I lost hope at least twenty times, and twenty times I had it again, entering the next place. So, I spent the whole day like this, and finally, about an hour ago, I found what I was looking for. The place is not far from here, maybe three miles or so. They gave me a package with ten boxes of matches, one box was missing. So I asked the owner who had bought the box. He told me about this woman, and named her. He said, ‘She liked them, so she burned them one after another.’ My dear friend, Nikolai Ermolaevich. Look at me, and you will see what kind of a man a school dropout can become! You won’t believe it! Today, I have found my self-respect. Well, well, let’s go now!”

“Where are we going?”

“We have to go to the fourth member of the gang. We have to hurry. Otherwise, I will burn with impatience. Do you know who she is? You’ll never guess, never! She is the young wife of our doctor, the old man. Her name is Olga Petrovna, that’s who she is. She bought this box of matches.”

“My friend, you are completely crazy.”

“Listen to me. First of all, she smokes. Secondly, she was completely, madly in love with Banks. He rejected her love for this peasant woman, Annie. It was her revenge. Now I remember that once I saw them hiding behind the kitchen curtain. She swore that she loved him, and he took a drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke in her face. But it is getting dark, my friend, let’s go faster.”

“Have I become so foolish that I would allow an idiot like you to bother a noble and honest woman in the middle of the night?”

“Do you think that she is noble and honest? Then you are a spineless wimp and not a detective! I have never scolded you before, but now I have to speak my mind. You are a coward with no willpower! My dear, Nikolai Ermolaevich.”

The detective motioned him away and spat on the floor.

“Please, let’s go! I am not asking this for my own benefit, but in the interest of the law. I am begging you. Please, do me this favor, just once in your life! Look, I can kneel in front of you! Dear Nikolai Ermolaevich, please be so kind, please. You can call me stupid, if I am wrong about this woman. But this is such an outstanding case. You will be famous all over the country. They will make you a special investigator for the most important cases. You must believe me, old man.”

The old detective frowned, and slowly and reluctantly moved his hand to his hat.

“Damn it! I will have to go with you,” he said.

It was dark when the detective’s carriage arrived at the entrance of the doctor’s house.

“We are swine,” said Rusty, ringing the doorbell. “We should not be troubling people at this time.”

“This is nothing.