Original subtitles

There are dozens of thousands of deaths in Turkestan already.

What did you expect, Arkadiy?

It’s cholera, not a cold.

I expect, Afanasiy Nikitich,

that the authorities do something about it.

We need to stop the epidemics.

The only way to stop cholera is general vaccination.

These tsar’s idiots couldn’t stop a plague of bedbugs,

forget cholera.

I read that Mr. Haffkine had conducted

successful trials of cholera vaccine in France.

We won’t get this vaccine any time soon,

if ever.

Haffkine, the noble soul, sent a telegram to our government

offering his help in stopping the epidemic.

What did they say?

They said they didn’t need help

from an unreliable political emigrant.

They have no choice, but buy this vaccine from the French.

That’s the point.

They’ll buy it from the French,

while it should be the other way round.

Haffkine should have stayed away from these Narodnaya Volia guys.

Narodnaya Volia are heroes.

Terrorists cannot be heroes.

Terror isn’t the way to solve political issues.

You’re absolutely right, doctor.

Besides, your colleagues can make a revolution without any bombs.

I agree.

I mean revolution in medicine, of course.

Believe me, soon there will be no epidemics.

Really? How come?

Europe’s finest minds are working on it.

We shouldn’t disregard Russian scientists, either.

I think we will soon surprise everyone.

ALEKSANDRA NIKIFOROVA

DMITRIY FRID

SERGEY DRUZYAK

IRINA SIDOROVA ANDREY RYKLIN

BORIS KHVOSHNIANSKY ANDREY LUKYANOV

YULIYA TAKSHINA MAKSIM RADUGIN

NIKOLAY DENISOV YURI VNUKOV

WRITTEN BY YEKATERINA PACHIKOVA

CHIEF WRITER - ANNA RULEVSKAYA

DIRECTED BY DENIS YELEONSKIY

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY - ALEKSANDR ALIOSHNIKOV

MUSIC BY ANTON SILAYEV

PRODUCERS - NIKITA SHUMAKOV, VITALIY BORDACHIOV

ANNA PAVLOVSKAYA, PAVEL BABIN, VLAD RIASHIN

DETECTIVE ANNA SEASON 2

EPISODE 17. HEARTS OF FOUR

Anton Andreyevich!

Anton Andreyevich, wait for me. Wait!

Wait, Anton Andreyevich.

Solomon Yakovlevich, I’m glad to see you in good health.

I wouldn’t say so.

When someone orders goods to the total of 1,000 rubles

and then disappears,

how is it supposed to affect my health?

Who could it be, pray tell?

Can you believe it?

It was Afanasiy Nikitich Sviridov.

Really? When did it happen?

Yesterday.

You’ll probably say this is nothing, and you’ll be right.

But the professor is a respectable man

who has always paid on time.

I’m worried something might have happened to him.

Did you send anyone to his house?

I didn’t!

I went there myself, on my poor old legs.

The maid said he wasn’t at home,

but I saw the blind moving in living room window.

Why would it move if there were no one there?

That’s true, Solomon Yakovlevich.

But I’m sure this misunderstanding

will resolve soon to everybody’s satisfaction.

Of course. Still, you should go to the professor and see what’s going on.

All right, I’ll see what I can do.

Capital. Good luck.

- Goodbye. - Yes.

The old man is getting senile.

Just listen to this. A reader writes to me.

“Dear Mariya Timofeyevna,

I’ve been turning a blind eye to my husband’s quirks for a while,

but after reading your "The Lady and the Maid"

the scales fell from my eyes.”

Ania, are you listening?

Yes. The scales fell from her eyes. What happened?

She found out her husband was cheating on her,

and now she doesn’t know what to do.

This is exactly

what’s missing from my novel.

The intrigue, the drama, the suffering!

It will be a tragic affair, not a love story.

In the end, the philandering husband will be punished.

He’ll throw himself in front of a train.

No, it has already been used. He’ll shoot himself.

It has been used, too.

Then he’ll go abroad and die of consumption.

What if he repents and asks for forgiveness,

and she will forgive him.

No!

He doesn’t deserve forgiveness...

and he never will.

He needs to realize how low...

A boy had brought it...

from your father.

Looks like beer.

Risus sardonicus. It’s quite clear.

What? Strychnine?

Probably.

