Song By Unreality

Chapter 20

"What do you dislike most of all?"

"When they try to corner me."

(from Rina's interview for magazine 'Citizen')

Nikolai received a call from Merinov at home exactly two hours later, when after a shower and breakfast he was lying on the couch with a laptop. In a businesslike tone, he reported that he had started looking for Rina and there was already some progress. In particular, it became known that the singer was seen on the morning of the disappearance at the bus stop. Nikolai described in detail the girl's clothes: wide brown trousers and a green blouse with large peas - adding that he had already left in that direction, and promised to report in half an hour. Victor Dimitrievich chuckled contentedly and reset his email address. Nikolai grinned when he saw that the mail was not personal: it means that not only Merinov will read the message.

Exactly half an hour later, Nikolai sent the first report from the same sofa: a photo of a plump young woman dressed in brown pants and a green blouse with large peas. In the photo, a stranger was weeding weeds in the garden, and chickens were walking around her. Nikolai briefly unsubscribed: the trail is false, because the dimensions of this woman clearly exceed the parameters of the desired object. And as proof, he sent two more pictures. One was Rina, photographed from the back. And on the other - a stranger bent over and exposed a voluminous fifth point covered with trousers. Nikolai attributed that he was forced to return and that he had already received other news about Rina. Merinov replied: 'I'm waiting'.

An hour later, Nikolai sent the following report: scans from the singer's communities with versions of her fans. He selected the most unrealistic assumptions: for example, the trip of the celebrity to India to the yogis in order to purify the chakras, secret childbirth and going to a monastery. Nikolai finished the message with the phrase that he verifies the information. Merinov turned out to be more verbose this time and demonstrated the rudiments of irony: he asked if the detective was going to personally look for the singer from the yogis? Nikolai reassured Victor Dimitrievich by saying that he had acquaintances in India and that he had already sent them a request. He promised to get in touch in another hour and a half.

Promising to get in touch in an hour and a half, Nikolai went to the grocery store and to the pharmacy for bandages. When he returned home, he sent a message to Lev: 'the horse pinched the eggs', hoping that the Jaguar would draw an analogy with the horse and the surname Merinov. And if not, then at least the second part of the message will be understood. Jaguar was not slow to respond: 'ours?' Nikolai sent a friend a smiley face full of pain to make it clear whose. After answering: 'I'm already calling the veterinarian,' Nikolai realized that sometimes he needed to clarify with words. But, following the 'animal' theme, he sent another message: 'Pulling the cat by the tail'. He meant that he was dragging out time as best he could, but in fact the situation was critical. The fact that the cryptographer is so-so, Nikolai was convinced when he received from Jaguar a question full of perplexities: 'and what do cats have to do with it?' And, imagining how Lev read the word 'tail', cursed and decided not to play with encryption.

At the appointed hour, Nikolai sent Merinov another report, attaching medical statements and photos dug up on the Internet for credibility. In the message, he wrote that the singer was not noticed in secret childbirth. She is not among the yogis either, because, as it turned out, she was fond of Pilates. And there is no news from the assistant who went to the convent to check the latest version. Merinov said nothing. It was already noon. Apparently, Victor Dimitrievich was having a meal, so Nikolai went to the kitchen with a clear conscience.

During lunch, he found a photo of Rina from everyday life on the Internet, started a new account on social networks and from it posted a concocted advertisement about the singer's search in several profile communities. At the appointed hour, Nikolai sent scans to Merinov, attributing that volunteers had joined the search for Rina.