were standing.’
‘ Turned you back?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you find that unusual?’
‘Yes. As I have already explained it is procedure always to accompany a detained man.’
Malik said: ‘What conversation was there when you and Panchenko returned to the rest of the squad?’
‘Comrade Colonel Panchenko gave orders how we were to travel back to the First Chief Directorate headquarters… who was to occupy which car and who was to accompany Comrade Director Agayans.’
‘And then?’
‘Comrade Colonel Panchenko told us to remain where we were and said he was going to check the bedroom.’
Malik looked back at his crowded desk, isolating the disclosures the major had made. He said: ‘ Told you to stay where you were?’
‘Yes.’
‘Told who? Just you? Or the rest of the squad?’
‘The remark was generally made but Comrade Colonel Panchenko appeared to address the remark to me.’
‘Were you surprised by that?’
‘Regulations do not stipulate the precise number of people who should accompany a detained person in these sort of circumstances,’ said Chernov unhelpfully.
‘What time elapsed from the moment Agayans went towards the bedroom, the discussion about the cars, and Panchenko following the man along the corridor?’
‘Three minutes,’ said Chernov at once.
Curbing any excitement in his voice, Malik said: ‘How can you be sure it was three minutes?’
‘I checked my watch,’ said Chernov simply.
Which Panchenko also claimed to have done, recalled Malik. And recorded the interval as ten minutes. He said: ‘There is no possibility of your being mistaken about the time?’
‘Absolutely none,’ insisted the man.
‘When he left you a second time did Panchenko hurry towards the bedroom?’
‘Yes,’ said Chernov.
‘Did he say anything as he left the room?’
‘Nothing.’
‘You could not see Panchenko enter the bedroom because the corridor bends?’
‘That is correct.’
‘So what did you hear?’
‘A voice. Someone shouting “No!” ‘
Slowly again Malik said: ‘How long after Panchenko had gone out of your sight did you hear the shout?’
‘I did not record the time but it would only have been a matter of minutes.’
‘One minute? Five minutes? Ten minutes?’
‘Nearer one minute.’
‘And then?’
‘There was the sound of a gunshot,’ said Chernov. ‘We all ran along the corridor, to the bedroom.’
‘What did you see when you entered the bedroom?’
‘Comrade Colonel Panchenko was kneeling over Agayans. The body was on the other side of the bed, half hidden, but it was obvious he’d shot himself: half his head had been blown away. The bedside table had collapsed, where he’d fallen against it.’
‘What did Panchenko say?’
There was a pause for recall. Then Chernov said: ‘My recollection is that the Comrade Colonel said: “He’s shot himself, the bastard.” And then he said: “This isn’t going to look good on my record.” And almost at once, again, “The bastard.” ‘
‘Who shouted “No!”?’ asked Malik.
‘Comrade Colonel Panchenko,’ replied Chernov at once. ‘After calling Agayans a bastard and saying that he’d shot himself, the Comrade Colonel said: ‘I shouted for him to stop but I couldn’t get to him in time.’’
‘Yet you said a few moments ago “a voice”,’ reminded Malik. ‘You didn’t say it was Panchenko.’
‘It could not have been anyone else, could it?’
‘Could you positively identify it as Panchenko’s voice?’ persisted Malik. ‘Could it not have been that of Agayans?’
‘Agayans!’
‘Answer the question, don’t pose one.’
‘The voice was indistinct,’ conceded Chernov.
‘Could you swear to the fact that the protest was made by the Comrade Colonel if required to do so by a tribunal?’
‘No,’ said Chernov, in further concession. ‘I could not.’
‘Was there any talk of calling a doctor?’
‘He was obviously dead, as I have already said.’
‘Or the civilian militia?’
‘Comrade Colonel Panchenko ruled that it should remain an internal KGB matter.’
‘Were any technical experts called to the apartment?’
‘Not during the time I was there.’
‘Any evidence assembled at all for a possible inquiry?’
‘I took the gun to our forensic department here and made a report to the medical expert examining the body at the mortuary.’
Upon the sheet in front of him Malik wrote the word ‘gun’ and put a query against it. He said: ‘So there was an autopsy?’
‘I believe so,’ said Chernov. ‘I was not called upon to attend.’
Alongside the query about the gun Malik wrote ‘autopsy’ and queried that, as well. Enough to reopen the inquiry, he wondered. Without doubt sufficient to have brought about a stronger rebuke at the original hearing but, alone, the further indications of negligence were scarcely grounds for a reconvening. He said: ‘Did Agayans at any time in your presence seem suicidal?’
‘No,’ said Chernov without any hesitation.
‘Did you expect to be transferred to Kiev?’ demanded Malik abruptly.
Chernov frowned at the unexpected question. ‘No, Comrade First Deputy.’
‘Did you request it?’
‘No.’
‘Were you surprised to be transferred?’
‘Yes,’ said the man at once.
‘I’ve given orders today for you to be reassigned back here, to Moscow,’ announced Malik. ‘I may wish to question you further about the incident.’
Malik had held back from issuing such instructions, wanting Chernov in the capital for questioning before Panchenko learned of the recall. The security chief did so within an hour of the encounter, with the arrival in his office of Malik’s official but delayed edict. Panchenko had already made the alarm call to Kazin when the second notification reached him, this time from Major Chernov strictly obeying the earlier directive issued by the security chief that any interview or approach concerning the incident involving Igor Agayans should be immediately reported.
So Malik had not given up, Panchenko realized. The man intended sniffing on, like some dog searching for a half-detected scent. Except that there was not one dog but two, Kazin as well as Malik. And Panchenko recognized he risked being chewed and torn between them, like some disputed rabbit. Panchenko confronted the fact that he was already too committed and too exposed. It was time he started taking what little precautions still remained open to him.
