Chapter I
The evening was unusually chilly; barely a soul could be observed roaming the streets of St. Petersburg. Nearly everyone was inside a drinking den. Eventually, as the evening continued, drunken men (and rarely women) started to appear from underground like massive cockroaches. One of these drunken men was a young yet handsome college student by the name of Dimitri Aleksandrovich Nikov. 'To the devil with this, I've allowed myself to consume too much alcohol,' he thought to himself in disgust. Indeed, it was unusual for him to become as drunk as he currently was. And nothing depicted his terrible drunkenness as his face and his gait. His cheeks were colored with a feverish shade of crimson, and he was moving in a way which could hardly be said to be 'walking'. Rather, he was waddling around like a penguin, or like a man experiencing ecstasy.
'Out of your mind are you Dima? I have never seen you swallow that much alcohol before, no less in the time frame of an hour,' his friend - whose name was Fyodor Nikolayevich Kostranov - remarked to him.
'Perhaps I have, I haven't the slightest clue myself anymore. After… yesterday… I have not felt… fully in control of my… faculties. Perhaps it's best to describe the feeling as… a terrible mental fog I sup-p-pose,' he replied while swaying back and forth in the midst of a battle to keep his consciousness. By now, he had grown terribly drowsy and he had developed a terrible headache.
However, he immediately grew alert when he accidentally stumbled into a small little lady. Her features wore an expression of bewilderment but at the same time an expression of deep sorrow as she looked upon Dimitri. 'All you all right madam?' he asked her in a state of frenzy over his recklessness.
'Yes, I am quite all right, but are you all well? You seem terribly drunk or feverish.' Seeing her expression of sorrow(he understood it was for his sake) Dimitri felt terribly guilty and suddenly had the urge to embrace the petite young dark haired woman. Perhaps, his instinct to protect had presented itself since she was so small, almost like a small animal, he really had no clue at that moment. All he could understand was that he possibly hurt her because of his own recklessness. Due to his feeling guilty, he asked her if he would be able to take her to the nearest clinic if she was hurt. She reassured him that she was not hurt. By now, both of them were very embarrassed, but for quite different reasons. The young woman was embarrassed because she was not quite expecting Dimitri to react in the way he did whereas Dimitri was embarrassed because he thought he had wronged the woman. By now fully conscious, Dimitri inquired of the woman,
'What is your name? Please allow me to take you to dinner one evening to compensate you, I feel it to be necessary.'
'My name is Natasha Ivanovich Svetyatsky, and, if you are so insistent, I will take you up on your offer. If it is possible, meet me next Saturday on Nevsky Prospect1 near Grand Hotel Europe2 at six o' clock in the evening. Then we shall go from there.'
'Thank you Natasha, I hope I have not wasted too much of your time,' he said while glancing at his watch. 'Ah well, it's getting late now. Be safe on your return home.' Natasha made no reply. However, she smiled warmly at Dimitri, and she nodded her head and the two went their separate ways.
The moment their conversation ended, Dimitri began to look around him, almost examining his surroundings blankly. Then, he remembered that he had stayed behind and his friend did not know where he was. 'The devil take it! I have to sprint to catch up with him!' So, he began to sprint towards Fyodor. Once again he was not looking where he was going, so he bumped into Natasha again. 'Natasha?' he said in surprise.
'Dimitri?' she also exclaimed in shock.
'Why are you going in this direction?' they both asked simultaneously.
'Well, my room is in Mrs. Katliovna's tenements,' Natasha answered first. Dimitri subsequently responded by answering,
'My friends began to walk off without me so I am trying to catch up with them.'
'Ah well Dimitri, have a good evening. My room is not very far, but it is late, so I must be going now,' she told him.
'I must be going now too, have a good evening as well Natasha,' he replied while preparing to sprint once again. 'Fyodor? Where have you gone?' he exclaimed while sprinting.
'Dimitri! Where have you been all this time?' Fyodor exclaimed while walking over to Dimitri. 'Sorry brother. I bumped into a woman when I was too drunk to even properly walk. I had a conversation with her afterwards… oh you know, what is natural in such a situation,' he replied while out of breath.
'So brother… did you get her name? How did the conversation with her go?' Fyodor asked teasingly. 'Knowing him, it probably went well,' he thought to himself.
'Well, I not only got her name but I secured a date with her for next Saturday at 6 o'clock in the evening,' Dimitri explained to him.
'You did even better than I expected. Oh the devil take it, why can't I find a good woman?' Dimitri laughed at his friend's lamentations.
'Well, let's head to our rooms, shall we?' Dimitri suggested to Fyodor.
