“All right… then how can you turn a body into a skeleton?”

“Skin the body, cut off the soft tissues, and boil it in water until the bones are completely exposed. It is recommended to change the water. Can you tell me clearly what happened?”

Onisimov told him.

“That's something! I'm really sorry I missed it!” He slapped his knee.

“What happened on the highway?”

“A drunk cyclist hit a cow. Both survived. So you say your body melted?” The expert squinted skeptically and brought his face closer to Onisimov. “Matvei, that doesn't ring true. It just doesn't happen, I can tell you for sure. A man is no icicle, even if he is dead. They didn't trick you?”

“How?”

“You know, switch the body for a skeleton while you were out… and discard the evidence.”

“What are you blabbering about? You mean while an academician stood guard for them? Come on, here's his deposition.” Onisimov fretted as he looked for Azarov's statement.

“Ahh, now they'll show you! The people there….” Zubato wriggled his hairy fingers. “Remember, when that student was exposed to radiation, how the head of the lab tried to blame it all on science, how he said that it was a little — studied phenomenon, that the gamma rays destroyed the crystal cells of the dosimeter. And when we checked, it turned out the students were signed up to work on isotopes without reading about them! Nobody wants to take responsibility, even academicians, if it's a fishy situation. Try to think: did you leave them alone with the body?”

“I did,” the detective's voice fell. “Twice.”

“And that's when your body melted!” Zubato broke out in the hearty laugh of a man who knows that disaster has not struck him.

The detective thought about it and then shook his head.