Read online the reverse side of volume 3.

Alexandra Marinina

Reverse force. Volume 3. 1983–1997

Part Three

… you will be horrified by the insensitivity of human nature to the truth when the truth is clear and obvious.

From the defensive speech of N. P. Karabchevsky in litigation in the Mironovich case

Arrogance is always blind. Doubt is the companion of the mind.

From the defense speech of N. P. Karabchevsky in the trial in the case of the Skitsky brothers

Chapter 1. 1983

Anti-crime new minister Internal Affairs Fedorchuk dealt several crushing blows. The first was "trial": the country's chief policeman said that no scientific activity, except for the development of forensic technology, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is not needed, and those who are engaged in this very science simply eat up public money and sit out their pants. Immediately following this statement, there was an instruction to significantly reduce the VNII of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as to liquidate the Scientific Center at the Academy, where Vera Leonidovna Potapova worked. Eliminate completely. Nearly 300 people - officers with higher education and, for the most part, with academic degrees - they had to be employed somewhere, and it was within the system, because it was impossible to fire them.

And, as luck would have it, at that moment another memorandum with a proposal for a list of measures necessary to improve the efficiency of the correction and re-education of convicts with mental anomalies fell on the minister's desk. The minister did not bother to get to the bottom of it, saw two familiar words - "convicted" and "psyche" - and angrily interrupted the employee who was reporting the material:

- What nonsense! In our colonies, the insane do not serve their sentences, and convicts cannot have any mental illness.

This was enough for Vera Leonidovna to be summoned to the academic council the next day. Her dissertation was withdrawn from defense.

Completely bewildered, she called the supervisor with the question: what to do now?

“Write a new dissertation,” the venerable professor calmly advised. - You have more than enough materials, change the title, remove all references to mental anomalies from the text and focus on stable individual personality traits, go to penitentiary psychology. Get it done in a couple of months.

In a couple of months! Of course, she will edit the text, partially rewrite it, but the problems do not end there. It is necessary to approve a new topic at the Academic Council, having previously discussed it at the department. It is necessary to print a new text, write a new abstract, again go through a discussion at the department and the painful procedure of collecting and submitting a new package of documents for submission to the defense. And all this despite the fact that she, like all employees Science Center, is located “beyond the states”: within two months they will be paid a salary in full - the official salary plus an allowance for rank and length of service, then another two months - only for rank and length of service, and for another two months they can be registered in this service without any monetary content. Six months to find another job in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. How to rake this bunch of problems - Vera had a bad idea.

In the meantime, all officers withdrawn from the staff began to be invited in turn to the personnel department to resolve issues of their employment. We started, of course, with the heads of departments and their deputies: they were offered better places. Then came the turn of leading researchers, after them they took on the “senior” and “simply scientific”, who were provided with positions already on a residual basis. Lieutenant Colonel Potapova was offered the position of head of the juvenile affairs inspectorate in one of the districts of the Kalinin region.

- You worked in the crime prevention department, so take up prevention in practice, apply your scientific knowledge- Smiling maliciously, said a young personnel officer.

- Can I think?

“Of course, but only for a short time. Is two hours enough for you?

He mocked her and reveled in his power so openly, with such childish joy that Vera could not even get angry with him. Boy, she thought as she left the office and hurried up the stairs to the floor where the department of criminology was located. “All right, let him frolic.”

At this department, Vera wrote her dissertation and went through all the discussions; the head of the department - a well-known scientist, author of textbooks and many monographs - promised Potapova to take her to the post of senior teacher, and immediately after the defense to make her an associate professor. Of course, if there are vacancies. The vacancy of a senior lecturer was supposed to become free from day to day: the employee who occupied it drew up a pension. Vera was sure that the head of the department had fulfilled his promise and warned the personnel officers that Lieutenant Colonel Potapova should be sent to his unit, and today's conversation with an employee of the personnel department puzzled her pretty much.

“Nothing works, Vera Leonidovna,” the head of the department spread his hands. - You know, in the ministry they go personnel changes, the minister brings his people, the former employees are forced to look for places. And they are all there without academic degrees, so you can’t appoint them either as associate professors or professors. Only senior teachers. Well, if the officer is young, then you can just be a teacher. But basically everyone is aged… I'm sorry. But I've been ordered to fill this vacancy with a man from the ministry. If you were a PhD, I would have arguments why I want to take you. And so I have no arguments, a person from the Ministry of Service and experience in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is much more.

“What nonsense! - Vera angrily repeated to herself, returning to her now former, that is, practically non-existent department. - The Academy needs to employ its employees, and they filled all the vacancies with ministerial people. However, it’s my own fault, I delayed my dissertation, I should have got down to business as soon as I moved to the Academy, and not put it off. Then all issues would be solved much easier.”

