04 The Last Watch

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she broke into tears, I waited for a few minutes without saying anything. The tears stopped and Lera shook her
head. She looked into my eyes.
'We went into a pub, the Oak and Ribbon, and had something to eat. We drank a pint of beer each. It was hot,
and then we saw the sign for that damned tourist show. Victor thought it would be interesting. Or at least that it
would be cool inside. So we went in.'
Nothing. Not a single clue. I realised that Lera had been questioned by professionals before me: they had drained
her, forced her to remember, asked the same questions ten times. What else could she possibly remember out
of the blue now?
She started describing the boat again, the awkward step down into it, and I raised my hand.
'Stop there, Lera. That mirror maze - you said it was the most interesting thing. Didn't anything odd happen in
there?'
I didn't know why I'd asked that question. Perhaps because I was still thinking about Egor. Perhaps I'd
remembered the old wives' tale that vampires have no reflections in mirrors.
'In the hall of mirrors . . .' Lera knitted her brows. 'Ah! There was something. Victor started waving to someone. As
if he'd seen someone he knew. Afterwards he said he must have imagined it.'
'How about you, Lera? Did you see anybody you knew?'
She shook her head.
'No. There are mirrors on all sides in there. You really get lost among all those faces, all those people. And it
gets a bit annoying after a while ... I tried not to look.'
'Can't you even make a guess at who he might have seen?'
'Could that be important?' Lera asked seriously.
'Yes,' I replied with no hesitation.
It was very important. It was a clear clue. If there was a vampire in the Dungeons and he was diverting people's
eyes, he could have been seen in the room of mirrors. And Victor hadn't just seen someone - he had recognised
him.
So what was dangerous about being recognised? Someone had gone into the Dungeons - what of it? Why had
the vampire panicked and killed the unsuspecting student?
I didn't know. Not yet.
'I think Victor thought he had seen a friend of his ... not someone from here,' Lera said after thinking for a
moment.'Because he was very surprised. If he'd seen someone from the university, he would have waved to him
and shouted "Hi." But he just waved and didn't say anything. You know, the way you do when you're not quite
sure if you've seen a friend or made a mistake. And afterwards, when he couldn't find anyone, he really seemed
quite upset. And he said it was all nonsense. As if he'd persuaded himself that it couldn't have happened. Anton,
did Vitya see his killer?'
'I'm afraid he did,' I said, nodding. 'It's possible that was why he was killed. Thank you. You've been a great help.'
'Should I tell this to the police?' Lera asked.
'Why not? Only, if possible, don't mention that I was here, okay? But you can tell them what you've remembered.'
'Will you tell me if you find the killer?'
'Definitely'
'You're lying,' Lera said, shaking her head. 'You're lying - you won't tell me anything.'
'I'll send you a postcard,' I said after a pause. 'With a view of Edinburgh. If you get a postcard, it means that
Victor has been avenged.'
Lera nodded. I was already at the door when she asked:
'Anton, if I ... What should I do about the child?'
'That's for you to decide. You must understand that nobody else will ever decide anything for you. Not the
president, not your boss, not even a kind magician.'
'I'm nineteen,' Lera said in a quiet voice. 'I loved Vitya. But now lie's gone. Twenty years old, with a child and no
husband . . .'
'You have to make up your mind. But please don't drink in any case,' I said.
And I closed the door behind me.
Evening arrived, and I hadn't slept the night before, which had been divided between airports and aeroplanes. I had
another coffee and glanced regretfully at the beer pumps: one pint would be enough make me completely dozy
Page 30
now. I phoned Geser and gave him a summary of what I'd found out during the day.
'Look for a vampire in Victors circle of Moscow acquaintances,' Gesar mused thoughtfully. 'Thank you, Anton, all
his Moscow contacts have been checked already . . . All right, we'll look a little bit harder. We'll start
digging as far back as the kindergarten. What are you going to do now?' [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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