"Come anytime," Granin interrupted her. "And be careful. He doesn't like when someone gets too close to his secrets."
The rain had stopped, but the streets still glistened with water. Anna got into her car and turned on the navigation system. It would take about twenty minutes to reach headquarters.
Her memory helpfully conjured an image from the past. Ten years ago. Her first case of a missing child. They hadn't made it in time then. That's when she had sworn to herself that never again…
The ringing phone pulled her from her memories.
"Anna Vitalyevna?" Elena Andreevna's voice trembled. "There's… there's some package that arrived. From him."
"Don't touch it! Don't touch anything, I'm coming right now."
"It's too late. I already opened it. There's an elephant inside. The seventh elephant, Anna Vitalyevna. And a note…"
"What note? What does it say?"
"Now the collection is complete. It's a shame there's no one left to make a wish."
Anna sharply turned the car around.
"Don't go anywhere. I'm on my way to you."
She called headquarters while driving.
"Dorokhov? Send a team to Elena Andreevna's house. And find out how the hell he's managing to send packages from the detention center!"
The navigation showed eleven minutes to her destination. Anna turned on the siren. Every second counted now.
From the corner of her eye, she noticed some movement in the rearview mirror. A gray Toyota Camry. The same one.
"Dorokhov," she grabbed her phone again. "We have a problem. I think there were multiple perpetrators."
Elena Andreevna's building came into view. A patrol car was already parked by the entrance.
And in the apartment on the fifth floor, on the shelf among six blue elephants stood the seventh. White, with gold detailing. Exactly like those kept in Granin's secretary desk.
History was repeating itself. But this time, Anna wasn't planning to lose. Even if victory meant confronting her own demons from the past.
The seventh elephant lay in an evidence bag. The white porcelain seemed inappropriately bright under the harsh light of the forensic lab.
"No fingerprints," expert Klimov rubbed his tired eyes. "Whoever sent the package was wearing gloves. But here's what's interesting—the marking on the bottom is the same as the elephants from the old case. Imperial Porcelain Factory, 1994."
"He's been collecting them," Anna said quietly. "All these years, he's been collecting them."
In the adjacent interrogation room sat Elena Andreevna. She had agreed to recount once more how her relationship with Viktor had developed. Every detail could prove important.
"Start recording," Anna nodded to Dorokhov, turning on the voice recorder.
"He appeared in our social circle two years ago," Elena Andreevna automatically adjusted the collar of her blouse. "A mutual friend introduced him as a successful businessman from Moscow. Viktor… he knew how to make an impression. Always impeccably dressed, educated, with excellent manners."
"Tell me about the first warning signs."
"You know what's strange? Looking back now, I can see them. But then… then he could explain everything. Any oddity, any inconsistency." She paused. "For instance, the story about his past. He never showed photographs, never told specific stories. Just general phrases: 'when I lived in Moscow,' 'I had a business.' And if I asked for details, he skillfully changed the subject."
