Is that right? someone asked Dmitri directly.
Yes.
There was another silence.
Come on, lads, said Maximov persuasively, its either him or the Cossacks. Now which is it to be? Leave it to him or have the Cossacks here?
We dont want the bloody Cossacks, said someone.
No, said Maximov, I agree with you. We dont want the Cossacks. So are you going to leave it to him?
He paused.
We could give him a chance, I suppose, said someone reluctantly.
Give him a chance? Well, thats very wise of you. Now, look, lads. I want you all to go home and quieten down. Dont listen to anyone who tells you anything else. Give him a chance and if it doesnt work out, well
And so, your Excellencies, said Maximov virtuously, I decided I had to take action.
Quite right, said the Governor.
Boris Petrovich nodded approvingly.
If you dont jump on these things right away, I said to myself, they get out of hand.
Well, thats it.
Youve got to stamp on them. At once!
Nip them in the bud.
While theres still time.
Exactly so. Your Honours. Oh, I know there are those who say that these things have got to be handled with kid gloves. But when youve had a bit of experience, you know that it doesnt do to hang around; youve got to go in hard!
Absolutely! said the Governor.
Good man! murmured Boris Petrovich.
Maximov swelled.
And so. Your Excellencies, he said, as soon as I got back I sent for the Cossacks.
You what? said Dmitri.
Sent for the Cossacks.
The very thing! said the Governor.
No doubt about it, said Boris Petrovich.
You sent for the Cossacks?
I did.
But but you made a deal with them!
Deal? said the Governor.
Oh, I wouldnt say that!
But you did! Dmitri insisted. You said that it was either the Cossacks or me and that you wouldnt run for the Cossacks if
Pardon me, Your Honour, I dont think I actually said that. Thats what they may have understood, Your Honour, but thats a different thing.
A very different thing! said the Governor.
In any case, said Boris Petrovich, if there was an agreement, it was plainly made under duress and that certainly wouldnt hold up in a court of law. Youre a lawyer yourself, Dmitri Alexandrovich. You must know that.
But it was deception! cried Dmitri. A trick!
Justified, I would have thought, said the Governor, when youve got a riot on your hands.
But
What else was I to do, Your Excellencies? There was the mob hammering at the gates; missiles were being thrown
Good heavens!
It was getting out of hand. Now I couldnt have that, could I? Im a police officer
And a very good one!
I owe a duty to the Tsar
Absolutely!
Not to say the Church
The Church, too! Dont forget that, Dmitri Alexandrovich!
Its all very well for young people to criticise
Young people! Thats it!
but when theyve had as much experience as I have
You did your duty, Maxim Maximovich!
No man could do more!
It was a question of trust, said Dmitri. They werent prepared to trust you. They only quietened down when you told them that it wasnt you who was in charge of the investigation but me!
Oh, now, come, Dmitri Alexandrovich!
This is vanity!
Your Excellencies Maximov spread his hands in appeal to the Governors ceiling.
Really, Dmitri Alexandrovich!
We all know how good you are, Dmitri Alexandrovich, said Boris Petrovich spitefully, or, at least, how good you think you are
Because of some trifling success you may have had in the past
Which has been made far too much of
But this is outrageous!
Dmitri Alexandrovich is, of course, said Maximov smiling, very young, and in matters like this
No, you cant have the sleigh, said the Procurator, I have important visits to make.
Such as?
Lunch with Viktor Sharmansky, tea with Olga Vishinsky, the Procurator ticked off on his fingers, lunch tomorrow with Sasha Radelsky, the next day with Irene Rodzhenitsy
A theft has been reported, said Dmitri doggedly. It is our duty to investigate it.
It is our duty to decide whether to investigate it, corrected the Procurator.
Are you saying that you have decided not to investigate it?
Oh, I wouldnt say that. I wouldnt say that at all!
Then
It is simply a question of priorities. Naturally we shall investigate it. But with so much coming into the office
Nothing is coming into the office! said Dmitri. I insist on being allowed to investigate the theft of the Icon!
Dmitri Alexandrovich, said the Procurator in a tired voice, there is a principle that I have always found helpful in such matters: leave unto God the things that are Gods and unto man the things that are mans.
I have heard that before, said Dmitri.
I hope you have. It comes from the Bible. I think.
It comes from the Governor, said Dmitri. I think. So you are not going to let me have the sleigh?
When the Cossacks go in, said the Procurator, anyone else would be well advised to stay out!
Dmitri sat in his office, first of all nursing his wrath, and secondly wondering how best he could pursue his inquiries while confined to Kursk. He was still nursing and still wondering when he heard the sleigh draw up outside. The door burst open and the Procurator rushed in.
Dmitri Alexandrovich! You must come with me at once!
He almost manhandled Dmitri into the sleigh.
Where are we going?
To the Governors.
What about?
The Procurator seemed deep in thought. Suddenly he stirred.
My advice, Dmitri Alexandrovich, is to say nothing!
Certainly. But
And I will do the same.
But what are we saying nothing about?
The Procurator did not reply. He had sunk back into an agony of deep concentration.
Why does the Governor want to see us?
Its not him, said the Procurator.
Who is it, then?
Volkov.
3
Who on earth, thought Dmitri, was Volkov? As soon as he entered the Governors room, however, and saw the blue tunic and the white gloves, he knew exactly who, or, rather, what, Volkov was. The Corps of Gendarmes was the specialist branch of the Ministry of the Interior which dealt with political offences. But what was a man like that doing here?
Most gratifying, the Governor was saying, most gratifying! But a little surprising, also. Over a thing so small!
Most gratifying, the Governor was saying, most gratifying! But a little surprising, also. Over a thing so small!