'Yes… let us do that' Fyodor replied while deep in thought.
So, without another word, the two men began to return to their rooms. 'Is Saturday the last I shall be seeing of Natasha? I really did not expect her to agree to have dinner, perhaps today God has blessed me more than usual. Ah well, best not to occupy my mind with it too much for now. I have much more pressing concerns. Tomorrow I need to answer a summons from the police bureau at nine o'clock in the morning.' 'Well, I should not worry anyways, after all, what could they need from me? I'm a lonely man with barely any possessions. I don't know why they would suspect me for the murder of that scummy landowner. What was his name again? Was it Nik.. Nikoyev? Oh well I cannot be bothered to remember his name.'
As soon as Dimitri returned to his room he suddenly had a desire to read the newspaper. So, he sat down at the small table in the corner of his room and turned on his ancient reading lamp. Under the flickering light of the lamp the words, 'Wealthy aristocrat hung himself without explanation. No suicide note has been found as of yet.' could be made out. 'What's this? A wealthy aristocrat hung himself? Why is there so much death nowadays?' It was true that St. Petersburg at that time was experiencing a large influx of murders and suicides, but why? 'It must be Nihilism. After all, why live morally if one's life has no purpose?' Dimitri thought to himself. 'But life must have meaning, right? How can life not have meaning if God exists? How can our experiences and sufferings be meaningless if they guide us towards paradise?' In fact, the entire premise of Nihilism terrified Dimitri. 'Best not to think of this at this moment, my head is already in a frenzy from the alcohol and the whole encounter with Natasha,' he resolved. Having come to this conclusion, Dimitri, out of sheer exhaustion, collapsed into his bed.
When Dimitri arose from his sleep, he immediately felt an extreme pain in his head. 'I must be hungover from my reckless drinking yesterday evening, that's just incredible is it not?' he thought to himself sarcastically. When he decided to finally open his eyes, the very first thing he saw were the bright rays of the sun. Then, he saw people walking along the snow-covered roads and walkways. 'Hold on a moment… why are there so many people bustling about at this early hour? What time is it even?' he asked in a half-asleep daze. Realizing he was alone in his apartment, and thus that no one would tell him the time, he decided to raise his eyes to the tiny, dusty clock in the top right corner of his room. 'Oh no! I slept much too long!' he thought to himself in despair. It was indeed the case that he had slept much too long, for he had hoped to awake at six o'clock in the morning but had instead overslept and awoke at eleven o'clock in the morning, much to his chagrin. 'I need to get ready as soon as possible,' he thought, 'after all, I've been summoned to the police bureau.' So, as quickly as is possible for a tall, slender man, he rose from his bed and began to ready himself for the day that was ahead of him.
After thirty minutes had passed, Dimitri determined that he was aptly dressed and his face looked awake enough to not betray his act of wakefulness, after all, he was quite drowsy. So, having awaited with nervousness this moment, Dimitri departed from his room and set off for the police bureau. 'Oh, I should probably ask the bureau for a note to explain my absence to the professor,' he thought while yawning. Eventually, after dragging his legs across the snowy pavement for a long while, Dimitri arrived at the door of the bureau. 'Hm, this is surprising. I never expected the bureau to be housed in such a decrepit apartment building,' he thought in calm amazement. Suddenly remembering why he was even there, Dimitri walked over to the clerk to notify the bureau of his presence.
'And who might you be exactly? Do you have a summons from us?' the clerk, Mikhail Ilyushin Raskov, asked him.
'Yes, I do. I was summoned to arrive here at nine o'clock in the morning, but, unfortunately, I terribly overslept. That is why I am here now at this moment,' he explained.
'I see. Please do be so kind as to take a seat over there (he motioned towards the chairs),' he replied in a very uninterested and frankly bored tone.
'That's unusual, normally the clerks at the bureau are supposed to be more friendly, right? At least, that is what I have heard. Perhaps I should ask the clerk how his day has been before I leave; it does no harm to make new acquaintances I suppose,' Dimitri thought while carefully analyzing his interaction with the clerk. Seeing as there was not much to be said while in the bureau, Dimitri grabbed a newspaper from the tray which they were contained in as a way to entertain himself until he was called in. 'More news in relation to the murder of the wealthy landowner, possible suspects have been identified,' such was the title that caught Dimitri's eyes when he examined the newspaper. 'They've identified possible suspects have they? Well, who could they be? Were the supposed suspects even at the landowner's property when the murder occurred? If so, what connection do they have to the landowner? They say they have identified possible suspects but if they cannot confirm with complete certainty that they were all present at the time of the murder, they will not be able to bring a single charge against them. Well, let us say the suspects were all present at the moment of the murder, if that is the case, it is highly probable that one of them thieved some valuables from the property. If those probabilities are proven to be true, how have they not been able to locate such valuables? What even is this case in the first place? It's so odd, grotesque, and frankly a mess,' Dimitri thought to himself as soon as he finished reading the contents of the news. 'Well, besides this (he was referencing the newspaper), there really isn't much to do, I suppose to pass the time I should just quickly rest, after all, a quick rest could even help me with my hangover.' Having decided this, Dimitri slowly began to fall asleep in his seat.