The department was despondent, reeking of mildew. Those who received a new appointment slowly put things in order, cleaned the safes, destroying what was unnecessary, and completed the articles promised in collections and magazines. Those who new position hadn't received it yet, they read newspapers, played chess, talked on the phone, drank tea... The atmosphere was oppressive and, at the same time, nervously inflated. Everyone knew that Vera was called into the frames, so as soon as she crossed the threshold, all eyes turned to her.

- Well? What did they say?

- They proposed an inspection for juvenile affairs in the Kalinin region. And living in a hostel, without providing an apartment.

One of the employees, in the past - the head of the Department of Internal Affairs of one of the regions, looked at Potapova with distrust.

- You? Yes, are they crazy? You were an important investigator in the Prosecutor General's Office!

Vera shrugged. It is easy for him to be surprised: he himself received the position of deputy head of the department at the special faculty, where foreign workers studied law enforcement from friendly countries.

- Who cares now? I have no degree, and our Baranov, a candidate of sciences, also a lieutenant colonel, was offered yesterday to go to work as a district police officer. Yes, by the way, if anyone does not know: all the vacant positions in the Academy and in our VNII are ministerial troops. So for those who are not yet employed, it is unlikely that something will break off.

I must say that none of the employees were particularly fussy with the search new work. Somehow it didn’t fit in people’s heads that they could just be taken and thrown overboard like that, sent to some hole in the lowest position. That's impossible! And it won't. Everything will somehow settle down, settle down, the ministry will catch on and issue some kind of “good”, “correct” order ... Well, after all, it cannot be that the situation that has suddenly arisen ends with a complete cessation of scientific activity! This is absurd!

The temptation was very great to take books and papers home, not to go to the Academy and calmly work on reworking the dissertation. But it's scary ... What if a position is vacated somewhere, and they remember Potapova, they start looking for her, they don't find it - and they immediately remember someone else. It is necessary to get out of your skin, but before the expiration of these damned six months, have time to defend or at least submit a dissertation for defense, because it is not known what will happen next, and a degree is at least some help. And work, if it suddenly appears, cannot be missed: Vera, of course, will last two months with a cut salary, she will not die of hunger, but they will be followed by two months without a salary at all, which means that it will be necessary to create at least some kind of financial backlog. She had no other sources of income.

Alexandra Marinina's book “Reverse force. Volume 3. 1983-1997” touches on many aspects of life. Throughout the time, starting from the first volume, the story concerns the Gnedich-Raevsky family, but the novel cannot be called a family saga. At the same time, although it highlights historical events country, it cannot be called uniquely historical. It is rather a story of the thoughts of the members of one family along with reflections on what is more important in life. The third book continues this theme.

The life of many members of this family was somehow connected with the legal sphere. And the most important questions for them were those related to ethics, guilt. Is it possible to make the only right decision? And this applies not only to work, but also to own life. How to make the right choice if its consequences can bring pain to loved ones? If initially it seems to be the right thing to do, but its consequences show that it is not. And according to the law of the boomerang, everything done returns - the retroactive force of actions.

Faith lived familiar life, planned the near future, which promised to be pleasant. But suddenly everything changed, difficulties began at work, close person seriously ill. Yet yesterday everything seemed so cloudless. Fate seems to say that you should not relax, because one day she will come to take her own.

Lawyer Orlov is in the hospital ward in the intensive care unit. Being in a difficult state, he reflects on the meaning of life, remembers the past and tries to understand what the old letter, left by a long-dead relative, means. He received it by right as the last representative of the Raevsky family, but did not understand what one of the ancestors was trying to convey to him.

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Part Three

… you will be horrified by the insensitivity of human nature to the truth when the truth is clear and obvious.

From the defense speech of N. P. Karabchevsky in the trial in the case of Mironovich

Arrogance is always blind. Doubt is the companion of the mind.

From the defense speech of N. P. Karabchevsky in the trial in the case of the Skitsky brothers

Chapter 1. 1983

In the fight against crime, the new Minister of Internal Affairs, Fedorchuk, dealt several crushing blows. The first one was “trial”: the country’s chief policeman said that no scientific activity, except for the development of forensic technology, is needed in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and those who are engaged in this very science simply eat up state money and sit out their pants. Immediately following this statement, there was an instruction to significantly reduce the VNII of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as to liquidate the Scientific Center at the Academy, where Vera Leonidovna Potapova worked. Eliminate completely. Nearly 300 people - officers with higher education and, for the most part, with scientific degrees - had to be employed somewhere, and within the system, because it was impossible to fire them.

