Chapter 24: Clues

Viktor's jeep was parked next to the checkpoint at the entrance to the salt mine. An officer in uniform quickly approached, opened the car door for him, and saluted, greeting, "Lieutenant Viktor Viktorovich, as per your previous instructions, we have adequately secured the scene. Everything here, including the positions of the bodies and the condition of the truck, remains unchanged."

Viktor climbed out of the car, glanced at the officer, returned the salute, and asked, "What time did the assault occur?"

"At ten o'clock in the evening, to be precise, at 10:04 PM," the captain quickly replied, his eyes showing a hint of fear, easily sensed by anyone facing Viktor.

Yes, this captain held a higher rank than Viktor, who was just a lieutenant. However, their roles differed significantly. Viktor, as a lieutenant of state security, held a position higher than a military captain. Moreover, with the terror of the Great Purge still fresh, anyone facing the "Blue Hats" could not avoid a sense of dread, and this captain was no exception.

Having received the answer, Viktor didn't ask further questions. He looked around, roughly observing the surroundings.

This was a very unsuccessful assault by some anti-Soviet group. Their target was clearly a specific mine within the Drohobych saltworks. Given the attackers' capabilities, this was a suicidal mission; destroying a single mine would be considered an achievement. Attempting to destroy the entire saltworks was undoubtedly a pipe dream.

However, one can't be too absolute. Another scenario could alter the outcome: the attackers having an inside man.

So, a question arises: if the attackers did have an inside man, why not rely solely on them for the assault? Were they lacking manpower or materials? This needed to be determined from the specifics of the scene.

The defense of the saltworks was robust. A powerful spotlight at the entrance could illuminate a large area on the eastern side of the saltworks. Surrounding this spotlight, the site's defense forces had established three machine gun positions. Forget about a truck with a few men; even an enhanced platoon would struggle to breach the defenses.

At this moment, numerous soldiers were stationed at the entrance of the compound. Near the barricade, a temporary sandbag-fortified position was set up. Additionally, a tank was parked within the compound, presenting a heavily fortified appearance.

Viktor circled the truck, noting that it was stuck at the barricade. The truck's front had bent but not destroyed the barricade, indicating insufficient momentum to break the thick barrier. This suggested that the truck had stopped close to the barricade before attempting to breach it.

Viktor learned from the captain that the attackers in the truck initially attempted to slip through the checkpoint without incident, suggesting they didn't plan to breach initially but resorted to force after their cover was blown. Five bodies lay around the truck: two were uniformed guards, and three were plainclothes attackers. The latter had attempted to use the truck as cover to retaliate against the guards after being exposed but were armed only with two handguns and a rifle. They were ultimately shot by the guards.

Drohobych Saltworks was akin to a large enterprise in the Soviet Union, resembling a state-owned enterprise domestically. Cases like this attack fell under the jurisdiction of the Lviv Directorate of Workers' and Peasants' Militia, as the state security agency had limited involvement in criminal investigations, requiring cooperation with the Criminal Investigation Directorate.

Colonel Shcherov himself called Viktor less than an hour after the incident, urging him to oversee the case personally. According to Shcherov, the attack on Drohobych Saltworks demonstrated hidden anti-Soviet elements operating beneath the surface of Lviv's apparent tranquility. Such organizations posed a perpetual threat to national and social stability and needed elimination.

Standing at the truck's front, Viktor lit a cigarette, his recent habit growing due to mounting work pressure, which had left him increasingly tense.

He directed six criminal investigators dispatched from the Criminal Investigation Directorate to conduct a thorough examination of the scene. As they forcefully removed the truck's door, riddled with bullet holes, a badly mangled body fell out, resembling a piece of rotting meat hitting the ground.

Two investigators approached, carefully extracting a blood-soaked document from the corpse's tightly clenched hand. After inspecting it closely, they whispered to Viktor before presenting it to him.

"Comrade Captain," Viktor gestured for the captain to approach, instructing him to verify the document. "Please confirm if this document is genuine and if the identity of the holder is accurate."

The captain wasted no time, immediately dispatching personnel to verify. Saltworks documents were specially made, each tied to a specific individual and difficult to forge due to hidden identifiers on the cover and back pages.

Shortly after, the verifying team returned hastily, confirming the document's authenticity and matching the name information. However, they noted discrepancies with the photograph on the document, indicating it had been replaced.

While checking the documents, investigators discovered similar documents on the remaining bodies, totaling six. The captain promptly ordered verification of the remaining documents, all of which were found to be genuine, each with only the photograph replaced, mirroring the initial findings.

Meanwhile, the personnel verifying the documents also brought news that all six of these documents had been reported lost. The earliest report was four months ago, while the most recent was just one week prior. Hearing that the first report was four months ago, the relieved captain finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least it indicated that the attackers' plans had been brewing for a long time, even back when the salt mines still belonged to the Poles.

Victor also noted this point. Since the attackers had been operating on this plan for four months, it indicated they weren't just an anti-Soviet organization but also opposed the Polish government. This made it relatively easy to determine their political leanings—they were undoubtedly Ukrainian nationalist groups seeking independence for Ukraine, opposing whoever ruled over Ukraine, whether Polish or Russian.

"Comrade Captain, what you need to do now is to apprehend all those related to these documents," Victor said, flicking away his cigarette and instructing the detectives to collect the documents. "Later on, I will need to ask them some questions."

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant, I will arrange it immediately," the captain replied respectfully. His sole hope now was to avoid getting entangled in this case. If possible, he'd prefer to remain inconspicuous, invisible to anyone.

After saluting the obedient captain, Victor turned back to his car. He was incredibly busy these days and didn't have much time to focus solely on this case. In fact, he was quite dissatisfied with the organizational structure of the NKVD. There were many instances of overlapping responsibilities and unclear mandates among different departments. If the organization had enough personnel, it might just be a case of bureaucratic bloat. However, the reality was that there was a severe shortage of manpower. Some functional departments were mere shells, forcing him to personally handle many matters.

Like tonight, spending the whole night here in godforsaken Drohobych to inspect the scene just to show his dedication to the case. Tomorrow morning at eight, he had an important meeting at City Hall. It was already four o'clock now. By the time he returned to Lviv, it would be nearly four-thirty. That meant he could only get less than three hours of sleep...

Entering October in Lviv, the weather was rapidly turning cooler. Signs of autumn giving way to winter were becoming more apparent. The jeep traveled along the road toward the city center, and Victor leaned back against the seat, closing his eyes to rest. His thoughts were consumed with the attack on the salt mine.

Victor didn't have much experience investigating cases, but he already had some ideas about this one. In his view, the primary investigative direction should be to first investigate how those documents were lost. Six people, six documents—there had to be traces left behind in the process of their loss. Finding a detail within that could potentially provide a breakthrough in the case.