"Come in," Granin opened the massive door. "Just be careful—I haven't cleaned in here for a long time."
Anna looked around. The small apartment was crowded with bookshelves. Photographs of various people hung on the walls, along with newspaper clippings and maps covered with notations. The typical dwelling of an old-school investigator who had never been able to leave his work in the past.
"They're here," Granin approached an old secretary desk and took a key from his pocket. "I haven't opened this drawer in twenty years."
The lock clicked reluctantly, as if resisting the intrusion into the past. On a velvet lining, faded with time, stood six porcelain elephants. White, with gold detailing.
"My God," Anna exhaled, taking out her phone. "They're identical."
"What?"
"The elephants in Elena Andreevna's apartment. The same series, the same manufacturer. Only a different color—blue."
Granin sank heavily into an armchair: "So it really is him. The same signature, the same game."
Anna carefully picked up one of the elephants. On the bottom was a barely visible inscription: "Imperial Porcelain Factory, 1994."
"Did you track his whereabouts after his release?" she asked, her gaze fixed on the figurine.
"I tried. He disappeared. Vanished. Now it's clear why—he was creating a new identity."
Anna's phone vibrated. A message from Dorokhov: "Come urgently."
"I need to go," she carefully placed the elephant back in its spot. "May I come back later…"
"Come anytime," Granin interrupted her. "And be careful. He doesn't like when someone gets too close to his secrets."
The rain had stopped, but the streets still glistened with water. Anna got into her car and turned on the navigation system. It would take about twenty minutes to reach headquarters.
Her memory helpfully conjured an image from the past. Ten years ago. Her first case of a missing child. They hadn't made it in time then. That's when she had sworn to herself that never again…
The ringing phone pulled her from her memories.
"Anna Vitalyevna?" Elena Andreevna's voice trembled. "There's… there's some package that arrived. From him."
"Don't touch it! Don't touch anything, I'm coming right now."
"It's too late. I already opened it. There's an elephant inside. The seventh elephant, Anna Vitalyevna. And a note…"