- What nonsense! In our colonies, the insane do not serve their sentences, and convicts cannot have any mental illness.

This was enough for Vera Leonidovna to be summoned to the academic council the next day. Her dissertation was withdrawn from defense.

Completely bewildered, she called the supervisor with the question: what to do now?

In a couple of months! Of course, she will edit the text, partially rewrite it, but the problems do not end there. It is necessary to approve a new topic at the Academic Council, having previously discussed it at the department. It is necessary to print a new text, write a new abstract, again go through a discussion at the department and the painful procedure of collecting and submitting a new package of documents for submission to the defense. And all this despite the fact that she, like all employees of the Scientific Center, is “beyond the states”: within two months they will be paid their salary in full - official salary plus bonus for rank and length of service, then another two months - only for rank and length of service, and two more months they can be registered in this service already without any monetary content. Six months to find another job in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. How to rake this bunch of problems - Vera had a bad idea.

“You worked in the crime prevention department, so take up prevention in practice, apply your scientific knowledge,” a young personnel officer said with a sarcastic smile.

- Can I think?

“Of course, but only for a short time. Is two hours enough for you?

“Nothing works, Vera Leonidovna,” the head of the department spread his hands. - You know, there are personnel changes in the ministry, the minister brings his people, the former employees are forced to look for jobs. And they are all there without academic degrees, so you can’t appoint them either as associate professors or professors. Only senior teachers. Well, if the officer is young, then you can just be a teacher. But basically everyone is aged… I'm sorry. But I've been ordered to fill this vacancy with a man from the ministry. If you were a PhD, I would have arguments why I want to take you. And so I have no arguments, a person from the Ministry of Service and experience in the Ministry of Internal Affairs is much more.

The department was despondent, reeking of mildew. Those who received a new appointment slowly put things in order, cleaned the safes, destroying what was unnecessary, and completed the articles promised in collections and magazines. Those who had not yet received a new position read newspapers, played chess, talked on the phone, drank tea ... The atmosphere reigned oppressive and at the same time nervously inflated. Everyone knew that Vera was called into the frames, so as soon as she crossed the threshold, all eyes turned to her.

- Well? What did they say?

- They proposed an inspection for juvenile affairs in the Kalinin region. And living in a hostel, without providing an apartment.

One of the employees, in the past - the head of the Department of Internal Affairs of one of the regions, looked at Potapova with distrust.

- You? Yes, are they crazy? You were an important investigator in the Prosecutor General's Office!

Vera shrugged. It is easy for him to be surprised: he himself received the position of deputy head of a department at a special faculty where foreigners studied - law enforcement officers from friendly countries.

- Who cares now? I don't have a degree, but our Baranov, Ph.D., also a lieutenant colonel, was offered yesterday to work as a district police officer. Yes, by the way, if anyone does not know: all the vacant positions in the Academy and in our VNII are ministerial troops. So for those who are not yet employed, it is unlikely that something will break off.

I must say that none of the employees were particularly fussy with the search for a new job. Somehow it didn’t fit in people’s heads that they could just be taken and thrown overboard like that, sent to some hole in the lowest position. That's impossible! And it won't. Everything will somehow settle down, settle down, the ministry will catch on and issue some kind of “good”, “correct” order ... Well, after all, it cannot be that the situation that has suddenly arisen ends with a complete cessation of scientific activity! This is absurd!

Oh, if the question was only about how to feed! Before Vera Leonidovna loomed the need for much more substantial spending. Firstly, the wedding of Tanya and Boris Orlov, scheduled for early May: in February, the children applied to the Wedding Palace. And secondly, as soon as Tanya moved in with the Orlovs just before the New Year, Vera finally decided to make repairs in her one-room apartment. Tidy up the walls with long ugly cracks that appeared from the shrinkage of the house, change the wallpaper, re-lay the linoleum in the kitchen, whitewash the ceiling, put new tiles in the bathroom to replace the partially fallen off old one. Throughout January, she was actively preparing, peeling off old wallpapers, chipping off tiles, looking for and buying materials, and negotiating with craftsmen. And now it turned out that she could not afford all these expenses.

The apartment was ruined and uncomfortable, Vera constantly ran into buckets of paint or whitewash, rolls of wallpaper and packs of tiles; furniture moved; her dwelling, which we recently sucked comfortably and loved, has turned into a barn in which it is impossible to spend an extra minute. At first it did not seem scary, because not for long! Now it turned out that not just for a long time, but generally it is not known for how long. Vera kept thinking about sorting out the things and books piled on the table in the room and doing her dissertation at home, but each time she was frightened: absence from the workplace could result in the loss of a job. Lord, only three years until retirement, we need to somehow get settled and stretch it out, and then it will be possible to sit at home with a clear conscience and nurse our grandchildren, who, God willing, will already appear by that time.

