Red Moscow

With the cooperation of several police officers, the remains were fished out from the manhole one by one. The forensic doctor spread a few pieces of oilcloth next to them and neatly placed the fished out remains on top.

Although Sokov was not a criminal police officer, when he saw the skeletons wrapped in mud that were fished out, he knew that these skeletons had nothing to do with the missing Baharov and the others, and they should have been thrown here a few years ago. .

The deputy director was directing the salvage work. He accidentally turned around and saw Sokov standing in front of the tarpaulin, staring at the skeleton on the tarpaulin. He was still discussing something with Victoria in a low voice. He walked over quickly and said to Victoria: " Major, you are not from our bureau, this case has nothing to do with you, you can leave."

Victoria actually didn't want to stay here for a long time, but as a police officer, she encountered another case. If there was no one with a higher rank than herself to speak out, she really couldn't leave. Hearing what the deputy director said at this moment, he quickly agreed and dragged Sokov away from the scene.

However, before leaving, Sokov still found the lieutenant and said to him politely: "Lieutenant, if you have news about my friend, please remember to inform me in time."

"I know." The lieutenant stared at the manhole not far away where the bones were being moved out, and said impatiently: "I will call you if there is news."

As soon as he got into the car, before Sokov started the vehicle, he received a call from Anna: "Misha, are you okay?"

"What can happen to me?" Sokov said: "Don't worry, everything is fine with me."

"Why did I hear the sound of police sirens over there?" Anna said nervously: "Have Khabarov and the others been found?"

"The police are operating in Hovlin Hospital, so there are more police cars coming." Sokov replied: "Khabarov is indeed missing. The police conducted a comprehensive search, but still did not find their whereabouts."

"Then when will you come back?" Anna asked, "I feel uneasy if I can't see you."

"Anna, don't worry, I'm getting ready to go home." Sokov said to Anna while starting the vehicle: "Tell Lena that you will close the door and get off work when the time comes."

After hanging up the phone and driving away from Hoflin Hospital, Victoria smiled beside her and said, "Misha, your girlfriend is quite concerned about you. Seeing that you haven't come back yet, she called specifically to inquire."

"Vika, this is normal." Sokov turned and glanced at Victoria: "If your boyfriend knew that you came to a place with terrifying legends like Hoflin Hospital, I'm afraid he wouldn't feel at ease and would keep thinking. Call to find out."

Victoria smiled bitterly: "I don't have a boyfriend."

Sokov realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly changed the subject: "By the way, Vika, you said that seven or eight years ago, you were still studying in the police academy in St. Petersburg. In such a short period of time, you graduated from the police academy. The policeman was promoted to major, the promotion speed is a bit too fast. "

"To be precise: I was not attending the police academy at the time, but was participating in training there." Victoria explained to Sokov: "According to relevant regulations, police trainees who have served as police officers for more than three years and who have outstanding performance can participate in the training in St. Petersburg. Training. After training, there are opportunities for promotion.”

"What was your police rank when you went into training?"

"Sergeant," Victoria replied, "After completing the training, I returned to the police force and participated in two major cases in succession. After a year, I was promoted to second lieutenant."

Sokov calculated in his mind that Victoria had completed the police academy training seven years ago, and one year later, she was promoted to second lieutenant. In other words, in six years, she has served as lieutenant, captain, captain, and now major, and her promotion speed is still very fast. You know, many uniformed police officers have been police officers all their lives, and when they retire, they still hold the rank of corporal or sergeant.

"Vika, your promotion speed is quite fast." Sokov said with emotion: "If it were during the war years, according to your promotion speed, by the end of the Great Patriotic War, you would have become the first female general. possible."

