I looked around. “That would be me, sir.” We walked towards each other and shook hand as a show of friend gesture. “What do you need?”

He made a business look. Quick one, too: he made sure he has his notepad ready.

“Mr. Eberard, what do you know about Bob?”

My mouth was wide open slightly, a sign of reminding oneself. “Bob? The guy who lives few doors away?” I tried to remember the face.

“Yes. I’m a detective on to… well, let’s just say, Bob is a strange case.”

“How so?”

“So you can start and help me out here.”

“Sure,” I made a quick look at my son. He knew what to do instantly.

“That’s nice kid you got there.”

“Thanks. So what about… Bob?”

“Is there anything… flaws or cracks in mirror about him?”

I thought about the strange question that was brought out of thin air. “I don’t know. Nothing I can think of at this moment.”

“Any unique spots out of characters?”

I thought for a moment again. “I don’t think so.”

“Look, what can you tell me about him?” He was looking at me face-to-face, intent on pulling some information or sources of sort out of me. He’s not gonna give up that easily.

“What can I say?”

“His behavorial patterns. Anything that you find odd.”

I tried to think hard. “What’s so important about that guy that gets a great length of attention such as yourself?”

“Charles, he is a top notch.”

“Meaning?” I made an inquiry into this vague description.

“He had some ten million perished under him.”

“Jesus,” I paused. “For what reason?”

“Some say that he hated Bolsheviks’ guts.”

“Well, that’s no surprise,” I made a pry at thought of Stalinist soldiers. How much do they hate Stalin? No one know except maybe Bob himself.

“Tell me, how long has Bob been here?”

“Years, tops. I’d say a decade or so.”

“All the whole time when the System was rotting under his presence?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. So it seems probably, yes.”

“What’s he like?”

“Well,” I remarked. “He doesn’t seem to be a type of bad guy. Bob always had a calm atmosphere. It is hard to thin kof him as a mass murderer, though… Now that I think about it,” I cleared my throat like there was a quick and long mouthful of beer sip.

“Charles?”

“Mhmm?”

“Were there ever a time when you were truly afraid of him, this mystery figure?”

I made a sigh as if that question is too fuzzy and gray. “No, I don’t think so. He did invite me to his dinner once… Just once. At his place.”

“What was it like?”

“It felt like Sunday dinner all over. That was a rare honor.”

“Honor?”

“Neighborly honor, I mean. He can be a chatter… and very quiet person at the same time. I had a pleasure of apprecation as a guest. His personality is… quite exhilirating.”

“So what’s your take on Bob?”

I was lost in words. “From what you say, he seems to have an impressive track of record… How’d he do it?”

“He was raised in KGB. Though he escaped in the latter part of 1930s. He has been operative on his own since then. Bob has quite a price on his head, let me tell you that…” the detective exhausted at his words.

“How much?”

“Over a million. Reimbursement of each dead body that he took from Soviet Russia,” he paused. “And important figures in the Communist party.” 

“Million… Jesus…” I made a faint hint of breath held.

“Not to mention that fateful night…”

“Which is?”

“There are stories circling. Some point to him as the main assassin of Iosef Besarionis dze Jughashvili. There are even rumors that Bob has left a permanent scar that Soviet Russia would never be able to recover from,” he was polishing his tone.

“OK.”

“In other words… He was the primary suspicion behind the death of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin on March 3 to 5, 1953.”

I opened my mouth to say something. “Can’t be.”

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“No?”

“Detective, he’s been here for a decade. Bob isn’t it. Can’t be him,” I was thinking of a certain Slansky. This detective is definitely an amateur. He has no idea what he is talking about. I am wasting my time. For what? Over this stupid prick who can’t even collect and tie the facts together… How old can he be? 25? 30?  

He was testing and teasing my facial expression. “Detective, why don’t you let me think about it over. I’ll give you my phone number, and see if by tomorrow I might come up with something for your report.”

“Thanks. Take it easy, Charlie,” he gave me the business card and bowed his hat at my kid. “Have fun, you two.”

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How did the disaster at Chernobyl happen?  Could it have been prevented?  The disaster at Chernobyl was caused by faulty planning in the design of the nuclear reactor, which was not protected in the case of overheating.  The cooling was turned off for testing, but as a result the reactor overheated and exploded.  It could have been prevented, but Soviet Russia was very much about rapid efficiency without regard to health or human consequences.

How was Stalin’s moustache iconic? Stalin created a cult of personality, and his moustache seemed to be at the center.  On posters depicting perfect Soviet families, the men always had moustaches similar to Stalin’s.  However, in later years, moustachioed men in Russian movies were symbolic of Stalin, but not necessarily in a positive way.

When did Russians first buy televisions?  Russians first bought television during the Soviet era.  However, most televisions in Russia didn’t work–they were basically just boxes with fuzzy gray screens of nothing.  But the Russian people would pay tons of money to buy them, partially because they were new and exotic, and partially because it was a status symbol to have a television, even if it didn’t work.

Is it true that some Russian peasants turned to cannibalism during the Soviet era?  Surprisingly, yes.  During the Soviet era there were many famines, and it was impossible for some peasants to find food.  Although it wasn’t something everyone did, there were accounts of children’s bones and heads being found outside of people’s homes.  This has happened in many countries over the course of history.

What was the cause of childhood venereal disease in pre-Soviet Russia? This fact doesn’t only apply to Russia, but the sanitary conditions in Europe at the time were pretty bad all-around.  However, there wasn’t very much knowledge of what caused diseases in Russia at the time, so when children came down with syphilis, nobody knew how it happened, since the kids hadn’t been molested or raped.  At least not that the parents knew of–at the time it was common to suck on a baby boy’s penis or touch a baby’s genitals while the baby was crying from a toothache or headache.  It wasn’t seen as sexual, but it spread sexually transmitted diseases among children. (The Keys to Happiness, Laura Engelstein)

What did women like about Rasputin? Although Rasputin was known for being rude and strange, women were drawn to him, probably because he created a legend around himselves.  Even women who valued their sexual virtue would sleep with him because they believed that having sex with Rasputin would “purify” them.

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Did the Russian people know about Stalin’s purges? While the Russians had an idea of what Stalin was doing when he killed off all the people who he thought were plotting against him, they didn’t know for sure, and more importantly, the world didn’t know, until after Stalin’s death, when the new Soviet leader, Khrushchev, gave a shocking midnight “secret speech” to all the Communist world leaders in which he exposed all of Stalin’s wrongdoings.

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Whatever happened to Czar Nicholas’ family?  Did any of them survive? People like to say they did, but I think it’s dubious.  So one of the bodies of his children disappeared, but most likely it was just placed elsewhere.  People have come forth pretending to be Princess Anastasia, but so far they’ve all been hoaxes.  I have a feeling we would have known by now if someone had survived.

All of his enemies were made invisible in all the pictures that Stalin could acquire. He made all pictures of his enemies illegal. He would not only blot out his enemies he also tried to execute the opposition to his authority by executing or sending his enemies to the Purges. At the Purges, which were work camps in Siberia. People who were sent to these sites were over worked and under dressed for the elements. The freezing cold and wind made it hard for the workers to do their job and many people often froze to death. He even went as far as to execute and destroy all evidence of some of his allies who were gaining a lot of power. Overall, Joseph Stalin got power addicting and paranoid that someone would overthrow him. In conclusion, I believe that Staling was more evil than Hitler because he killed and destroyed all evidence of his enemies. One of his quotes is “Death is the solution to all problems. No man, no problem.”