A summary of "Basho the Frog" by Boris Akunin Automatic translate

This interactive book, published in 2023, gives readers the opportunity to choose the course of their investigation. Each choice directs the plot toward one of many independent endings. The work is part of the Erast Fandorin series, expanding the universe of the famous detective with new plot twists.

Boris Akunin lends his voice to two of his ancestors: the Georgian Lado Chkhartishvili and the Jew Aron Brazinsky. The reader is free to follow either narrator. Both characters describe an absolutely identical detective story. The events take place in different cultural, geographical, and social settings. Erast Petrovich’s investigative method draws on Japanese poetry. Various versions of the final line of the great poet Basho’s haiku about the frog set the direction for the detective’s logical conclusions.

The Georgian branch of the narrative

Former priest Lado Chkhartishvili works as a renowned toastmaster. He learns of the brutal murder of the wealthy prince Luarsab Guriani. The evil aristocrat’s body is found inside his locked greenhouse, pinned to the floor with the ancient dagger of Mamuka the Great. The local police officer is openly feuding with the deceased’s family. The Russian estate manager, Ivan Stepanovich, asks Lado to urgently find a private investigator.

Lado accidentally meets Erast Fandorin at the Batumi telegraph office. The famous detective is stuck in the port due to bad weather en route to Sinop, Turkey. Fandorin agrees to secretly inspect the site of the prince’s death.

Four residents of a vast estate become suspects. The murdered man’s wife, Leila, openly despised her husband, but under the terms of a cunning will, she loses her money if he is killed. His son, Kote, fancies himself a great sculptor and formally inherits all the assets. The lame fifteen-year-old daughter, Natella, dreams of going to America and building skyscrapers. The fourth resident of the house is the quiet manager, Ivan Stepanovich.

A detective conducts an investigative experiment based on the Japanese play "The Head of Dembei." The detective suddenly reveals Luarsab’s mutilated body to the household. Kote faints, while the women remain icy calm. A clear culprit cannot be immediately identified. The investigator suggests that Lado select half of the mansion for a detailed inspection.

Developments on the blue side

The detectives search the men’s half of the house and find gigantic footprints outside the window. Lado immediately recalls the elusive abrek Kakha Kobuleteli. Kote declares, "I saw them both, her and the abrek!" Leila confesses her long-standing love for the bandit. Kakha came to beg her to elope with him. Fandorin sets an ambush and easily paralyzes the enormous Kobuleteli with a blow to his nerves. The giant’s interrogation proves his complete innocence.

The investigation reaches a dead end. Fandorin employs a method of forensic provocation, symbolized by the ending of a Japanese poem about ripples in the water. The detective asks Lado to choose between a cold mind and a warm heart.

The rational path forces the detective to loudly discuss false evidence at the door. Kote panics, locks himself in the workshop, and takes cyanide to the sound of a funeral march. The detective methodically proves Ivan Stepanovich’s guilt. The manager had long since squandered the family’s capital. He poisoned the owner with opium to cover up the thefts, and then eliminated the heir.

The path of the heart yields different results. Kote obtains a solid alibi thanks to his nightly prayers in the local church. Fandorin reads a false will transferring the diocesan lands. The young prince sincerely repents of his terrible sin. His father died of a natural stroke. Kote plunged a dagger into his already dead body to deprive his hated stepmother of her inheritance rights.

Investigation on the pink side

The detectives search the pink women’s half of the house. Fandorin quietly meditates. Lado finds a broken silver chain near the body. This clue leads the companions to the cook, Darejan. The woman vehemently denies her guilt and knocks Lado out with a powerful blow. Fandorin logically concludes that he was deceived. The chain was deliberately planted by Leyla or Natella during the examination of the body.

Once again, the choice arises between strict logic and gut instinct. This stage of the investigation is symbolized by a Japanese poem about a jumping viper. Choosing logic helps reveal fresh dents on the dagger’s bone hilt. Soon, a shot rings out. Kote lies dead, revolver in hand. Fandorin incriminates the limping Netanya by the smell of gun oil on her slender fingers. The girl smashed a heavy dagger into her sleeping father with a hammer found in the garden. Then she planted false evidence and cold-bloodedly shot her brother to claim complete control of the millions.

The intuitive path is associated with an illusory splash of water. The detective decides to falsely accuse the manager. Leila immediately takes the blame. Fandorin deduces the hidden motive from a crookedly knitted wool scarf. The proud princess killed her despotic husband to save her beloved from Luarsab’s deadly wrath.

The Jewish branch of the narrative

The second plot line takes place in the city of Brest-Litovsk. Local sage Aron Brazinsky takes on the investigation into the death of cloth merchant Liber Goralik. The wealthy merchant was found dead in his shop. His body had been pierced with a wooden measuring rod exactly 71 centimeters long. The murder occurred on Shabbat.

Aron finds Erast Fandorin at the fashionable European Hotel. The detective is waiting for repairs on a railway bridge en route to Berlin. The detective agrees to help and assumes the role of Dr. Watson.

The suspect pool mirrors the Georgian story. The quarrelsome wife, Leah Goralik, loses money under the terms of her will if her husband is killed. Her son, Kalman, longs to leave for Paris with his avant-garde sculptures. Daughter Netanya dreams of American factories. Senior clerk, Hanan Stefanovich, keeps all the books immaculately.

The detectives conduct a psychological test based on the Bunraku play "The Spirit of Toraemon." The family is shown a mutilated body. Kalman faints, while the others remain icy calm. Aron suggests a course of action for the investigation, illustrating their choices with traditional Jewish parables.

Male line of investigation

Detectives find traces of small patent leather boots in the courtyard. The footprints belong to window thief Koka Kobilyansky, nicknamed "Pretzel." Leia confesses to her long-ago youthful love for Koka. The criminal deftly enters Leia’s room through a narrow window. Fandorin instantly immobilizes the robber with a skillful blow. A brief interrogation proves the Odessa thief’s complete innocence in Liber’s death.

After this, the decisions diverge again. A rational approach forces Khanan to poison the obese Kalman with cyanide and fake his suicide note. Fandorin easily convicts the clerk of embezzlement and double murder. The clerk attempts to stab the detective with a sharpened file, but suffers a painful failure.

An emotional approach unequivocally confirms Kalman’s alibi. The detective reads out Lieber’s fictitious decree transferring a vast fortune to the synagogue. Kalman sincerely confesses to the monstrous desecration of his father’s corpse to ruin his stepmother financially.

Women’s line of investigation

Detectives find a broken silver chain belonging to a local laundress, Kasia Shulman. The laundress knocks Aron out with a powerful punch. The evidence was deliberately planted by Leah or Netanya.

A choice of strict logic leads to the discovery of a dented measuring ruler and a bloody sculptural hammer with carved initials. Netanya kills Kalman with her father’s pistol. The girl stages her brother’s suicide. Fandorin exposes the young criminal thanks to traces of gun oil on her fingers. She cold-bloodedly eliminated her rivals to move to America.

A sudden instinct compels Fandorin to confidently accuse Khanan of embezzlement and the murder of his master. Leia immediately confesses to the massacre of her hated husband. The proud woman resorted to extreme measures to save the humble clerk, for whom she had harbored deep romantic feelings for many years.