"Ancient Ornament of Luck" by Tatyana Korsakova, summary Automatic translate

This book is a mystical detective novel about the intertwining of human destinies, an unexpected inheritance, and dangerous secrets from the past. Written in 2012, it offers a contrasting, parallel narrative about the harsh criminal life in Senegal and the terrifying events in an old Moscow attic, which ultimately merge into a single love story. The novel was published in the "Love as a Gift" series, which combines works with elements of tense melodrama and detective intrigue, and also includes other books by the author, such as "The Odd Couple."

The Olympics’ Unexpected Riches

Emergency room doctor Olimpiada Martyanova (Lipa) works grueling 24-hour shifts and shares a cramped dorm room with her husband. Her husband, Oleg, works as a photographer, suffers from a lack of creative inspiration, and constantly complains about poverty. Their routine is shattered when the intelligent lawyer, Nikolai Stanislavovich, hands Lipa a set of keys. Lipa inherits a luxurious four-room, 150-square-meter attic apartment.

The apartment is on the fifth floor of an old Moscow building. Inside, there’s a huge 400-liter aquarium, a modern electric fireplace, and a glassed-in doorway to a private roof. Lipa can’t understand why the mysterious patron chose her. Out of kindness, Olimpiada transfers half of the new apartment to her husband. A month later, Oleg calls Lipa ugly and leaves her for the young model Karina.

In the divorce, the square footage is divided equally. Oleg gets the office and the children’s room, and Lipa gets the bedroom and living room with the aquarium. Lipa is left completely alone in the echoing rooms, where inexplicable things begin to happen. Clear traces of someone else’s presence appear in the locked attic. First, Olimpiada smells the pungent aroma of men’s perfume. Then, someone sets a table for two on the roof.

Mysticism and the appearance of the widow

An invisible guest leaves crystal glasses and expensive champagne worth 150 euros. Later, a pearl-and-ash satin dress, reminiscent of medieval attire, and a wreath of white lilies, smelling of the swamp, materialize on the bed. Olympiada is mortally frightened, attributing the events to the ghost’s machinations. Meanwhile, Nikolai Stanislavovich, the half-brother of the apartment’s deceased owner, Sergei Nikonenko, pays Lipa a visit. He offers to buy the apartment, hoping to find a hidden collection inside.

Soon, Marina, the widow of the apartment’s previous owner, appears on the attic’s threshold. The vibrant woman demands that the premises be vacated immediately. Marina claims that her husband was killed right in his office with a knife to the heart. The widow threatens to accuse Lipa of murdering the old man for selfish reasons. Olimpiada refuses to give up the apartment, confidently replying, "I was out of town on the appointed day."

Timothy’s African wanderings

The plot takes the reader back 10 years. Timofey Chernov, the biological son of the murdered Sergei Nikonenko, was forever banished from his family. As a young man, 20-year-old Timofey fell in love with his stepmother — the same beautiful Marina. Nikonenko caught them together. The enraged old man disowned his son and kicked him out onto the street penniless. Timofey enlisted to work in Africa, in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

Africa presented Timofey with harsh trials. The young man suffered from heat of 35 degrees Celsius, nearly lost his kidneys due to dehydration, and lost his savings to thieves. One night, he was attacked by knife-wielding bandits in an alley at night. Timofey’s life was saved by a Russian car dealer named Kolanych. For $800, the fat man carried the wounded man to the hospital. Kolanych and his local partner, Assan, later took the young man into their business.

Before one of his dangerous journeys, Timofey spent the night with a mysterious mulatto woman. The girl gave him a bronze medallion depicting a spiral. Assan explained that this ancient amulet protects people teetering on the brink of death. The talisman proved its power in the province of Casamance. Timofey went there to ransom Kolanych, who had been taken hostage, for $100,000. Separatists took the money and shot the young man in the knee. Assan later rescued his friends with the help of the army.