After a few minutes of rest, an unfamiliar man awoke Dimitri from his rest and asked him,
'Are you Dimitri Aleksandrovich Nikov?'
'Yes, I am. And who might you be dear sir?'
'My name is Aleksey Vladimirovich Petrov. I am the lead investigator for the case of the wealthy landowner's murder, I am quite glad to make your acquaintance. Well, enough with the formalities. Would you be willing to enter my office? I have some questions for you.'
'Oh yes of course! I will tell you as much as I know.'
'Great, your help is greatly appreciated.'
'I could imagine. The case is very messy. There are many variables to factor in. I can understand how stressful it must be for you.'
Dimitri's answer slightly perplexed Aleksey. 'How does he know so much? Has he deduced all of that on his own?' he thought in surprise. Soon enough, the two men arrived in Aleksey's office. Immediately, the questioning began. 'How close do you live to the site of the murder?'
'I live roughly forty to fifty minutes away from the site of the murder if one were to take a train.'
'Alright. Where do you live? Who's tenements do you live in?'
'I live in Mrs. Schulz's tenements which are near the Neva River.'3
'I see. So, how do you know there are "many variables" in this case as you so wittily put it? Are you in league with the murderer or possible murderers?' Alexey inquired inquisitively.
'Oh no of course not. Murder to me is something grotesque. I simply deduced that there were multiple variables based on what I have read and pondered. After all, it is only natural that one assumes there are multiple variables due to there being possible suspects rather than a single suspect.'
'That's a good deduction indeed,' he replied with curiosity.
After explaining his deduction, Dimitri grew quiet and sat in his seat meditatively. 'Perhaps it is my turn to ask him a question,' he thought to himself.
'Pardon me, but if I may, I have a question for you.'
'If it is related to the case please do ask it,' Alexey replied with a tinge of uneasiness.
'Due to there being multiple suspects, and due to the high probability that the suspects were all present together at the property at the time of the murder, it is highly probable that something was stolen from the landowner - what is his name again? - due to the rarity of multiple people coming together to execute a single murder. To be brief, if you have identified possible suspects as you so claim, how is it the case that you have not a clue where the valuables are if there are valuables at all? Would it not assist the case if the one (or ones) who stole the valuable (or valuables) was found and detained?'
'Well, you are correct in deducing that we have not the slightest smidge of where the valuable (or valuables) you mentioned could be. But, if we were able to locate a valuable (or valuables) then you would be correct. It would be best to detain the thief, since we would be able to connect the thief or thieves with the murderer by virtue of them being present together at the time of the murder. This of course is assuming the murderer himself did not steal anything which in itself is possible. Though, if that were so this case would be almost too effortless to solve.' During the entire duration of Aleksey's response, Dimitri was examining him thoroughly, what expressions he made and his facial mannerisms. For example, he observed a slight quiver of his upper lip and a slight twitch in the muscles of his right eye. Truly there was no explanation for this in-depth inspection besides habit, for Dimitri had grown accustomed to examining a person's facial expressions to deduce if they were trying to deceive him or not.
'Well, in my opinion, it is best for me to ask if you have any more questions for me. If you do, please ask, I truly am only here to assist you in this case,' Dimitri asked impatiently and with an obvious will to exit Aleksey's office.
'No, I have asked you everything I needed to ask you. Thank you for being so cooperative, it truly does help the case,' Aleksey replied absent-mindedly.
'There is no need to thank me at all. I am simply doing what is best for humanity.'
As soon as he completed that sentence, Dimitri exited Aleksey's office and went to the clerk to ask him for a note explaining his absence from university.
'I apologize for bothering you once again Mikhail,' he said, addressing the clerk, 'but I am a student and because I was summoned here, I was not able to attend my remaining classes. As such, I am asking you if you could please write a small note for me which explains my absence.'
'I can do that for you.'
'Thank you Mikhail, may God bless, protect, and save you as well as your family.'
'Likewise Dimitri,' Mikhail responded with a cordial smile.
