"Two Among Men" by Arkady and Georgy Vainer, summary Automatic translate

This book is a 1969 documentary detective story based on actual criminal case materials. The authors recreate the investigation into the death of a young taxi driver with meticulous precision. The text meticulously constructs psychological portraits of two juvenile offenders, revealing their thoughts before and after committing the crime. The authors analyze in detail the chain of petty offenses, the indifference of the adults around them, and the blindness and helplessness of their parents. The combination of these devastating social factors gradually brought these ordinary provincial teenagers to the dock.

Night flight to Trudovaya Street

Two young men from the Lithuanian city of Panevėžys, Vladimir Laks and Albinas Juronis, run away from home. They want a beautiful, vibrant, easy life full of pleasure. They have grandiose plans to get to Odessa or Sukhumi and enjoy a seaside vacation. In Moscow, they board a taxi at Taganskaya Square. Behind the wheel of a beige Volga is Konstantin Popov, a cheerful, good-natured twenty-nine-year-old. The teenagers have only a few kopecks left in their pockets, and the meter is already running up to six rubles. They decide to rob the driver to get money for the rest of their journey.

Popov delivers passengers to deserted Trudovaya Street. The road is blocked by roadwork. Konstantin gets out to check the road, while the teenagers remain inside. Vladimir Laks sits in the front, clutching a long utility knife in his sleeve. He’s trembling nervously, terrified of attacking the strong, confident taxi driver. Konstantin suspects nothing. He’s exhausted after twenty-eight trips in 24 hours and longs to go home to his beloved wife, Zina. Albinas Yuronis sees his friend’s hesitation and becomes enraged. He suddenly leans over from the backseat and stabs Popov in the back with his left hand.

A terrible, wrenching pain pierces Konstantin. With a wild scream, he tumbles out of the cab and runs along the dark pavement, disorienting himself. A trail of blood stretches behind him. Forty-six steps later, the young taxi driver collapses at an intersection. He looks at the fading stars and dies. The young killers flee. First, they return to the apartment of a casual acquaintance, a hard-drinking worker named Baulin. They grab their suitcases and wash the blood off their blade under the kitchen faucet. In their haste, they forget their dirty backpack containing a camera. Then the criminals return to an abandoned taxi, get in, reset the meter, and speed away from the capital.

Investigation on the trail

Senior investigator Evgeniya Kurbatova from the district prosecutor’s office arrives at the scene late at night. Together with criminal investigation officers, she examines the lifeless body, records bloody footprints on the pavement, and interviews the few witnesses. Local residents heard an inhuman scream. One woman saw from her window an empty car and two young men who quickly drove away in it toward Zastava Ilyicha.

Detectives quickly reach Baulin’s dirty, cluttered apartment. The owner was sleeping with relatives, and his recent tenants have disappeared without a trace. During a search, investigators find an abandoned backpack. Forensic experts quickly develop the remaining film in the camera. The blurry photographs clearly reveal the faces of Vladimir and Albinas during a recent drinking bout with Baulin’s neighbors. The police immediately issue a wanted poster. The photographs are sent to all posts across the country via photo telegraph.

Chase on Gorky Highway

Meanwhile, the stolen Volga speeds east. The teenagers drive along the empty highway toward Gorky. They are terrified by what they’ve done, their plans crumbling before their eyes. Albinas nervously presses the gas pedal, and Vladimir realizes with horror the hopelessness of their situation. They agree to abandon the car before the city, board a train without paying, and hide out in Leningrad with some friends.

Early on a quiet morning near Dzerzhinsk, the engine stalls — it’s running low on gas. The fugitives ask a passing truck driver for fuel. He pours gas into a bucket. At that moment, Inspector Ivan Turin’s car pulls up next to them. The officer notices a dented taxi with Moscow license plates. Seeing the police uniforms, the teenagers take off running across a field. Shouts and two warning shots ring out. The whistle of bullets instantly breaks the fugitives’ resolve. They stop, raise their hands, and surrender to the authorities. They are handcuffed and sent back to the capital.

