The air in Kyzyl is thick with dread, and the whispers in the taverns grow louder by the hour. Two young schoolgirls have vanished, swallowed by the grey gloom of the city, leaving the authorities in a state of frantic agitation. The high officials of the Investigative Committee—those grim seekers of truth—now weigh three dark possibilities. They ponder if the girls were claimed by the cruel current of the river, if they were driven to a desperate end by their own hand, or if some foul rogue has committed a most heinous crime against them.

No single lead is held above the rest; the detectives pursue every shadow simultaneously. The street-watchers have combed through the mechanical eyes of the city's cameras, tracing the maidens' final steps, and have pressed every witness for a word, from the lowliest street-sweep to the finest citizen.

On the second of July, a discovery was made that chilled the blood of all who saw it: a single shoe, discarded and lonely, lay upon the banks of the Yenisei, not far from where the girls were last seen. Shortly thereafter, near Kolkhoznaya Street, the constables recovered the girls' telephone apparatuses—silent witnesses to a tragedy yet untold.

A formal criminal case has been opened, and the Procurator's men are now conducting a rigorous inquiry into the matter. One can only pray that the fog lifts and the truth is dragged into the light of day.