"The Life of the Honest and the Dishonest" by Elena Topilskaya, summary Automatic translate

Elena Topilskaya’s detective novel, written in the 1990s, tells the story of Maria Sergeevna Shvetsova, a senior investigator at the St. Petersburg district prosecutor’s office, handling several criminal cases against the backdrop of the turbulent 1990s, with its organized crime, contract killings, and everyday legal absurdities. Written in the first person, the book stands out from most Russian detective novels of the era with its ironic tone and distinctly autobiographical perspective — Topilskaya herself worked as an investigator in St. Petersburg.

Maria Shvetsova: Work and Personal Life

Masha Shvetsova lives in a chronic state of tension between work and home. Her husband, Igor, a forensic scientist specializing in covert surveillance, is withdrawn and pathologically jealous; he wiretapped her phone calls and once nearly strangled her. While his parents sort out their relationship, their six-year-old son retreats to his room to draw. Masha has long since lost all interest in her husband and has begun an affair with operative Anatoly Goryunov — narcissistic, boastful, but generous with compliments. The only person she completely trusts is her friend Masha Kozlova, who once married Shvetsova’s father and remained her closest friend after his death.

A corpse in the basement and a mysterious ID card

Shvetsova’s workday begins with a series of investigative annoyances: a police report on suspects in indecent acts lists only frail elderly men, while a defendant in another case is registered in a building demolished three years ago. A call to report a corpse in a sewage-filled basement brings the workday to a close: a man’s body is discovered there, his legs bound and with a gunshot wound to the temple — by all indications, a criminal homicide.

A witness, homeless man Boris Orlov, admits to seeing two men in leather jackets unload a body from a white Lada three days ago, after which he picked the dead man’s pockets. He was found to be carrying documents: a passport in the name of Anatoly Alekseevich Shermushenko, a notorious bandit from Chernorechensk, and an authentic Ministry of Defense ID card with his photograph and the military rank of major. The ID card appears genuine, but the personal number on it belongs to a completely different soldier from Arkhangelsk. Shvetsova and trainee Stas are speculating: an undercover agent, a purchased document, or a cover for traveling abroad.

The murder of Hapland and the connection of cases

Meanwhile, the entire city is discussing a high-profile murder: Boris Khapland, head of the city’s real estate registration bureau, was shot with a machine gun from an attic on Oktyabrsky Prospekt — eight single shots, all to the head. The murder pattern is identical to last year’s murder of port director Petukhov: a pre-arranged position, a discarded machine gun, and a pre-planned route for the victim.

According to intelligence reports, two killers of this class are operating in the city. One of them is Lyosha Mikoyan, a former participant in the Yugoslav wars, two meters two centimeters tall, and a master of weapons. Shortly before Hapland’s murder, residents of the building saw three workers on the roof — one of whom was very tall. Mikhail Sintsov, an operative with whom Shvetsova begins working closely, reports that Mikoyan is a contact of FSB Colonel Arsenov; he was detained along with Arsenov in the spring, but released under pressure and the arrest documents were destroyed. The irony is that Arsenov is heading the investigative team in the Hapland case — meaning he is personally investigating the murder in which he is allegedly involved.

The Mummer in the Forest and the Tkachuk Case

While on duty, Shvetsova and her colleagues respond to another body — in the woods, buried in a shallow hole. The corpse is dressed in an expensive suit, Salamander boots with unworn soles, and a silk tie with the brand name. However, beneath the expensive clothes lie torn satin underwear and holey socks, rotten teeth, and calloused hands with prison tattoos: a cathedral with three domes and a devil on the chest — three previous convictions. Intern Stas is the first to draw the conclusion: "Musician" — someone dressed up as a new Russian. The identity is established: Valery Porfiryevich Tkachuk, forty years old, three times convicted of theft, registered — again — at 7 Chashchina Street.

Business trip to Moscow and surveillance

Shvetsova is transporting material evidence for the case to Moscow with Sintsov. An Armenian passenger unexpectedly appears in the Strela compartment with cognac and salmon: Sintsov had purchased all four seats in advance, but he still ended up in the compartment. Upon arrival, Andrei bluntly tells Masha that she is being monitored, most likely because she is approaching dangerous individuals.

Fort Knox and the Chain of Connections

The investigation leads to the security firm "Fort Knox," founded by former police and intelligence officers — Frolov, Oransky, Ratatuyev, and Treichenko. Several active officers are paid both by the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs and by this firm. The firm guarded Petukhov’s port office before his murder and worked under contract with the "chief of all cemeteries," who was killed in the winter. Threads from various cases — Shermushenko’s corpse, Khapland’s murder, the body in the forest — are beginning to converge.

Attack on Masha Kozlova

One evening, Shvetsova stays late at work and gives her friend her red coat with her ID in the pocket — Masha is rushing to a television shoot. Returning to her friend’s house, Shvetsova sees a cordon and an ambulance report: a stab wound to the chest, blood loss, shock. The ID is her own. Forensic expert Dima Sergienko, who responded to the call, was sure he had found Shvetsova’s body. Masha Kozlova was taken to the hospital; Shvetsova, horrified, realizes that her friend was the victim of a mistake — she was being killed instead. That night, unable to reach Masha, Shvetsova calls Colonel Arsenov — the same one who is being trailed in the Hapland case — and asks him to take her home.