1

On the night when Tang Feng and Han Jiang came back from Chen Zijian's laboratory, Tang Feng had been tortured by question marks and had a nervous breakdown, and he wanted to lie on the bed quickly, close his eyes, and sleep well. But it backfired, as soon as he climbed into bed, he was called up by Han Jiang, "It's so late, don't let people sleep?" Don't think you're the head and you'll take away my right to sleep! As he spoke, Tang Feng fell on the pillow again.

"Yelena has a letter, you don't want to read it?" Han Jiang asked, hugging a laptop.

"I don't want to see the sweet words of the two of you." Tang Feng lay on the bed without moving, and hummed this sentence.

"I wanted Yelena to write me more sweet words, but she wrote all about Misha, and if you don't read it, I'll leave."

Before Han Jiang could turn his head, Tang Feng jumped up from the bed suddenly, "I see! At this moment, he seemed to be completely sleepy, Han Jiang opened Yelena's email from Petersburg, Tang Feng couldn't help laughing when he saw it, because Yelena gave this email a very catchy name - "Lost 1964", this is a very long email, and it is accompanied by a number of photos, all of which are Yelena's investigation of the situation of the old agents who were responsible for protecting Misha, and the email begins like this:

In order to complete the homework you assigned to me, I suffered no less than the fright, fear and annoyance of drilling a sewer with you these days, then, with you, my father, and other friends, and now, only me, and of course that annoying, omnipresent Ilyugin, so I can only cope on my own. This is all thanks to you, I suddenly feel that everything is messed up, am I in command of your soldiers, or are you in command of me? Okay, you better read the text, after reading it, I'm sure your brain will be messed up.

- Love you Yelena

When Tang Feng read this, he smiled at Han Jiang and said, "This is all written for you, and the love letters written by other female agents are not fleshy." ”

"Fart! What kind of love letter is this, you keep reading. Han Jiang shouted.

Tang Feng put away his smiling face, beat his spirit, and continued to watch......

Since Tang Feng and Han Jiang left Petersburg, Yelena took a lot of effort to settle Ilyugin and bury Ivanov, Yelena finally had time to start completing the homework assigned by Han Jiang before leaving.

Yelena found the file obtained by Ivanov again, and began to investigate the KGB agents who were responsible for protecting Misha one by one, although she did not expect much from such an investigation, but still did a meticulous job, Yelena entered the names of all the agents that appeared in the report into her computer, and then began to eliminate them one by one, this is not a small project, a total of 46 agents, have participated in the operation to protect Misha, of course, this does not include the lost 1964.

According to the custom of the Russians, the names left by those agents on the report are only the first letters of their first name and patronymic, plus the surname, which brings a lot of trouble to Yelena's investigation, she does not know the full names of these people, if they are acquaintances, celebrities or acquaintances, then such names are easy to recognize, but Yelena has never dealt with these people, and the KGB has long ceased to exist, and after many years, most of these agents have not known where they have gone, some have died, some have retired at home, Some have settled abroad, and some are in prison.

With Yelena's strength alone, it is almost impossible to deal with this matter in a short period of time, but she doesn't want to alarm more people, all this must be done in a state of secrecy, in case the mastermind behind the scenes is really among these 46 people...... She can't startle a snake! In desperation, Yelena had to beg Iryukin, and when Ilyugin saw Yelena, he sneered: "What, what else do you need to ask me?" ”

"Yes, of course, you can be considered my senior."

"Well, although reason tells me that I shouldn't help you, I still can't refuse your request, so tell me what's going on first."

"It's simple, I'm just doing a routine investigation to investigate the agents who protected the ghost Misha back then, and I think you should understand why I did this."

"Humph! Of course I understand, and it was your Chinese lover who told you to do that? He suspects our old-timers? Only they will think so, what the Chinese think! Why didn't Han Jiang look for clues from them, did they think that the real masterminds behind the scenes were among the old agents who had served our country for half their lives? ”

Ilyugin said so much in one breath, Yelena kept staring at him and listened silently, until Ilyugin finished speaking, Yelena spoke: "What I said is just a routine investigation, you are thinking too much, since you have understood what I mean, then I hope you will keep it secret for me, and don't let other people know." Here! Here's the list. ”

Ilyugin took a list that Yelena had printed out and quickly skimmed through it, stopping when Ilyugin's small gray eyes scanned the back of the list, "Is there him?" Ilyugin muttered.

"Who are you talking about? Do you know anyone here? Yelena asked.

Obviously, Ilyugin must have found something on the list, but Ilyugin replied to Yelena: "It's nothing, there is a person I seem to know, but the person on your list does not have a full name, and I am not sure yet." Ilyugin stopped, stared at the list again, and then, putting the list on the desk, squeezed out a smile at Yelena, and said, "Don't worry! I'll do it as soon as I can, and of course, don't be idle, and we'll meet here in three days' time. ”

2

For three days, Yelena mobilized all her connections, only to find out the whereabouts of two agents, she visited the two long-retired agents, and found nothing, one was drunk all day and had nothing to do, and the other was lying in a hospital bed, with an oxygen tube inserted, and was dying with death.

Three days later, Yelena came to Iryukin's office as agreed, and Ilyugin saw Yelena's disappointment at a glance, and he smiled at Yelena: "How is it? What was found? ”

"Almost nothing. What about you? ”

"I've learned a bit, and I've figured out most of the people on this list."

"Oh?" Yelena couldn't believe it, she stared at Iryukin in a daze, "When did you become so efficient?" ”

"Hehe, that's because you underestimated me too much before. Let's just say that two of the 46 are still working for the Federal Security Service. ”

"Their current rank?" Yelena was startled, she thought of the "general" that Tymoshin was talking about.

"Military rank? Why don't you ask them about their positions, these two have not been promoted, and they are only colonels when they are about to retire. Ilyugin said with a sigh.

"Colonel!" Yelena's heart, which had just been lifted, fell back to its original place.