The employees had long since left, but Vera Leonidovna was still sitting at the table, carefully reading her own text and considering: this paragraph can be left, this one should be thrown out, something completely different should be written in its place, but here you can limit yourself to editing ... When the phone chirped, she looked at clock and was surprised: the beginning of the ninth, who can call the department at such a time?

- Mom, Alexander Ivanovich feels bad, I called an ambulance. Borka for a day, I'm alone, I'm so scared! Can you come?

Vera immediately dropped everything, shoved the materials into a desk drawer, locked the department room and rushed off to hail a taxi. On the street where the Academy was located, finding a "bomb" was unrealistic, you need to run to Leningradsky Prospekt, where the flow of cars is much more intense and the chances of leaving are much higher. Sasha, Sasha… He jumped with his unwillingness to treat his heart. He rarely goes to the doctors, no constant monitoring, he does not quit smoking. You won’t put you in the hospital, you won’t drive you to the sanatorium. Well, at least he doesn't drink. If only nothing serious! Just don't have a heart attack!

At eight o'clock in the evening the main entrance to the Academy was closed, and one had to use the checkpoint leading to a narrow dark passage where employees parked their cars: only official cars of the leadership were allowed to be parked in front of the main entrance. As soon as Vera stepped off the porch onto the sidewalk, she was hailed from the slowly driving away dark blue Zhiguli.

- Faith! Potapov! Which direction are you? Give me a ride?

She squinted her eyes, trying to see the face of the driver in the March twilight - it turned out to be a long-time familiar employee of the editorial and publishing department, with whom she had to communicate closely while her dissertation abstract, which was not useful, was being prepared for publication. Rejoicing at the unexpected luck, Vera named the address.

“Sit down,” the colleague nodded, “I’m about the same place, I’ll make a small detour.”

He bought a car quite recently, he received tremendous pleasure from driving, and Vera Leonidovna knew that this person not only never refused anyone's requests for a lift, but he himself always offered everyone to use his services as a driver.

Near the house where the Orlovs lived, Vera appeared in fifteen minutes. There was an ambulance at the entrance.

Is this for your friend? – understandingly asked a colleague.

Vera sighed, her heart sank from a bad presentiment.

- Maybe. The poor daughter is scared to death.

What if they take you to the hospital? Only one person can be taken into the car, two will not be put into the car.

- So, I'll go to the ambulance, leave my daughter at home.

The colleague shook his head.

– One? She's going crazy with anxiety and fear. You both need to go. Here's the thing: I'll wait here, I won't leave. If your friend is taken away, I will at least take you and your daughter to the hospital. And if it doesn't, you just come out and tell me it's all right.

“You need to go home,” she said doubtfully. “It’s embarrassing for me to harness you like that.

“Nonsense,” he replied cheerfully. - I'm a novice driver, I need to ensure the arrival of hours, so the more I drive, the better. And I'm not in a hurry to go home, I sent my wife to a sanatorium, my mother-in-law's children are found. So I took advantage of the situation, I sit at work longer, I clear all the debts, so that it would not be embarrassing to hand over things if they start laying off us.

Do you think they'll start? You are not a scientific department, you serve departments.

“Probably will.” Since science is not needed, it means that it is not needed in the departments either. There will be fewer monographs, collections of articles, you know. We will publish only textbooks and manuals. In short, run, if anything - I'm waiting here.

- Thank you!

The door to the Orlovs' apartment was closed, but not locked. Vera Leonidovna quickly threw off her coat and boots, did not put on her slippers, and went into the room from which voices were heard. Alexander Ivanovich eyes closed lying on the bed, the doctor - a young man of about thirty - counted the pulse, the paramedic girl was talking on the phone:

- Yes ... Full years - sixty ... No ... Suspicion of a heart attack, coronary artery disease ... Yeah, I understand, in the eighty-seventh. Thank you.

So, after all, hospitalization ...

Tatyana stood aside, pressed against the wall, trembling and confused. Seeing her mother, she rushed to her, hugged her and cried.

“Well, hush, hush, my sun, hush, calm down,” Vera Leonidovna whispered in her ear, stroking her daughter on the head. - Everyone is alive, everything will work out.

The doctor let go of Orlov's hand and turned to her.

- Hello. Are you a wife?

- No, I ... Mother of the daughter-in-law.

- Do you have close relatives?

- Only the son, but he is on duty until the morning.

“Understood,” said the doctor. - You have to take him to the hospital. Are any of you going?

