But even here a surprise awaited me. As it turned out, Delilah pacified her in a different way: she was also a runner who participated in athletics competitions. And I just don’t know how many kilometers she ran. Apparently, it was extremely large, but with such a complexion it was not surprising. It seemed that if she walked faster, she would take off, despite the lack of wings.
One day recently in the office, she looked at my colleague, who had the imprudence to boast about the number of steps taken per day. This step note was on his phone. Delilah didn’t say anything, but her very emotional face showed that this was just childish pranks. We must give her credit: she didn’t even smile contemptuously – this was due to her good upbringing and the self-restraint that she had cultivated in herself.
She was not like me, a voluntary homebody. I tried not to spill my energy: “Well, why? I’ll go out into the street, they’ll kill me, and a lot of cases will remain unsolved, and I won’t be able to help people.” I’ve invested too much in my brain and my detective work to take that risk. Therefore, I considered even going out to buy bread an exhausting procedure that did not require my attention; I ordered everything home. Let the courier leave it near the doorstep, then I’ll pick it up.
***
At my home, Delilah behaved like she was at home, but without violating my boundaries. She did not look for anything, did not examine anything in the apartment, but behaved simply and naturally. She put the pizza down, quickly took off her shoes, and went into the kitchen. I offered her coffee and she agreed. In the first fifteen minutes spent at my house, she managed to briefly introduce me to the situation, telling me about Aunt Lily Kolyuki, who contacted our agency.
“I was surprised that none of our detectives want to take on this case,” Delilah said indignantly, throwing up her hands.
I shrugged, although this was not at all surprising to me, because the detectives in our department preferred something more attractive in terms of complex moves and intricate stories. And here is something incomprehensible, or rather indistinct. It was quite possible that in a week or two the girl would have turned up on her own, because there was no body or signs of abduction.
– What attracted you to this business? – I asked.
“It seems to me that she has a complex character,” Delilah answered unexpectedly.
– From the missing woman? – I asked again.
“Yes,” Delilah answered firmly.
“She’s not as simple as she seems,” I thought about Delilah.It wasn’t what she said that attracted me, but the fact that she answered my question without thinking for a second. She didn’t pause for long and said what she thought. Unexpectedly for myself, I noticed that I would feel comfortable working with her.
And the more I talked to her, the more I realized that I would take on this case. My grandfather, a great detective, told me that cases are attracted to us by distribution from above. If a case is attracted to you, it means you are ready, you need it.
All the following time, we watched videos with Lilya Kolyuki and analyzed her behavior, trying to create a psychological portrait. I especially remember one video:
“So, I won’t be a stand-up comedian if I don’t talk to you about sex,” Lilya Kolyuki said from the stage.
(Laughter)
“Yes, yes, the eternal topic, His Majesty – sex. Come on, clap, who has it?” – a roar of applause was heard in the hall. – Thank you, I have never been applauded like that. Maybe I went down the wrong path? (Laughter in the hall) Well, there is a lot of applause. You live well! Now clap, whoever doesn’t have it.
(Pause, rare applause)
– What’s so weak, huh? Here’s a girl, why don’t you have it? What? Are you waiting for love? That’s good, and how long will you wait? Ah, there’s still time… Well, our problem is that we think there’s still time, that we’ll still have time to do everything. But what if we suddenly die, and we haven’t had a single rest.
(Laughter in the hall)
Delilah and I looked at each other. This monologue did not evoke much sympathy; there were few comments and few likes under the video; they mostly discussed the other participant. But considering that Lilya Kolyuki disappeared, these words now sounded mystically honest, although not at all funny.
Chapter two
I didn’t have to luxuriate in my warm bed for long. Already at eight in the morning Delilah woke me up, dressed and ready for new challenges. This was surprising to me, because all my women – who had been here before – got up with a roar, with the buzzing of a hairdryer, with the clinking of cutlery, the sound of water in the bathroom, with the rustling of plastic bags. Then we put on makeup for another half hour, then looked for something to wear and rattled our steps. That is why I was not ready to let any female into my apartment. Delilah got ready without noise or dust. I didn’t even hear her do it. Until three o’clock, she and I discussed Lilya Kolyuki and watched her stand-up performances. Then I went to bed, leaving Delilah to sleep on the sofa, which was located in the kitchen. And at eight in the morning she was ready to leave.
We wanted to go to Lily Kolyuki’s apartment to collect as much information as possible about her, then we were going to meet with her aunt, Tamara Isaakovna Manulova. It is noteworthy that Lily herself had the same last name, and Kolyuki was her stage name.
“I made coffee,” Delilah said, standing with a mug of black coffee that was still steaming. – I did it to you too. Do you like cappuccino?
“Yes, thank you,” I told her, still lying in bed. I can’t say that it was awkward for me to appear in a lying position in front of a colleague, but still an element of awkwardness remained. And only she behaved relaxed.
“I’ll get dressed and go out now,” I said.
She nodded.
There were no doors to my room initially, no one expected that my colleagues would spend the night with me. I quickly took a shower and got ready. But then Delilah shocked me with another piece of news:
– While you were in the shower, Artem Tomich called me, well, the one from the forensic department, remember him?
“I remember,” I answered.
– Well, in Lily Kolyuka’s apartment they found traces of blood on the desk, a little, and a farewell note. And while we won’t be able to get into her apartment, investigative actions are ongoing there.
– What’s in the note? – I asked.
Delilah came up to me and showed me a photograph of a piece of paper on which two strange lines were written, and it could not be said that it was a coherent text, because each of the lines seemed to live its own life.
We were confused, not knowing what to do next. But they decided to call her aunt anyway.
– We need to talk to her aunt, – suggested Dalila. – We’ll also ask where else Lilya has been, besides her apartment.
– Excellent idea, – I answered.
The conversation with Lilya Kolyuki’s aunt didn’t last long, although we managed to get through to her on the first try. She wasn’t ready to meet us, saying that she was leaving for another city on business right now. She answered briefly and wasn’t in the mood to keep up the conversation, as if we weren’t talking about her niece, whom she was looking for, but about a stranger.
– Lilya only owned one apartment, where she lived? – asked Dalila.
– Yes, only this one, – answered Tamara Isaakovna.
– Did she often visit her relatives? – asked Dalila.
– She hasn’t been there in the last ten years. She only talked to me sometimes, and she hasn’t talked to her mother for a long time. “I’ve already answered these questions,” Lili’s aunt muttered discontentedly.
“Ask if there is a dacha, a country house or something like that,” I quietly said to Dalila.
“Does she have a country house or a dacha?” Dalila asked, prompted by me.
“Yes,” her aunt answered after a pause. “Only no one goes there. They are her grandmothers,” answered Tamara Isaakovna.
The conversation with her aunt was difficult, and when it ended, Dalila breathed a sigh of relief.
“What a difficult person!” Dalila said about her. And nevertheless, as a result of this dialogue, we had the address of the dacha where Lilya Kolyuki, or rather Liliya Manulova, could come.
This house, as we managed to find out, belonged to her grandmother, with whom she lived. Four years ago, her grandmother died and bequeathed her apartment to her.The country house was divided between her and her half-brother, who lived with her mother and stepfather in another apartment. The country house, according to her aunt, was abandoned and no one needed. The land on which it was located was also not of particular value. And yet, Delilah and I decided to go there, since we could not get into her apartment for several more days.
***
Delilah was driving, which made me happy because I needed to think. And I would have succeeded if Delilah had not kept interjecting her questions into my thoughtful silence.
