Stuart Kaminsky - The Man Who Walked Like a Bear

“No threats,” Sasha said, holding up his hands and smiling boyishly.

“We know of no one like that,” said the woman.

“They may have killed a man yesterday,” Sasha pressed on, feeling that the woman did know something, did have an idea. That possibility woke him, made him alert.

“Unfortunate,” said the woman. “I have much work to do here. If you would please leave, I would-”

“A name, a name from any of you,” Sasha said. “No one will know where I got it, and the police would be in your debt.”

“In our debt?” the old man named Ivan said. “How much in our debt?”

“We cannot pay for information,” Sasha said, turning to the old man, who made a move that the other old man quickly pounced upon.

“A permit to hold a meeting,” Ivan said.

“Ivan,” the woman behind the desk warned.

“Donkey shit,” said Ivan, pointing his pipe at her. “I’m eighty-two years old. What are they going to do to me? Kill me? I give him a name. Maybe some people we can’t talk to reasonably get sent away by the police, and we get a permit to meet. What do you say, police boy?”

“I say let me make a phone call,” he replied.

“And I say,” said Ivan, “tell me now. I’ve just lost this game to this, this piss-hill dwarf, and I want to get out of here and get a drink.”

“I don’t have the authority,” Sasha said.

“Then you don’t get a name,” said old Ivan, standing up and putting on a frayed cap.

“I’ll get you a permit,” he said.

“Ivan,” said the woman with a sigh, “you are a fool.”

“And we are going to have a permit,” he said with a grin that revealed an almost toothless mouth.

“You trust this policeman?” the woman said, looking at Sasha.

“Why not?” Ivan said with a shrug. “What we have to lose? Tell him the name, Lavrenti.”

The other man got off his chair, and Sasha saw that he was indeed nearly a dwarf.

“You won the game,” said Ivan. “Now tell the boy who he is looking for.”

“Peotor Kotsis,” said the little man.

“Peotor Kotsis,” Sasha repeated.

“Where did you hear that name?” asked Ivan.

“Where did I … he just …” And Sasha understood. “Someone called in with a tip,” Sasha said, looking at the woman, who pretended to be busy with her papers.

“What did we tell you?” Ivan asked.

“I don’t recall,” said Sasha. “What would this caller tell me about how to find Peotor Kotsis?”

“Who knows?” said Ivan, putting his hand on the little man’s shoulder. The two shuffled to the door and left.

“You’re not going to get a permit for us, are you?” the woman said.

“I will get the permit,” Sasha said, anxious to leave. “I will get the permit.”

“The man on the phone. The one who called you? He told you to look for a girl named Sonia selling flowers on the Arbat.”

“A girl named Sonia,” Sasha repeated. “Where on the Arbat?”

“How would I know?” the woman said without looking up. “He called you, not me.”

The Gray Wolfhound sat behind his desk, back straight, afternoon sun catching his distinct, etched profile. He wore a brown uniform with only three medals, but those medals caught the sun, and their reflections danced on the walls of the semidarkened room. The Wolfhound read the reports in front of him slowly, muttering an occasional “hmm” or “ah” as he turned the pages.

Rostnikov had decided to stand rather than sit, though the colonel had suggested that he make himself comfortable. If it took the Wolfhound five more minutes, Rostnikov would have to sit. The ache would come and he would have to relieve it. He had sat through a full hour of Major Grigorovich explaining parade routes. And then Pankov had stumbled over a financial report. When they had left, the Wolfhound had asked Rostnikov to stay so the colonel could more closely examine the current cases under investigation.

Colonel Snitkonoy put down the reports and looked up at his investigator. But still he did not speak. He put the tips of his long fingers together, tapping them lightly twice. “You know what is happening in China, Porfiry Petrovich?” he said finally.

“I’ve heard of unrest,” Rostnikov said, his eyes meeting those of the Wolfhound’s.

“Unrest, yes,” said the colonel. “It is speculated that the reforms in our country provided the model for the Chinese response. Do you think that likely?”

There was usually, but not always, a point to the colonel’s seemingly random observations.

“According to Engels, all things are possible that fall within the range of scientific probability and the laws of nature,” said Rostnikov. It was not, in fact, Porfiry Petrovich’s operative philosophy, but it was one of the acceptable responses. One could, and sometimes did, get through life by engaging in a prescripted dialogue founded upon clichés drawn from Marx, Engels, Lenin, and the latest acceptable interpreter of revolutionary truth.

“There are people, people in our government who are especially sensitive at the present time,” said the Wolfhound, rising, two hands open flat on the table. “What we do impacts on the world. One small error, scandal, indication of hypocrisy on the part of our government and our credibility will be seriously undermined.”

Rostnikov was beginning to see what was coming. It had happened before. He had handled it before, but not always to his own satisfaction. Someone wanted him to stop probing.

“Find your thief at the shoe factory,” the Wolfhound said. “Deal with the hysterical woman and her son. Find the bus. If you find more than a shoe thief, a bragging son, and a drunken bus driver, deal with the situation, but deal with it within the bounds outlined in your reports. These are tender times for me and those who work for me. Trouble wears many disguises. Unmask it carefully, Comrade Inspector.”

“I will,” said Rostnikov.

“Good,” said the Wolfhound with a sigh, indicating that this phase of the conversation was over. He stepped around from behind his desk, put his hands behind his back, and walked to the window. “Did you know that Deputy Andrei Morchov is a friend of mine?”

“I did not know,” said Rostnikov.

“I’ll say nothing to him when I see him tonight at the reception for the Chinese cultural envoy,” said the Wolfhound, gazing out at the quickly dropping sun. “But if he asks me about the investigation, I will tell him that it appears to be nothing but the absurdity of a headstrong youth.”

“That would seem reasonable,” Rostnikov agreed.

“And I would like the deputy to be undisturbed in the future over so slight a matter,” the colonel added.

“I will see to it that Deputy Morchov is undisturbed over slight matters,” Rostnikov agreed.

“I am going to confide in you, Porfiry Petrovich,” the Wolfhound said, still looking out the window. There were no lights on in the room, and the walls were fast disappearing. Rostnikov was not sure that he wanted the colonel’s confidence.

“My position is largely ceremonial,” the Wolfhound said. “I know that. You know that. Ceremony is essential in a state in which people who represent us are often without …”

“Presence,” Rostnikov supplied.

“Presence, yes,” the colonel agreed. “And dignity. And pride.”

Rostnikov thought he detected a smile in the corner of the famous profile.

“I’ve made few if any enemies, Porfiry Petrovich. I am permitted an investigative staff, your staff, consisting of personnel who are not wanted in other departments but, for reasons I cannot always fathom, are too valuable simply to dismiss. We are permitted to function, investigate as long as we remain harmless, unthreatening to other investigative bodies. I’ll not ask you if you understand where I am going with this. You are always well ahead of me.”