Ilyugin continued: "I know both of them, and one of them is quite familiar with me, so I basically investigated through them, and of the remaining 44 people, 5 are now retired at home, 7 have left the KGB and are employed by various security companies, 3 are now working in other government departments, 3 are in business, 4 are in prison, 6 are living abroad, 1 is dying in the hospital, and of course, 13 have gone to see God. ”

Yelena quickly wrote down Ilyugin's statistics on a piece of paper, and then after a little calculation, she frowned: "There are two less?" ”

"Yes, because I didn't find any information about those two, and none of the people I interviewed directly knew them, and no one knew where they were. What's going on? Of course, mainly due to the time constraints, if you can give me a few more days, I promise to investigate everyone. ”

"Which two?"

Ilyugin looked down at his notebook and reported the two names: "N. D. Stenov, V. A. Isakov." ”

Yelena wrote down these two names, then remembered something, and asked Ilyugin again: "Did you say last time that the one you seemed to know was verified?" Which of the two colonels is it? ”

Ilyugin shook his head, "No! It's not the two colonels who are still in office, those two colonels have very common surnames, so the last time I looked at the list, I didn't immediately recognize them on the list, the last time I said that the one I seemed to know was the one at the back of the list, his surname was uncommon, so I recognized it at a glance, but at that time I was not completely sure, it was the Brynin who protected Misha in 65-66, his full name was Andrei Grigoryevich Brynin. ”

"Brynin? 65-66 years? This Brynin may know the agent who protected Misha in 1964, isn't this the person he was looking for? Yelena couldn't help but feel a little uneasy in her heart when she thought of this.

Ilyugin added: "When I first joined the KGB, this old guy was my immediate boss, and later, when he retired, I heard that he now lives alone in a villa in the suburbs. ”

"Oh! His military rank before retirement was ......"

"It's a major general! I remember very well that he was promoted to major general before Makarov, and then retired not long after. ”

"General?" When Yelena heard that this Brynin was also a general, her heart sank suddenly.

"What? Does he have a problem? ”

Yelena looked at Ilyugin and muttered for a long time, before she said to Ilyugin: "When Tymoshin was running away, he once mentioned that he was a 'general', and said that we can't fight the 'general'. ”

"That's why you're so sensitive to the word 'general'. Come on, as far as I know, Brynin never left Petersburg after he retired, and lived in that small cottage in the suburbs, growing vegetables every day, reading books, and passing the time, and his children only visited him on Sundays, and other than that, he had little contact with other people, especially the former KGB people, which was quite similar to Makarov. Besides, he is so old, how can he be the mastermind behind the scenes? Ilyugin scoffed at Yelena's suspicions.

Yelena shook her head, "I don't know. Anyway, I have to pay a visit to the old general, how about it, would you like to accompany me there? ”

"You spare me, you know? When this Brynin was my leader, he was the least optimistic about me, so I had a headache when I saw him, he was much better than Makarov at that time, I don't know how many times I was trained by him! Besides, can you meet him, not necessarily? ”

"Why?"

"Didn't I say it, he didn't see anyone from the KGB, and some of his old colleagues and subordinates went to see him, but they were all turned away by him, let alone you. It is said that he is getting more and more eccentric and tempered, and I don't want to provoke this stubborn old man. ”

Hearing this, Yelena already had a preliminary understanding of this Brynin, she got up and said to Ilyugin: "Okay then, I'll try it myself." In addition, could you please send me all the information about this survey, especially the current situation of these people, and the countries in which they have settled abroad? What kind of unit do you still work in? Where do retired people live at home? Where are the people in prison now? Even those who have gone to God, I want to know their graves? ”

"You've asked for a lot, I'll try my best!" Ilyugin frowned, got up and saw Yelena away.

3

Yelena waited for another two days, Ilyugin sent the details of the investigation, Yelena carefully studied it, and began to eliminate them one by one from the last 1988, on the list of 46 people, there is no need to doubt it directly, and it also needs to be further verified with a question mark, one after another, Yelena found some rules, the agents who protect Misha are generally two people at the same time, and sometimes there are three agents, each agent is responsible for protecting Misha for two years, but there are also only one year, At least one agent is usually replaced before the beginning of spring each year. Yelena kept looking, and eventually, the pencil in her hand stopped at Brenin, who was responsible for protecting Misha in 1965-1966.

Brynin was the only one of the 46 to be promoted to general, and he was the agent in charge of protecting Misha in 1965-1966, and Yelena was even more shocked that the two agents who had not yet been investigated - N. D. Stenov and V. A. Isakov also appeared in the 1965 report, and V. A. Isakov's name appeared not only in the early 1965 report, but also in most of the 1963 reports. He has not been seen since the spring of 1965, which means that this Isakov was responsible for protecting Misha from 1963 to early 1965, and if he could be found, the lost year of 1964 should be uncovered, but he was ...... Thinking of this, Yelena put a big question mark on each of the names N. D. Stenov and V. A. Isakov, and then put a heavy circle on Brenin's name.

The bitter cold of winter had not yet subsided, and Yelena drove her "Fiat" carefully down the snow-covered country roads on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, where she was going to visit the eccentric, secluded General Brenin. Yelena was driving, her mind was still thinking about how to ask Brynin, the bad road conditions greatly slowed her down, it took her more than three hours to enter the forest, there was a large villa of all kinds at the edge of the forest, but the small villa of this general Brynin was in the depths of the extremely remote forest, the road turned into a muddy dirt road, "Fiat" continued to move forward with difficulty, and after half an hour, another section of potholed road finally appeared in the forest.

After Yelena had been driving along the potholed road for another hour, a large meadow suddenly flashed before her eyes, a meadow in the middle of a large forest! Yelena saw that not far away, where the meadow and the forest meet, stood alone, Brenin's villa.

