"I have a special assignment for you," said Perchik with a sobering look. "It will require you to turn over any really pressing cases to other investigators. Those of lesser importance can be put on hold temporarily."
What kind of assignment could he have in mind, Yuri wondered? Was it really some sort of scheme to ease him out? "I have a few cases that need to be pursued immediately. How long will this assignment last?"
"A month," said Perchik. "I had a call this morning from the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet."
Yuri raised an eyebrow. "Chairman Latishev?" Belarus did not operate under a presidential system. The top official was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, the position Gorbachev had held in the old USSR.
The prosecutor wasn't quite able to eliminate the note of surliness in his voice as he replied, "Yes. Your investigation of the Kah-Geh-Beysh-nik general left you rather famous, as you know. He wishes to borrow your services."
"The Chairman… borrow me? Why in the world—"
"A matter of considerable urgency, he assured me. I'll let his people give you the details. Latishev made it clear this would be a highly confidential assignment. He suggested that you pretend to be working on a complex case for me, personally, as a liaison with the Belarus KGB."
"The KGB?"
In the aftermath of the Soviet break-up, many of the former republics had done radical surgery on their portions of the old Committee for State Security, the KGB. Russia had renamed its trimmed down organization the Ministry for Security, then abruptly replaced it with another agency following the 1993 elections. But the KGB in Belarus had kept its head down during the coup of August 1991 and managed to survive relatively intact. Its primary responsibility had changed, however, from spying on the citizenry to combatting economic crime. That had resulted in overlapping of effort with Yuri Shumakov's work, causing a bit of a rivalry to develop. But the Belarus KGB was still interested in maintaining a low profile, and its leaders had worked to contain the rivalry within manageable bounds.
"Curious, isn't it?" said Perchik. "I told him I could spare you for one month. You're to report to General Borovsky at KGB Headquarters on Komsomolskaya Ulitsa. I will expect you to keep me posted on your progress."
12
From his looks and manner, General Borovsky might have passed for one of the new breed of aggressive business executives. He was dressed neatly in a dark gray suit accented by a fashionable blue and yellow tie. He had an expressive face topped by an abundance of wavy red hair. Happily single at present, he had two main passions in life, his job and the local soccer team. There was an undercurrent of restlessness about him, as though he had fifteen tasks to accomplish and time for only ten. Welcoming Shumakov with a firm handshake, he quickly closed the door.
"I'm familiar with your work, of course," he said, taking a seat behind an unimposing wooden desk. Flanking the framed photograph of Chairman Latishev on the wall at his back was a pair of blue-and-white Minsk Dynamo banners. Several photographs of soccer players also appeared on the wall.
"The local militia officers speak very highly of you," said Borovsky. "I'm pleased, but a little surprised, that Perchik agreed to let you help us."
"I'll be happy to do what I can, General. But I have no idea what this is all about."
Borovsky replied with a question. "In your investigation of the general who headed the old KGB here, you turned up evidence of money funneled into a Swiss bank account. Were you able to determine what was planned for those funds?"
Yuri shrugged. "Nothing specific. You might call it rainy day money."
"And for him, the rain poured." Borovsky grinned. "I wonder if he had some specific rainy day in mind? Take a look at this."
He handed Yuri a rust-colored folder with several sheets of paper inside. The investigator's frown darkened as he read. It was a confidential report compiled by a special section of the Russian internal security agency, one intensely loyal to the president. Agents following anonymous leads had uncovered evidence of Swiss bank accounts that had been established by former high level KGB officers. Since there was no proof of any illegality, Swiss banking laws prohibited disclosure of details such as amounts or names associated with the accounts. Over the past six months, some of the money appeared to have made its way back into the Commonwealth of Independent States. Russia, Belarus and Ukraine were specifically mentioned. Couriers were believed to have brought in substantial funds, but where they had wound up and for what purpose was anyone's guess. The trail had ended abruptly. Two former Soviet KGB officers were strongly suspected of complicity in the affair. Both had been sacked following the abortive coup attempt in 1991. In recent months, the men were known to have been systematically visiting capitals of the former Soviet republics. Identified as General Valeri Zakharov and Major Nikolai Romashchuk, they had now faded from view.
The report said the ex-KGB men had close ties to the faction that attempted to oust Gorbachev. There was insufficient evidence to link them to the current noisy nationalists or reorganized communists. It suggested maintaining a careful watch for signs of additional clandestine funds or a reappearance of Zakharov or Romashchuk.
"What do you make of it?" Shumakov asked, his brow deeply furrowed.
"You can be damned certain they're up to no good. Chairman Latishev is afraid they might cause us some problems during the CIS meeting here next month."
"In what way? Demonstrations? Disruptions?"
"Anything is possible, including some kind of plot to undermine governments of the CIS."
"Really?"
"I wouldn't rule it out." Borovsky ran his fingers through the curly red hair. "As you know, I was brought in from the outside. When I took over, there were still portraits of Lenin and busts of Dzerzhinsky around the building. I've tried to weed out the worst of the old crowd. But there are still too many I'm not sure of. That's why I wanted you. I have been assured that you are non-political. In addition, you probably know as much as anybody about how the old boys worked."
Borovsky had always enjoyed a challenge, but he had never faced one quite like this. He suspected disloyalty among some in the government, but had no proof. He was gambling a lot of faith and hope on the abilities of young Yuri Shumakov.
"That KGB investigation was one I thoroughly enjoyed," Yuri admitted.
"Do you think there could be any connection between the people you helped prosecute and this Russian report?"
"I would tend to doubt it. I think their problem was plain old greed. They didn't appear to be concerned with anything beyond their own billfolds."
"When you were wrapping up the case, didn't you work with investigators in Kiev and Moscow?"
"Right."
"Do you still have contacts in Kiev?"
Yuri smiled. "An excellent one."
"Good. Let me caution you to be very careful. This report was shared with us because of Chairman Latishev's close relationship with the Russian president. If anything about it should leak out, it could cause major complications."
"With people like Ivan the Terrible?" Yuri inquired.
"Him in particular. But there are a lot of other politicians, both here and in Russia, who question the need for the commonwealth. I don't worry so much about the loudmouths. It's people who work behind the scenes that scare the hell out of me."
Yuri looked thoughtful. "Sergei Perchik expects me to keep him informed."
General Borovsky shook his head vigorously, his hair dancing like flames. "You discuss this only with me, Shumakov. That's straight from the Chairman. He specifically ruled out Perchik."