Here is the bottle.

Nikolay Vasilyevich,

strychnine is often being dissolved in beer

or wine to mask its unsavory taste.

All suicides do that.

Miss, where are you going?

No! It can’t be true.

She couldn’t have killed herself!

Cover her, please.

Who are you, Miss?

Kseniya Lavrova.

I live across the hall.

Did you know her well?

Yes. We were friends.

When was the last time you saw her?

Yesterday after midnight.

I heard her in the hallway and came out to say good night.

Was she alone?

Yes. And she was in a great mood.

I hadn’t seen her so happy in a while.

Believe me, she couldn’t have killed herself.

It’s impossible.

My dear girl,

people who are going to kill themselves

usually hide it even from those closest to them.

I’m sorry, gentlemen.

Hello, Father.

I was afraid you wouldn’t come.

I wouldn’t do this to you.

I’m sorry. I know I hurt you.

You and your mother.

I still can’t accept it

that you have left us.

Don’t talk like that.

You’re not a child.

You understand everything.

No, Father.

I don’t understand what you see in our maid.

Yes, I’m sorry it happened

while she was working for us.

But believe me,

Liza is a nice girl.

You will see it if you get to know her better.

I don’t want to get to know her better.

If you say so.

Father, are you sure you aren’t making a mistake?

Won’t you regret it?

It’s not too late to fix it.

I know Mother. She will forgive you.

No.

It's impossible.

Why?

Why did you say no to Kliuyev?

Because I don’t love him.

Here’s your answer.

I’d still ask you not to get involved

with Shtolman again,

if, of course, you have some reason left in you.

Are you really telling me this?

Are your masters at home?

Natasha, who is it?

Let them in.

Aleksandr Frantsevich, what a surprise!

I’m so glad to see you.

Pleasure is all mine, Larisa Ivanovna.

Is Afanasiy Nikitich at home?

No, he has left.

He was called to the Yaroslavl guberniya by a cable.

They suspect cholera.

Oh? I hope it’s a false alarm.

I hope so, too.

How do you feel?

I’m fine. I didn’t have enough sleep, that’s all.

I was helping him to pack.

Lara?

Arkadiy, we have company.

Aleksandr Frantsevich, hello.

Hello, Arkadiy Konstantinovich.

Were you picking mushrooms?

I was out hunting.

Really? Where is your take?

I’m a bad shot.

Excuse me, I need to change.

Of course.

Excuse me, what was it you wanted with my husband?

Arkadiy Nikitich promised to lend me

the latest issue of the "Surgery Herald."

When do you expect him back?

Who knows?

No sooner than in a week, I suppose.

Then I’ll come back a week later, if you don’t mind.

Goodbye.

Anna Viktorovna?

Yes, it’s me.

What can I do for you?

My name is Kseniya Lavrova.

Someone gave me your name and address and said you could help.

What happened?

My friend Yuliya was found dead this morning.

My condolences.

The police believe it a suicide, but they are wrong.

How can you be so sure?

If Yulia were upset about something, I’d have noticed.

But she was calm, even merry.

If she killed herself,

I want to know why.

All right, I will try to help you.

Come inside.

Yuliya Poliakova’s spirit, reveal yourself!

Yuliya Poliakova’s spirit, reveal yourself!

Yuliya Poliakova’s spirit, reveal yourself!

She’s here.

Why did you kill yourself?

She was pregnant.

Pregnant?

That’s the more reason to doubt her suicide.

Yulia told me she always dreamed to become a mother.

Who is to blame for your death?

I don’t understand.

Did she write to someone,

receive letters from someone?

No, I don’t think she was in correspondence with someone.

Still, you should search her room for letters.

All right.

Anton Andreyevich, it’s good I’ve run into you.

I was going to visit you to say thank you.

What for?

Well...

Has the professor paid you?

In full.

Sviridova sent me the entire sum and an apology note.

I’m glad to hear it.

But if you think this is where it ends, think again.

Yesterday I was passing by the Sviridovshouse

and saw a bonfire in the backyard.

Professor’s wife and her husband’s assistant were there.

And? What were they burning?

I didn’t see what they were burning,

but I saw the assistant hugging Mrs. Professor

as if it was all right.

Do you think it’s suspicious?

Don’t you?

Solomon Yakovlevich, the police will sort it out.

