Free The Ice Curtain by Robin White Page B

crime outside the gate. But for how long? It makes you think.”
    â€œWhich thoughts, Mister Chairman?”
    â€œThe usual ones. I left only moments before our dear Siberian friend. You say I wasn’t a target? Allow me to disagree. These days we’re
all
targets. How do you guard yourself from random violence? A bulletproof vest? They’ll poison you. An armored car? They’ll use rockets. You see what I mean?”
    â€œThe driver you assigned to the Siberian Delegate was ambushed and murdered. The killer took the car back through the gate and waited for Volsky. These are not random acts.”
    â€œAnd Gavril was one of our best drivers, too.”
    Petrov was odd,
Ekipazh
was a crime magnet, but also safe. Volsky’s murder was to be expected, but also random. Levin thought of him as an image seen through a pair of binoculars, coming in, then slipping out of, focus. “Who else knew of your meeting with Volsky?”
    â€œWe received notification of his arrival from the Presidential Administration, so naturally, they knew. My secretary assigned Volsky a car and driver and booked an appropriate room.”
    At the Rossiya?
“What was the purpose of the meeting?”
    â€œI expected Volsky to make a report on conditions in the diamond zone,” said Petrov. “I was wrong. He was after money.”
    â€œFor the miners?”
    â€œAt first I thought so. But when he said money had to appear right then and there, I knew I was facing a more familiar problem.”
    â€œExtortion.”
    Petrov pointed his finger at Levin. “The
exact
word. Unless I paid him off, he threatened to sell Siberian rough diamonds without bothering to send any to Moscow.”
    Could he do that?
“And you refused.”
    â€œNaturally. Volsky became quite crude. In his own words, he would tell Moscow to go fuck itself and he would keep the stones.”
    â€œWhat did you tell him?”
    â€œThat Siberian diamonds are owned by Russia, not by Siberia and surely not by
him
. That their sale is a matter of interest in the very highest ranks of power. He became irrational. He grabbed my arm so hard I’m still wearing a bruise. I was an instant away from calling the guards, but I decided to simply leave him with a bottle of vodka. With Siberians, it usually works.”
    â€œCould Volsky have carried out his threat to sell the diamonds?”
    Now Petrov looked troubled. “We’ve worked shoulder to shoulder with Kristall ever since they took over the mines from the state. Not one pebble has ever gone astray. But I don’t need to tell you that times have changed. Volsky hinted at a ‘black’ connection in Mirny. Such a person could have had access to diamonds, so I had no choice but to take his threats seriously. My committee has authority over the diamond reserves. If there are problems, they’re my responsibility. That’s why I ordered an audit of our diamond stocks. The killer. You said he’s in custody?”
    â€œThe militia arrested Volsky’s assistant.” But Levin thought,
Amazing
. It usually took an act of God to force a bureaucrat into taking responsibility for anything. Petrov was volunteering.
    â€œSo.” Petrov’s cuff links glittered.
    â€œAre you aware that Volsky made a phone call to the Kremlin a few moments before he was killed?”
    Petrov’s expression shifted to something like interest. “What about?”
    â€œHe asked to have the diamond stockpile sealed and audited. He also asked for the files of a company licensed to import Russian diamonds. A company named Golden Autumn.”
    â€œThere is no such company,” said Petrov. “As for his other request, there’s a difference between
sealing
and
auditing
.”
    â€œI’m not sure I understand the distinction.”
    â€œYou audit something when you’re suspicious. Sealing is something else, something more like”—Petrov