him in the face. It was not the ugliness of his disfigurement that repelled him but the unrelenting, unreasoning hatred in his eyes.
Tolya felt the cords of his emotions twisting and tightening even more, as if he were being bound and gagged from within.
He closed his eyes, so that he would not have to watch his own act of betrayal, and rapped his knuckles lightly against the door. There was an answering flurry of movement inside the room.
Salytov prompted Tolya further with an urgent nod.
‘Rakitin? Are you there? It is I, Tolya. From Ballet’s. Do you remember?’
The door opened a crack. An almost handsome face, marred by dark rings around the eyes, peered out. ‘Oh. You. I thought it might be. .’ Rakitin broke off; his eyes shifted nervously.
‘Who?’
‘Never mind. Come in then.’
Salytov shook his head slowly at Tolya.
‘No. I. . I don’t want to take up too much of your time.’
‘You must come in,’ Rakitin pleaded. ‘You never know who is listening.’
Tolya sensed Salytov’s smile. He was clearly enjoying the irony. A thread of anger now twisted itself in amongst the tangled mass of Tolya’s emotions. ‘Pseldonimov is dead,’ he blurted.
‘How do you know?’
‘The police came to me. I didn’t know what to think.’
‘The police? What did you tell them?’
‘The truth. That I haven’t seen Pseldonimov, or you, for years.’
‘Me? Why did you have to bring me into it?’
‘You were his friend. You were always together whenever you came to Ballet’s.’
‘And so? You were not obliged to tell the police this.’
‘You don’t understand.’
‘And now it won’t be long before they come snooping round here. Thanks to you.’
‘No, you don’t understand. They knew all about you.’
‘What are you saying? Was this the Petersburg police. . or the Third Section?’
‘The police. A policeman.’
‘What did he know?’
‘He knew that you were a friend of Pseldonimov’s.’
‘What of it? That is not a crime, even in this country.’
‘But Pseldonimov is dead. He wants to speak to you about Pseldonimov.’
‘Impossible. I cannot be drawn into this. It is too dangerous. Far too dangerous.’
‘Why do you say that? Was he murdered? Do you know who killed him?’
‘I cannot talk about it anymore. If you will not step inside, then I must — ’
Salytov spun out of his hiding place and rammed his cane into the crack of the open door, leaning into it to prise it open further.
‘You led them here!’ cried Rakitin. He ran back into his room, clambering over furniture to get away from Salytov. After a moment of indecision, he threw himself towards the window, struggling to open the latch.
Salytov grabbed the belt of his trousers and hauled him back. ‘Don’t think of it. Don’t. . you. . dare. . think. . of it.’ The words were punctuated with blows from his cane, landed viciously on either side of Rakitin’s torso. Rakitin fell to the floor and pulled himself up into a whimpering ball, his arms wrapped protectively around his head.
Tolya did not stay to witness the sequel to these events.
*
‘Good,’ said Porfiry quietly, as he turned away from the cell door. His voice lacked any enthusiasm for the sentiment expressed.
Virginsky flashed a questioning glare towards his superior. Porfiry answered with a minute shake of the head. But Virginsky would not be silenced. ‘You commend this? The man can hardly walk.’
‘He tried to escape,’ said Salytov.
‘Did you even have a warrant for his arrest?’
‘I was acting on my own initiative. There are times when a policeman, out in the field, must do what he feels is necessary. He does not always have time to consult the rulebook.’
‘You do not need the rulebook to know that you should not beat a witness!’
‘One used to be able to. Before the reforms.’
‘Well, it is no longer allowed.’
Salytov ignored Virginsky’s objection. ‘I brought him in, didn’t I? It’s up to you now. You can draw up the damned warrant now, if you’re so determined to have one.’
‘After the event?’
‘That’s how we used to do it.’
Virginsky shook his head in despair. ‘Will we be able to get anything out of him though?’ He directed his protest to Porfiry. ‘The man is scared out of his wits. I am not sure he is even capable of speech any more. We should have a doctor examine him, Porfiry Petrovich. You know that.’
‘Yes, of course. You will see to it, Pavel Pavlovich. If the doctor says he is well enough to be interviewed, we will proceed. In the meantime, we will allow him to rest.’
‘May I also remind you, he is not a suspect. He is possibly a witness. Is this the best way to ensure the co-operation of a witness?’
‘Very well, Pavel Pavlovich. You have made your points quite eloquently,’ said Porfiry. ‘However, we cannot undo what has been done. A policeman is granted licence to use all necessary force in the conduct of his duties. I am confident that Ilya Petrovich will not have exceeded the limits of necessary force.’
Virginsky’s mouth fell open. ‘What has happened to you, Porfiry Petrovich? What have you become? You say “necessary force”, as if this is a perfectly civilised concept. But when the abuser is the one who determines what is necessary, what hope is there for the abused? Furthermore, why is he being kept in a cell? We do not normally throw witnesses in cells.’
‘But he tried to escape,’ insisted Salytov.
‘No no,’ intervened Porfiry. ‘It is rather that we are short of space. We do not have any other rooms for him to recover in.’
‘Why lock the door then?’
‘Now that we have him, it would be a shame if we lost him, would it not? I believe that happened once before, Ilya Petrovich, and it caused us an inordinate amount of inconvenience.’
The red of Salytov’s complexion intensified.
‘But his rights! The man has rights, you know. The Tsar himself set them down in law.’
‘His rights will be respected.’ There was a hint of impatience in Porfiry’s voice, anger almost. ‘Now, back to my chambers. Ilya Petrovich, you will accompany us? I wish you to tell us all you can about this witness.’
‘If you will excuse me,’ said Virginsky, ‘I will see to the doctor, as you requested.’