Yelena parked the car in front of the villa, she touched the pistol on her body, jumped out of the car, took a big breath of fresh country air, and then carefully looked at the villa in front of her, this is a kind of villa built of logs common in the Russian countryside, although the style is a little old-fashioned, but it is very neat, in several greenhouses around the villa, are some vegetables carefully planted by the villa owner, in short, everything here looks just orderly. Seeing this, Yelena couldn't connect the owner of this place with the mastermind behind a series of conspiracies.

"Anyone?" Yelena walked up the steps and knocked on the white wooden door wrapped in birch bark, but there was no movement inside.

Yelena screamed a few times in a row, but there was still no response from the door, just when Yelena was puzzled, she suddenly felt something strange behind her, she turned around suddenly, and behind her, an old man with white hair stood at the foot of the steps at some point, staring at Yelena with gloomy eyes.

The sudden appearance of the old man made Yelena really startled, and when she was frightened, she looked at the old man in front of her, the old man was slightly hunchbacked, but his eyes were bright, which reminded Yelena of Makarov, and then saw that the old man was holding a shovel in his hand, not wearing an overcoat, just a gray woolen sweater, "This should be the old General Bruning." Thinking of this, Yelena walked down the stairs with a smile on her face, and asked, "You are the old general of Brynin, right?" ”

"Who are you?" Brening asked rhetorically with a grimace.

"Do you remember Makarov? Ivan Petrovich Makarov? ”

"Makarov! Of course, we worked together back then, and when I retired, I heard that he also became a general? ”

"Yes, but he's retired now, I'm Makarov's daughter, and this time my father asked me to come and see you, you can call me 'Yelena'."

"Yelena?" Brenin was also looking at Yelena, "Then please come in the house!" Brynin sent out an invitation, but Yelena still couldn't see a smile on Brynin's face.

4

There was a fire in the house, and the warmth was warm, and Yelena came into the house, and as soon as she sat down, Brynin said, "Girl, you better tell the truth, who are you?" ”

Yelena was startled, "I...... I'm Makarov's daughter! ”

"Hehe, as far as I know, Makarov has only one son, where is the daughter? Besides, don't forget what I'm doing, no matter how much you try to hide it, you still can't escape my eyes, I advise you to tell the truth. ”

Seeing that her elaborate lie had been exposed, Yelena had to admire Bryning's eyes, she groaned slightly, then took out her ID and explained, "I didn't mean to deceive you. Yes, Makarov has only one son, but Viktor is dead, and Makarov and I are father and daughter, and I am Major Yelena of the Federal Security Service. ”

Brening didn't look at Yelena's papers, and his face became even more gloomy, "Don't you know that I never saw anyone from the KGB after I retired?" ”

"Yes, but I have to come to you."

"Why?"

"To inquire about two people." Yelena gets straight to the point.

"Which two?" Brein's face was still gloomy.

"N. D. Stenov and V. A. Isakov."

Bryning's eyebrows moved slightly when he heard these two names, and this slight change did not escape Yelena's eyes, "Why are you asking about these two people?" Brening calmed down and asked again.

"That's right, a case I'm in charge of investigating, and unfortunately they are involved." Yelena will never let Bryning know the inside story, whether he is behind it or not!

"What?" Brenin shouted in surprise after hearing Yelena's words: "Girl, I heard me right, Stynov and Isakov are involved in the case?" ”

Yelena stared at Brynin and nodded.

"Hah! Ha! - " Brynin suddenly burst out laughing, this laughter made Yelena feel a chill in her back in front of the warm fireplace, and after laughing, Bryning's face darkened again: "Miss Yelena, can dead people also have something to do with your case?" ”

"Dead people? Are you saying that both Stynov and Isakov are dead? ”

Brynin did not answer Yelena's words, but stared at Yelena for a long time, Yelena was very uncomfortable by Bryning, she didn't know what this strange old man was looking at? Finally, Brynin spoke again: "Girl, I was not going to continue this conversation with you, but...... But since it's business, I can still answer some of your questions, and of course, part of it is because of Makarov, he was a good guy who saved my life when I was in Afghanistan. ”

Yelena finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Brynin's tone soften, "I just want to know about the situation of Stynov and Isakov, some people say you know." Are they really all dead? ”

"Isakov died a long time ago, he died in Afghanistan more than 20 years ago, it can be regarded as a death in the line of duty, I don't know what case he can be involved with a dead person after so many years?"

"And what about Stynov?"

"He? He has committed a great crime, it is said that he has been locked up in prison, and he has come up with it in his life, what do you say is the difference between a person like him and a dead person? ”

"Ah——?!h Yelena didn't expect that Isakov and Stynov would die in one fell swoop, she didn't feel a little disappointed, but she didn't give up, and asked Brenin again: "Then can you give me some details about these two people?" ”

"Well, I'll talk about these two people, Isakov's full name is Vasily Alekseevich Isakov, this person is very strong, almost as tall as Peter the Great, almost two meters tall, Isakov is especially good at close combat, don't look at his height, not clumsy at all, once fought with black bears with his bare hands, but his luck is not very good, during the war in Afghanistan, several of us went to Afghanistan, but Isakov never came back in the end."

"Never came back? What about his remains? ”

"Yes, his body was brought back, but what's the use? The man is dead, poor Isakov ......" Speaking of this, Breynin seemed a little sad.

"Do you know his tomb?"

"Isakov's grave is in a cemetery on the outskirts."

"Can you provide a few more witnesses? I mean the witnesses who can confirm that Isakov is indeed dead. ”

"What? You don't believe what I say? ”

"Nope! Just checking it out, you should know a lot about how we work. ”

Hearing Yelena say this, Brenin nodded slightly, and then reported the names of several people, and said: "You don't have to doubt that many people can testify about the death of Isakov, the KGB, and the army, when their squad was attacked by partisans, his leader, the surviving comrades-in-arms, and the doctors who rescued him can all prove it." ”

"Well, I'll go and find out, and let's talk about Styenov." Yelena turned the conversation to Stynov.