"Misha, you think the problem is too simple." But Victoria shook her head and said: "If you say something like a female colonel, a female lieutenant colonel, etc., I still believe it. After all, my great-grandmother was with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Retired. But when it comes to female generals, I think this is simply impossible. Our country’s first female general, Valentina Tereshkova, flew on the Vostok 6 spacecraft on June 16, 1963. She entered space and became the first female cosmonaut. She overcame physical discomfort, equipment failure and psychological pressure during the space flight, successfully completed the mission and returned to Earth. Due to her outstanding contributions, she was awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union". Honorary title, and was promoted to the rank of major general in 1995, becoming the first female general in the history of our country.”

Perhaps because she was worried that Sokov would not believe her statement, she continued: "For example, the famous female sniper Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko during World War II. He killed 309 German soldiers, and when he finally retired, he was only a lieutenant colonel, a rank lower than that of my great-grandmother.”

Hearing Victoria mention Lyudmila, Sokov couldn't help but remember that when he established the sniper school, he invited Lyudmila, Vasily and the ninety-year-old Morozov to serve as instructors, and in a short time Cultivate a group of excellent snipers.

"Misha," Victoria saw Sokov's slightly raised corners of his mouth and asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?"

"I heard you talking about Lyudmila, and I remembered some memories about her."

Sokov's answer aroused Victoria's interest: "Misha, is there anything about Lyudmila in the memory of your past life? Is it General Sokov who has a relationship with Lyudmila? Have you had any emotional disputes?”

"That's not true." Sokov quickly shook his head and denied: "But in the later period of the war, he established a sniper school and invited Lyudmila and Vasily as instructors, and there was also a sniper school from Leningrad. Although Morozov is already in his early nineties, he has extraordinary talent in sniping, so he became one of the three instructors in the sniper school. "

"Ah, a ninety-year-old man who also serves as a teacher at a sniper school?" Victoria showed a shocked expression on her face: "Is everything you said true?"

Sokov nodded and told Victoria about Morozov. She heard the other party exclaim again and again. She probably never thought in her wildest dreams that an old man who was over ninety years old and about the same age as her great-grandmother would be there. He was able to perform so well on the battlefield.

After Sokov finished speaking, she asked tentatively: "Misha, what happened to the old man named Morozov?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said, "I remember that I lost contact with this old man after he was transferred to the Belarusian Front Army. What happened to him later is unknown."

"What an amazing old man." Victoria said with some emotion: "Since he is so amazing, why have we never seen any description of him in history books?"

"Not only him, but even General Sokov, whom I have memories of, can't see any trace in the history books." Sokov said with some reluctance: "Although I have written in the diary left by someone before. I had seen descriptions about him, but it was difficult to confirm whether they were true or false. It wasn’t until I met your great-grandmother that I learned that this man indeed existed before and had achieved many brilliant achievements during the Great Patriotic War. ”

"Misha," Victoria waited for Sokov to finish and asked tentatively: "Do you want to collect information about this general?"

"I can't find his information online, how can I collect information?"

"Didn't my great-grandmother say that she once met a photojournalist named Kopalova in the 1950s? There was a child beside her who was somewhat similar to General Sokov." Victoria told Sokov Husband suggested: "How about we go find this reporter, maybe we can get useful information from her."

"I called the newspaper where she used to work, but the person who answered the phone said they had never heard of such a person."

"Who did you call?"

"I found the newspaper's phone number from the Internet and called directly to inquire."

After hearing this, Victoria was dumbfounded: "Misha, you should call the human resources department of the newspaper to see if they can find the information you want."

"I don't know the phone number of the HR department, how can I contact them?"

"This is easy to handle." Victoria said carelessly: "You know the name of the newspaper where Kopalova's photojournalist used to work? Let's go directly to the newspaper."

"I remember it was Izvestia."

"That's such a coincidence." Victoria pointed to the road ahead and said: "On our way home, we happened to pass by the editorial office of "Izvestia". We will go directly to their editor-in-chief later and let him think about it. Please check it for us and see if we can get any useful information.”

Ten minutes later, Sokov parked his car in the parking lot outside Izvestia.

