Valera, do something, shut him up.
P-a-a-a-a-a-r-a-a-a-s-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h- h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h. Immediately! Orlovsky jumps up from his seat and runs towards Pronyakin, clenching his fists in fury, I will not tolerate an impostor here, Pronyakin! Friends, do not listen to him, he says to those at the table, He is a common malicious slanderer. There is no testament that our dear Sergei Milyutin left all his property to his son Ivan and to Pronyakin! I was the deceaseds lawyer for 20 years, and I know what Im talking about.
He lies, he lies, Orlovskys daughters followed Orlovsky in shouting and pointing their fingers at Pronyakin, he is an impostor. Impostor.
When he reaches Pronyakin, Orlovsky tries to hit him, but he easily parries the blow and hits the lawyer back in the solar plexus, after which the latter, bent in
half, falls to the floor.
So you are a fighter, says Pronyakin contemptuously through his teeth to the lawyer, while at the same time several strong men, friends of the family, rush up to him and force him out of the room.
Well hire a detective, too, the widow shrills loudly and shrilly, running up to Orlovsky. Well sue him, she says to everyone present, for slander and hooliganism. We will defend our honor. No matter what it costs us.
***
Andrei Zhuk was small in stature, puny in build, with three days worth of stubble on his chin, eyes as small and quick as a ferrets, and a cowboy hat on his head. The meeting with Pronyakin did not begin at all as he had planned, but he managed to win this client over, promising that he would be able to find him the missing will.
They met at the Second Breath Liquor House, where nobody cares about anybody. This place is at the bottom of society, where there is no place to go
below: both aristocrats and degenerates come here to recover from their hangovers. From furniture there are only round tables at which you can only stand, and from snacks there are sandwiches with zucchini caviar or herring. That is why people do not linger here. Have a drink, have a snack, go away. An ideal place for business negotiations, especially if things are dark.
And Pronyakin was clearly a man with a dark past and greedy for money. Thats one thing, but in his career as a detective, Andrei had learned to understand people very well.
Ill pay you if you make me rich. And I will be rich only when I get my will back, said Pronyakin for the umpteenth time, tapping his index finger knuckles on the table. Understand? I like you.
And you dont, Andrei answered to himself and began to explain to his client once again that he had to pay for the current expenses during the investigation, regardless of the amount of the agreed fee, at his first request.
Include your expenses as an extra line in your contract, Pronyakin disagrees, But Ill pay them only when I get my will. Ill get billions, and youll get your 10% of everything I inherit. Youll be a millionaire in no time. So take a chance, thats what its all about! Look around you, said Pronyakin, What have you got to lose? This?
All right, having realized that it was impossible to agree on his own terms with Pronyakin, he decided to take the risk, lets do as you say. Tell me again everything you know about the will and about Miliutin.
On the day of his death, he himself called me in a terrible agitation, screaming that he had been ordered.
Was it just like that, shouting ordered?
Just like that, he shouted that it was his wife and daughters who did it. And all because he disinherited them. He bequeathed all his money to his son Ivan, and his collection to me. All this he formalized and signed all the necessary papers. He said that when he died, everything should go to Vanya and me.
What is included in the collection?
About 5,000 paintings worth more than 7 billion rubles. And this is not my speculation, all of his paintings have been valued by the bank and insured. And also the building of the art gallery on Ovchinnikovskaya Embankment. Thats not even less than half a billion if you sell it. After all, its not far from the Kremlin.
But when I asserted my rights yesterday, at the wake, lawyer Orlovsky declared me a liar.
And who is he, Orlovsky?
Miliutinskys personal lawyer, he handled all of his cases. If anyone should know about the will, it was him. One of two things: either Orlovsky is lying, or he doesnt know anything, because Miliutin didnt let him know about it. Im sure Orlovsky is lying because hes in cahoots with the widow. I think theyre having an affair. In a word, adultery.
But this is a criminal offense. If this is true, he risks going to jail.
For adultery?
No, for cheating on the will.
Well, prove it! Thats why I hire you.
***
When Anna entered the room, a burly woman in silk pajamas was sitting in the small living room with a defiantly dressed girl who looked just like her, listening
to her read her poetry.
The first thing that came to Annas mind was to say, A nuthouse on the road, but then she was introduced to the lady of the house, Mrs. Milyutina.
This is Anna Vladimirovna, a very experienced detective with terrific references, Orlovsky said to the woman. Her friends recommended her to me, in whom I have absolute confidence. We have a delicate case, you know. Anna used
to work as an investigator in the prosecutors office, now she works for herself. She will help us expose the scoundrel Pronyakin and deal with his casus belli.
Valera, I trust you, Milutina said languidly, stretching her words as she looked at Anna, Just imagine, Marfa has decided to become a poet. She was just reading her poems to me.
And how many poems has she written?
Only two, but its just the beginning, exclaimed Miliutina enthusiastically.
Well, when we have a hundred or two poems, then well publish the book. In the meantime, lets return to our sinful land. Well have to make an agreement with Anna and get her up to speed.
Ah, why all the antimonies, if all can be expressed in one word we want to get screwed.
And who wants to fuck you? Anna enters the conversation, What is he blackmailing you with and what is he trying to achieve?
What does he want? Money, of course, Miliutina stood up, all flushed with indignation, Oh, dont remind me of that scoundrel Pronyakin. My blood pressure immediately spikes and my heart beats like a bird in a cage. All my husbands life he was surrounded by shady characters who wanted to profit at his expense. And now that he is dead, one of his so-called friends has accused me and my daughters of killing him!
And you didnt kill him, of course?
Valera, what does it all mean? Milutina was sincerely indignant, Does she doubt my innocence?
Masha, shes on our side. Its just the way it is, Orlovsky reassured her, answer everything you know.
Yes, of course not! cried Miliutina nervously, and looked at Anna angrily, like a mistress at a guilty servant, We didnt even know where he had been for the last three days. The police called me and said they had found him dead in our country house. Before he ran away from home, he made a scene and told me and my daughters that he would disinherit us, because his daughters were discussing who would inherit what when he died. It made him mad. I knew right away he was having a schizophrenic episode. This had happened to him sometimes, he had been diagnosed with flaccid schizophrenia at one time. I wanted to put him in an inpatient facility for a couple of weeks to get him back to normal. If he hadnt run away, hed be alive now.
And what was the cause of your husbands death?
He died of a stroke. The medical examiner confirmed it, and we were issued a death certificate. Otherwise, how could we bury him?