5

"Stynov? His full name is Nikolai Dmitmievich Stynov, but we don't usually call him by his original name, but by his nickname, so I was stunned for a moment when you first mentioned him. ”

"What's his nickname?" Yelena asked curiously.

"Skihkin!"

"What? Stepkin! Yelena immediately thought of the name of a gun.

"Yes, we all called him 'Stepkin' at the time, which is the name of the famous pistol, because he once used a 20-round Stephkin pistol in one operation to hit 21 targets."

Yelena's heart trembled, what a sharpshooter! Yelena knows that the Stephkin pistol is a submachine pistol designed by the famous Soviet firearms designer Stephkin in the early fifties, which has been widely equipped in the Soviet army and the KGB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement departments, this gun can carry 20 rounds, far more than the pistol generally used for self-defense, and it is because of this that the Stephkin pistol is thick, heavy, and inconvenient to carry, the Soviet army began to gradually withdraw this pistol in the seventies, but the KGB and some special forces still have a soft spot for the Stephkin pistol, Especially when performing tasks, I like to use this kind of pistol, but 20 bullets hit 21 targets, how is this possible?

Brenin saw Yelena's doubts, snorted lightly, and said: "That's right, it was 20 bullets, hitting 21 targets, to be precise, 21 people, and two targets were pierced by Stepkin's 9mm bullets at the same time. ”

"21 people?" Yelena was even more puzzling, how could it be possible to kill 21 people at once in peacetime, unless it was a state of war.

"It's 21 people, 21 U.S. troops!"

"21 U.S. troops?" Yelena exclaimed.

"It was a top-secret operation, and Stephkin and I were sent to Vietnam, and under the cover of the North Vietnamese army, we successfully completed the mission. Luckily, we didn't run into American or South Vietnamese troops, but on the way back, the rain was pouring down, and Stephkin got separated from us in the dense rainforest, and he had no compass, no food or water, only a loaded Stephkin pistol. As a result, he went farther and farther in the opposite direction, and was finally discovered by the U.S. military, two helicopters surrounded him with a team of U.S. troops, Stephkin used the jungle as a cover, and killed 21 U.S. troops with 20 rounds in the pistol, including four helicopter pilots, Stephkin wanted to fly back in the helicopter, but the helicopter was damaged, so he blew up the helicopter, and only took a compass and an M16 rifle found from the U.S. military, and walked in the rainforest for four days before returning to safety. ”

"Unbelievable!" Yelena shook her head, "Are you sure?" After all, no one was there. ”

"Hehe, the U.S. military report is the best proof of this, of course we will not only believe Stepkin's account, the U.S. military later confirmed that 21 U.S. troops were killed near a village in southern Vietnam, two helicopters were destroyed, they believed that the North Vietnamese army was responsible, but they couldn't explain why all the American soldiers killed had 9mm gunshot wounds, which is the caliber of a pistol, not an assault rifle."

"Yes, in general, assault rifles are used in military firefights, and pistols are only used for close defense. In this way, this Stephkin is really good, a sharpshooter, but how did he end up in prison? ”

6

Brening frowned, and slowly recalled: "That was later, Stephkin was younger than me and Isakov, so his mind was much more flexible than ours, he didn't mix well later, he was full of ability, but he couldn't be promoted, he was full of resentment, so, in the tide of reform at the end of the eighties, he first started the business of selling intelligence, and after the East Window incident, he was expelled from the KGB, but Stephkin was not sad at all, and he started a bigger business." During the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union, everyone was very confused, but Stephkin was very prosperous at that time, not only selling intelligence, but also smuggling arms with some retired officers in the army, you know, there will inevitably be a conflict of interest in this business, killing people and goods, Stephkin did not do less, the last time I saw him in his luxurious villa, I advised him not to do these things again, but he did not listen, and persuaded me to join them, and finally everyone broke up unhappily. As a result, Stepkin's business grew bigger and bigger, and finally after a merger with the mafia, he was taken by the police to his lair, and I heard that the indictment against him was more than 200 pages thick, and there were more than 30 wronged ghosts recorded in his name, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. ”

"Where is he being held now?"

"Originally, he was kept in an ordinary prison, but because of the skills he learned in the KGB, and because he had some of his close friends, Stephkin escaped from prison three times, and although he was soon recaptured, he had several more lives on his hands. So, the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked the FSB to take over Stepkin, how to say that Stephkin was also trained by the KGB, the FSB had no choice, although it was unwilling, but also had to take Stephkin over, it is said that Stephkin was later imprisoned in the Ponotska prison near Lake Onega. ”

"Ponotska prison? The same prison where the KGB held important prisoners? ”

"Yes, you should know there, that is Ponotska, which was once intimidating to countless people, and was finally built in the thirties of the last century, with tens of thousands of laborers, and finally built in five years, according to Beria's orders. It is not that this prison is so big or grandiose, in fact, Ponotska Prison is not big, but because it is close to the Arctic Circle and surrounded by a large swamp on the edge of Lake Onega, it is too difficult to build, it is impossible to construct in the severe cold in winter, and the swamp is impassable in summer, and it took tens of thousands of laborers more than two years to build a road into it. I have been to Ponotska once, and I will never forget the sight of the endless wasteland and swamps around which the prisoners are forever trying to escape from prison, and from where they either freeze to death or starve to death on the ice fields in winter, and the endless dizzying swamps of summer devour you mercilessly, and to this day, there is only one road in and out of there, and no prisoner has ever managed to escape from there. ”

"Then Stephkin should be honest, right?"

"Well, I haven't heard anything about him since."

"Looks like I'm going to have to go to Ponotska too."

