A Razor Wrapped in Silk by R N Morris

Author:R N Morris [Morris, R N]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical
ISBN: 9780571254286
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2010-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

24

Strange marks

At Porfiry’s instruction, the three heads were taken out of their crates and laid side by side on the table. Additional lanterns were fetched, their light reflecting garishly back off the livid flesh, lending it the illusion of animation as each lantern was swung into place.

Porfiry looked down at the children. Mitka, Svetlana and Artur. He tried to imagine that they were lying in a big bed, asleep. But their eyes were open, and that horrific emptiness beneath their necks mocked any attempt to take refuge in a sentimental fantasy. Their faces were united by death and childhood, but Porfiry made an effort to appreciate them as individuals before he hardened himself to the task of assessing their remains as evidence. Mitka’s features were elfin, his head coming to a delicate point at the chin. Svetlana, pale and blonde, appeared younger; her features less mature, her nose a mere button, her chin hardly there at all. Artur was the oldest. His features had begun to coarsen, his nose outgrowing the rest of his face. His hair was dark and wiry, and the faint smudge of his first moustache shadowed his upper lip.

Porfiry heard the door close behind him. He half-turned to acknowledge Virginsky’s entrance.

‘How is she?’ Porfiry asked, stooping again over the children.

‘How do you think?’

Porfiry twisted his head in Virginsky’s direction, then quickly faced back towards the table. ‘My dear Pavel Pavlovich, I cannot help remarking a strange, strained tension in your demeanour towards me. One might even call it resentment. May I ask what I have done to cause offence?’

Virginsky seemed to weigh up his options before replying. He gestured towards the heads. ‘You would have sprung this on her, as you once sprung a similar shock on me.’

Porfiry stood up to face Virginsky. ‘I did not want to warn her at the school, that’s true. I saw little point. I wanted to spare her the anguish of imagining this, at least for the duration of our journey here. However, I would have told her before bringing her into this room.’

‘I see,’ said Virginsky stiffly. It was evident that such a consideration had not occurred to him.

‘It makes little difference, I suppose,’ conceded Porfiry. ‘The anguish of imagining such a prospect, which was all I sought to mitigate, is nothing compared to the horror of seeing it.’ Porfiry widened his eyes, inviting a response from Virginsky.

But Virginsky withheld his thoughts.

‘Is there no other reason for your constraint towards me?’

‘I am not aware of any.’

‘So, how do we stand now? Now that I have explained my earlier prevarication. Does my explanation satisfy?’

‘It does.’

‘And may I once again count upon your friendship, as well as your professional assistance?’

Virginsky drew breath noisily before replying: ‘Yes.’

‘A hesitation!’

‘No. That is to say … if I am honest …’

‘Why should you not be honest?’

‘That man. Slava. I confess I do not like him and I fail to understand why you have taken him into your employ. His interest in our cases strikes me as entirely inappropriate.

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