The Russian Deception

CHAPTER 38

Lefortovo prison took its name from the Moscow district where it was located. Vysotsky always felt uncomfortable when he visited Lefortovo. It wasn't just the prison smell of unwashed bodies and fear. The building was saturated with an atmosphere of hopelessness and despair. Countless numbers had been tortured in Lefortovo during Stalin's reign before being taken into the courtyard and shot. It had been the last stop for thousands. It was still the last stop for many. One of them was Boris Vishinski.

Vysotsky's former boss had asked to see him. Alexei had thought about refusing. He had no desire to see Vishinski's humiliation. It could only remind him of his own vulnerability. In the end he'd decided to go.

Vishinski was housed in the wing for common criminals, a further attempt to humiliate him. It meant there was little chance his cell was monitored with microphones and cameras. Prisoners were held inside single cells. The cells had steel doors covered with layers of thick, yellow paint. Chips in the paint showed decades of indifferent maintenance. A single row of light bulbs in metal cages ran down the center of the hall. A guard dressed in a gray and black camouflage uniform and a beret escorted Alexei to Vishinski's cell and opened the steel door. Vishinski looked up from where he sat on his narrow bunk. Alexei stepped inside and turned to the guard.

"Close the door. Wait outside."

"Sir." The guard saluted.

The door clanged shut behind him, a sound that let you know you were trapped. The room was narrow and high and cold. The walls and ceiling of the cell were concrete, painted the same sickly yellow as the doors. A metal cage with a single bright bulb that never went out was mounted in the ceiling. There was no window. A metal shelf with a thin mattress projected from the rear wall. The room stank of human waste and stale sweat. A lidless metal toilet crusted with excrement was the only other feature of the room.

Vishinski wore gray prison clothes and paper slippers that matched his complexion. Alexei was shocked by his appearance.

"Alexei Ivanovitch. You came. I wasn't sure that you would. Or even if my message would reach you."

"Boris Nikolayevich. I am sorry to see you in this circumstance."

Vishinski laughed. "Yes, I'm sure you are, Alexei. And now you have my old job. Take a good look because it might be you sitting here next month."

Vysotsky suppressed his irritation. "What is it you wanted to see me about?"

"We've had our differences, you and I. But there was always one thing we had in common."

"What's that?"

"We are both patriots. We both believe in the Motherland. Insects like Orlov may come and go but it is people like you and I who make sure that Russia endures. Why do you think I've ended up here? Because of my sexual preferences? Because of corruption?"

"There is evidence."

"False evidence. But of course it will look real enough."

"There are pictures of you and your aide in bed together."

"False."

"If there is something you have to tell me, you had better do it now," Alexei said. "Save your denials for your trial."

Vishinski gave Alexei a hard look. "Orlov is getting ready to start a war that will destroy us. But it's not him who is leading us into the fire. He's being manipulated by Golovkin."

Golovkin! "Go on."

"Golovkin has been moving money into accounts under Orlov's control. A lot of money. Much of it has been used to speed up modernization of our military. He's encouraging Orlov to begin a war with the West. We both know that we can't win such an encounter."

"Where's the money coming from?"

"From the West. I traced it to a bank in Germany. Golovkin found out that I was looking into his affairs." Vishinski waved his hand at the cell. "This is the result."

"I have only your word that this is true," Alexei said.

"Have you moved into my old office?"

"What of it?"

"There's a bookcase there. Are the books still in place?"

"Yes."

"There is a copy of War and Peace on the third shelf. Look inside the book. On page 386 is a short notation of letters and numbers. Access the restricted section on your computer and search for them. It will bring up a file with the proof you need. I was about to move on Golovkin when I was arrested."

"If what you say is true I will find a way to get you out of here," Alexei said.

"You must be very careful, Alexei. If Golovkin suspects you are looking into his activities you will join me in this fine hotel."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Do you have a cigarette?"

Alexei reached under his tunic and withdrew a package of Golden Fleece cigarettes. The cigarettes were a nostalgic revival of a brand wildly popular during the Soviet era. He handed the packet to Vishinski, along with a small box of matches.

"Spasibo," Vishinski said.

Alexei banged on the metal door with his fist.

"I will visit you again. After I have confirmed what you told me."

The guard opened the door. Alexei stepped out into the hall and the cell door boomed shut behind him, a harsh, metallic sound that sent echoes down the hallway.

Alexei returned to SVR headquarters and went straight to the bookcase. He hadn't paid much attention to it. Since he'd moved into Vishinski's old office he'd been too busy with his new responsibilities to think about changing the furniture, with the exception of bringing in Beria's desk.

The copy of War and Peace was on the third shelf as Vishinski had said. Alexei had read Tolstoy's epic as a young man but remembered little of the story. He turned to page 386. Penciled on the side of the page was a series of numbers and letters. Alexei took the book over to his desk and sat down in front of his computer. He entered the password that allowed him into the restricted area reserved for the director and entered the coded string. Vishinski's hidden file appeared on the screen. Alexei began reading.

Half an hour later he closed the file and reached for the vodka in his desk drawer. He poured a drink and thought about what he'd just learned. Vishinski had been thorough. He had identified a German named Kepler as the source of money used to boost Orlov into power and purchase new equipment for the military. The large transfers were broken into manageable sums and concealed in false accounts. Golovkin had siphoned off millions of euros into a personal account in a Swiss Bank. That was enough to arrest him but Alexei knew it wasn't going to be that easy.

He's corrupt. I never suspected him of corruption. Arrogance and ambition but not corruption.

Corruption had always been part of Russian life. But this was corruption on a different level, operatic in scale.

Why? Alexei asked himself. Why would this Kepler give Golovkin control of so much money?

There was only one way to find out. He couldn't very well ask Golovkin to explain. The only other person who would know was Kepler. The man had to be interrogated. Vishinski's file noted that Kepler was a recluse, an invalid who lived in a guarded compound near Leipzig. A man that wealthy was certain to have the best kind of security. It would be difficult to get to him.

He would send Valentina.