"What's ......" Brynin was a little surprised when he heard that Yelena was going to Ponotska, "I don't understand what case is related to these two people, one died many years early, and the other was locked up in Ponotska, which is extremely strong?" ”

Yelena smiled at Breinin and did not answer, she looked outside, it was not too early, and she had to rush back to Petersburg before dark, so he asked the last question: "Can you tell me how you met Isakov and Stephkin?" ”

Brynin listened to Yelena's question, her brows moved again, Yelena noticed that Brynin's brows were getting tighter and tighter, and finally they were completely entangled, Yelena tried her best to speculate about Greyn's psychology, how he would answer this question, he could easily deal with it casually, for example, when he was serving in a certain department of the KGB, or when he was on a certain mission, but Brienin's answer shocked Yelena.

"It's all because of a man named Misha."

"Oh?" Yelena was shocked, but she still pretended to be casual on the surface, he didn't expect Brynin to mention Misha, but Brianna actually mentioned it himself...... "Who is this Misha?" Like someone's nickname? ”

"Nope! I can't say, it was also a secret mission, of course, it was a very boring secret mission, it was not bloody, it was not thrilling, it was boring, but it was also very light. ”

Yelena quickly judged every word that popped out of Brainin's mouth, and she didn't hear any flaws, "So, you met on this mission?" ”

"Yes, we worked together a few more times and worked together in the same department, so I gradually got acquainted."

Yelena still couldn't hear the slightest flaw, and she stared at the fading fire in the fireplace until Brynin interrupted her thoughts: "Girl, what else do you have to ask?" ”

"I didn't ...... Gone! Yelena came back to her senses, looked out the window, hurriedly stood up, and said goodbye to Bryning, who glanced out the window and said, "Girl, I'm afraid you won't be able to return to the city at this time." ”

"Can't get back to the city?" Yelena began to worry if she got lost in the forest...... Yelena didn't dare to think any further, she looked at Brynin and cast a pleading look at her.

7

Brynin thought for a moment, and finally suggested to Yelena: "I think so, you will stay with me tonight, and go back to the city tomorrow morning." ”

"Live here?" Yelena, who had always thought she was bold, hesitated, and when she thought of living in such a place, and with the old man with a strange temper in front of her, she couldn't help but feel relieved, Yelena subconsciously touched the pistol on her waist.

None of this escaped Bryning's eyes, and he laughed dryly twice and said, "Girl, are you scared as an agent?" ”

"Nope! …… No! Yelena herself could hear the lack of confidence in her words.

"Don't try to lie to me, I see it. Don't worry, I'm safe here, you don't have to worry about me, my rank is higher than yours, I assure you with the honor of a general, Major Yelena! Even if you encounter any danger, don't you still have a gun? I don't have any weapons here except an old shotgun. Brynin said as he stared at Yelena.

Yelena withdrew her hand, she also stared at Bryning, the two looked at each other for a long time, and then Yelena said: "Since I dare to come here to find you alone, I am not afraid to spend the night here, but this will disturb you, General Brynin." ”

Bruning finally had a smile on his face, and he arranged Yelena's room, then went into the kitchen and began to prepare dinner.

After dinner, Brynin cleaned up and went back to her room, Yelena didn't know what he was doing alone in the room, and it was a difficult night for her anyway. There is no TV, no computer, and no one to talk to, Yelena has to go back to her room, lying on the bed alone and reading novels, it is a detective novel of Mari Nina that she brought herself, Yelena has always liked to carry a detective novel with her, for boring to read, Mari Nina is her favorite writer, she is very envious of Mari Nina's pen that can solve all kinds of difficult cases in the office of the goddess detective Nastya, she often thinks that if she only Nastya, she doesn't have to be like now, I was scared, but I couldn't do it!

The detective novel was finished quickly, and Yelena was not sleepy yet, maybe she didn't want to sleep, maybe she didn't dare to sleep! Yelena lifted the thick curtains and looked out the window, it was pitch black, and there was no sound in the forest except for the occasional call or two from an unknown animal.

Yelena opened the door gently, she didn't know why she came to the living room, she held a white wax, looked around the living room, the fire in the fireplace had been extinguished, everything was as she saw in the afternoon, just ...... Yelena suddenly noticed a few picture frames on the fireplace, "Why didn't you notice it in the afternoon?" Maybe I'm too nervous, or maybe I'm just listening to Bryning......" Yelena thought, slowly walking to the fireplace, she raised her right hand holding the candle, and the faint candlelight reflected the picture frame on the fireplace.

There are five frames on the fireplace, one with gold trim, beautifully made, in the center, and in the frame is a yellowed old photograph of a mother holding a baby in her arms, "This picture is old, probably a picture of Brynin as a child!" Yelena thought, and looked at the two silver-rimmed photo frames on the left hand of the gold-rimmed photo frame, one of the black-and-white photos was a pair of young men and women, looking at the dress, Yelena estimated that the young men and women in the photo should be the young Brinnin and his deceased wife, and the other silver-rimmed photo in the photo frame was a family photo color photo, looking at the background, it seemed to be taken outside this villa.

Look at the two black-bordered photo frames on the right hand, one is very long, inside is a huge black and white photo, the people in the photo are wearing military uniforms, sitting in the front row, standing straight in the back row, like a group photo, Yelena can't see the dense people in this photo, he only thinks that the people in the photo have exactly the same face, white, one by one, no smile, no expression, like a ...... Like someone who has died! Thinking of this, Yelena felt a cool air rise behind her, and she moved the candle to a photo on the far right, also a black and white photo, in the background of a snowy wood, nearby, a few young people were having a snowball fight, and in the distance, there were some people also having a snowball fight, Yelena became interested in this photo, she leaned up, leaned over the fireplace, and looked at this photo carefully, she found that most of the young people in the photo were wearing military uniforms, like the uniforms of the early KGB," This may be the photo of Bryning playing with his comrades when he was young, "The young man in the photo is full of smiles, it is so innocent, the moment they freeze on the photo, showing the power of youth, Yelena can't help but think of her previous scene, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she subconsciously stretched out her left hand to pick up the photo frame, but at this moment, a hoarse and old voice suddenly remembered behind her.

