Self-discovery

“So, you can imagine, I was sitting in the laboratory one day,” Hilobok rambled on, “and Valentin Vasilyevich came to see me — without his lab coat, I might add! That is unacceptable. There is a specific rule promulgated about this at the institute, a rule stating that all engineering and scientific workers must wear white coats and the technicians and lab assistants gray or blue ones. After all, we are often visited by foreign delegations. It can't be otherwise. But he always disregarded convention, and he asked me in a really nasty tone: 'When are you going to fill my order for the new system? Well, I tried to explain everything calmly to him. 'It's like this and that, Valentin Vasilyevich. We will when we can. It's not so easy to do everything you drew up for us. The circuitry becomes very complicated, and we have to reject too many transistors. In a word, I gave him a good explanation, so that the man would not have any misunderstandings. But he just went on harping: 'If you can't do it on schedule, you shouldn't have agreed to do it! I tried to explain about the difficulties once more, and that we had orders backed up at the lab, but Krivoshein interrupted me: 'If the order is not completed in two weeks, I will file a complaint about you and turn over the work to the science club in a grammar school! And they'll do it faster than you, and it will be a lot cheaper, too! That was a dig at me, that last part. He had always made cracks, but I was used to it. And then he slammed the door, and stalked out.”

The investigator nodded rhythmically and clenched his jaw to hide the yawns. Hilobok buzzed on:

“And five minutes later — note that no more than five minutes had passed; I hadn't even had time to talk to the workshop by phone — Valentin Vasilyevich burst in again wearing a coat this time (he had managed to dig up a gray one somewhere), and said: 'Harry Haritonovich, when will that order for the sensor system be ready? 'Please, I said, 'take pity on me, Valentin Vasilyevich. I explained it to you! And I went into my explanation again. He interrupted like last time: 'If you can't do it, don't try. and then went on about the complaint, the schoolboys, and expenses.” Hilobok brought his face closer to the investigator. “In other words, he repeated exactly what he had said five minutes ago, in the same exact wording! Can you imagine?”

“That's curious,” the investigator nodded.

“And that wasn't the only time he got confused like that. Once he forgot to turn off the water for the night, and the whole floor under the laboratory was flooded. Once — the janitor complained to me — he started a huge bonfire of perforated tape on the lawn. The professor meaningfully pursed his fat red lips, funereally outlined with a black mustache, “and so anything might have happened. And why? Because he wanted to get ahead and he was constantly overworking himself.

No matter what time you left the institute the lights in his lodge were always blazing. Many of us at the institute joked about it. Maybe Krivoshein wasn't aiming for his doctorate but for a break — through right off the bat…. He discovered enough, now go try to figure it all out.”

“I see,” the investigator said and looked down at the sheet of paper once more. “You mentioned that Krivoshein had a woman who was close to him. Do you know her?”

“Elena Ivanovna Kolomiets? Of course! There aren't many women like her in our town — very attractive, elegant, sweet, in a word, you know — “Harry Haritonovich described Elena Ivanovna's inexpressible beauty with a zigzagging motion of the hands. His brown eyes glistened. “I could never figure out, nor could others, what she saw in him. After all, Krivoshein — I know, de mortius aut bene nut nihil, but why hide it? — you saw for yourself, he was no looker. She would come to see him. Our houses are next door in Academic Town, so I saw it. And he never knew how to dress well either. But I haven't seen her around lately. I guess they broke up, like ships in the night, heh — heh! Do you think she had anything to do with this?”

“I don't think anyone has as yet, Harry Haritonovich. I'm only trying to clear things up.” Onisimov got up with relief. “Well, thank you. I hope that I don't need to warn you about gossiping, because — “

“It doesn't need to be mentioned! And don't thank me, I was only doing my duty. I'm always ready….”

After he left, Matvei Apollonovich put his head directly under the fan and sat for a few minutes without moving or thinking. Hilobok's voice rang in his head like a fly buzzing on a windowpane.

“Wait!” The detective shook his head to clear it. “We wasted a whole hour, and he didn't clear up a thing. And all the time it seemed 'as though we were on the topic, but it was all nothing. Scientific secretary, assistant professor, sciences candidate — could he have been trying to throw me off? Something's wrong here.”

The phone rang. “Onisimov here.”