the park.”
Association with George Bendall seemed to bring with it a high mortality rate, reflected Charlie. “When was that?”
“A few months back. Four, five maybe.”
“How’d it happen?”
“Don’t know. Tried to race the train, that’s what they said.”
“Who said?”
“People here. Talk. You know.”
“What did Vasili do here?”
“Senior cameraman, like me. That’s what I am now-why I got the White House position-since Vasili Gregorevich died.”
“They were good friends?”
“Couldn’t understand it,” repeated Sakov. He lifted the bottle again. “You want a drink? Private stuff. Good.”
Charlie had never refused a drink in his life and wasn’t going to now, because it marked his acceptance, but he mentally apologized to his liver. The Russian poured almost three fingers into an already print-smeared tumbler, added yet again to his own and said, “To the witches being kindly ones.”
Charlie touched glasses to the traditional Russian toast, wishing the witches had been kinder when he was tramping pointlessly around the high rises. The liquid burned and went down his throat like a clenched fist. “They work together a lot, Vasili and Georgi?”
“Permanent team, most of the time.”
“Is that usual?”
“Suited everyone else.”
“Did they know each other, before Georgi started working here? I heard someone helped Georgi get a job? Vasili maybe?”
“That’s the story I heard. I never asked.”
Charlie wetted his lips with the drink. It stung. “There a favorite bar everyone drinks in around here?”
“Elena’s, on Tehnicskij.”
“Did Georgi and Vasili use it?”
Sakov took his time. “Sometimes.”
“They spent time together outside of work, then?”
“Seemed to.”
“What about Tuesdays and Thursdays?”
The Russian looked blankly at Charlie. “What?”
“His mother said Georgi used to do something every Tuesday and Thursday but she didn’t know what it was.”
Sakov shook his head. “Neither do I.”
“How’d it come about that Georgi was your gofer on the day of the shooting?”
“Rostered, I guess.”
“He didn’t ask for it particularly?”
“Not that I heard. You’re not drinking?”
Charlie brought the glass to his lips again. “You didn’t like working with him?”
“I already told you that.”
“Why didn’t you ask for a roster change?”
“It wasn’t that bad! He fetched and carried OK.”
“How many days ahead were the rosters fixed?”
“A week. This was regarded as a big job.”
“He brought the rifle up to the gantry in an equipment bag?”
“That’s what they say.”
“You decide what equipment you want?”
“Of course.”
“What was it supposed to be?”
“Spare tripod stand.”
“You didn’t check it?”
“I told you, he did the job OK. You told him what you wanted and he did it.”
“So that’s what happened? You told him what you needed and left him to get it ready?”
“Yes. Nothing wrong with that!” The belligerence was back.
“Nothing wrong at all,” agreed Charlie, quickly. “How many trips did he need, to get everything up?”
“Two. He took the camera and mount up first and put down a line to gather up the leads. Then went back for the rest of the stuff.”
“What about security checks?”
The man shook his head. “We had our identity discs, of course.But we arrived in an NTV van. The security people saw us: knew who we were.”
Charlie sighed. “He would have got the rifle up on the second trip?”
“Yes.”
“What did he have to do, when you were filming?”
“Keep out of my way until I asked for something.”
“Tell me what happened, from the time you heard the cavalcade was coming.”
“Got the warning from the scanner … from other cameras along the route … Picked the cars up as soon as they crossed the Kalininskij bridge on to Krasnopresnenskaja nabereznaja. Tracked them all the way to the White House. Refocused, for the tight shots, as they got out of the car. Saw the president go. The blood splashes. Then the fucker went into me. That’s when I saw the gun. He was bringing it towards me, I thought, so I grabbed at it …”
“I saw the fight,” broke in Charlie. “What did he say, when you were fighting. You were saying things, both of you? I saw you!”
“I don’t remember, not properly …” Sakov cupped a hand to each ear. “I still had the cans on at first, to the scanner. Then they got knocked off. We were swearing. Calling each other cunts. I think I said what the fuck was he doing and he said it was right. That he had to. He said he’d kill me, to get me out of the way. Tried to turn the gun. I couldn’t hear much when the helicopter came over, only to get away from him but I couldn’t. When I tried, he started to turn the gun.”
“How many shots did you hear?”
“None.” He cupped his hands to his ears again. “I told you I had earphones on, to the scanner.”
“Did you know Georgi was trained as a sniper, in the army?”
Sakov snorted, disbelievingly. “No.”
“Did he ever talk to you about himself … about the army … what he did in his spare time …?”
Sakov shook his head. “Didn’t even know his father was a spy until I read it in the papers.”
Bendall would have absorbed the language from the age of four, remembered Charlie. “What about politically. Did he talk about hatingthe new regime … the Americans … anything particular?”
“No.”
“Why do you think he did it?”
“Because he’s fucking mad … useless.”
Mad maybe, thought Charlie. But not useless.
“Is it a long way away?”
Not by Russian distances but Sasha would probably think it was. “Yes. A long way,” said Charlie.
“Do you have to go by aeroplane?”
“Yes.”
“Will you be gone a long time?”
“No more than two days.”
