Вячеслав Яцко: The Professor's Murder

"And what of it?" said Timkin nonchalantly. "Yes, I was at the restaurant. I didn't want my name to appear in police records because I prefer to stay out of police affairs. I dislike the police in principle. Since when is it prohibited? Do you know many people who like our noble policemen?"

"The fact is not that you dislike policemen. The fact is that you hated Smirnov who excluded you from his projects after the quarrel and you lost all the money you could earn. And he wanted to expel your from postgraduate courses. Another fact is that you like very much the girl with whom I saw you at Rucko's flat. Who was she?"

Timkin didn't reply looking indifferently aside.

"I answered this question when I was leaving the University. In the lobby hung a large portrait of Smirnov and I realized that the woman whom I had met several minutes ago had striking resemblance to him. It was Lina Frolova, Smirnov's daughter".

Everybody stared at Frolova who sat calmly smiling.

"Frolova is Smirnov's daughter?!" exclaimed Elza Goldberg in utter surprise. "But why?.."

"Yes, that is the question", Rogov took up the ball. "I've told that Smirnov's daughter was one of the suspects from the very beginning. We thought she lived in Novoyarsk, where she and her mother moved seven years ago after divorce. How could Galina Krotova have turned into Lina Frolova? There was no difficulty to find out that two years ago she married and assumed her husband's name to become Filinova. Then she divorced and moved from Novoyarsk. We had to work hard to establish the fact that she married again, took her current name, and then divorced for the second time".

"And what of it?" responded Frolova repeating Timkin's phrase. "I am free to marry and divorce as many times as I wish".

"Sure, but why did you take so much effort to conceal your real name? You introduced yourself as 'Lina', which is a diminutive of 'Elena', rather than 'Galina'. Moreover you tried to disguise your appearance. This is a report from city's Optician's shop. It states that you constantly bought brown contact lenses, though the natural color of your eyes is blue", Rogov demonstrated a piece of paper.

Frolova didn't answer anything and continued to smile calmly.

"Do you mean Frolova wanted to kill her own father just to get his money?" intervened Goldberg. "I know her a little and she never produced an impression of a greedy person".

"You are right, Dr.Goldber. The motive for the murder was not just money. This is a copy of her mother's case history we got from Novoyarsk. She suffered from mania of persecution. When she lived with Smirnov she reported him to police complaining that he planned to kill her. Perhaps she moved to Novoyarsk in hope to get rid of her disease but contrary to her expectations the illness aggravated. She became assaultive, was taken to hospital and killed herself. And psychiatric diseases are propagable.

As we had good reasons to suspect Timkin and Frolova we decided to search their flats. And this is what we found".

Rogov pulled the drawer open and took out ear rings, bracelets, necklaces.

"But this is my jewelry!" exclaimed Olga. "It was they who robbed my flat?"

"Yes, but they boned the jewelry, their main aim was this document", he demonstrated a piece of paper with a handwritten text. "This is Smirnov's avowal. But first I'd like to draw your attention to this certificate from the city's gynecological hospital. It states that Galina Frolova is in the second month of pregnancy.

"And now I ask you, Mrs. Galina Frolova, whose child are you bearing? Who is its father: Timkin or Smirnov?"

The audience got stupefied. Then somebody squealed; Elza Goldberg fainted; Olga rushed to the door pressing her palms to the lips.

"I have all reasons to ask this question", explained Rogov. "In his avowal Smirnov writes that he was seduced by Frolova who then confessed she was his daughter and began blackmailing him. Hence his wish to leave Russia".

He pushed a button on his desk and took two pairs of handcuffs out of the drawer. A policeman and a policewoman appeared at the door.

Rogov came up to Timkin and put handcuffs on him. "Vladimir Timkin, you are accused of burglary and infliction of bodily injuries". Timkin smiled wryly without saying anything. A policeman escorted him to the door.

"So it was him who attacked me", guessed I.

Rogov approached Frolova and put handcuffs on her. "Galina Frolova, you are accused of the murder of Nicolas Smirnov".

Frolova ceased smiling, her features got twisted.

"He murdered my mother! He murdered my mom!", cried she while the policewoman was pulling her along.

Galina Frolova was taken to court, certified and committed. When in mental hospital she gave birth to a child. Since it had a Down syndrome it was taken to a specialized hospital. Frolova stays at the hospital.

Olga sold all her property and immigrated to Israel. At least in one point the polygraph was not mistaken.

I continue my fruitful collaboration with Rogov. I have become famous and even get job offers from Moscow firms. I reject them: it won't be so easy to find another Rogov in Moscow. Rogov and I have become richer but that doesn't make me happy.

Sometimes when alone in my room I remember Olga's brown eyes that so nicely matched her blond hair and the lines of a Rammstein's song occur to me:

Sie will es und so ist es fein

So war es und so wird es immer sein

Sie will es und so ist es Brauch

Was sie will bekommt sie auch

Murka (Мурка) is a Russian pet name of a cat

Russian лук [luk] means 'onion', and 'Oi' (ой) stands for the exclamation 'Oh'

Copyright: V.A. Yatsko (В.А. Яцко), 2010