“We will both go,” Vera answered decisively. - Don't worry, we'll get there ourselves, you just tell us where.

- Today they are sending to the eighty-seventh, this is to Beskudnikovo. Find?

- We'll find it. Below, the driver is waiting for us with the car, we will follow you.

The doctor sat down to fill out some papers, and Vera and Tatyana began to hastily collect a bag with everything necessary for a stay in the hospital.

Did you tell Borka? Vera asked.

- Didn't call. In the office, no one picks up the phone, I already called the duty officer, they say: on the road. I asked to tell that my father had a heart attack, but I don’t know… Maybe they will tell, or maybe they will forget.

- It's clear. We must find Lucy, tell her. Still not a stranger.

- Well, how can I find her, mom? – with annoyance responded girl. - She lives in the country.

“Nothing, I’ll find it,” Vera Leonidovna grinned. Pack your things, I'll call you.

At the institute where Lyudmila Anatolyevna taught, they did not pick up the phone, which was not surprising for nine in the evening. Faith opened a long narrow notebook, lying in the living room next to the telephone, found an entry: "Andrey and Alla, watchman." The entry was made by Lyusenka's hand, apparently back in those days when both families had just met and began to communicate closely. Vera Leonidovna herself never met the director Khvyli and his wife, she knew them only from the stories of Alexander Ivanovich and Lyusenka. It would be nice if Andrei ended up in a hostel. Because if he is now with Lucy, then it is completely incomprehensible how to look for them. She, Vera, of course, told her daughter that she would find Orlov's wife, but this was said more in order to reassure Tanya. Vera Leonidovna herself was by no means sure of success.

But she was lucky, the watchman agreed to call Khvylya to the phone, and after a few minutes male voice. Hearing that it was necessary to urgently find Lucy and bring her to the hospital, Andrey Viktorovich assured that he understood everything and would try to arrange everything. His voice was tense and unhappy.

“It seems that I did something stupid,” thought Vera, “Andrei is at home, which means that his wife is also at home. How will he explain to her the sudden decision to go somewhere? Moreover, they don’t have a car, and in order to quickly get to the dacha now, he needs to look for someone who will take him, or, again, catch a “private trader”. And what "private trader" at ten o'clock in the evening will agree to cut out of town? If you tell Alla the truth about Orlov, she may volunteer to go with her husband. She is fine, but what about Luce and Khvyla himself? If he decides to lie, he will make a lot of problems, because Orlov constantly communicates with Alla, and she will not forgive when she finds out that he was taken to the hospital, but she was not told anything. In short, you screwed up, Vera Leonidovna. Like an elephant in a china shop ... But, on the other hand, it is impossible not to inform Lyusenka. What if? Suddenly the worst?

The paramedic ran downstairs, brought the driver, Orlov was carefully carried out on a stretcher and loaded into the ambulance, Vera and her daughter got into the dark blue Zhiguli, which were standing nearby.

The road, excitement, Tanya's crying, the treatment of the patient in the emergency room, Alexander Ivanovich's pale, bloodless face - everything merged into a single viscous stream, at the end of which was the word "resuscitation", so frightening to Vera. Vera Potapova was well aware of the rules in hospitals and was really scared when the doctors did not send her home, but allowed her to sit in the corridor near the emergency room. This means that doctors do not exclude the "worst" development of events.

Tatyana sat down beside her, leaning her head against her mother's shoulder.

“You should not have gone with me,” said Vera Leonidovna. - You work tomorrow. Maybe you will come home while the buses are still running and the subway is not closed?

“The metro is closed at one in the morning, I’ll sit still, maybe some kind of clarity will come,” Tanya muttered. - Let at least Aunt Lucy come, then I will be calm that you are not alone here.

So they sat, embracing and talking quietly, until Lyudmila Anatolyevna appeared. Seeing her, Vera immediately sent her daughter out, taking from Tatyana an oath promise at home to immediately drink hot tea and go to bed. And never cry.

- You, too, go, Verunya, - Lyudmila Anatolyevna said wearily, after listening to a report on the situation: according to the results of the ECG, there is still no clarity - either an angina attack, or still a heart attack. - What do you want to sit here?

- How can I leave you alone?

It's easier for me, believe me. I want to be silent, to think, and if someone is nearby, then I will feel that I am obliged to talk to the person. He stayed for me, so I must comply ... True, Verunya, go home.

Vera glanced at her watch: five minutes past one, you can still catch the subway if you're lucky with the bus. You can no longer count on any "private traders" at such a time and in this part of the city. “In the worst case, I’ll come back here, stay with Lucy if I can’t leave on time,” she thought.

