think he did.'
'What about Kim?' Rodionov asked.
Arkady said, 'Mikhail Senovich Kim. Korean, twenty-two. Reform school, minors colony, Army construction battalion. Lyubertsy mafia, car theft and assault. Rides a Suzuki, but we expect him to take any bike off the street and of course he wears a helmet, so who knows who he is? We can't stop every biker in Moscow. A witness identifies him as the assailant. We're looking for him, but we're also looking for other witnesses.'
'But they're all criminals,' Penyagin said. 'The best witnesses were probably the killers.'
'That's generally the case,' Arkady said.
Rodionov shuddered. 'The whole thing is a typical Chechen attack.'
'Actually,' Arkady said, 'Chechens are more partial to knives. Anyway, I don't think the point was only to kill Rudy. The bombs burned the car, which was a computerized mobile bank stuffed with disks and files. I think that's why they used two bombs, in order to make sure. They did a good job. It's all gone now, along with Rudy.'
'His enemies must be happy,' Rodionov said.
'There was probably more incriminating evidence about his friends on those disks than about his enemies,' Arkady said.
Albov said, 'It sounds as if you liked Rosen.'
'He burned to death. You could say I sympathized.'
'You would describe yourself as an unusually sympathetic investigator?'
'Everyone works in a different way.'
'How is your father?'
Arkady thought for a moment, more to adjust to this shift of ground than to search for an answer.
'Not well. Why do you ask?'
Albov said, 'He's a great man, a hero. More famous than you, if you don't mind my saying so. I was curious.'
'He's old.'
'Seen him lately?'
'If I do, I'll tell him you asked.'
Albov's conversation had the slow but purposeful motion of a python. Arkady tried to catch the rhythm.
'If he's old and sick, you should see him, don't you think?' Albov asked. 'You select your own detectives?'
'Yes.' Arkady was trying to answer the second question.
'Kuusnets is an odd name - for a detective, I mean.'
'Jaak Kuusnets is the best man I have.'
'But there aren't that many Estonians who are Moscow detectives. He must be especially grateful and loyal to you. Estonians, Koreans, Jews - it's hard to find any Russians in your case. Of course some people think that's the problem with the whole country.' Albov had the meditative gaze of a Buddha. Now he let it incline towards the prosecutor and the general. 'Gentlemen, your investigator seems to have both a team and a goal. The times demand that you let initiative have its head, not bring it to a halt. I hope we don't make the same mistake with Renko that we made before.'
Rodionov could tell the difference between a red light and a green. 'My office is totally committed to our investigator, of course.'
'I can only repeat that the militia wholeheartedly supports the investigator,' Penyagin said.
'You're from the prosecutor's office?' Arkady asked Albov.
'No.'
'I didn't think so.' Arkady added up the suit and the air of ease. 'State Security or Ministry of the Interior?'
'I'm a journalist.'
'You brought a journalist to this meeting?' Arkady asked Rodionov. 'My direct channel to you includes a journalist?'
'An international journalist,' Rodionov said. 'I wanted a more sophisticated point of view.'
Albov said, 'Remember, the prosecutor is also a people's deputy. There's an election to consider now.'
'Well, that is sophisticated,' Arkady said.
Albov said, 'The main thing is I've always been an admirer. This is a turning point in history. This is Paris in the Revolution, Petrograd in the Revolution. If intelligent men can't work together, what hope is there for the future?'
Arkady was still stunned after they left.
'What about Kim?' Rodionov asked.
Arkady said, 'Mikhail Senovich Kim. Korean, twenty-two. Reform school, minors colony, Army construction battalion. Lyubertsy mafia, car theft and assault. Rides a Suzuki, but we expect him to take any bike off the street and of course he wears a helmet, so who knows who he is? We can't stop every biker in Moscow. A witness identifies him as the assailant. We're looking for him, but we're also looking for other witnesses.'
'But they're all criminals,' Penyagin said. 'The best witnesses were probably the killers.'
'That's generally the case,' Arkady said.
Rodionov shuddered. 'The whole thing is a typical Chechen attack.'
'Actually,' Arkady said, 'Chechens are more partial to knives. Anyway, I don't think the point was only to kill Rudy. The bombs burned the car, which was a computerized mobile bank stuffed with disks and files. I think that's why they used two bombs, in order to make sure. They did a good job. It's all gone now, along with Rudy.'
'His enemies must be happy,' Rodionov said.
'There was probably more incriminating evidence about his friends on those disks than about his enemies,' Arkady said.
Albov said, 'It sounds as if you liked Rosen.'
'He burned to death. You could say I sympathized.'
'You would describe yourself as an unusually sympathetic investigator?'
'Everyone works in a different way.'
'How is your father?'
Arkady thought for a moment, more to adjust to this shift of ground than to search for an answer.
'Not well. Why do you ask?'
Albov said, 'He's a great man, a hero. More famous than you, if you don't mind my saying so. I was curious.'
'He's old.'
'Seen him lately?'
'If I do, I'll tell him you asked.'
Albov's conversation had the slow but purposeful motion of a python. Arkady tried to catch the rhythm.
'If he's old and sick, you should see him, don't you think?' Albov asked. 'You select your own detectives?'
'Yes.' Arkady was trying to answer the second question.
'Kuusnets is an odd name - for a detective, I mean.'
'Jaak Kuusnets is the best man I have.'
'But there aren't that many Estonians who are Moscow detectives. He must be especially grateful and loyal to you. Estonians, Koreans, Jews - it's hard to find any Russians in your case. Of course some people think that's the problem with the whole country.' Albov had the meditative gaze of a Buddha. Now he let it incline towards the prosecutor and the general. 'Gentlemen, your investigator seems to have both a team and a goal. The times demand that you let initiative have its head, not bring it to a halt. I hope we don't make the same mistake with Renko that we made before.'
Rodionov could tell the difference between a red light and a green. 'My office is totally committed to our investigator, of course.'
'I can only repeat that the militia wholeheartedly supports the investigator,' Penyagin said.
'You're from the prosecutor's office?' Arkady asked Albov.
'No.'
'I didn't think so.' Arkady added up the suit and the air of ease. 'State Security or Ministry of the Interior?'
'I'm a journalist.'
'You brought a journalist to this meeting?' Arkady asked Rodionov. 'My direct channel to you includes a journalist?'
'An international journalist,' Rodionov said. 'I wanted a more sophisticated point of view.'
Albov said, 'Remember, the prosecutor is also a people's deputy. There's an election to consider now.'
'Well, that is sophisticated,' Arkady said.
Albov said, 'The main thing is I've always been an admirer. This is a turning point in history. This is Paris in the Revolution, Petrograd in the Revolution. If intelligent men can't work together, what hope is there for the future?'
Arkady was still stunned after they left.
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