"Miss Yelena, what are you doing at such a late hour?"

Yelena was frightened by this sudden sound, and the picture frame in her hand also fell on the fireplace, she hurriedly looked back, it was Bryning, I don't know when, Brynin stood behind her with a gloomy face with a flashlight.

"I couldn't sleep, so I sat down in the living room and saw these frames...... "Yelena replied embarrassedly.

Brening didn't speak, still standing in place, using the flashlight in his hand to shine at the picture frame on the fireplace, and then, expressionlessly, walked to Yelena's side, reached out and lifted up the black-rimmed photo frame that fell on the fireplace, Brienin's action of holding the photo frame was careful and cautious, as if he was doing something important, when he held the black-rimmed photo frame, he turned his head to Yelena and said: "Now, go back to the room, I don't care if you fall asleep or not, before dawn, I hope you don't go out of your room again." ”

This is the tone of the order, it is the order of the superior to the subordinate, the frightened Yelena did not dare to disobey, so she had to retreat to her room, Brynin kept watching Yelena retreat to her room, then turned off the flashlight, and the living room fell into darkness again.

8

Early the next morning, Yelena got up early, said goodbye to Breynin, and hurried back to the city in her "Fiat", she didn't care about resting, and went straight to Ilyugin's office, and as soon as she saw Ilyugin, Yelena asked bluntly: "Have you been to Ponotskä?" ”

"Ponotska? You mean Ponotska? Ilyugin looked at Yelena in surprise.

"That's right! It's Ponotska Prison! ”

"Been there, how...... Where did your clues lead? That's not a good place. ”

"Yes, since you've been there, then I don't have to trouble the others, just ask you to accompany me on a trip."

"What? You told me to go to Ponotska? I'm not going to that hell place, and if you want me to go with you, you have to tell me why, right? ”

"I don't have time to explain to you, let's get in the car." After speaking, Yelena pulled Ilyugin and was about to go out, just like that, Ilyugin was dragged by Yelena, and in full view of everyone, he was pulled by Yelena to "Fiat".

As soon as Yelena stepped on the accelerator, "Fiat" drove back to the road out of the city, "You are kidnapping!" Shameless kidnapping! Ilyugin roared at Yelena.

"Well, even if I kidnap you, you don't have a choice now."

"Then you have to tell me, why did you go to that hellish place?" Ilyugin's tone softened.

"Or because of that list."

"I see, you went to Brenin, and he told you the whereabouts of those two guys, right...... Are they being held in Ponotska? Ilyugin was incredulous, because Ponotska was holding the most important felons.

Yelena nodded, "Yes, I went to Brenin, and he told me that Isakov died more than twenty years ago, and Stepkin, that Tenov, was imprisoned in Ponotska. ”

"Oh! Looks like this guy is an important person! ”

Yelena then told Ilyugin what he knew, and then said to Ilyugin: "Okay, now it's time for you to introduce me to Ponotska." ”

"Introduce what? Don't you know all about it? It was a place for felons, and it used to be a heavily guarded ......."

"Wait, what did you mean by what it used to be?"

"It was, that is, Ponotska is not as good as it used to be, and at its most glorious time, there were five hundred of the most important KGB criminals, and there were five hundred guards in charge of such prisoners, four shifts, high walls, and so well guarded, that there was no hope of escaping from there. Even if you are lucky enough to escape, you will either freeze to death in the wasteland or fall into a swamp, and for so many years, I have never heard of anyone who has successfully escaped from prison. However, now Ponotska is not as good as before, since the KGB was abolished, the situation has been getting worse, there is a shortage of funds, the people's morale is fluctuating, the prison has not been repaired for many years, and there are fewer and fewer prisoners there, and there is no appropriation from above, and now there are probably less than 50 prisoners in Ponotska, and there are only more than 30 guards in charge of guarding them. ”

"I see, it doesn't seem to be impregnable."

"That's not necessarily, although the funds are insufficient, Ponotska is not as good as before, but the foundation of the year is still there, not to mention anything else, it is the harsh environment around it, it is impossible for anyone to escape." Ilyugin still has a lot of confidence in Ponotska.

"That's good......," Yelena came to a small town after driving for most of the day, and Ilyugin pointed to the only hotel in the town, "If you don't want to stay in Ponotska, we'll have to stay here tonight." ”

"How long will we have to walk tomorrow to get to Ponotska if we live here?"

"It's about two hours away, it's the last town in Ponotska, and then you're going to be in the endless swamps and moors, and there's no more people, so we have to stay here."

Yelena had no choice but to do what Ilyugin said. After a night of silence, the next morning, the sun was rising, and under the harsh sunlight, Yelena and Iryukin entered the boundless wasteland, Yelena stared at the endless path in front of her, and she began to believe the words of Brenin and Iryugin, no one could escape here.

9

Two hours later, a black building appeared alone in the wasteland, and the "Fiat" slowly stopped in front of the huge black building, Yelena got out of the car and looked up at the black building, which was a fortress-like building made entirely of black rock, "This is Ponotska?" It's like a medieval castle! Yelena muttered.

"Medieval castles? Hearing you say that, it's really quite similar! Ilyugin also stared at the black building in front of him.

Yelena looked back at Iryukin, who was still sitting in the car, "What, aren't you going to get out of the car?" ”

Iryujin shook his head, "I'll just wait for you in the car, I don't want to go here, besides, the procedures for entering here are complicated, so I won't accompany you." ”

Yelena shook her head helplessly, closed the car door, and walked alone towards the black building in front of her. After a strict identity check, Yelena finally entered Ponotska. A lieutenant named "Igor" received her, as the heavy iron door in front of her slowly opened, a long corridor appeared in front of Yelena, the lieutenant led Yelena through the dark corridor quickly, only the dim light from the incandescent lamp above her head brought a glimmer of light here, Yelena asked Captain Igor: "How many guards do you have now?" ”

"There are thirty-four people in total, but we are divided into three shifts, so there are only about a dozen guards here, sometimes even less than ten."

