Alexei entered a small living room. He sat down on a black leather sofa, placed the folder on the table, and waited for the hostess. Soon, she came downstairs. She was a woman of average height, with long chestnut hair that fell on her shoulders. She was wearing a brown robe and had her hands tucked into her pockets as she approached.

– Good afternoon. My name is Elena Skrynnik. How can I be of service to the prosecutor's office? It was clear that she had been crying, and she was trying to hide her emotions with a smile, but it wasn’t working very well.

Alexei introduced himself. Then he asked: – Lena, may I address you informally? She nodded. – Tell me, who is Pyotr Skrynnik to you? – That’s my father, but he disappeared 30 years ago… Wait, have you found him?! – She stood up at these words. – Please, sit down. We have found him. – My God – she clutched her chest. – Now, now, don’t worry – he tried to calm her down. – How can I not?! – Lena protested. – Would you like some water? – Alexei asked. – No, no – she motioned for him to sit down and sat herself. – Dad, daddy, they found him, I can’t believe it… Is he dead? – Lena… yes, let’s take it step by step. What do you know about his disappearance? – Mom told me… Oh, sorry. Let’s have some coffee; I didn’t offer you anything, and this conversation will probably be long – she stood up and headed to the kitchen – There’s so much to say about Dad – she explained – What news! My morning started off with a shock! Dad. – It’s okay, it’s okay… no need to worry – Alexei tried to calm her down. – Let’s have coffee – she insisted. Alexei nodded. From the kitchen, which was located at the end of the living room near the stairs, Elena continued her story. – You know, my dad wasn’t exactly a law-abiding citizen. He had dealings with your office. He was imprisoned twice and used to joke that his time in prison counted toward his pension… A minute later, she returned with coffee and sat down. – So, how did he disappear? – Mom told me the story, though I remember a little myself; I was very young at the time. Uncle Sergey called us, and he and Dad talked about something on the porch. My dad was a big, strong man with a tattoo of a spider web on his shoulder. Then, for some reason, he went into the storage room. Mom ran after him, and they argued for a long time. Dad shouted: – Don’t yell in front of the child! – He was a good, kind man, always protected me… Oh, I’m probably not telling you the right things, am I? – No, no, no – Alexei nodded – Continue however you feel comfortable. – He spoiled me often; Mom always scolded him for that. Anyway, that day he shouted – You know what Sergey means to me! And Mom yelled – What about me? What about your daughter? – Don’t bring my daughter into this! – They’ll kill you, Petya. They’ll kill you! – Mom tried for a long time to convince him, but if…

"They were sitting together, so… it's a diagnosis," she said with a condemning tone in her voice.

He took the rifle and left.

– "What kind of rifle?"

– "A hunting one, he had a permit. Mom cried for a long time then. And later, he disappeared, well… anyway… When can we go to see him?"

– "Yeah, anytime," Alexey sighed.

– "I'll go now," she placed her coffee cup on the table and started gathering her things hurriedly.

– "Excuse me, maybe it's not my business – is something wrong? Are you upset? And why are you with security?" he asked as she walked away.

– "Yeah… my ex-husband was a businessman, and he left it for me. We got divorced."