It may seem small, said Volkov, bowing acknowledgement, but the Corps has learned to look behind things.
Yes, yes, Im sure but a mere icon!
In itself it may be small. In what it stands for, however, in what it indicates, it may be much larger.
Well, yes. Yes, of course. No doubt about it. But exactly what ?
Godlessness, the Procurator cut in helpfully. The theft of a holy icon! He shook his head. What is the nation coming to?
What indeed? said the Governor, catching on. It is a sad state of affairs when
But Volkov seemed unmoved.
Sacrilege? said the Governor hopefully.
A blow at the Church? offered the Procurator.
There was a slight flicker or was there? on the impassive face.
A blow at ? the Procurator hesitated, searching around. Authority! he cried, with sudden inspiration.
This time the flicker was definite.
A blow at Authority! cried the Procurator, confident now. At at the Tsar himself!
The Tsar himself! echoed the Governor in appalled tones.
Volkov gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Or just a simple theft? said Dmitri.
The cold eyes dwelled on him for a moment, dwelled and then dismissed him as an insect.
Do peasants normally riot about simple thefts? asked Volkov.
Riot? said Dmitri. I dont think I would go so far as to call it that.
The Chief of Police has asked us to send in Cossacks to put it down.
He is mistaken, said Dmitri.
The eyes turned back to him and rested.
Mistaken?
The icon was very dear to them. All they were doing was protesting about the lack of progress on the case.
Yes, said Volkov, the lack of progress.
The Procurator swallowed.
We have done all we could, Excellency he pleaded.
A mere icon, said the Governor, a simple theft!
Riot? said Volkov. Missiles thrown at the police?
Maximov exaggerates, said Dmitri. I was there.
Volkov looked at him almost with interest.
Ah, yes. he said. Its in the report. The young Assistant Procurator who lost his head.
Did he say that? demanded Dmitri hotly.
Certainly his own feats loomed large in the report, said Volkov with a wintry smile. But then, we have learned to look behind that also.
Did he say that he had done a deal with them?
Deal?
That if they would disperse and give me time to complete the investigation, he would not send for the Cossacks?
I dont believe in doing deals with peasants, said Volkov. Especially rebellious ones. Do a deal with them on one thing and they expect you to do a deal on others.
Quite so! said the Governor.
Absolutely right! said the Procurator, looking daggers at Dmitri.
So you will be sending in the Cossacks?
Not yet, said Volkov, looking at Dmitri with his wintry smile.
A glass of vodka after your journey? suggested the Father Superior.
Tea, said Volkov.
The Father Superior went over to the samovar, which stood in a corner of the refectory. It was basically a large urn with a vertical pipe up the middle in which wood was burned to keep the surrounding water at the boil. The teapot stood on top with the tea leaves already in it and a little water, to which boiling water was added from the samovar.
Sugar? said the Father Superior.
Lemon, said Volkov.
Jam, said Dmitri.
The Father Superior brought the glasses back to the table.
The peasants, then, said Vokov, are unusually pious in your area?
Pious? said the Father Superior, startled. No, I dont think so.
And yet they riot about an icon?
I wouldnt say riot, exactly.
What would you say?
I would call it an expression of concern. Which got a little out of hand.
Out of hand. Yes. And why was that, do you think? Why were they so concerned?
Well, the Icon was very dear to them
Arent all icons dear to them? What is so special about this one?
Its associations, I suppose.
Ah, yes, said Volkov, its associations.
He swirled the lemon round in his glass and glanced towards the samovar. It was an old one, not made of metal as most of the new ones were, but of some special kind of china, at least on the outside, which was covered with little blue tiles.
And what are its associations?
Well, its associated with the relief of famine. At any rate, up in Tula, where it comes from.
Ah, yes, said Volkov, Tula.
Its quite an interesting story, in fact. It begins in the last century with a lady conspicuous for her good works. Among them was the relief of famine. She had the habit, whenever there was a famine, of driving around the countryside distributing food. Well, you know how these things get magnified in the popular mind. After her death it was claimed that she had performed miracles. You know, turning stones into bread, or if not that, bad wheat into good. And there was sufficient authentication for the miracles for the Church to agree, after her death, to an icon being commissioned in her name. It was paid for by public subscription.
Public subscription?
Yes. Unusual, that, I know. But she was very popular, you see. And some of that popularity rubbed off on the Icon. Whenever there was famine in the area after that, the Icon was taken out and carried through the fields.
Why? said Volkov.
The Father Superior looked at him in surprise.
As a focus for their prayers. It was believed that in some way she was able to mediate for them. We are talking of the popular mind here. There was some confusion between the Icon and the original lady. Of course, from the Orthodox point of view
Ah, yes, said Volkov, the Orthodox point of view.
all this is a little suspect. Theologically, that is. But in rural areas
And was it a focus for anything else? asked Volkov.
Anything else? said the Father Superior, staring.
There was always a lot of peasant unrest around Tula.
I dont see
Especially in time of famine. You say that the Icon was carried round the villages?
Well, yes, but
Which rebelled at that time.
Yes, but
This is just an icon! said Dmitri.
It is not what it is, said Volkov patiently, but what it means. In the Corps of Gendarmes we learn to look behind things.
They stood for some time in the Chapel watching the pilgrims coming in. They came in a steady stream. As one group was going out, another would be coming in. Each group would go up to the iconostasis, genuflect and stand for a moment, heads bowed, before an icon. Often, then, they would raise their heads and gaze at the icon, sometimes for several minutes, as if rapt.
It is good to see them accepting the disciplines of the Holy Church, said Volkov.