The Sin Collector (Masha Karavai Detective Series) by Daria Desombre

Author:Daria Desombre [Desombre, Daria]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2017-10-24T04:00:00+00:00

She didn’t see Kenty until that evening, when he picked her up after his last interview and handed over the recording. Masha sat in the car and stared straight ahead at the darkening city, the old couple’s faces looming before her eyes.

“I’m never having children,” she said suddenly, and she sensed Kenty gathering his thoughts next to her.

“Funny, I came to the same conclusion today.”

Masha turned her head and took in Kenty’s pale, even profile. “Bad story?”

Innokenty only pressed his lips together without responding, and Masha understood that the story she was about to hear must be very bad indeed. Innokenty was unusually taciturn, and his eyes—his eyes looked not just tired, but tortured. He had been a bookworm his whole life, studying outdated moral systems, rules whose oppressive stench had long been dispersed by fresher air. Now, only beautiful things remained from that era: the onion-domed churches, their cupolas shining in the sun, and icons with their exquisitely drawn faces.

Poor Kenty, Masha thought ruefully, stuck with me for a best friend. He has the refined company of antique collectors on the one hand and someone who collects human depravity on the other.

Feeling guilty, she touched his hand on the steering wheel. That was the good part about having known each other since they were kids; they didn’t need to say anything to understand each other. Masha sighed deeply and opened the window a crack. They were driving past the Sparrow Hills neighborhood, and the evening air was surprisingly fresh. Masha closed her eyes and fell asleep.

She didn’t notice when Innokenty stopped at an empty intersection and turned to look at her, his face like a joker’s mask: lit by a pale-blue streetlamp on one side and glowing in the red of the stoplight on the other. Kenty’s eyes were very dark. What was in those eyes? Tenderness? A feeling grown tired of itself after all these years? The red light on his cheek changed to green, then back to red.

But Innokenty still sat watching Masha, as if he couldn’t get enough of the view.

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