Hello, Pelageya Ivanovna.

Anton Andreyevich, were you passing by again?

I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by.

And you brought flowers by accident.

Yes. No. The flowers are for you, of course.

Thank you.

They are beautiful.

I adore violets.

Yes, they are violets.

I’m glad you like them.

Are you all right here?

I suppose you don’t have that many customers after the fire.

Quite the opposite. I’ve become very popular.

It’s too early for customers now, though.

I’m looking through new arrivals.

Will you let me help you?

Anna Viktorovna? I see you’re here to join me.

But I’m already done.

Doctor, is this Yuliya Poliakova?

Yes, it’s her.

Was she pregnant?

How do you... Oh, of course.

Have you found out the cause of death?

Yes. She took strychnine.

I suppose she was trying to abort the baby, but miscalculated the dose.

An accident, then?

Anna Viktorovna, my dear.

Sometimes when young women

try to get rid of a pregnancy

it ends up like this.

I like books. I have a small library at home.

Anton Andreyevich, do you live alone?

Yes, in a service apartment.

It’s small, but it’s enough for one person.

If I marry, they’ll give me a bigger one.

I’ve been meaning to ask.

Why are you single?

You see, Pelageya Ivanovna,

I don’t know how to make a woman like me.

It requires a special talent.

I think you’re underestimating yourself.

You think?

I believe women like men

who are special, mysterious,

even dangerous.

Take you, for one.

Oh, I’m sorry.

I didn’t mean to say that.

I apologize.

No, not at all.

I used to like men like these

when I was younger.

I’ve became wiser since.

Yakov Platonovich, I didn’t hear you come in.

You’ve scared me.

You have nothing to be afraid of when I’m with you.

Are you with me?

Doctor? Yakov Platonovich is here to see you.

Hello, Yakov Platonovich.

I’m listening, doctor.

I have a request.

Yesterday, after a conversation with Anton Andreyevich,

I decided to visit the Sviridovs.

The professor wasn’t at home.

His wife said he was called

to Yaroslavl gubernia

regarding a cholera outbreak.

In this case, they always inform the hospitals,

and we haven’t received any warning.

So could you please do me a favor

and send a request to Yaroslavl.

Don’t worry, doctor, I’ll do it today.

Thank you.

Have you finished the report on Poliakova’s autopsy?

Yes, I have.

Let’s go to my office.

Hello, Anna Viktorovna.

The doctor?

He’s here, but he’s busy.

Nikolay Vasilyevich, is something wrong?

Can I help you?

Yesterday, being on duty, I was smelling the evidence.

All right.

I’m afraid I had inhaled too much of strychnine.

Don’t worry, Nikolay Vasilyevich,

you can’t get poisoned through smelling.

Still, it would be nice if you gave me the antidote.

I had been up all night,

listening to my body.

There is this great folk remedy.

I’ll give you the list of herbs,

you’ll harvest them and make a potion.

On alcohol?

No, on water bath.

Do you have something ready-made?

Alas.

All right. Sour clover...

Yes, and all the way down the list.

Take it every night before sleep.

Calendula, rhubarb.

Thank you, Anna Viktorovna.

I don’t understand.

Do you have reasons to believe something happened to my husband?

Ma’am, who brought the cable? Did you see it?

No, I was asleep. My husband woke me up.

He came to my bedroom and said he had been summoned to Yaroslavl.

A government carriage came to get him an hour later.

When did it happen?

Around 1 a.m.

Did you see your husband off?

No. Please tell me what’s going on.

The thing is there was no cable from Yaroslavl.

- Are you sure? - More than sure.

What does it all mean, then?

That’s what I’m going to figure out.

Anna Viktorovna.

Hello, Kseniya. I’m glad you’re at home.

Have you found out something about Yuliya?

No, not yet, I’m sorry.

Have you found her letters?

No.

I can’t enter her room.

I don’t have the key.

Who does?

Did you see the man who had brought the cable?

Can you describe him?

I didn’t pay attention.

It was dark, too.

What time did he bring it?

It was after midnight, that’s all I can tell you.

When did the professor leave?

Around 1 a.m.

Thank you.

The landlord wouldn’t give me the key.

He said he’d only let her family take her belongings.

But she only has an aunt who lives in Moscow.