She had to dodge for a long time between the houses in the dark, now falling into impassable mud, now slipping on icy areas that had not yet melted. She nearly fell a couple of times, but kept her balance and eventually made it to the bus stop.

Two people were stomping around a pole with a sign: a girl of seventeen or eighteen, dancing to the beat of some music, apparently sounding in her head, and a middle-aged man with a lit cigarette. The girl seemed to Vera a random person, but the man looked more like local resident who knows the transport features of the area well.

- Do you think there is a chance to catch the subway? Vera turned to him.

The man shrugged indifferently.

- Do not know. I'm here for the first time. Here the girl assures that another bus must pass. He says that he always leaves on it and has time before the subway closes.

So, Vera was mistaken, and it was the girl who turned out to be a regular passenger ...

“I’ve been waiting for almost half an hour,” the man continued, exhaling smoke after another puff, “so, probably, the bus will be there soon. According to the theory of probability.

“Probability theory does not work with our municipal transport,” Vera chuckled. - Either for a whole hour not a single bus, then three or four in a row, almost in a column. They say that drivers in the car park drink tea, play cards, and then get up together, sit down in cars - and go on a flight. I don’t know if this is true or not, but judging by the way the buses run, it looks very similar.

The man took a few steps to the side to throw the cigarette butt into the urn, and Vera smiled involuntarily: he didn’t throw it on the ground, as the majority does, conscious, respects cleanliness and other people’s work.

About five minutes later, an almost completely empty bus came, Vera entered the salon and sat down by the window. The man did not sit down, he rode standing up, and now she could examine him properly in the light. A pleasant face, but very ordinary, nothing outstanding. Inexpensive jacket, such in all stores are sold, a mohair scarf in a red and blue check. The man caught her eye, smiled, walked over and sat down beside her.

“You are obviously upset,” he remarked, “and just as obviously that you are leaving this area for the first time at such a late hour. Let me guess: you recently started an affair, today you came to your lover, but something didn’t work out, you probably had a fight and decided not to stay with him for the night.

Why did they have to quarrel? Vera was surprised.

For some reason, she was pleased that she looked like a woman with whom one could still have an affair. Yes, she was always beautiful and she knew it, and she looked younger than her age, but still, fifty-two years old cannot be hidden under the mask of twenty-five years. She could have been given forty-seven, well, forty-five, but certainly no less.

- If you hadn’t quarreled, he would have accompanied you, and you wouldn’t have stood at the bus stop at such a time alone. Well, I guessed?

“No,” Vera laughed. - Didn't guess at all. But in one thing you are certainly right: the situation really developed unexpectedly. This is not how I planned to spend the evening.

There are a lot of unexpected things in our life. Have you ever thought about what a thin, almost imperceptible, invisible line separates one period of our life from another? Our life has just been like this, and suddenly a certain event occurs that we don’t even realize as decisive, and only after some time we suddenly realize that after it our existence has changed dramatically.

"Yeah! Vera thought. - Once upon a time, Andropov did not find mutual understanding with Brezhnev. As a result, I lost my job. How was it in a miniature of one of the comedians? “The head hurts, and the injection is made in the buttock. Just think: what is the connection?

“I agree,” she nodded to her interlocutor. – Moreover, this event may not even take place in our life, but in someone else's.

– Well, this is a philosophical question about the role of personality in history. I don't swing that high. I'm talking about the most ordinary things now. For example, about pregnancy as a result of a casual relationship. Or about a sudden serious illness of someone close.

“As for the illness, that’s for sure,” Vera Leonidovna answered mentally. - You begin to understand this especially sharply when you bring someone to the hospital. Half an hour ago, life was completely different, a person made plans for a vacation or, like me, thought about repairs and his daughter's wedding, and now he has to think about a possible funeral.

She herself did not notice how easily she was drawn into the conversation, which seemed to her saving. It was painful to think about Sasha Orlov, about repairs - dreary, about Tanya's wedding - anxious, about the impending lack of money and vague job prospects - scary. Vera Leonidovna came to her senses only in the subway, hearing from the speaker: “Be careful, the doors are closing, the next station is Paveletskaya.” It turns out that they and an unexpected companion drove half of the Circle Line.

What's happening? Why is she still talking to this stranger? Him with Vera on the way? Or is he following her?

Vera Leonidovna stared at the man with uncomprehending eyes. He had just said something about Schopenhauer, and she was distracted by her own thoughts and listened. Yes, that's right, they talked about free will, and before that - about the relationship between social and biological in human behavior.