Having completed the main objective of the day, Dimitri decided to go out to drink some vodka at the drinking den closest to him to entertain himself for a little while before he returned back to his room.
'Why not drink a bit? It would most certainly not be a bad thing to relieve some stress,' he thought. So, he began to go towards his local drinking den, but on the way, he once again came across Natasha. 'Ah how wonderful it is to see you Natasha!' Dimitri exclaimed with joy.
'Oh quit making me embarrassed will you?' Natasha said to him with vividly red cheeks. 'Anyways, where were you off to?' she asked him with curiosity.
'I was about to go to a drinking den, but since I saw you I've decided against it,' Dimitri replied with childlike innocence and glee.
'I see. Well… since I have nothing to do - and by the looks of it neither do you - why don't we enjoy lunch at a bakery?' she asked him full of hope towards a positive reply. 'Sure, I think that sounds like a capital plan.' Hearing the response she hoped for, Natasha smiled.
Seeing her smile at his reply, Dimitri half-jokingly said, 'You really are like my guardian angel aren't you? When I was going to engage in depravity you appeared and led me on a different path. Perhaps I ought to call you that from now on.'
'Oh don't flatter me! Though, I would be lying if I said it does not have a good ring to it. Very well, if you wish you can call me that,' she replied while joyfully smiling with flushed cheeks.
'This woman, she's unusual… almost like a child… somehow, inexplicably I find that childishness adorable. Perhaps she really is an angel!' he thought quite happily.
'Well then Dimitri, shall we set off?' she asked impatiently.
Having exited his trance of sorts, Dimitri warmly replied, 'Yes, let us go, I have been looking forward to Saturday but perhaps I shall get a foretaste of that joy.'
For the duration of their walk to the bakery together, both of them uttered not a single word. Perhaps the abruptness of Dimitri's comment created between them an atmosphere of awkwardness. 'How will I be able to start a conversation now? We are both so quiet the silent wind is louder than us,' Dimitri thought in embarrassment and regret for the comment he made. The moment the two arrived at the bakery, Natasha suddenly asked Dimitri, 'Do you think God has guided us to be together Dimitri?'
'I cannot know that for sure. Only He knows, I am merely following along with what transpires between us,' he replied thoughtfully.
'What modesty you possess, it truly is admirable,' someone commented who had overheard his response to her question.
'If you feel so. Either way, let us find a table shall we Natasha?'
After ten minutes had passed, a waiter finally arrived at Dimitri and Natasha's table.
'My apologies for my tardiness. What do you both find to fulfill your appetites?' the waiter asked in a friendly manner. The waiter, Aleksandr Fyodorovich Rostović4, was a plump man who was quite tall. He also had a noticeable flush and a naturally irritated facial expression.
'We would both like to enjoy your signature pirozhki4, for we have heard much about it,' Dimitri answered on his and Natasha's behalf.
After they enjoyed their pirozhki, they remained at the bakery a while longer and spoke of the affairs of the day, most notably the recent news of the police identifying multiple possible suspects who they assume were responsible for the murder of the wealthy landowner. 'You know Natasha, I remember that I neglected to tell you this simply because it slipped my mind, but I was actually going to drink after exiting the police bureau. They summoned me a small while back, not even a week after the murder took place to question me.' 'Oh? Is that so? What questions did they ask you?' Natasha inquired with surprise.
'They inquired of me about my location, my knowledge of the case and what affiliation I had with the whole affair.'
'Why would they ask you that? You yourself are innocent,' Natasha asked perplexedly and with worry.
'God only knows why, but I am glad they did. I am happy that I was able to assist them with their investigation.'
'I am glad too. Well, shall we return to our homes?' Natasha asked impatiently and yet at the same time with an obvious air of relief at Dimitri's innocence.
'Yes, we shall. I have enjoyed this very much Natasha, I am looking forward to Saturday,' Dimitri replied happily and with a warm grin.
'It is the same for me. Well, until Saturday I bid you adieu!' Natasha exclaimed as she exited the bakery.
NOTES:
1.Nevsky Prospect is a main street in St. Petersburg. It is named after St. Alexander Nevsky who was known for defending Orthodox Christianity from the Mongols by paying tribute.
2.Grand Hotel Europe is a popular and large hotel located in St. Petersburg.
3. The Neva River is a river which flows through the northern area of St. Petersburg into the Baltic Sea which begins at Lake Ladoga.
4.The waiter is a Serb, since South Slavs have the ć ending to a last name whereas Russians and other East Slavs have the 'ch' ending.
Pirozhki is a traditional Russian dish which consists of bread filled with any filling.