Boris Akunin - He Lover of Death

‘Yes,’ said Senka, remembering. ‘And Siniukhin called him a “beast” as well.’

He felt a bit ashamed for not telling Erast Petrovich the whole truth back then – he’d kept quiet about the treasure.

It was as if the engineer was listening to Senka’s conscience reproaching him.

‘So now, if you have no m-more questions, let us move on to the most important s-subject – drawing up a plan of measures to f-find the criminal. And the k-key word here is – treasure.’

Senka shuddered and started blinking rapidly, but the sensei wasn’t at all surprised, he even nodded his head.

‘Yes, yes, tresia.’

‘The criminal’s b-behaviour and all the atrocities he has c-committed cease to appear meaningless if we st-string them on that thread.’ Mr Nameless looked intently at his beads. ‘The logical sequence that emerges here is as f-follows. The pen-pusher from the Yerokha b-basements found some treasure. [Clack number one.] The future m-murderer found out about it. [Clack number two.] He tried to d-drag the secret out of Siniukhin, but he f-failed. [Clack number three.] But before he d-died, the pen-pusher revealed the secret of the t-treasure to our Senya. [Clack number four – this time Senka squirmed, and if the burning feeling in his cheeks was anything to go by, he must have blushed too, but Erast Petrovich didn’t look at him, he carried on as if Senka knew all this anyway.] To c-continue. In some unknown manner, the k-killer figured out that Senya knew where the treasure was. [Clack number five.] That is, we d-don’t know how the criminal f-found this out, but we do know from where. The t-trail that our treasure hunter followed to Senya started f-from the jeweller’s shop. [Clack number six.] I believe Samshitov told the k-killer about you and where you could be found – which is c-confirmed by a certain visit paid to Madam Borisenko’s b-boarding house. [Clack number seven.]’

Senka started blinking again: What visit was that, then? The engineer and the Japanese exchanged glances, and Erast Petrovich said: ‘Yes, Senya, yes. The only thing that s-saved you was that you left that evening without l-leaving an address, and a few hours later we b-brought you here. The next day Madam B-Borisenko informed Masa that someone had been in your room d-during the night. He forced the door, didn’t t-touch anything and left. We didn’t tell you about it, b-because you were thoroughly f-frightened already.’

Senka propped his chin on his fist, as if he was feeling thoughtful, but it was really to stop his teeth chattering. Holy Mother of God, he’d be lying tied to a bed now, like Tashka, if he’d stayed there that night and decided he ought to sleep on things.

‘When you disappeared, the k-killer lost the trail for a few d-days. But then you showed up in Khitrovka, and the c-criminal knew about it straight away, perhaps by chance, perhaps in s-some other way, I don’t know which. Somehow he f-found out that you had gone into Yeroshenko’s d-dosshouse, and he ambushed you n-near the exit. Your carelessness almost c-cost you your l-life. [Clack number eight.]’

‘Never mind, I’m not that easy to catch,’ Senka said, trying to blow his own trumpet. ‘He tried to take my life but I’m slippery, I wriggled out of his grip, and I gave him a good whack with my stick. He won’t forget that in a hurry.’

‘If he had wanted to k-kill you, he would have done. Straight away,’ said the engineer, pouring cold water on Senka’s bravado. ‘He’s very g-good at it, with a knife or with his b-bare hands. No, Senya, he needs you alive. He would have f-forced you to reveal the whereabouts of the treasure, and then k-killed you.’

When he heard that, Senka propped his chin up again, this time with both fists.

‘When the k-killer lost your trail after the murder of the jeweller, he decided to try a d-different approach. Many p-people in Khitrovka knew about your f-friendship with Mademoiselle Tashka. Your admirer knew about it t-too. [Clack number nine.] At first he clearly attempted to extract information f-from her without resorting to extreme m-measures. That was what she whispered about when she walked p-past you – she was trying to warn you of the d-danger. The criminal obviously paid her another visit after the unsuccessful attack in the b-basement. It was no accident that Tashka put three white d-daffodils in the window. If I recall correctly, in the language of f-flowers, that is an alarm signal – “run, run, run”.’

Yes, that was right, Senka remembered. Tashka had told him about white daffodils, and how when a signal was repeated, that made the message twice or three times as strong, like an exclamation mark.

‘‘Eventually’ the engineer said, looking at his beads, but not clacking them any more, ‘the f-fiend decided to take a more serious l-line with the girl.’

‘And still she didn’t give me away ...’ Senka couldn’t help himself, he sobbed. ‘Damn that rotten treasure. It would have been better if Tashka told him I’d promised to come and see her. Maybe then he wouldn’t have touched her. And I’d have given him everything, the lousy rat could go choke on the silver! It’s the Prince, isn’t it? Or Deadeye?’ he asked, brushing his tears away with his sleeve. ‘You’ve probably deduced it all, haven’t you?’

‘No,’ said Mr Nameless, disappointing Senka’s hopes. ‘I have insufficient d-data. The deceased pen-pusher was too f-fond of his drink, and apparently he couldn’t k-keep his mouth shut. If they knew about the t-treasure in the Prince’s gang, others could have heard about it too.’

And then there was silence, as Senka struggled with all his might to control his body’s reactions: teeth that wanted to chatter, knees that wanted to knock and tears that wanted to flow. For no clear reason, Erast Petrovich started messing up a piece of paper in that stupid way he had. He dipped his brush in the inkwell and scrawled a fancy squiggle. Masa watched the brush carefully. He shook his head and said:

‘Not goo’.’

‘I can s-see that,’ the engineer murmured, and scribbled it again. ‘How about that?’

‘Betta.’

Honest to God, they were just like little kids! All this important business to deal with, and look what they were doing!

‘What are you mucking about like that for?’ Senka asked, unable to stop himself. ‘Aren’t we going to do anything?’

‘Not “m-mucking about”, but “wasting time”. That is one.’ Erast Petrovich leaned his head to one side, admiring his scribbles. ‘I am not wasting t-time, I am focusing my thoughts with the help of c-calligraphy. That is two. The f-flawlessly written hieroglyph for “justice” has allowed me to m-make the transition from d-deduction to projection. That is three.’

Senka thought for a moment and said: ‘Eh?’

Mr Nameless sighed. ‘If there is s-something that you didn’t understand or d-didn’t hear, you should say: “I beg your pardon?” In this case, p-projection signifies the extension of analytical c-conclusions into the practical phase. So, thanks to Mademoiselle Tashka’s f-firm resolve, the killer has been left with n-nothing. He does not know where to find you or how to l-look for you. This is good in some ways and b-bad in others.’

‘What’s bad about it?’

‘The c-criminal (I suggest that for the time b-being we call him the Treasure Hunter) cannot d-do anything, so he will not show his hand and g-give himself away.’ Erast Petrovich gave Senka a calculating look. ‘Of c-course, we could try catching him with live b-bait, that is deliberately offer you to him, but this gentleman is t-too brutal by half. It could be a risky f-fishing expedition.’

Senka didn’t try to argue with that. He’d seen people fishing with live bait – a blay or some other little fish: the pike snapped up the bait first and sank its teeth into its backbone, before it got hauled out to answer for its crimes.