he found no reason for Rufo to try to kill him. Rufo had put some planning into the attack. The running suit made sense for the same reason painters wore coveralls, and he felt that the same thought had registered with Osorio. But why bother killing someone who would be gone from the scene in a matter of hours? Was Rufo after something or was it simply open season on Russians in Havana ?
As he stepped outside, the light of dawn showed next to the apartment a scarred wall in bullfight red that said gimnasio atares. At the curb in a PNR sedan was Detective Osorio. She fixed her eyes on Arkady long enough to make him squirm before she put out her hand.» The key."
"Sorry." Arkady fished in his pocket and gave her the key to his apartment in Moscow . He could always break into his own home if need be.
"Get in the car," Osorio said.» I would like to lock you into a cell but Dr. Bias wants to talk to you."
With his trimmed beard and whiff of carbolic soap, Dr. Bias was the Pluto of a personal, genial underworld, welcoming Arkady back to the Institute de Medicina Legal and praising Osorio.
"Our Ofelia is very intelligent. If Hamlet had an Ofelia half as smart he would have solved the murder of his father the king in short order. Of course, they wouldn't have had much of a play." Two young women in snug IML T-shirts walked by in the corridor; the doctor's eyes approved.» We were trained by the FBI in
Washington
and Quantico until the Revolution, then by the Russians and Germans. But I like to think we have our own style. Your problem, Renko, is that you have no confidence in us. I noticed that the first time you were here."
"Is that it?" Arkady asked.
He thought his problem was that Rufo had tried to kill him, but the director seemed to have a bigger picture. They walked by a glass case with two head shots of men with slack mouths and closed eyes.
"Missing persons and unidentified dead. For the public to see." Bias picked up his thread.» When you think of Cuba you think of a Caribbean island, a place like Haiti , a country like Nicaragua . When we say, for example, we have identified a body as a Russian, you wonder how good is that identification, how qualified are these people who are telling me to accept this body and take it home? When you see a body retrieved from the water the way dogs play with bones, you question how careful the police work is. That is why you stole Rufo's key and went to his room on your own. I go to international conferences all the time and I meet people who don't know Cuba and have the same misgivings. So, let me tell you something about myself. I have a medical degree from the
University
of
Havana
with a specialty in pathology. I have studied at the Superior School of Investigation in Volgograd , in Leipzig and
Berlin
. Last year I lectured at Interpol conferences in Toronto and Mexico City . So, you have not been dropped off the end of the earth. Some enemies of Cuba want to isolate us, but we are not isolated. The inter national aspect of crime does not allow us to be isolated. I will not allow it."
They passed a handcuffed man in a chair. He lifted a face of old scars and fresh bruises.
"Waiting for his psychological evaluation," Bias explained.» We have other experts in forensic biology, dentistry, toxicology, immunology. A Russian might find this hard to believe. You used to be the teacher and we used to be the students. Now we are the teachers in Africa , Central America , Asia . Our Ofelia"—Bias nod ded to Osorio, who had been gliding along modestly— "has taught in Vietnam . There is no ignorance here. I will not allow it. As a result, I am pleased to say that Havana has the lowest rate of unsolved homicides of any capital city in the world. So when I say who a body is, that's who he is. But Detective Osorio tells me that you are again hesitant about the identification of Colonel Pribluda."
"He is reacting to the attack on himself," she said.
"My reaction has probably been
As he stepped outside, the light of dawn showed next to the apartment a scarred wall in bullfight red that said gimnasio atares. At the curb in a PNR sedan was Detective Osorio. She fixed her eyes on Arkady long enough to make him squirm before she put out her hand.» The key."
"Sorry." Arkady fished in his pocket and gave her the key to his apartment in Moscow . He could always break into his own home if need be.
"Get in the car," Osorio said.» I would like to lock you into a cell but Dr. Bias wants to talk to you."
With his trimmed beard and whiff of carbolic soap, Dr. Bias was the Pluto of a personal, genial underworld, welcoming Arkady back to the Institute de Medicina Legal and praising Osorio.
"Our Ofelia is very intelligent. If Hamlet had an Ofelia half as smart he would have solved the murder of his father the king in short order. Of course, they wouldn't have had much of a play." Two young women in snug IML T-shirts walked by in the corridor; the doctor's eyes approved.» We were trained by the FBI in
Washington
and Quantico until the Revolution, then by the Russians and Germans. But I like to think we have our own style. Your problem, Renko, is that you have no confidence in us. I noticed that the first time you were here."
"Is that it?" Arkady asked.
He thought his problem was that Rufo had tried to kill him, but the director seemed to have a bigger picture. They walked by a glass case with two head shots of men with slack mouths and closed eyes.
"Missing persons and unidentified dead. For the public to see." Bias picked up his thread.» When you think of Cuba you think of a Caribbean island, a place like Haiti , a country like Nicaragua . When we say, for example, we have identified a body as a Russian, you wonder how good is that identification, how qualified are these people who are telling me to accept this body and take it home? When you see a body retrieved from the water the way dogs play with bones, you question how careful the police work is. That is why you stole Rufo's key and went to his room on your own. I go to international conferences all the time and I meet people who don't know Cuba and have the same misgivings. So, let me tell you something about myself. I have a medical degree from the
University
of
Havana
with a specialty in pathology. I have studied at the Superior School of Investigation in Volgograd , in Leipzig and
Berlin
. Last year I lectured at Interpol conferences in Toronto and Mexico City . So, you have not been dropped off the end of the earth. Some enemies of Cuba want to isolate us, but we are not isolated. The inter national aspect of crime does not allow us to be isolated. I will not allow it."
They passed a handcuffed man in a chair. He lifted a face of old scars and fresh bruises.
"Waiting for his psychological evaluation," Bias explained.» We have other experts in forensic biology, dentistry, toxicology, immunology. A Russian might find this hard to believe. You used to be the teacher and we used to be the students. Now we are the teachers in Africa , Central America , Asia . Our Ofelia"—Bias nod ded to Osorio, who had been gliding along modestly— "has taught in Vietnam . There is no ignorance here. I will not allow it. As a result, I am pleased to say that Havana has the lowest rate of unsolved homicides of any capital city in the world. So when I say who a body is, that's who he is. But Detective Osorio tells me that you are again hesitant about the identification of Colonel Pribluda."
"He is reacting to the attack on himself," she said.
"My reaction has probably been
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