"You mentioned that Viktor Mikhailovich sold his car a month ago?"
"Yes, a black BMW. He said business wasn't going well, that he needed money. I thought it was strange at the time. He always claimed everything was excellent…"
Elena Andreevna suddenly froze, staring at the photograph. Her fingers reached for the elephant again but stopped halfway.
"That car… I've seen it before. Several times, near our house. I thought it belonged to one of the new neighbors…"
Anna made a note in her notebook. Another detail for the collection of evidence showing that Sophia's abduction wasn't a spontaneous decision.
"Tell me about the cameras you found in your apartment."
Elena Andreevna flinched as if struck. "I discovered the first one by accident. I was changing the shower curtain, and it fell out—so small and black. Then I started looking deliberately. I found three more: in the bedroom, in the hallway, and in the kitchen. And voice recorders… There were voice recorders everywhere. He knew every word we said, every step we took. And I… I never noticed…"
There was a knock at the door. Major Sergei Dorokhov, Anna's partner, appeared in the doorway. His face didn't bode well.
"Sorry to interrupt. Anna Vitalyevna, could I have a word?"
Anna apologized to Elena Andreevna and stepped into the corridor. Dorokhov handed her a folder marked "Top Secret."
"Just came in from Tver. You were right—this isn't the first time."
Anna opened the folder and shuddered. From a twenty-year-old photograph, a young Viktor Mikhailovich Astakhov looked back at her. Except back then, his name was different—Viktor Rogov. And by that time, he already had the murder of a fifteen-year-old girl behind him.
Returning to the office, Anna saw that Elena Andreevna remained sitting, frozen like a statue, tears rolling down her cheeks. The blue elephant continued casting reflections on the walls, but now they seemed like fragments of shattered happiness.
"Elena Andreevna," Anna called softly. "I have more questions. About Viktor Mikhailovich's past. It's important."
The woman slowly raised her head. "You know, he once told Sofi: 'When we find the seventh elephant, we'll make our most important wish.' And now I think: maybe he already knew? Knew that there would never be a seventh elephant…"