"And how many prisoners are there?"

"Fortunately, there are not many prisoners here now, otherwise how can we have enough people, there are a total of 28 prisoners, all of whom are felons who have committed heinous crimes, or people who seriously endanger national security."

Yelena didn't say anything after listening, she was thinking about what kind of people are being held here, and what kind of person is Stepkin? Yelena was not allowed to think too much, after passing through the iron gate, the two had already entered the heavily guarded prison area, and at the gate of the prison area, Yelena asked the lieutenant: "Is Stephkin still honest here?" ”

"Stykin? How to say, although we all know that he is extremely evil, he is quite honest here, and he does not cause trouble, and often reads books alone or is in a daze. But, seriously, we know that he is very good, so we are a little scared of him. ”

Lieutenant Igor pointed to the inside of the prison area and introduced Yelena: "The twenty-eight people who are now being held here are all felons, so we will keep them separately, each in a single room, and basically do not interact with each other. You want to interrogate Stepkin, and I'll bring him to the interrogation room later, and you'll be there for interrogation. ”

Yelena nodded, only to see the lieutenant enter the prison area with two other guards, and soon, the lieutenant came out and said to Yelena: "Ready, you can start." ”

Yelena walked alone into the interrogation room, which was larger, larger than any other interrogation room Yelena had ever seen, and in the middle of the interrogation room, an iron fence separated the interrogator from the interrogator. Yelena sat down in her chair and looked at the man across the fence door, who looked to be in his sixties, bareheaded, and looked very thin, and Yelena couldn't connect the ragged, emaciated man in front of her with the supreme master who had killed 21 people with 20 bullets. The man was fixed to a special iron chair, and although the handcuffs on his hands were removed, he still had heavy shackles on his feet, and the shackles were still fixed to the iron chairs. The man lowered his head, as if he was asleep, and Yelena entered the door, but she couldn't make the man look up, "This person is the murderous Stephkin?" Yelena pondered, and thought about the questions she had repeatedly pondered on the road.

"Stykin? Put your head up. Yelena bluntly called out the nickname of Stepkin.

The body of the person on the other side moved slightly, and then slowly raised his head, a pair of gray eyes occupied by large whites of the eyes, staring straight at Yelena, "How did you know this nickname?" The voice was languid and hoarse, and there was not a trace of nervousness or uneasiness to be heard, which made Yelena secretly surprised.

"It's not your turn to ask me yet."

"Well, what do you have to ask?"

"What year did you join the KGB?"

"Since you all know my nickname, it means that you already know me well, so why bother asking such boring questions." The voice was still languid and hoarse.

It was true that this was not Yelena's question, but she was not satisfied with Stepkin's answer, and she said angrily: "Answer my question." ”

"Well, I joined the KGB in 1963."

"In 1963, then, tell me what you did in 1964?"

“1964？ Hehe! That's the question you have to ask, so why bother going around in circles? ”

Yelena's heart shook violently, did Stephkin already have insight into her intentions?

10

Yelena pretended to be calm and said to Stepchkin: "I want to know all about your history, starting with your joining the KGB. ”

"In 1964?" Stephkin stared at Yelena with those gray eyes occupied by large whites, as if reminiscing, "In 1964, I accepted the first assignment to monitor, oh! No! No! It was to protect, to protect a man named Misha, but at that time, he already had a new name, which was Bao ...... Reese or something, I really can't remember, that task was boring and boring, you should know what I mean, but I'm still meticulous because ...... Because I cherish that opportunity, you know, like me from a young age...... Children who grew up in the mountains of the Transcaucasian Caucasus do not have many opportunities......"

Stephkin seemed to be very engaged, intermittently, endlessly talking to Yelena, "Who else was with you on this mission in 1964? Yelena abruptly interrupted Stephkin's narration.

"Who else? Let me think...... By the way, and the Isakov guy...... He's a big guy, maybe two meters tall! ……”

"Except for Isakov?"

"Isakov! Isakov was transferred in 65, and then a Brynin came, and I went on this mission, but this guy ...... This guy is older than me, very self-righteous, and doesn't take me seriously, didn't he just come in a few years earlier than me? This guy later ...... Later, he became a general! Girl, you see, our country is like this now, and a man of skill and charm like me is locked up here and wastes the rest of his life, while a man like Brynin climbs up, but I can see that you are different from them, and you exude charm all over...... Charming charm, I can already feel it......"

"Be honest! What about 65 years from now? ”

"Later? After 65 years, I was transferred, and I ...... the following Hehe! ”

Stephkin suddenly smirked. Yelena didn't get any valuable clues from Stepkin's mouth, but his account confirmed Brynin's words, and Yelena felt that the murderer in front of her seemed to have been locked up here, obviously unresponsive and confused, but fortunately his memory was not in trouble. Thinking of this, Yelena sneered twice and asked Stephkin again: "You seem to be very dissatisfied with Brynin?" ”

Stephkin sneered, "Hmph...... Oh, yes! Tell me...... Tell me what I'm worse than him, he became a general, haha...... I went on missions with him several times, and if it wasn't for me, he would have finished playing, and in Vietnam, they left me alone in the rainforest, and when I found out that I was alone and lost contact with them, I ...... I'm terrified, I'm desperate......" Stepkin gritted his teeth and glared at his eyes, which were full of fear, but in an instant the fear in Stepkin's eyes disappeared, and he roared fiercely: "But then, I ...... When I saw so many American troops surrounding me, I was not afraid, my mind was never so clear, I ...... Stepkin, not a single bullet was wasted...... It was my proudest moment, but it's a pity...... It's a pity that we are on a top-secret mission, otherwise ...... Otherwise, I would have become famous...... Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! ”

"What top-secret mission?" Yelena asked suddenly.

