Chapter 2: Shadows of the Past
The old folders smelled of dust and time. Anna carefully turned the yellowed pages of the twenty-year-old case file, trying not to damage the fragile sheets. The Tver Police Department archives reluctantly shared their secrets.
"I remember this case," Mikhail Stepanovich Granin, former special investigator, now retired, lowered himself heavily into the chair opposite her. His once-black hair had turned completely gray, but his eyes retained the keen, attentive gaze of a professional. "Some things you never forget. Fifteen-year-old Katya Voronova. Good student, studied music. Disappeared on her way home from music school."
Anna took out Sophia Velichko's photograph. Granin studied the girl's face for a long time, then sighed heavily.
"They look alike. God, how similar they are… Blonde, smiling. He always chose similar ones."
"Tell me how you tracked him down back then."
Mikhail Stepanovich closed his eyes, as if watching scenes from an old film.
"Viktor Rogov appeared in Tver six months before it happened. He got a job as a teacher at the music school—piano class. Brilliant education, excellent recommendations. All the documents… later we discovered the documents were forged. Perfectly done, but forged."
Anna made a note in her notebook. History was repeating itself—an impeccable cover story, meticulously planned preparation.
"He behaved flawlessly," Granin continued. "Colleagues described him as a talented teacher. Parents were delighted. Katya… she was one of his best students. She was preparing for a competition. Rogov volunteered to give her additional lessons."
"How did he become a suspect in the case?"
"Chance. Pure chance. One of the students saw Katya getting into Rogov's car that evening. The boy didn't think anything of it—maybe the teacher was just giving his student a ride home. He only remembered a week later when missing person posters went up all over the city."
Granin stood and walked to the window. Outside, the same dreary November rain continued to drizzle.
"You know what the most frightening thing was? Not the signs of violence, not how he tried to cover up the crime. The most frightening thing was his calmness during interrogations. Absolute, soul-freezing calmness. He talked about what happened as if he were describing an ordinary music lesson."