"Who do you think Loginov will be?" he said.
"Leave it alone, leave it alone. Maybe there is no Loginov. Maybe it is just the inspector trying to trick you again. Here, put it up on the shelf."
The postmaster shoved the package up high on the shelf. Going to the table where his wife had already taken a seat, he murmured:
"Wish I had a jacket like that. Here by the ocean, it's cold."
"I know it," said the old woman, "but you leave that package alone."
TWENTY-FOUR KILOMETERS FROM VANGOU, MAY 12: A POLICE POST
"Come here, Corporal. Look what one of those bums has been doing. The nerve of him!"
The corporal hurried by, drying his face, chest, and back with a very worn towel.
The police private pointed to the edge of the wooden building. He dropped to his knees and waved his arm in a gesture showing the whole area underneath the floor. "He's been sleeping there. And eating there. He must have used that can for water. But I guess he's been gone a couple of days. It's not recent. No wonder our dog acted so funny."
"Who do you think it was?"