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Рита Тальвердиева
Shadow Of Sherlock Holmes
A briefing has come to an end. Everyone went down today but most of all Boris Batkin, correspondent of the local news. Arseny Danilov, Chief of Division, wasn\'t able to say anything in his defense. Awry.
«Don\'t leave yet» he nodded to Boris and Natalya. «In my office in five minutes».
Peter-newbie met them by the door.
«There is a guest» he nodded toward the office.
«Friend. A good old friend» Arseny caught curiosity of his colleagues and waved his hand.
An elegant elderly gentleman was sitting by the coffee table flipping through a binder of local press. A couple of phrases exchanged with Arseny had gave out his Moscow accent.
«Well,» Boris set himself at ease. «Looks like
And he was wrong. They left the office by the dusk. But in a completely different mood. The tonus of Arseny was boosted up by their guest – master of astrology Mikhail Danilovich Marmarov. And not just toning up. The guest breathed a thrill, an enthusiasm and a courage into him! Without all of it any reporter sometimes degenerates into a servant.
«Let\'s start all over» asked Arseny. «Slowly».
«As I said» Boris gave uneasy look. «I was only for one minute at the meeting with Ilya Zvezditsky. Even less than that. Then … then I was suddenly kicked out».
«
«Your title has more words than facts:
«Not a word.»
«And you?!» shot a question Marmarov.
«Yes, I did,» Boris flinched. «I\'ve asked where could I wash my hands.»
«Well!» Arseny throw his head up. «Have you been invited to Zvezditsky\'s dinner? Or was it an interview?!» he was ready to blow.
Boris sighed.
«On the way to his shack,» he began, «I nearly fail over, look, the skin on my palm is badly scratched. All hands were in dirt.»
«And?!»
«And I asked where is the bathroom. Zvezditsky suddenly turned pale. Yes. He looked at me in a very strange way. At the same instance a bodyguard came in. Get out, he said. Apparently, Zvezditsky pressed the call button.»
«Stop!» Marmarov snapped his fingers. «Did you asked
Boris gazed in silly manner:
«What\'s a difference?»
«Answer the question!» Arseny gave a stern look.
«I\'ve asked about
«In-te-res-ting.» stretched his word Marmarov.
Natalya smiled. Boris rolled his eyes. Only eyes of the newbie flashed with sparkles.
«What were you saying about Zvezditsky\'s
Boris smiled:
«Zvezditsky has gone crazy : for a summer he rented a real shack in the village. He occupied it completely. Three families which huddled there, he sent to Anapa. Until September…»
«What kind of shack?» Arseny got a hiccup. «Excuse Me.»
«Creepy one, pre-revolutionary building of a hotel type. When I was… am… asked to leave, I could manage to talk to some people there.»
«With whom?»
«With locals.»
«And?!»
«People laughed at Zvezditsky, real loco your man, they say… Now brace yourselves! Next door to that shack stays a super-duper boarding house, named Sunrise. Cozy. Private. Jacuzzi, pool table, mini pool, in short high standard.» he cocked his thumb up. «The owner of those suites is so freaked out. Look! He offered to Zvezditsky a whole suit free of charge! Obviously, for promotional purposes.»
«Didn\'t pull off?» mumbled Arseny.
«Nope!» Boris smiled victoriously.
«Why didn\'t you tell me that before?!» resented Arseny. «Such a theme! a potential
«I had no chance to drop a word on the briefing. Only verdicts went through, sort of
Arseny waved his hand.
«We\'ve got some issues.»
«Just one on a different frets:
Boris scrambled his boss.
«I know! I got it!» Newbie suddenly jumped up, his eyes blazing. «For Sure … There\'s a treasure!»
«Where?» Boris and Natasha starred at Peter.
«There! In the shack, in the bathroom … That hovel is pre-revolutionary…»
«Calm down» dismissively waved Arseny, but came across a choppy gesture of Marmarov.
«What if…» The guest mysteriously remarked and lifted his bushy eyebrow.
It felt like fixed on each other eyes will ignite the spark.
«Let me check it out,» suddenly started Arseny and reached out for the laptop. His nostrils shivered like as of hound on its trail. And fingers were hovering above the keyboard already.
«Such a friend! With one glance got it all!» Boris scrabbled his two-day stubble.
Peter and Natalya listened attentively.
«March 15th, 1969,» a minute later started Arseny, glancing at his guest. «Here is the place of his birth and it is blurry: Zvezditsky was born in Transbaikalia.»
«Will do.» Marmarov nodded.
On the table suddenly materialized an open book in textile cover. Finger of Marmarov skated through its lines, his lips went to soft motion.
«The Book Of Fate!» stunned Arseny his amazed colleagues.
As usual, it was difficult to understand was he joking or not.
Boris peered over the shoulder of the guest. On yellowish pages appeared some strange characters and small digits. And on the left, in the corner of the book, emerged a sketch of a circle similar to a compass. Compass\' arrow pointed upward.
Finally, Marmarov turned away from the book and conspiratorially winked. Everybody were huddled over their curious visitor. The shadow of Sherlock Holmes has covered the entire group.