Interrogations and broken destinies

The criminals are placed in the pretrial detention center at 38 Petrovka Street. Evgenia Kurbatova begins a series of long, emotionally draining interrogations. She tries to understand the young men’s true motives. The investigator sees frightened, pitiful children before her. They cry, readily admit their guilt, and describe the events of the tragic night step by step. Investigator Kurbatova asks the teenager point-blank: "Do you feel sorry for Kostya Popov?" He merely shrugs indifferently: "Well, I do. Maybe he was a good guy. But that’s just how it turned out…"

The teenagers are unbearably sorry for what happened. They mourn their wasted youth, terrified of impending prison terms and the death penalty. However, they feel no pity for the victim. For them, the murdered man is merely an abstract obstacle, an unfortunate accident on the path to wealth. Kurbatova is struck by this eerie spiritual vacuum, the complete inability of the juvenile killers to appreciate the value of another’s life.

The investigator travels to Panevėžys to gather evidence. She has a long conversation with Laks’s father. He’s a long-serving soldier, a widower, always busy with his duties, and has long since lost contact with his son. Then she visits Juronis’s mother, a seriously ill, poverty-stricken cleaning lady. Her son openly despised her and stopped listening to her. A whole series of systemic errors is revealed. The boys had long been registered with the police juvenile department. Albinas had previously stolen a truck, stolen bicycles, and been a homeless person.

The adults limited themselves to formal replies and boring conversations. No one tried to engage the teenagers in technology or help them find a legitimate outlet for their youthful energy. A local, elderly recidivist, Ivan Morozov, turned out to be the only person in the entire town who spoke to them confidentially. It was he who poisoned their immature minds with the false romanticism of prison.

Mysterious address in a notebook

The criminal case is regularly updated with new information. A mass farewell ceremony for the murdered man is taking place in Moscow. Konstantin Popov’s coffin is carried out into the courtyard of an apartment building. Dozens of taxis converge on Zagorodnoye Highway. The drivers honk their horns in unison. A shrill, mournful roar bids farewell to their comrade. Konstantin’s wife, a young widow after four hundred days of a perfectly happy marriage, is left alone with her immeasurable grief. The taxi driver’s mother stands frozen by the coffin in silent, stony despair.

Kurbatova carefully examines Konstantin’s notebook. On one page, she finds the address of a certain Vorotnikov, who lives in Dzerzhinsk. The investigator is struck by the coincidence. The killers were arrested near Dzerzhinsk. Kurbatova reasonably suspects a direct connection between the unknown Vorotnikov, the teenagers, and the taxi driver. The prosecutor’s office locates Vorotnikov’s ex-wife. The solution turns out to be both incredibly simple and incredibly poignant.

The day before the tragedy, Popov was giving a ride to an elderly passenger with her young granddaughter. The woman complained to the talkative taxi driver about her cruel fate: her ex-son-in-law was a heavy drinker in Dzerzhinsk, and the family was completely destroyed. The kind and energetic Konstantin asked for the alcoholic’s exact address. He sincerely wanted to write him a stern, manly letter, try to talk some sense into him, and save someone else’s child from becoming an orphan. The coincidence of the cities turned out to be a blind, mocking stroke of chance. This fact only underscores the scale of the human loss — the world has lost a selfless, compassionate man.

Waiting for the court verdict

The investigation is reaching its logical conclusion. An outpatient psychiatric examination declares Albinas Juronis completely sane and sane. He feigns sincere remorse, speaks in memorized formulas, and averts his eyes. Experienced doctors easily recognize such primitive lies. Vladimir Laks, in the adjacent cell, is gradually losing his mind from anguish and despair. He imagines with primal horror the prospect of meeting his aging father at the court hearing.

The teenagers’ childish illusions about the glamorous life of thieves are shattered. They see real prisoners, cold gray walls, iron doors, and dim prison lights. Albinas Juronis personally signs a confession. He reads old newspapers, trying to banish thoughts of a grim future. He is oppressed by complete isolation from the outside world. At night, he has terrifying dreams of inevitable retribution, where ancient people pierce him with spears.

Early on a January morning, a heavy lock clangs loudly in the hallway. The warden shouts the order to get ready for court. A teenager quickly drinks a mug of boiling water and pockets a ration of black bread. He leaves the cramped cell to face his sentence.