The Cleansing Flames Part 3

Another shrug. 'It's all the same to me.'

'Just tell me how you found the body, in your own words.'

'I was swimming with my mates. I dived down to the bottom and there he was. At first I didn't know what to make of it. Couldn't tell what it was. It was pretty dark down there, you see. But I felt his hair brush against my fingers as I swam. I thought, h.e.l.lo, what's this?'

'So the body was at the bottom of the ca.n.a.l? What prevented it from floating to the top, I wonder?'

'Rocks. It was tied to some rocks that were keeping it down.'

'I see.'

'Me and my mates went back down to loosen it. Then it came up.'

'And so you raised the alarm immediately?'

The young sailor glared at Porfiry. 'Well, yes, but . . .' He broke off.

'But?'

'Well, there was this fellow. We sent him off to get a policeman. But he never came back.'

'I see. One of your mates?'

'No!' Ordynov was indignant at the suggestion. 'Just some fellow. He was watching us, while we were swimming. There was something fishy about him. Not right in the head, if you ask me.'

'Why do you say that?'

'He asked us who it was! As if we should know. I mean to say!'

'That is odd.'

'It was almost like . . .'

'Go on,' encouraged Porfiry.

'Almost like he had half an idea who it might be.'

'That's very interesting. And perceptive, if you don't mind me saying.'

'We thought he was mad, the way he kept gabbling on. And then he made us turn that one over in the water, so that we could see his face.'

'The body was floating face down, of course.'

'Yes. That's right.' Apprentice Seaman Ordynov squinted narrowly at Porfiry. 'I mean why was he so interested in seeing its face?'

'A perfectly reasonable question, my friend. In fact, I would go further than that. A very astute question.'

'And then he ran off. We thought he was going to get the police, but he never came back. So we had to send someone else.'

'Could you give a description this mysterious individual?'

'He was a gent. But like one of them new types of gents.'

'Yes, I know exactly what you mean.'

'You could tell he was educated, but he didn't bother to keep himself as smart as he might.'

'Long hair?'

'That's it. Long hair. All over the place. His face was very . . .'

'Pale?'

'Aye, with dark rings around his eyes as if he had been up all night.'

'Beard?'

'He did have a beard.'

'Not a civil servant then. I take it he was not in any kind of uniform?'

Ordynov shook his head tersely as he blew out his last lungful of smoke. He threw the stub down and ground it under his heel. 'Finished my smoke.'

'Thank you, my friend. You have been most helpful. If we need to contact you again, we can reach you through your s.h.i.+p. You are in Petersburg for two days, you say?'

'We sail on Wednesday morning. Leastways that's what they say. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes longer.'

'And where are you bound once the repairs are completed?'

'Arkhangelsk.'

'How long is the voyage?'

'We are at sea for thirty days. We can't put in to Arkhangelsk before May, on account of the ice.'

'Do you put in anywhere along the way?'

'For sure.'

Porfiry waited expectantly. When nothing was forthcoming, he prompted, 'We may need to get in touch with you.'

'Our first port of call is Helsingfors. After that, Reval, then Riga, then Libau.'

'It is a veritable cruise!' cried Porfiry.

'His Imperial Majesty likes to show his finest s.h.i.+p off at every opportunity,' said the young sailor wryly. 'There are other ports after that. Do you want them all?'

'I do not think that will be necessary. I wonder, did anyone who is not going to Arkhangelsk see this man?'

Ordynov shook his head.

Porfiry gave a silent chuckle and nodded to release the sailor.

Ordynov twisted his lower lip hesitantly. He looked over to his s.h.i.+pmates but did not rush to join them. 'Do you think he had anything to do with . . . you know . . . that fellow in the water?'

Porfiry smiled but said nothing. The roar of the nearby fair seemed to answer the question for him.

An hour later, they were back in Porfiry's chambers in the Department for the Investigation of Criminal Causes. The department was attached to the Haymarket District Police Bureau on Stolyarny Lane, though the cases they investigated were not limited to that district. At his desk, Porfiry was bent over Sergeant Pt.i.tsyn's report, which was already written up and filed. Virginsky, who was seated on the cracked artificial-leather sofa, was treated to a view of the top of his superior's close-cropped, bulbous head. The soft light from the window caught the almost transparent hairs in a phosph.o.r.escent flash. Virginsky had the impression that if he struck Porfiry on the back, a cloud of dust would rise to join the other fine motes swirling in the luminous corridor of the beam. He had no idea why the idea of striking Porfiry in this way came to him just then. Except for the fact that Porfiry's frockcoat was stretched as tight as an overstuffed armchair and Virginsky had once had a habit of thumping armchairs. But that was a long time ago.

'A fine officer, young Pt.i.tsyn,' said Porifry. 'We are indeed fortunate that he was the first on the scene. This is an exemplary report.'

'The spelling's atrocious,' commented Virginsky. It did not please him to hear other men praised, especially Pt.i.tsyn, and especially by Porfiry Petrovich. Virginsky knew precisely where his dislike for Pt.i.tsyn originated. He had once been a.s.signed to search a crime scene with the young policeman, and it was Pt.i.tsyn who had made the significant discovery. In his defence, Virginsky could say that he had not long been in the job. But still, he had underestimated Pt.i.tsyn, deceived by the young man's good-natured willingness to please, taking that for simple-mindedness. Virginsky could not forgive Pt.i.tsyn for the fact that he Virginsky had all the advantages, and yet it was Pt.i.tsyn who had proven himself more able. He knew that it was undemocratic to harbour such resentments, which only made him hate Pt.i.tsyn all the more.

