The fog of scandal hangs heavy over Mytishchi. In a humble eating-house on Astrakhov Street, amidst the smell of cheap grease and the chatter of the town's folk, a foul scene unfolded. A man, driven by some dark passion or a lack of breeding, struck a lady visitor squarely upon the head.

The constabulary—those vigilant watchmen of the regional police—descended upon the scene with all haste. The poor soul, reeling from the blow, was whisked away to the surgeons for a forensic examination, to determine if the injury be a mere bruise or a grievous wound that shall leave a lasting mark.

As for the culprit, the law's grip was swift. The rogue, a fellow born in the year of our Lord 1891, was apprehended before he could vanish into the alleyways. The detectives are now digging through the grime of the affair to uncover the truth.

Word has leaked through the gossip-mongers and the telegraph-wires that the violence sprang from a most wretched cause: the lady had the sense to refuse the fellow's advances. For the crime of a 'no,' he sought to answer with a blow.

Alas, such brutality is a plague upon our lands. Only recently, in Lipetsk, a man beat another to his very death before a crowd of horrified companions. And in the city of Krasnodar, another braggart attacked young ladies upon the Krasnoarmeyskaya street for the same sin of indifference. It seems the streets are teeming with such desperate souls, but the bobbies are ever watchful.