"Pelageia and the Red Rooster" by Boris Akunin, summary Automatic translate

The novel, written in 2003, is a historical detective story that freely combines criminal investigation with the author’s own reinterpretation of Gospel events. The action unfolds in the Russian Empire and the Middle East, bringing together church hierarchs, radical sectarians, Zionists, and secret police agents. The book concludes the "Provincial Detective" literary cycle. It is the third installment in the series, following the novels "Pelageia and the White Bulldog" and "Pelageia and the Black Monk." The storylines of Nun Pelagia, Bishop Mitrofan, and Prosecutor Matvey Berdichevsky are finally resolved.

Crime on a steamship

The action opens aboard the steamship "Sevryuga." The vessel carries a motley crew. Among the passengers are pilgrims, members of the Zionist commune "New Megiddo," Doukhobors, and sectarians known as "foundlings." The leader of the sect is the prophet Manuel. The river thief Kolobok enters the prophet’s cabin to steal. He accidentally witnesses the murder of a sleeping elder. The criminal, a cruel man with an artificial eye, notices the thief, fatally stabs him, and throws his body into the water.

Nun Pelagia is the first to notice the unnatural pose of the murdered prophet. St. Petersburg official Sergei Dolinin takes up the investigation. The detective quickly uncovers the truth. It was not Manuila who was murdered, but his double, the peasant Sheloukhin. Pelagia and Dolinin travel to the village of Stroganovka. They want to discover the true identity of the false prophet. An unknown assailant stalks them in the forest. Near the Devil’s Stone, a murderer with a glass eye traps Pelagia in a cave, causing a cave-in. The nun escapes by climbing through a narrow opening to the top of the cliff.

Investigation in Zhitomir

Prosecutor Matvey Berdichevsky is secretly in love with Pelagia. Realizing the impending danger, he sends the nun to Palestine under a false name. The prosecutor himself leaves for Zhitomir. The trail leads to a retired gendarme officer, Bronislav Ratsevych. This man lost an eye and fell into debt. Someone anonymously bailed him out of prison. Berdichevsky dyes his hair. He infiltrates a secret anti-Semitic society, "Christ’s Oprichniks." The prosecutor poses as a provincial marshal of the nobility.

Berdichevsky visits the local moneylender, Efraim Golosovker. He also pays a visit to the mad Count Charnokutsky. The magnate resides in the gloomy Schwarzwinkel Castle. The Count keeps a terrifying collection of embalmed human remains. The castle’s owner deduces the true identity of his guest. The prosecutor miraculously escapes certain death by jumping out of a window into a moat.

The detective meticulously studies the prison’s visitor lists. He uncovers a shocking truth. Investigator Dolinin visited Ratsevich. Berdichevsky rushes to St. Petersburg. He secretly tracks a St. Petersburg official. The investigation leads the prosecutor to the Holy Synod. Chief Prosecutor Konstantin Pobedin openly admits to organizing an underground society. The dignitary considers the vagabond Manuila to be the incarnate Antichrist. Ratsevich received orders to eliminate the dangerous sectarian. Pelagia was sentenced to death as a threat to the conspiracy.

Berdichevsky pretends to agree to cooperate with the conspirators. He plans to warn his beloved by any means necessary. The prosecutor sends an urgent telegram to Bishop Mitrofan. Soon, Matvey Bentsionovich dies suddenly. The official cause of death is a sudden heart attack.

Palestinian wanderings

Meanwhile, Pelagia arrives at the port of Jaffa. The nun dons a secular dress and calls herself Polina Lisitsyna. A local resident, Salah, takes the passenger to Jerusalem in his cart. Along the way, they encounter an armed detachment of Circassians. Pelagia is captured by old Daniel Bek. The Circassian leader demands a substantial ransom for the woman.

A Zionist detachment comes to the rescue. A tough idealist nicknamed Magellan commands the Jewish communards. Not long before, robbers killed a commune member, a young girl named Rochel. The Circassians and Zionists are ready to begin a bloody massacre. Pelagia persuades the men to settle the matter peacefully. Magellan and Daniel-bek agree on a mutually beneficial alliance against the Arab Sheikh Yusuf. The freed nun continues her search for Emmanuel (Manuila’s real name). She is relentlessly pursued by professional agent Yakov Mikhailovich. The killer disguises himself as a local resident.

Pelagia heads towards the Dead Sea. She’s looking for the village of Sodom. Salah helps her bypass the Turkish border. The nun wears heavy makeup to pass as a young man of homosexuality. In the closed city, she meets an old acquaintance, the sodomite Herodias. Pelagia learns that the elusive prophet has left for Jerusalem.

Meeting in the Garden of Gethsemane

The nun catches up with Emmanuel. They meet at night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Government agent Yakov Mikhailovich also appears. The professional killer prepares to shoot the preacher in cold blood. Emmanuel exerts psychic influence on the former gendarme. The prophet appeals to the killer’s hidden childlike soul. He affectionately calls the killer by the pet name "Yasha." The shocked villain loses his composure and flees in panic. Emmanuel is constantly followed by the enormous Trofim Dubenko. He is a former guard of Pobedin. The giant has voluntarily become the sectarian’s loyal bodyguard.

Emmanuel reveals a shocking secret to Pelagia. He openly declares his identity with the real Jesus. Almost two thousand years ago, the apostle Jude hid his teacher in a cave on the Mount of Olives. The disciples blocked the entrance with heavy stones. An incredible temporal anomaly occurred. The preacher was transported to nineteenth-century Russia. Roman soldiers crucified another man, physically resembling Emmanuel. The prophet firmly believes the historical Christian religion to be false. He intends to return to his own time and correct this historical error.

Returning requires strict adherence to certain mystical conditions. Emmanuel must enter the cave precisely at dawn. The key element is the loud crow of a red rooster. The bird’s singing triggers the spatio-temporal mechanism of the ancient crypt. Pelagia purchases the required bird at the Jerusalem market. Emmanuel takes the bird, descends into the dark dungeon, and disappears without a trace.

The entire chain of events is detailed in Pelagia’s farewell letter. She sends a lengthy missive to Bishop Mitrofaniy. The nun gives the manuscript the grandiose title "The Gospel of Pelagia." She categorically refuses to believe the story’s mystical elements. Pelagia rationalizes Emmanuel’s behavior. According to her version, the vagabond simply got lost in the Ural Mountains. As a result of a severe shock, he lost his memory and imagined himself the Savior. However, the ending of the long letter reveals an irrational impulse. The nun makes a firm, irrevocable decision. She prepares to fearlessly enter the mysterious cave. Under her arm, Pelagia will carry a live red rooster.