Clash of Interests in Moscow

Timofey survived the blood poisoning and earned the respectful nickname "Lucky Tim." Upon learning of his father’s death, he flies to Russia. He secretly buys Oleg’s share of the apartment and shows up at Lipa’s. Timofey intends to find the priceless collection of antique coins his father had hidden. The appearance of the stern, scarred man frightens Olimpiada. Chernov acts self-assured, but gradually a fragile truce is established between the neighbors.

Lipa expertly stitches up Timofey’s stab wound to the chest, received from an unknown thug near the entrance to his apartment building. The neighbors become closer. Meanwhile, the mystical attacks on the girl become more aggressive. Lipa finds a snake necklace on the table and sees bloody marks on the parquet floor. At night, she dreams of Sashka Kotov, nicknamed "Kot," a cruel sadist from an orphanage. In her youth, Kot tried to rape her in an abandoned barn.

Olimpiada took revenge on her attacker by dropping a weight on his neck in the gym, breaking his bones. Frightening memories send Lipa, under the influence of psychotropic substances, nearly falling from the fifth floor onto the pavement. Timofey pulls Olimpiada back from the edge of the parapet at the last moment. It turns out that the hallucinogens were mixed into the sugar by the girl’s best friend, psychiatrist Inga.

Blackmail and dark secrets

Inga admits to discovering Nikonenko’s body and taking a check he’d written for an expensive operation for her ailing mother, Anfisa Petrovna, from his desk. Someone filmed her looting with a hidden camera and began blackmailing her. The blackmailer demanded that Lipa be given psychotropic drugs. Inga calculated the dose to be two spoons of sugar, but Lipa used three spoons and drank liters of coffee, triggering severe paranoia. Timofey admits that he orchestrated some of the audio hoaxes himself.

Chernov discovers a secret staircase behind a heavy bookcase in his father’s study. That same night, Marina sneaks into the apartment with a new jar of blood. Timofey catches the criminal. Marina confesses to accidentally killing her husband. The old man, Nikonenko, had intended to donate all his millions to the construction of a monastery, and the greedy widow stabbed him. Wanting to inflict more pain on her enemies, Marina claims that Lipa is Nikonenko’s illegitimate daughter.

Africa is waiting

Hearing this argument, Timofey despairs at the thought of a blood relationship with the girl he loves. He throws his stepmother out onto the stairs, recording her confession on camera. Stunned by the news, Timofey decides to leave his homeland immediately. Before leaving, he deciphers the code on the glass keychain. The engraving turns out to be his birth date. Chernov discovers the coin collection not in a secret hiding place at home, but in a safe deposit box at the Crystal Bank in Moscow.

There’s also a letter from his father instructing him to keep an eye on Olimpiada. Timofey transfers his share of the apartment to his sister, gives her the lucky amulet, and heads to the airport. Olimpiada is left alone. At that moment, the real Sashka Kotov bursts into the attic. A degraded drug addict, he’s thirsty for physical revenge for his ruined athletic career. He brutally beats the girl and prepares for violence. Timofey, having discovered the amulet’s loss, returns straight from the flight.

Chernov breaks down the door, knocks out Kot, and calls Kolanych’s men to isolate the maniac. After handing over the video recording of Marina’s confession to the police, Timofey finally flies to Dakar. After several dreary months, Assan and Kolanych appear on the doorstep of the Moscow apartment. Timofey’s African comrades bring salvation. They conducted their own investigation in Yaroslavl. It turns out Lipa is not related to the Nikonenko family by blood.

The denouement of the story

The real reason for the old man’s generosity lay elsewhere. A year before the events, Lipa saved Nikonenko from Quincke’s edema in a restaurant. Olympiada performed a tracheotomy using a carving knife and a teapot spout. The man thanked her by bequeathing her an elite apartment. Having learned the truth, Olympiada packed her things. She took her cat, Mashka, and flew to Senegal to live forever with Timofey on the sun-drenched terrace of his African home.