Fixer, The - Bernard Malamud [68]
He thrust his pallid face close to Yakov’s, continuing to whisper: “But that’s neither here nor there. To return then to the facts: Count Odoevsky at one point offered to relieve me of the ‘burden’ of this case if I felt ‘pressed or unwell,’ or the work had become ‘distasteful’ or seemed to go against what he referred to as ‘your creed.’ And I believe I caught a clear hint that the purposes of justice might better be served by an indictment of murder for ritual reasons, an accusation which is of course poppycock.”
“As for the murder,” said Yakov, “if I had a hand in it let me live forever a cripple in hell.”
The Investigating Magistrate fanned himself slowly with his hat. After again glancing at the door he said, “When I told the Minister of Justice—quite directly told him, nothing minced or hedged, shadowy remarks do not explicate or uphold the law—that my evidence pointed in the opposite direction, towards acquittal of the major charge, he shrugged his shoulders—the count is an imposing man, handsome, well-spoken, discreetly perfumed—as though perhaps to indicate I had not yet achieved true wisdom. And that’s apparently where we left it, with a shrug that may mean much or little, but in any case a doubt. I can say in his favor that he is a gentleman. But I will tell you frankly that with the Prosecuting Attorney, my colleague Grubeshov, there are not even the slightest doubts. He has, I would say, convinced himself, perhaps almost before the fact. I say this after careful consideration. Grubeshov has more than once emphatically requested from me—in fact he has insisted on it—a severe indictment of you, mincing no words—for Zhenia Golov’s murder, and I have categorically refused. Of course that adds to my nervousness. Yet for all practical purposes you should know this matter can’t go on in such a way much longer. If I don’t draw up the indictment someone else will. They will get rid of me, if they possibly can, and then I’ll be of no use to you whatever. Therefore I will pretend to cooperate with them while I continue my investigation, until I have a foolproof case. I will then once more submit the evidence to the Ministry of Justice, and if they insist on a prosecution, I may reveal my findings to the press, which could conceivably cause a scandal. I would hope so. In fact I am already planning anonymously to give out selected information to one or two highly placed journalists as to the true state of affairs regarding the nature of the evidence against you, which up to now consists in nothing more than anonymous accusations and provocative articles published by the reactionary press. I decided this as I lay awake tonight. My visit to you, which I decided on impulsively, is to inform you of my plans so that you will not think you are without a friend in the world. I know you are falsely accused. I am determined to continue this investigation to the best of my ability and powers in order to discover, and if necessary, publish the whole truth. I am doing this for Russia as well as for your sake and mine. I therefore request, Yakov Shepsovitch, though I understand how difficult your trials are, your confidence and patience.”
“Thanks, your honor,” said Yakov with a tremor in his voice. “If you’re used to stepping out of the hut once in a while to take a breath of fresh air in your lungs while you look at the sky to see if it’s going to rain tomorrow—not that it makes any difference—it’s hard to go on living in a small dark solitary cell; still now I know there’s somebody who knows what I did and what I didn’t do, and who I trust, though I would like to hear what you mean about ‘the true state of affairs