"To find a downed U.S. fighter plane, remove the electronic equipment on the fighter and bring it back, that time, our mission was very good." Stephkin replied crisply.

Yelena was a little discouraged when she heard that this top-secret mission was not what she was interested in, "You are dissatisfied with Bryning, what about the others?" And what about Isakov? ”

"Isakov has courage and no strategy, he has a good body, he has one-tenth of the smoothness of Brynin, and he will not die in Afghanistan!"

Yelena now had a clearer understanding of the three people she was investigating, and she was piecing together pieces of the puzzle over and over again in her mind, and slowly, the images of the three men came to her mind: Isakov was physically strong and brave and unscrupulous; Brynin is tactful and cautious; And this Stephkin in front of him is full of ability, but he can't be reused, so he went astray, and now he is almost crazy.

Yelena was thinking about it when Stephkin spoke again, his voice was calm, "To be honest, I have worked in the KGB for so many years, and I have not seen a few people who are really capable, at least few are better than me, and only one person asked me to obey." ”

Who was Yelena just trying to ask? Unexpectedly, Stephkin didn't know where to get the strength, suddenly broke free from the iron chair, with heavy shackles and chains, rushed towards Yelena like crazy, a loud noise woke Yelena, in the face of Stepkin's sudden move, Yelena panicked, and retreated again and again, until there was no way back, leaning against the wall.

The sturdy iron fence stopped the crazy Stepkin, with shackles and chains, lying on the iron fence, sticking his head between the two iron bars, staring at his terrifying eyes, staring at the terrified Yelena, Yelena leaned against the wall, her chest rose and fell violently, her eyes widened in horror, she didn't know Stephkin, what did this murderer want to do?

Finally, after stinging a lot of saliva, Stephkin spoke again, "Girl, now I know that there is another person I have fallen for in love with, and that is you, you!" Do you know what kind of life I'm living here? It's dark, I ...... Stepkin, who is omnipotent, has been locked up for a whole decade! Speaking of this, Stephkin suddenly lost his voice, his Adam's apple moved vigorously, and then Stephkin begged Yelena like a frenzy: "Just pity me, I haven't seen women for ten years, I haven't touched their soft skin, I smelled you before you came in, I know this is my type, sure enough, ......" said Stephkin lying on the iron fence and closed his eyes in intoxication.

Yelena gasped, she knew that she was not only talking to a murderer today, but also encountering a super psychopath!

11

Just when Yelena was at a loss, Lieutenant Igor and two guards heard the movement outside and rushed in, and the three of them beat Stephkin with their batons, trying to drag Stephkin back, but he lay on the iron fence and let the baton fall on his body at once, and did not let go.

Yelena saw all this in front of her, she couldn't see a little painful expression on Stepkin's face, only a weird smile, Yelena couldn't help but tremble, she suddenly felt that Stephkin, who was not tall in the first place, became thinner at this time. With a terrible howl, Stephkin was finally crushed to the ground by three big men, who were handcuffed and shackled again, and dragged out like dead dogs by the lieutenant and two guards.

The empty interrogation room fell silent again, Yelena was still in shock, she wanted to leave here, she couldn't stay here for another second, but she felt that her legs seemed to be numb, and after a long time, Yelena's legs gradually regained consciousness, she leaned against the wall, and slowly moved towards the door of the interrogation room.

Yelena didn't know how long it took her to get out of Ponotska, and in front of the black gate of Ponotska, Yelena breathed the breath of the world again, she calmed down, turned back to Lieutenant Igor, and asked: "Has Stephkin behaved like this before?" ”

The lieutenant shook his head, "No, never, maybe ......"

"What?"

"Maybe it's because you're a woman, and your presence has stimulated him." The lieutenant speculated.

Yelena didn't say anything more, she went back to the car, and no matter how Ilyugin asked her, she never spoke, just drove silently. The next afternoon, when they were about to return to Petersburg, Ilyugin looked at Yelena, who was as cold as ice, and said: "I said not to come to Ponotska, how about it, irritated, right?" ”

Yelena finally spoke, "But it wasn't in vain. ”

"Oh? What do you ask? ”

"Stepkin's statement is basically consistent with Bryning, which shows that Brynin is not lying."

"That means that your investigation these days has lost its meaning, and these three people have nothing to do with the whole incident."

"Maybe, but there's still a place I haven't visited."

"Where?"

"Isakov's cemetery?"

"Come on! Didn't I tell you all about Isakov? When you went to look for Brynin, I was not idle, and I investigated many witnesses, all of whom confirmed that Isakov had indeed died in Afghanistan. ”

"I know, but I'm going to take a look. You see, there's a subway station in front of you, you can go back to the city, I'll leave you there, and you can take the subway back by yourself. ”

"Nope! You can't do this to me, to use a Chinese saying, you call it 'unloading the mill and killing the donkey'! Ilyugin yelled at Yelena in dissatisfaction.

However, without Ilyugin continuing to say, Yelena parked the car at the entrance of the subway station and threw Ilyugin out of the car.

Isakov's tomb is located in a large cemetery on the outskirts of the city, and when Yelena found it, it was almost evening, and snowflakes were falling in the sky.

Yelena stood at Isakov's grave for a long time, thinking that she was going to find a flaw in the three men, but in the end she ruled out Brenin, Isakov and Stephkin one by one, because she did not find any flaws.

Suddenly, Yelena turned around abruptly and looked behind her, behind her were tombstones, she looked to the side, there were still tombstones, she looked around, she was in the boundless sea of tombstones, the sky was even more gloomy, she didn't see anyone, but Yelena felt a pair of eyes, those eyes were silently watching her.

……

After reading Yelena's long email, it was already early in the morning, he felt a little messy in his mind, he simply closed his eyes and fell into deep thought, he was thinking about what happened in 1964? China exploded the first*, Khrushchev was ousted, Lyndon Johnson was elected president of the United States, what else? What else is going on? Could it be that in that year a great conspiracy was born?