When we started collaborating,
someone called me.
Could he call me again now?
Why not?
I'll do that for you.
Colonel Belenki speaking.
Is he there?
Put him on.
Hello.
This is Makovski.
Yes...
- Well?
- Here's what we'll do.
We need a document
from the Ministry of Finance.
He'll see to it.
- And we'll keep the mill turning.
- I don't get it. What mill?
Where's the money?
Where is it?
Do I explain?
Or don't I?
I'll explain.
Let's say I owe Larry 1 ruble.
Larry owes Viktor 1,
and Viktor owes me 1.
But none of us has any money.
- Give me 1 ruble.
- Go on.
Let's suppose the founder
of the Academy of Science,
Lomonossov comes
and buys a glove off of me.
For 1 ruble.
I give it to Larry,
'cause I owe it to him.
We're now quits.
Larry gives it to Viktor.
They're now quits.
And Viktor gives it to me.
We're now quits.
But Lomonossov comes back, saying:
"What use is just one glove?"
He gives me the glove,
I give him the ruble.
I have my glove,
Lomonossov has his ruble,
and we're quits with Customs.
What a magician!
What sleight of hand!
I didn't see a fucking thing!
You sure thought about this,
didn't you?
But what's in it for you?
The bank the duty goes through
will be mine.
And I'll take a small percentage,
a tiny amount
on every transaction.
That's all.
He came up with that
in 3 minutes.
Genius. Sheer genius.
Our teachers called him "Platosha"
in front of everyone
to show that they were his equals.
But there's no such thing
as equality.
What did you have to do
with Koretski?
A lot, unfortunately.
But wasn't Belenki
from the Kremlin, too?
You see,
you have 2 hands,
the left and the right, don't you?
Well,
the Kremlin has dozens of hands.
Like the Hindu goddess, Shiva.
And all those hands
are greedy.
They're... extremely greedy.
Sometimes, the left hand
wants to steal the steak
off the right hand.
You're the steak?
Not only me.
Here comes the bastard.
1 year before Plato's death
Listen carefully to my boss.
You listen carefully to mine.
How can an officer like you
help a crook rob the country?
A hero of Afghanistan!
You'd have been court-martialed.
Oh, were you there?
You goddam draft dodger!
I asked you if you were there!
Where did you come from?
Little kitty...
Get the keys to the safe.
What did you have to do
with Makovski?
3 days after Plato's death
Did I kill him? No.
It would've been
too great an honor.
I hated him,
but the way you hate a monster:
a monster of selfishness,
cynicism... a real monster.
Tell me...
Maria Koretski, an Infocar employee,
is your ex-wife...
- Put that down.
- I'm sorry.
What do you think?
That I got revenge,
because he stole my wife?
I, Koretski,
an aristocrat, lower myself
to be jealous of that half-breed!
I'm just sorry for Russia.
My forebears served this country
for ten generations
under the czars, the communists,
regardless...
It would've been considered a sin
to judge the czar.
Our respect for power
is hereditary...
as is the gift of spotting enemies
and punishing them mercilessly.
You can't imagine the harm
that this Makovski
could have caused the State
if he hadn't been eliminated.
- Did you eliminate him?
- I wasn't the only one.
Who are the others?
So, the search of Infocar
and the murder of Colonel Belenki
was your work?
Well, well, well...
Because, you see,
I have proof.
Now listen to me.
Chmakov...
What are you after?
I'm not an aristocrat,
and some things go over my head.
But we ordinary mortals and filthy
flunkeys would like to know
why, with no regard to the law,
you extorted money from Makovski?
Get out!
Did you know that Makovski
recorded your conversation?
That's right.
Maybe he told you,
maybe he even wanted to use it,
and you killed him?
Get the hell out!
That's actually a very good motive.
Goodbye.
Chmakov!
I'll break the door down!
Chmakov, open up!
- What do you want?
- Where's the cassette?
What cassette?