They had left him with nothing.
‘Yes, come in, Pavel Pavlovich,’ said Porfiry, looking up from behind his desk. He winced a perfunctory smile. ‘I have a task for you.’ He shook a thick sheaf of papers for Virginsky to take. ‘These have just come in from Moscow. They are the lists of relevant pupils from all the private boarding schools in Moscow.’
Virginsky took the sheets almost reluctantly. There was something self-conscious about his movements as he scanned them. He said nothing.
‘I wish you to look for the name Golyadkin on the lists,’ continued Porfiry. ‘And to draw up a secondary list of all the boys who were ever in the same class as him. It should not be so difficult. There will be a certain amount of re-duplication as the pupils move up the years.’
‘Of course.’
‘An investigation may progress in a number of ways. There will always be times when our work is more laborious than otherwise. A crime is often solved when a connection is made between the victim and the perpetrator. Very rarely do these connections leap out at us. We must go looking for them.’
Virginsky nodded but seemed reluctant to move away and begin the task. ‘Porfiry Petrovich,’ he said at last, tentatively.
‘Yes? What is it?’
‘My father knew Setochkin.’
‘I see.’ Porfiry Petrovich sat up sharply. ‘Why did you not tell me this before?’
Virginsky could not answer, except by colouring deeply.
‘Or let me put it another way, why are you telling me now?’
‘I felt sure there was nothing in it. I wished to protect my father from unnecessary inconvenience.’
‘How very thoughtful of you. However, something has changed your mind?’
‘There is another connection you should be aware of. One that may make the first seem less coincidental.’
Porfiry inclined his head, waiting, his expression severe.
‘My father went to school in Moscow. He was a pupil at a private boarding school, the Chermak Private High School. His age is such that his name will be on these lists.’
‘I see.’ Porfiry nodded thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps you should start with this Chermak School. You will then set your mind at rest straightaway.’
‘And what if I find the name Golyadkin there? In the same class as my father, even?’
‘That would be interesting. At any rate, I would very much like to meet your father, if you do not think it would inconvenience him too much.’
‘Porfiry Petrovich, I am very much aware that in attempting to fulfil my duties as a son, I may well have neglected those of my office. I have done wrong. I would prefer to receive your reprimand than your sarcasm.’
‘Pavel Pavlovich, I do not blame you. After all, there are some coincidences that are simply coincidences. I suspect this is one of them. There are so many connections now in the cases before us that I fear we have created a veritable net of them. If we are not careful, it will entrap us.’ Porfiry looked around him, with a vaguely menacing air.
‘Is it not supposed to entrap the murderer?’
‘That is the intention.’ Porfiry’s smile was conciliatory. His tone softened. ‘Work on the lists. As for your father, it would be best if I met him informally. We really have no grounds for issuing a summons. Perhaps you could invite him here to see your place of work. I am sure he would welcome the opportunity to discuss your prospects with your superior.’
‘My father is not as interested in my career as you might suppose. I am not sure that he would respond to any invitation from me. We parted on bad terms. He did not appreciate my efforts on his behalf. I was trying to ascertain for myself the nature of his involvement with Colonel Setochkin. As it turned out, it was a business transaction, the sale of some land. My father chose to consider himself under suspicion and took umbrage.’
‘I command you to be reconciled with him.’
It seemed that Virginsky was not attuned to the nuances of Porfiry’s irony.
‘I understand. It is for the good of the investigation.’
‘Foolish boy, I was not thinking of the investigation, but of your own good.’
Virginsky looked down, abashed. ‘I shall work through these lists,’ he said.
Porfiry studied the list of names Virginsky had drawn up:
BOTKIN, P. P.
DOLGORUKY, F. D.
KALGONOV, P. P.
KARAMAZOV, P. P.
KIRILLOV, Z. R.
KRAFT, M. M.
KRASOTKIN, B. P.
LEBEZYANTIKOV, I. A.
MAKAROV, M. S.
MAXIMOV, N. F.
MUSOV, O. A.
MUSSYALOVICH, Y. S.
NELYADOV, L.T.
NIKIFOROV, N. N.
OSTAFYN, S. S.
PERKHOTIN, G. O.
POTAPYCH, M. M.
PRALINSKY, R. D.
PSEDONIMOV, I. I.
RAKITIN, S. A.
ROGOZHIN, K. R.
SAMSONOV, M. Y.
SHATOV, K. L.
SHIPULENKO, O. O.
SMERDYAKOV, P. P.
SNEGINYOV, A. A.
STAVROGIN, M. T.
SVIDRIGAILOV, V. V.
TERENTEV, B. K.
TIKHON, E. D.
TOTSKY, T. E.
VALKOVSKY, D. I.
VARVINSKY, G. S.
VERKHOVERSKY, A. A.
VERKHOVTSEV, T. G.
VRUBLEVSKY, F. M.
YEFIMOV, M. I.
‘I found the name Golyadkin,’ explained Virginsky. ‘B. B. Golyadkin attended the Chermak High School from eighteen thirty-four to forty. These are the names of all the boys who were ever in the same class as him.’
Porfiry laid the list down on his desk and smiled reassuringly. ‘I do not see the name Virginsky here.’
‘My father was in the year above Golyadkin.’
‘I wonder if he remembers him.’ Porfiry made the comment casually, almost as if it had no importance.
‘You know, Porfiry Petrovich,’ began Virginsky hesitantly, ‘with respect, it may be that the Uninvited One, though a schoolfriend of Golyadkin’s, was not in fact in his class.’
‘You speak as if you almost wish to discover your father to be the murderer.’
‘Not at all. However, it is simply that I fear we may do better to cast our net a little wider. Why limit the list to those who were in Golyadkin’s class?’
‘Because we have to start somewhere.’ Porfiry pushed across his desk a leather-bound ledger book. ‘This is the order book from Ballet’s. Your next task is to look here for occurrences of the names you have picked out. If you find any, good. We will investigate them. If not, then we shall, as you say, cast our net wider, and look for names from the other classes in Golyadkin’s year, and then from the years on either side of him, and so on. To narrow the search initially, is simply a practical measure.’
Virginsky picked up the book. ‘But could not these correspondences, if there are any, lead us away from the murderer just as easily as towards him? If they are simply coincidences, I mean. Besides, there may be many men with the same surnames and initials. It does not necessarily indicate the same individual. You will notice the name Maximov, N. F. Do you suppose that may be our esteemed Chief Superindendent Nikodim Fomich Maximov?’