Boris Akunin - He Lover of Death

‘When we g-go to the Yauza Boulevard tonight, you’ll l-learn all about it there.’

They set off.

Death opened the door as soon as they knocked – had she been waiting in the hallway? She said nothing, just looked at Mr Nameless hungrily, without even blinking, as if her eyes had been blindfolded just a moment earlier, or she’d been sitting in the dark for a long time, or maybe she’d just recovered her sight after being blind. That was the way she looked at him. She didn’t even glance at Senka, never mind saying ‘Hello, Senya’ or ‘How are you?’ Then again, she didn’t answer Erast Petrovich when he said, ‘Good evening, madam,’ either. She even frowned slightly, as if those weren’t the words she’d been expecting.

They went into the room and sat down. They were supposed to be there to talk business, but something wasn’t right, it was like they were talking about the wrong thing. Death didn’t say much anyway, she looked at Erast Petrovich all the time, and he mostly looked down at the tablecloth. Sometimes he looked up at Death and then lowered his eyes again quickly. He stammered more than usual, as if he was embarrassed, or maybe he wasn’t, you could never tell with him.

Them playing this game of peep for two made Senka feel anxious, he only half listened to what Mr Nameless was saying and all sorts of nonsense kept crowding into his head. To keep it speedy, what the engineer told them, his plan of action, as he called it, was this: they had to round all the suspects up at a certain spot, where the criminal would show his hand and give himself away. Senka stared at Erast Petrovich, as if to say: How come, didn’t you say you’d figured out who the killer is? But the engineer flashed his eyes at Senka to tell him to keep quiet. So Senka kept shtum.

And when Erast Petrovich said: ‘Unfortunately I c-cannot manage this business without you, m-madam, or you, Senya. I have no other assistants,’ Death still didn’t look at Senka. That really hurt, he was very upset by that. In fact he was so upset, he wasn’t even scared when the engineer starting going on about how dangerous the job they were going to do was.

Death wasn’t scared either. She shook her head impatiently.

‘Enough. Tell us about the job.’

Senka rose to the occasion too: ‘Who cares about that, death comes to everyone sooner or later.’

He tossed his head smartly and tried to catch her eye. And then he realised what he’d said could be taken two ways. About death, or about Death.

‘All right.’ Erast Petrovich sighed. ‘Then let’s d-decide who’s going to hold which end of the n-net. You, madam, will b-bring the Prince and Deadeye to the spot. Senya will bring the Ghoul. And I will b-bring Superintendent Solntsev.’

‘Why bring him?’ Senka asked in surprise.

‘Because he’s under suspicion. All the c-crimes have been committed in his p-precinct. That is one. Solntsev is a cruel, g-greedy and absolutely immoral individual. That is t-two. And m-most importantly ...’ The engineer stared down at the tablecloth again. ‘... he is also involved with you, madam. That is three.’

Death’s cheek twitched as if she was in pain.

‘You’re talking nonsense again,’ she said bitterly. ‘Why don’t you tell me how to lure the Prince and Deadeye out? They’re both leery old wolves, they won’t just walk into a trap.’

‘And what about me?’ Senka piped up when he realised he’d have to handle the Ghoul all on his own. ‘He won’t even listen to me! Do you know what he’s like? Him and his gang’ll just grab me by the legs and tear me in half! What am I to him? A snot-nosed little kid! He won’t come anywhere with me!’

‘Yes he will, and he’ll c-come running, I’ll see to that,’ Mr Nameless told Senka, but he was looking at Death as he said it. ‘And you two won’t have to l-lure anybody out. Just meet them and show them t-to the appointed spot.’

‘What spot’s that?’ Death asked.

And then at last the engineer turned to Senka, and even put a hand on his shoulder.

‘Only one p-person knows that place. Well, Ali Baba, will you g-give up the secret of your cave?’

If Erast Petrovich hadn’t called him names like that in front of Death, maybe Senka wouldn’t have told him. Only what point was there in hanging on to the silver when maybe his life was at stake? And then Death turned her huge eyes towards him and raised her eyebrows just a bit, as if she was surprised by his hesitation . . . That decided it.

‘Agh!’ he said with a sweep of his hand. ‘I’ll show you, of course I will. Speedy Senka’s no miser!’

But once he’d said it, he suddenly felt sorry: not for all those thousands and thousands of roubles, but for his dream. After all, what were riches, anyway? Not the chance to stuff your belly every day, not a hundred pairs of patent leather shoes, not even your own automobile with a motor as strong as twenty horses. Riches were a dream of heaven on earth, when you got whatever you wished for.

That was horseshit too, of course. No matter how many millions he could offer Death, she still wouldn’t look at him the same way she looked at Erast Petrovich ...

No one was amazed and delighted by Senka’s insane generosity, no one clapped their hands. They didn’t even say ‘thank you’. Death just nodded and turned away, as if it couldn’t have been any other way. And Mr Nameless stood up. ‘Let’s g-go, then,’ he said, ‘without wasting any more time. Lead on, Senka, show us the way.’

*

There was no dead body in the underground hall where only a few hours earlier Prokha had tried to hand his old friend over to certain death and lost his own life instead. The basement-dwellers had dragged it away, for sure: they’d taken off the clothes and shoes and flung the naked corpse out in the street, that was the way of Khitrovka.

Senka didn’t feel afraid with Erast Petrovich and Death there. He held up the paraffin lamp and showed them how to take out the stones.

‘It’s a tight squeeze here, but it’s all right after that. You just keep going to the end.’

The engineer glanced into the hole, rubbed his fingers on one of the blocks and said: ‘Old stonework, a l-lot older than the building of the d-dosshouse. This part of Moscow is like a c-cake with many layers: new f-foundations were laid on top of the old ones, and then n-new ones on top of those. They’ve been b-building here for almost a thousand years.’

‘Are we going in, then?’ asked Senka, who couldn’t wait to show off his treasure.

‘There’s no n-need,’ answered Mr Nameless. ‘We can admire the sight t-tomorrow night. And so,’ he said, turning to Death, ‘be here, in this hall, at p-precisely a quarter past three in the m-morning. The Prince and Deadeye will come. When they see you, they will be s-surprised and start asking questions. No explanations. Show them the p-passage without saying anything, the stones will already be m-moved aside. Then s-simply lead them through, that’s all you have to do. I’ll be here soon after that, and that will be the b-beginning of Operation . . . I haven’t thought of a n-name for it yet. The main thing is, k-keep calm and don’t be afraid.’

Death kept her eyes fixed on the engineer all the time. Fair do’s, even in the flickering light of the paraffin lamp he was a handsome devil.

‘I’m not afraid,’ she said in a slightly hoarse voice. ‘And I’ll do everything you say. And now let’s go.’

‘Where t-to?’

She smiled bitterly and teased him: ‘No explanations, keep calm and don’t be afraid of anything.’

And she walked out of the hall without saying another word. Erast Petrovich gave Senka a confused look and dashed after her. So did Senka, but he grabbed the lamp first. Now what idea had she got into her head?