"Call into the accounts office, they'll issue you a bonus…" Gesar continued, not suspecting the humiliation I was subjecting him to in my mind. "Think up the citation for yourself. Something like… for many years of conscientious service…"

"Gesar, what kind of job was it?" I asked.

Gesar stopped talking and tried to drill right through me with his gaze. When he got nowhere, he said, "When I tell you everything, you will phone Svetlana. From here. And you'll ask her if you should agree or not. Okay? And you tell her about the extra vacation too."

"What's happened?"

Instead of replying, Gesar pulled open the drawer of the desk, took out a black leather folder and held it out to me. The folder had a distinct aura of magic-powerful, dangerous battle magic.

"Don't worry, open it, you've been granted access…" Gesar growled.

I opened the folder-at that point any unauthorized Other or human being would have been reduced to a handful of ash.

Inside the folder was a letter. Just one single envelope. The address of our office was written in newsprint, carefully cut out and stuck onto the envelope. And, naturally, there was no return address.

"The letters have been cut out of three newspapers," said Gesar. "Pravda, Kommersant, and Arguments and Facts."

"Ingenious," I remarked. "Can I open it?"

"Yes, do. The forensic experts have already done everything they can with the envelope-there aren't any fingerprints. The glue was made in China and it's on sale in every newspaper kiosk."