All that had happened several years ago, and Virginsky should have been able to put his antipathy towards his social, intellectual and professional inferior behind him. But the fellow haunted him like a demon. He had an uncanny knack for turning up, like a counterfeit five-kopek coin.

Porfiry Petrovich looked up, his face open in reproachful surprise. 'The spelling is beside the point. He has recorded the exchange between the sailors and the mysterious onlooker practically verbatim. The art of investigation is all in the detail, you know.'

'So you do think he had something to do with it? The man the sailors saw.'

'It is certainly possible. It's not so easy as these new men think to shake off such a deed. Murder, I'm talking about. However rational, useful and even necessary the death of this or that individual may seem in advance after the event, it's a different matter. So yes, I find it psychologically plausible that the murderer is drawn back to the place where he discarded his victim, especially at a time when there is a chance the body may come to light. That is to say, when the frozen ca.n.a.l begins to thaw.'

'But the fact is, we do not know who this onlooker is and we may never. Indeed, we don't even know who the dead man is.'

'Please don't take this amiss, Pavel Pavlovich,' began Porfiry inauspiciously. 'But I find your att.i.tude today strangely negative.'

Virginsky felt himself flush.

'It's not helpful, you know, to have this constant carping and criticism to contend with. You could be more encouraging.'

'I am only being realistic. If I may say so, you are not normally so easily discouraged, Porfiry Petrovich. Indeed, usually, you take such challenges as a spur to do your greatest work.'

'Flattery. You can't fool me, Pavel Pavlovich. I have never heard you sound so insincere.' Porfiry rapped Pt.i.tsyn's report impatiently with his knuckles. 'What singular feature most strikes you about this case?' he almost barked.

Virginsky widened his eyes as he considered the unexpected question. 'That . . . the body was dumped in the Winter Ca.n.a.l?' he suggested tentatively.

'Good! Yes! Now you're beginning to be useful to me! The body was indubitably dumped, as you so eloquently put it. Quite deliberately. Brought, by some conveyance, to the Winter Ca.n.a.l and deposited in it. It is inconceivable that he was shot and weighted with rocks in such a public location, immediately prior to disposal. No all that took place elsewhere, we can be certain. But why then bring him to the Winter Ca.n.a.l? That's the question. Why go to all that trouble when there are countless other, more isolated spots in the city where one could far more conveniently dispose of a corpse?'

'Because the killer '

'Killer? You think this is the work of one man? Could one man contrive this? Would it not be more reasonable to a.s.sume some kind of conspiracy? The Winter Ca.n.a.l is a popular spot. A favourite haunt of lovers and suicides. People pa.s.s along it at all hours of the day and night. Would it not require some organisation, some small infrastructure, to ensure that this dumping of the body was not witnessed? A lookout positioned at either end of the ca.n.a.l, for example. We might also posit the existence of a driver, whip in hand, ready and waiting, should the need for a hasty retreat arise. And two individuals, at least, to manhandle the weighted body from the vehicle to the edge of the embankment. I picture it as a closed carriage.'

Virginsky nodded in agreement. 'A plausible reconstruction.'

'The question remains. Why?'

'By the way you are asking the question, Porfiry Petrovich, I suspect you already have an answer in mind.'

'Where is the Winter Ca.n.a.l?'

'Between the Winter Palace and the Hermitage.'

'In other words, right under the nose of the Tsar.'

'What are you saying, Porfiry Petrovich? What's this man to the Tsar?'

'Nothing personally. But politically. Symbolically. It's a gesture. One that I believe is known as making a fig.'

'You think it is a political crime?'

'I think it may have a political aspect.'

'Therefore, we should alert the Third Section.'

'Ooh, I don't think there's any need for that. Not yet, at least. This is simply a speculative conversation between ourselves. We have no proof of anything, yet. As you yourself said, we do not even have a positive identification of the body.' Porfiry angled his head to appraise his junior colleague. 'I know what it is about you today, Pavel Pavlovich. You are evincing an unwonted scrupulosity.'

'I beg your pardon!'

'First you remind me of the need for a medical examination. Then you insist on the involvement of the Third Section. An unwonted scrupulosity. With regard to form.'

'I am a magistrate. I must uphold the correct procedure.'

'An unwonted scrupulosity,' repeated Porfiry, with energetic emphasis. 'I can't help thinking that you must have done something exceptionally naughty last night.'

Virginsky felt the heat in his face once again, even fiercer this time. 'But Porfiry Petrovich, that doesn't '

'It is because you were naughty last night that you wish to compensate by being unusually correct today. Am I right?'

'I don't know what you're talking about,' said Virginsky coldly.

'But did you hear about the fires last night? My G.o.d, the fools! What do they hope to achieve by such acts? Can you tell me that, Pavel Pavlovich?'

'I am not a spokesman for the arsonists.'

'Five dead.'

'Five?'

'Yes, a fireman, a night.w.a.tchman and some down-and-outs who were kipping on a straw barge that was torched. How can you justify their deaths?'

'I am not required to, as I did not cause them, and I do not defend those who did.'

'What? Quite right. I'm sorry. I am simply venting steam. Sometimes, I mistake you because of your youth for someone you are not.'

Neither spoke for some time, each considering privately the implications of Porfiry's last remark.

It was a relief to them both when the door leading to the Haymarket District Police Bureau opened and the head clerk Zamyotov burst in.