On "Paveletskaya" Vera it was necessary to make a transplant. The fellow traveler followed her out, not interrupting the conversation about how much a genetic predisposition can affect a person's ability to perform decisions taken. Vera was about to ask which station he needed to get to, but suddenly realized that she did not want to know. “If he is on the way with me, then it’s good. And if it turns out that he is seeing me off, then I will have to somehow react, make it clear that I like it or not. I do not want. Tired of these games. I'm tired of all. The dissertation has set the teeth on edge, I'm already sick of it. I'm tired of the ruined apartment. From a suspended state in the service - convulsions. From the thought of money - panic. I do not want. Let there be a man who decided to walk me home late at night. Smart, intelligent, pleasant. Let. Even if it turns out that he is only on the way. In theory, I should be afraid of him. A man who at night rubs himself into the confidence of a lonely woman may well turn out to be a robber or a swindler. A rapist is unlikely: one of the advantages of my age is that the risk of becoming a victim of rape is greatly reduced. But the risk of becoming a victim of robbery, on the contrary, increases: criminals usually try to choose a victim who will not show significant resistance. But even so, what can you take from me? There are three rubles in the wallet. There is also nothing of value in the apartment, except for building materials, but they are the least of interest to robbers. They need money and jewelry. This probably won't work for me. I don't want to think about it. I do not want. And I will not. Here and now I'm just beautiful woman with whom a handsome stranger was talking.

She never asked anything, she simply continued to discuss the works of Academician Dubinin, on which she relied in her dissertation. The train car was completely empty, not a single passenger except them. Because of the roar of the wheels, it was necessary either to raise your voice or to talk with your heads close together. The carriage rocked, they now and then touched each other with their shoulders, and in all this Vera seemed to have some kind of intimacy, which for some reason irritated. She even caught herself getting angry.

Having reached the desired station, they climbed the escalator and went out into the street.

- Where to now? the man asked.

So, after all, he sees off ... Well, nice. And very opportunely: at two o'clock in the morning, Vera would not dare to walk around her district alone.

- Now on foot for about twenty minutes, trolleybuses no longer run.

The sidewalks were slippery, and Vera waited for the stranger to offer to take him by the arm, but he did not offer, he just walked along, carried away by the conversation. Suddenly a thought came to mind: if this person does not live here, but in another area of the city, then how is he going to get home? Hoping to catch a taxi? But if he has extra money, then why did he freeze for half an hour in Beskudnikovo at a bus stop with the risk of missing the last metro train?

Vera Leonidovna did not have time to think through the thought to the end, because they approached her entrance.

- Invite? the stranger asked.

And Vera, with horror and confusion, suddenly realized that this was exactly what she had been waiting for. And she wanted it. That's why she was angry and irritated. She was not angry with this fellow traveler, but with herself, with her strange and so inappropriate motives and hidden desires. No, she didn't need a man, and hormones have absolutely nothing to do with it. She did not need sex, from which she was pretty tired over the years of her last novel. Kostya was wonderful, but he needed a wife, he wanted a full-fledged family and children, and Vera Potapova did not see herself as his wife, and it was too late to give birth to children. They parted with Kostya peacefully, and now he is already living with a young woman who is ready to become his wife and mother of his children.

And even warmth is not something for which she is ready to let a stranger into her house.

She needs a situation. Circumstances. Another picture of the world. The other side of life. Something completely different from a dissertation, work, illness and hospitals, lack of money. She needs at least two hours to stop being police lieutenant colonel Vera Leonidovna Potapova, a senior researcher, mother of the bride and owner of an unrenovated apartment.

“I will,” she nodded. - If you are not afraid of destroyed housing. I started a renovation, but so far everything has stalled.

“Are we disturbing anyone?”

Vera looked at him mockingly: he came to his senses! Previously, one should have asked ... Well, if he is a thief or a robber, then he was clearly given to understand that there was nothing to take in the apartment, except buckets of paint and wallpaper in rolls.

“After all, you are already sure that I live alone,” she answered, opening the entrance door. “By the way, I don’t even know your name, and you don’t even know mine.

He stepped after her, took her by the shoulders, turned her around and hugged her tightly.

“It’s even better that way,” he whispered in Vera’s ear. - We can always get to know each other.

"Well," Vera thought, "everything is quick and simple. I don’t know anything about him at all: neither what his name is, nor what he does, nor where he lives. In Moscow? Or a visitor who has nowhere to spend the night?

While they were going up in the elevator, she listened to herself, trying to catch signs of the emergence of that very “ chemical reaction between a man and a woman”, about which so much has been written in books. She felt no chemistry, no attraction to him. Only great fatigue and a deafening desire to escape from everyday dullness into a bright picture.

Alexandra Marinina

Reverse force. Volume 3. 1983–1997

Part Three

… you will be horrified by the insensitivity of human nature to the truth when the truth is clear and obvious.

