The Cleansing Flames Part 23

He closed his eyes, so that he would not have to watch his own act of betrayal, and rapped his knuckles lightly against the door. There was an answering flurry of movement inside the room.

Salytov prompted Tolya further with an urgent nod.

'Rakitin? Are you there? It is I, Tolya. From Ballet's. Do you remember?'

The door opened a crack. An almost handsome face, marred by dark rings around the eyes, peered out. 'Oh. You. I thought it might be . . .' Rakitin broke off; his eyes s.h.i.+fted nervously.

'Who?'

'Never mind. Come in then.'

Salytov shook his head slowly at Tolya.

'No. I . . . I don't want to take up too much of your time.'

'You must come in,' Rakitin pleaded. 'You never know who is listening.'

Tolya sensed Salytov's smile. He was clearly enjoying the irony. A thread of anger now twisted itself in amongst the tangled ma.s.s of Tolya's emotions. 'Pseldonimov is dead,' he blurted.

'How do you know?'

'The police came to me. I didn't know what to think.'

'The police? What did you tell them?'

'The truth. That I haven't seen Pseldonimov, or you, for years.'

'Me? Why did you have to bring me into it?'

'You were his friend. You were always together whenever you came to Ballet's.'

'And so? You were not obliged to tell the police this.'

'You don't understand.'

'And now it won't be long before they come snooping round here. Thanks to you.'

'No, you don't understand. They knew all about you.'

'What are you saying? Was this the Petersburg police . . . or the Third Section?'

'The police. A policeman.'

'What did he know?'

'He knew that you were a friend of Pseldonimov's.'

'What of it? That is not a crime, even in this country.'

'But Pseldonimov is dead. He wants to speak to you about Pseldonimov.'

'Impossible. I cannot be drawn into this. It is too dangerous. Far too dangerous.'

'Why do you say that? Was he murdered? Do you know who killed him?'

'I cannot talk about it anymore. If you will not step inside, then I must '

Salytov spun out of his hiding place and rammed his cane into the crack of the open door, leaning into it to prise it open further.

'You led them here!' cried Rakitin. He ran back into his room, clambering over furniture to get away from Salytov. After a moment of indecision, he threw himself towards the window, struggling to open the latch.

Salytov grabbed the belt of his trousers and hauled him back. 'Don't think of it. Don't . . . you . . . dare . . . think . . . of it.' The words were punctuated with blows from his cane, landed viciously on either side of Rakitin's torso. Rakitin fell to the floor and pulled himself up into a whimpering ball, his arms wrapped protectively around his head.

Tolya did not stay to witness the sequel to these events.

'Good,' said Porfiry quietly, as he turned away from the cell door. His voice lacked any enthusiasm for the sentiment expressed.

Virginsky flashed a questioning glare towards his superior. Porfiry answered with a minute shake of the head. But Virginsky would not be silenced. 'You commend this? The man can hardly walk.'

'He tried to escape,' said Salytov.

'Did you even have a warrant for his arrest?'

'I was acting on my own initiative. There are times when a policeman, out in the field, must do what he feels is necessary. He does not always have time to consult the rulebook.'

'You do not need the rulebook to know that you should not beat a witness!'

'One used to be able to. Before the reforms.'

'Well, it is no longer allowed.'

Salytov ignored Virginsky's objection. 'I brought him in, didn't I? It's up to you now. You can draw up the d.a.m.ned warrant now, if you're so determined to have one.'

'After the event?'

'That's how we used to do it.'

Virginsky shook his head in despair. 'Will we be able to get anything out of him though?' He directed his protest to Porfiry. 'The man is scared out of his wits. I am not sure he is even capable of speech any more. We should have a doctor examine him, Porfiry Petrovich. You know that.'

'Yes, of course. You will see to it, Pavel Pavlovich. If the doctor says he is well enough to be interviewed, we will proceed. In the meantime, we will allow him to rest.'

'May I also remind you, he is not a suspect. He is possibly a witness. Is this the best way to ensure the co-operation of a witness?'

'Very well, Pavel Pavlovich. You have made your points quite eloquently,' said Porfiry. 'However, we cannot undo what has been done. A policeman is granted licence to use all necessary force in the conduct of his duties. I am confident that Ilya Petrovich will not have exceeded the limits of necessary force.'

Virginsky's mouth fell open. 'What has happened to you, Porfiry Petrovich? What have you become? You say "necessary force", as if this is a perfectly civilised concept. But when the abuser is the one who determines what is necessary, what hope is there for the abused? Furthermore, why is he being kept in a cell? We do not normally throw witnesses in cells.'

'But he tried to escape,' insisted Salytov.

'No no,' intervened Porfiry. 'It is rather that we are short of s.p.a.ce. We do not have any other rooms for him to recover in.'

'Why lock the door then?'

'Now that we have him, it would be a shame if we lost him, would it not? I believe that happened once before, Ilya Petrovich, and it caused us an inordinate amount of inconvenience.'

The red of Salytov's complexion intensified.

'But his rights! The man has rights, you know. The Tsar himself set them down in law.'

'His rights will be respected.' There was a hint of impatience in Porfiry's voice, anger almost. 'Now, back to my chambers. Ilya Petrovich, you will accompany us? I wish you to tell us all you can about this witness.'

'If you will excuse me,' said Virginsky, 'I will see to the doctor, as you requested.'

When Virginsky entered Porfiry's chambers later, he found the magistrate alone. A mist of tobacco smoke filled the room, and the air tasted pungently of Porfiry's familiar brand of cigarettes.