When he got off the car, he asked Victoria anxiously: "Vika, is this really okay?"

"What are you afraid of when I'm here?" Victoria slapped Sokov on the back: "Just follow me."

After entering the editorial office, a man who looked like an editor looked at the two of them and asked, "Two of you, what can I do for you?"

"I am police officer Victoria." Victoria showed her ID to the other party: "I have something to ask the editor-in-chief. I wonder where his office is?"

The editor quickly pointed to the side: "Go down this corridor and you will soon see a staircase. After going upstairs, go to the right and you will see the chief editor's office."

After Victoria thanked the editor, she took Sokov to the second floor.

They happened to meet a young woman wearing glasses. Before Victoria could ask, the other person frowned and said, "Officer, this is an important area of ​​the newspaper office. Outsiders are not allowed to enter casually."

Victoria took out her ID card again and said to the girl with glasses: "I am police officer Victoria, and I am here to learn about some information. Where is your editor-in-chief's office?"

Hearing that Victoria had something to ask the editor-in-chief, the bespectacled woman did not dare to neglect, and quickly led the two people to the door of an office, and said to the blond short-haired woman sitting inside: "There are two people here who want to see the editor-in-chief."

The blond woman walked out of the office, looked at Victoria and asked: "Officer, I am the editor-in-chief's secretary, what can I do for you?"

"Hello, secretary!" Victoria said politely: "I have something to do and need to see the editor-in-chief. Can you inform me of it?"

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No." Seeing the female secretary's distant expression, Victoria quickly added: "An old case we had many years ago involved an employee of the newspaper. I hope the editor-in-chief knows something about it."

Hearing what Victoria said, the female secretary couldn't say anything else and could only say: "Please wait a moment, I will ask the editor-in-chief for instructions."

The female secretary returned to her desk, picked up the phone, and said, "Editor-in-Chief, there is a police officer outside who wants to see you, saying that the case she handled involves one of our old employees, and she wants to know some information from you."

"Let them in."

The female secretary put down the phone, came to Victoria and Sokov, and made a gesture of invitation: "You two, please follow me!"

Sokov followed the female secretary and entered the office. He found that it was a suite, with the secretary's office outside and the editor-in-chief's office inside.

The female secretary came to the closed door, knocked twice, opened the door, and said to the inside: "Chief Editor, they are here!"

After hearing the reply inside, the female secretary took a step back, stepped to the side, stretched out her hand and made a gesture of invitation: "You two, please come in!"

Sokov and Victoria walked into the editor's office and saw a bald middle-aged man sitting behind the big desk facing the door. He heard someone coming in, looked up, and then said casually: "I am the editor-in-chief, and I am very busy at work. If you have anything, just ask."

"Hello, editor-in-chief." After Victoria said hello to the other party, she did not go around in circles, but asked directly: "I am here today to ask you about the situation of a photojournalist named Kopalova."

"Kopalova?!" After the editor-in-chief repeated the name, he frowned and said: "There are not many photojournalists in our newspaper. I know most of them, but they don't seem to be called by this name. Are you mistaken? ?”

"I'm sorry, editor-in-chief, I didn't make my words clear." Victoria continued: "This Kopalova worked for a newspaper in the 1940s and 1950s."

"After the end of the Great Patriotic War, she went to Austria as a member of the correspondent bureau in Vienna."

"What, you worked in our newspaper in the 1940s and 1950s?" The editor-in-chief had a troubled expression on his face when he heard what Victoria and Sokov said: "You are asking about old employees from 60 to 70 years ago. I don't think so. Too clear."

"Mr. Editor-in-Chief, where can I get information about these old employees?"

"If you really want to know the information about this old employee, you can only go to the information room. Maybe there will be information about her there." The headquarters said empathetically: "I will ask my secretary to take you to the information room. . You can check the information of employees who worked at our newspaper in the 1940s and 1950s.”