Clara went to work five minutes before the start of the working day, because now, in order to get to work, she only had to cross the yard. Checking that everything was in order, Clara, as usual, looked into the kitchen, ran a glance through the switches of the bathroom and toilet rooms, sent Savior a kiss and left the apartment. The elevator descended from the upper floors and opened, showing a young woman hiding irritation behind the mask of indifference. The irritation was caused by elevator opening. “Probably she’s in a hurry,” Clara thought of her, saying hello. The woman inexpressibly answered Clara’s greeting and began squeezing her to the exit. She seemed to be in a real hurry. As soon as the elevator doors opened, she impatiently jumped out of the elevator, banging her heels, ran down the stairs and rushed out onto the street. Walking behind, Clara saw a woman who was looking forward. Suddenly, somehow unnaturally, she stopped, staggered back and collapsed onto the dirty concrete floor between the front doors. Her head was in the entrance. Clara, instinctively rushing to her aid, saw a knife dug into the woman’s white neck. A scarlet streak of blood was flowing down onto the beige collar of her blouse, and woman’s wide eyes were fixed on the dusty entrance ceiling. An alien, terrible, ugly scream burst from Clara’s chest. Her legs became rubbery, and she instinctively pressed herself against the dusty wall.
“A month ago, Clara Yurievna Bychkova, then living at her registration address, was thrown with the exact same knife,” Major Cheredkov reported at an evening meeting of the investigative group. “She was saved by chance: she saw a kitten on the road, bent down to pick it up, and the knife flew by. According to her description, the knife looked exactly like this one”. Alexander Ivanovich nodded at the inlaid knife lying on the table. “She claims she saw a man behind the tree that day, but she could not describe him.”
“Well, can she at least say who this is, a woman or a man?” asked Colonel Stasov.
“She thinks it was a man of average height.”
“Well, what was he wearing?” Colonel continued asking.
“Something dark.”
“Brunette, blond?” Stasov was getting annoyed.
“She didn’t remember. She was very scared. She grabbed a kitten and ran away.”
“But did she at least remember the knife?” asked Stasov with obvious suspicion.
“Yes, she described it as exactly…”
“Or maybe she was under the impression of this murder?”
“No,” Intervened Captain Rublev. “I…”
“It’s not your turn to report,” Stasov stopped him. “Is that all?” He asked sternly.
“I also wanted to say,” Cheredkov hesitantly spoke, “that Clara Yurievna Bychkova is a Captain of the tax police. Now she is performing an audit of TAKHO, which is engaged in intermediary operations. Their audit results are not that positive.”
“More details, Cheredkov,” Colonel demanded. “Was there a theft?”
“No, tax concealment.”
“Is the sum large?”
“Yes, seems like it’s a bulk of money.”
“How much?”
“This is still being investigated.” Colonel frowned nervously and asked again: “Is that all?”
“Yes,” answered Alexander Ivanovich.
“What a lucky lady,” said Stasov. “First kitten, now this. What about you?” He turned to Captain Rublev. “I spoke with the district police officer from where Bychkova used to live. Officer Gleb Borisovich Chernyshev was called on June 17 by Clara Yurievna Bychkova. There was no knife in the tree where Clara Yurievna saw it, but a fresh trace remained. Chernyshev recorded the description of the knife made by Clara Yurievna in his notebook. I made a copy from this sheet. Here it is, I will read it.”
“No need to do that,” interrupted Stasov. “Go on!”
“On June 19, Gleb Borisovich Chernyshev found the described knife from Anton Karlovich Kirkorov. He was called by his communal neighbor.”
“Name!” demanded Stasov. He demanded "accuracy, accuracy and competent legal language" from his subordinates. Captain looked into the notes.
“Sofya Lazarevna Kobzon.” Major Cheredkov and Captain Kudinov started laughing.
“Kobzon? Is that right?” Colonel asked sternly.
“That's right,” Captain Rublev clarified, “Sofya Lazarevna Kobzon.”
“Well, why would Kirkorov and Kobzon argue?” Colonel asked, feeling pleased from making a good joke.
“Drunk Kirkorov fell asleep in the bathroom with an open tap. The bathroom overflowed and water went over the edge. Kirkorov did not respond to Sophia Lazarevna's knock, so she called the district police officer.”
“Okay,” Colonel interrupted impatiently. “What about the knife?”
“The knife was in Kirkorov’s room, stuck in a loaf of bread. He…”
“Where did he get it?” interrupted Stasov.
“Kirkorov explained he found it on the street. He was walking in the evening and saw it in a tree. No one needed the knife, so he took it home.”
“When? Was it the same day?”
“Kirkorov does not remember the exact date, but he seems to be telling the truth.”
“Seems to be! How many times should I tell you: there should be no inaccuracies in our job like “seems”, “probably” or “maybe”. “That is, we can’t even build versions?” Asked Captain Kudinov in a cold voice.
“You can, Andrei Vladimirovich,” Stasov answered without looking at the Captain. “But you have to rely on facts, not on something like that. Do you understand, Captain Kudinov?”
“If all the facts were known, our work would have lost its meaning,” Andrei Vladimirovich answered. Colonel Stasov left these words unanswered and again turned to Rublev: “What else do you have?”
“I think it was the same person in both cases. Probably they are knives from the same collection.”
“Captain Rublev, you will think later,” Colonel's irritation grew. “First we must listen to everyone, find out all the facts, and then we’ll be able to express our opinions and thoughts. Captain Kudinov has not yet spoken to us. Captain, do you have something to report?” Captain Kudinov hid a smirk and began:
“I found out that professor Leonid Alekseevich Izmailov, Clara Yurievna’s fiance, was in the laboratory during the first attempt, where he received a call from her.”
Colonel Stasov grimaced. “Received a call. Sounds like receiving an order. Can’t he just talk in a more simple language? This Kudinov is always showing off,” he thought, and said out loud: “But we are more interested in the second case.”
“Today he was also at the institute, but so far no one can confirm this. Bychkova did not call him immediately, but somewhere in an hour and a half. At that time he was at the department. But in an hour you can get to the institute from home.”
“Does he have a reason to kill her?”
“I don’t know. Ekaterina Yurievna, Clara Yurievna’s sister, had an alibi both times. On the seventeenth of June, she was having guests – her school friends. Today she was in Suzdal with her friends.”
“Are the names of all friends set?”
“Yes. I can list.”
“No