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Ryukhin flared up in indignation.
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" That's what I get instead of thanks! " he thought bitterly, " All because I was concerned about him! There's a bastard for you! "
" He has a typical kulak mentality, " began Ivan Nikolayevich, who obviously felt an urge to expose Ryukhin, " and even worse, a kulak who tries very hard to masquerade as a proletarian. Look at his glum face and compare it to the sonorous verses he concocted for New Year's! Heh-heh-heh... 'Soar! ' and 'Unfurl'... then take a look inside him and see what he's thinking in there... and you'll gasp! " And Ivan Nikolayevich let out a sinister laugh.
Ryukhin was red, breathing heavily, and thinking of only one thing, that he had nursed a viper to his breast and shown kindness to someone who turned out to be a vicious enemy when put to the test. And
Schizophrenia, as Predicted 57
worst of all, there was nothing he could do—you could hardly exchange insults with a madman, could you?!
" And why were you brought here? " asked the doctor after he had listened attentively to Bezdomny's accusations.
" May they rot in hell, the blockheads! They grabbed me, tied me up in rags, and dragged me off in a truck! "
" May I ask you why you went to the restaurant in your underwear? "
" There's nothing surprising in that, " Ivan answered, " I went for a swim in the Moscow River, and someone took my clothes and left me this junk! I couldn't very well walk around Moscow naked! I put on what was available because I was in a hurry to get to the restaurant at Griboyedov."
The doctor gave Ryukhin a quizzical look, and the latter mumbled gloomily, " That's the name of the restaurant."
" I see, " said the doctor, " and why were you in such a hurry? Did you have a business meeting? "
" I was trying to catch the consultant, " answered Ivan Nikolayevich, looking around anxiously.
" What consultant? "
" Do you know Berlioz? " asked Ivan pointedly.
" You mean the composer? "
Ivan became flustered. " What does the composer have to do with it? Oh, I see. No, not the composer! He has the same name as Misha Berlioz! "
Ryukhin did not want to say anything but was forced to give an explanation. " Berlioz, the secretary of MASSOLTT, was run over by a streetcar this evening at Patriarch's Ponds."
" Don't lie about things you don't know anything about! " said Ivan, angry at Ryukhin, " You weren't there but I was! He deliberately set it up so he'd fall under the streetcar! "
" Did he push him? "
" What does 'pushing' have to do with it, " Ivan exclaimed, furious at how dense everyone was. " Someone like that doesn't have to push! He can do things that would make your flesh crawl! He knew in advance that Berlioz would fall under a streetcar! "
" And did anyone besides you see this consultant? "
" That's the trouble, only me and Berlioz."
" I see. And what did you do to catch this murderer? " At this point the doctor turned around and glanced over at the woman in a white coat who was sitting at a table off to the side. She took out a sheet of paper and began filling in the blank spaces in the columns.
" Here's what I did. I took a small candle from the kitchen..."
" This one here? " asked the doctor, pointing to the broken candle that was lying next to the icon on the table in front of the woman.
" Yes, and..."
58 The Master and Margarí a
" Why the icon? "
" Well, the icon..." Ivan turned red, " The icon was what scared them most of all, " he poked a finger in Ryukhin's direction again, " but the fact is that he, the consultant, that is, let's speak frankly... he's in league with evil powers... so you won't have an easy time catching him."