From the defense speech of N. P. Karabchevsky in the trial in the case of Mironovich

Arrogance is always blind. Doubt is the companion of the mind.

From the defense speech of N. P. Karabchevsky in the trial in the case of the Skitsky brothers

Chapter 1. 1983

- What nonsense! In our colonies, the insane do not serve their sentences, and convicts cannot have any mental illness.

This was enough for Vera Leonidovna to be summoned to the academic council the next day. Her dissertation was withdrawn from defense.

Completely bewildered, she called the supervisor with the question: what to do now?

In a couple of months! Of course, she will edit the text, partially rewrite it, but the problems do not end there. It is necessary to approve a new topic at the Academic Council, having previously discussed it at the department. It is necessary to print a new text, write a new abstract, again go through a discussion at the department and the painful procedure of collecting and submitting a new package of documents for submission to the defense. And all this despite the fact that she, like all employees of the Scientific Center, is “beyond the states”: within two months they will be paid their salary in full - official salary plus bonus for rank and length of service, then another two months - only for rank and length of service, and two more months they can be registered in this service already without any monetary content. Six months to find another job in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. How to rake this bunch of problems - Vera had a bad idea.

“You worked in the crime prevention department, so take up prevention in practice, apply your scientific knowledge,” a young personnel officer said with a sarcastic smile.

- Can I think?

“Of course, but only for a short time. Is two hours enough for you?

The department was despondent, reeking of mildew. Those who received a new appointment slowly put things in order, cleaned the safes, destroying what was unnecessary, and completed the articles promised in collections and magazines. Those who had not yet received a new position read newspapers, played chess, talked on the phone, drank tea ... The atmosphere reigned oppressive and at the same time nervously inflated. Everyone knew that Vera was called into the frames, so as soon as she crossed the threshold, all eyes turned to her.

- Well? What did they say?

- They proposed an inspection for juvenile affairs in the Kalinin region. And living in a hostel, without providing an apartment.

One of the employees, in the past - the head of the Department of Internal Affairs of one of the regions, looked at Potapova with distrust.

- You? Yes, are they crazy? You were an important investigator in the Prosecutor General's Office!

Alexandra Marinina

Reverse force. Volume 3. 1983–1997

Part Three

… you will be horrified by the insensitivity of human nature to the truth when the truth is clear and obvious.

From the defense speech of N. P. Karabchevsky in the trial in the case of Mironovich

Arrogance is always blind. Doubt is the companion of the mind.

From the defense speech of N. P. Karabchevsky in the trial in the case of the Skitsky brothers

Chapter 1. 1983

In the fight against crime, the new Minister of Internal Affairs, Fedorchuk, dealt several crushing blows. The first one was “trial”: the country’s chief policeman said that no scientific activity, except for the development of forensic technology, is needed in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and those who are engaged in this very science simply eat up state money and sit out their pants. Immediately following this statement, there was an instruction to significantly reduce the VNII of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as to liquidate the Scientific Center at the Academy, where Vera Leonidovna Potapova worked. Eliminate completely. Nearly 300 people - officers with higher education and, for the most part, with scientific degrees - had to be employed somewhere, and it was precisely within the system, because it was impossible to fire them.

And, as luck would have it, at that moment another memorandum with a proposal for a list of measures necessary to improve the efficiency of the correction and re-education of convicts with mental anomalies fell on the minister's desk. The minister did not bother to get to the bottom of the matter, saw two familiar words - "convicted" and "psyche" - and angrily interrupted the employee who was reporting the material:

What nonsense! In our colonies, the insane do not serve their sentences, and convicts cannot have any mental illness.

This was enough for Vera Leonidovna to be summoned to the academic council the next day. Her dissertation was withdrawn from defense.

Completely bewildered, she called the supervisor with the question: what to do now?

Write a new thesis, - the venerable professor calmly advised. - You have more than enough materials, change the title, remove all references to mental anomalies from the text and focus on stable individual personality traits, go into penitentiary psychology. Get it done in a couple of months.

In a couple of months! Of course, she will edit the text, partially rewrite it, but the problems do not end there. It is necessary to approve a new topic at the Academic Council, having previously discussed it at the department. It is necessary to print a new text, write a new abstract, again go through a discussion at the department and the painful procedure of collecting and submitting a new package of documents for submission to the defense. And all this despite the fact that she, like all employees of the Scientific Center, is “out of state”: for two months they will be paid in full - the official salary plus a bonus for the rank and length of service, then another two months - only for the rank and length of service, and two more months they can be registered in this service already without any monetary content. Six months to find another job in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. How to rake this bunch of problems - Vera was bad.