Porfiry blinked, as if the fug was bringing tears to his eyes. That did not prevent him from lighting a fresh cigarette. 'What did the doctor say?'

'Three broken ribs. Do you approve of that?'

Porfiry sighed out smoke. 'I do not like his methods any more than you do.'

'And yet you allow them. More than that, you encourage them. You complimented him.'

'I do not think I complimented him.'

'You said "good"!'

'I was not referring to Salytov's treatment of the witness. Merely to his success in tracking the man down.'

'Do you think Salytov is capable of making that distinction?'

'Men like Salytov . . .' began Porfiry.

'Yes?'

'His generation of policemen those who entered the force before the reforms will not endure. You are young. You must simply bide your time. The new recruits are being trained to honour the rights of our citizens.'

'But they still have the example of men like Salytov, whom they see encouraged by a respected magistrate.'

'I hardly think that one word, uttered in careless distraction, counts as encouragement. Besides which, if I remember rightly, you hardly gave me an opportunity to admonish him. For all you know, I may have been going on to say, "Good . . . Good G.o.d, Ilya Petrovich, have you any idea how damaging your behaviour is?"'

'Were you?'

Porfiry looked away sheepishly. 'That's beside the point. The point is that this witness may prove to be crucial in the case. I cannot regret that we have him in custody, even if I regret the means by which this was achieved. The fact that he did attempt to flee from a policeman is enough to confer suspicion on him. There is flexibility within the law within the new law for Salytov's conduct. A warrant has been drawn up.'

'In retrospect?'

'His known a.s.sociation with the dead man necessarily makes him someone we are desirous to interview. If he will not co-operate with our desire, I'm afraid we must resort to a warrant.'

Virginsky shook his head dismissively. 'This ability to compartmentalise the deeds of men like Salytov, accepting those that are expedient but turning a blind eye to the inconvenient abuses they commit, is the reason why such abuses persist. I would go further: it is the foundation upon which all the injustices of the regime are constructed. So long as men like you, Porfiry Petrovich, say nothing, then the state may do as it pleases. You urge me to bide my time, to simply wait for the extinction of Salytov's generation. I am afraid I must also be impatient for the pa.s.sing of men like you, Porfiry Petrovich. If you will not stand up to the Salytovs of this world, then one must seriously wonder if you have any role in society left to you.'

'We are investigating a murder. My role in society is to keep on asking questions until we have discovered the person or persons responsible. It is as simple as that. I urge you to adopt a similarly narrow focus of concentration.' Porfiry ground out his half-smoked cigarette with premature finality, as if he had suddenly sickened of it. 'In my conversation with Lieutenant Salytov on our return from the cells I was able to glean a number of significant facts. Our man from the ca.n.a.l, the man with the pockmarked face, now has a name: Pseldonimov. I have asked Alexander Grigorevich to submit an enquiry at the Address Office. We should have Pseldonimov's last known address later today. We also have an occupation for him. He was a printer. There is more to it than that. He is rumoured to have turned his hand to certain illicit activities, such as the printing of manifestos, and counterfeiting.'

'Counterfeiting?'

'Yes. I am afraid so. Perhaps after all his death has more to do with common criminality than revolutionary politics.'

Virginsky hesitated a moment before asking, 'W-why do you say that?'

The slight falter in Virginsky's question provoked Porfiry's attention. Under his superior's calm and interested scrutiny, Virginsky felt himself blush.

'What is going on, Pavel Pavlovich? Do you know something about all this?'

'What do you mean? Why do you ask that?'

'You're blus.h.i.+ng. And there was a decidedly guilty tone to your voice just now. And now you have adopted a bullishly aggressive one.'

'What nonsense!'

'What have you got yourself mixed up in, Pavel Pavlovich? Whatever it is, I urge you to confide in me.'

'I have been . . . pursuing a line of enquiry of my own.'

'And when did you intend to share this with me?'

'When I had something more concrete to go on.'

'What if, in the meantime, this line of enquiry of yours leads you into the company of dangerous men? And they find out who you really are Pavel Pavlovich Virginsky, magistrate. The next thing we know, we are fis.h.i.+ng you out of a ca.n.a.l.'

'They already know I'm a magistrate. So . . .' Virginsky shrugged. And then grinned, rather sheepishly.

'You fool! These men do not play games, Pavel Pavlovich.' Porfiry's hands were shaking as he reached for his cigarettes. 'Now, you will tell me everything. For G.o.d's sake, sit down. I cannot have you standing over me like this. My nerves will not tolerate it.' He threw his enamelled cigarette case back onto his desk without taking a cigarette out.

'I-I-I met a man.' Virginsky lowered himself hesitantly onto the artificial-leather sofa. 'On Easter Sunday. The night of the first fires, you will remember. I suspected him of being a petroleur. It was something he said. Something along the lines of, I would always find him at such events. Anyhow, he gave me a copy of a manifesto. "G.o.d the Nihilist". You know the one. You had it in your collection. It was the one we linked to Kozodavlev. Through the sc.r.a.p of paper we found in his apartment.'

'We found?'

'Very well, you found it. At any rate, I had been thinking about it, and last night I decided to seek him out again. I found him in a tavern in Haymarket Square, as he had said that I would. I offered my services to the cause. We talked about methods. He mentioned counterfeiting.'

'I see.'

'It is a method of destabilising the government. He said that they had employed it with some success. So, you see, it is not simply an activity of common criminals. Revolutionists engage in it too.'

'Do you have any idea of the risk you were exposing yourself to in talking to this man? There is not simply the danger from him and his a.s.sociates to consider. Suppose he is being watched. That would bring you under suspicion if you are not already.'