Kseniya, do you know where he keeps the key?

When did the carriage leave?

It was 2 a.m.

Could it be 3?

No, I remember it well.

I looked at the clock.

The maid says it was 1 a.m.

She must have mixed it up. Women!

Hello.

What can I do for you, Miss?

I want to rent a room for one month.

What do you have for me?

Only the best for a beautiful lady like yourself.

There is a room in the third floor,

facing the yard.

Do you and your wife live in this house, too?

Professor and I work together,

and we spend all days in the lab.

Around 18 months ago we decided

this would be convenient for everyone.

The house is big enough.

So many medicines.

Why?

My husband is a doctor.

He prefers to have some supplies at home.

- May I? - Of course.

I see letters from abroad here.

Professor corresponds with many scientists

throughout the world.

Vladimir Haffkine,

a former Narodnaya Volia member, who had escaped abroad.

Am I right?

Haffkine is, first and foremost, a renowned doctor and epidemiologist.

They have been friends since the university.

Vladimir consults my husband regarding the cholera vaccine.

Is your husband working on the vaccine?

Among other things.

The professor is always working on several things at once.

I’ll take the letters from Mr. Haffkine and others.

Is that necessary?

I believe your husband might be kidnapped.

His research might be of interest for many different parties.

Goodbye.

Have you found something?

No. No letters.

Only her ledger, but there was nothing interesting in it.

Are these her books?

Yes, Yuliya was an avid reader.

Did she have a favorite novel?

This one. Did you read it?

It’s a good book.

Thomas Hardy.

“Be at the corner of Sadovaya at midnight,

and your situation will be settled in the best possible way.”

September 1, 1894.

The day before she died.

Do you know who could have written this?

Yuliya was seeing someone.

She had a suitor.

She didn’t tell much about him,

but she often said he was a gentleman,

like in an English novel.

“Your situation will be settled in the best possible way.”

I think she means the pregnancy.

There is no cholera in Yaroslavl.

Sviridov was never there, and no one summoned him there.

Here, the cable from their hospital’s head physician.

Anna Viktorovna, is it something urgent?

Is it a bad time?

It’s all right. We have already finished.

- Have you questioned the coachmen? - Yes, of course.

No one took a passenger at the Sviridovs’ house.

All right. Proceed with the investigation.

Nikolay Vasilyevich.

How do you feel?

Not bad, Anna Viktorovna.

Are you harvesting the herbs?

I am.

Anton Andreyevich, what happened to professor Sviridov?

How do you know him?

He is missing, probably kidnapped.

Does Nikolay Vasilyevich know?

Yes, I have informed him.

He is very concerned.

I hope we will be able to find the professor.

We will.

PISHCHIKOV

Anna Viktorovna?

I’m sorry, gentlemen.

The professor is dead.

Who is Pishchikov?

Sviridov’s neighbor. He lives on the same street.

Did he appear at the precinct?

Anton Andreyevich, spirits don’t need a police summon

for haunting the precinct.

Mr. Pishchikov.

Yuri Petrovich.

Gentlemen, I don’t think we’ve met.

We are the police. We came to ask you about your neighbor Mr. Sviridov.

Sviridov?

What a surprise.

What has he done?

Please come in, gentlemen. The gate is over there.

It’s all grown over. Is this grapevine?

Ivy.

No, it’s the hop plant.

I wish our climate suited it better.

Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you?

You might have seen a carriage leaving

professor Sviridov’s house around 1 a.m.?

I haven’t.

I didn’t come home last night but went straight here

but went straight here from my fiancee Mrs. Arsenyeva’s house.

- It was around 1 a.m. - I see.

Gentlemen, help yourselves.

It’s the authentic English lemonade.

Thank you, John.

His name is actually Ivan, but I prefer John.

This is one of a kind.

Or is it?

If you please. John!

I’m happy you like it. I make it myself.

So when was the last time you saw the professor?

A while ago.

A year, I believe.

What happened?

Has he finally left his spouse?

What makes you think so?

I don’t want to be a gossip,

but Larisa Ivanovna is having an affair.

What?

An affair.

With Uminsky, his assistant.

How do you know?

You can trust me on this.

That’s the reason of my falling out with Afanasiy.

I walked on Larisa and Arkadiy in flagrante delicto,

and I felt it my duty to tell my friend about it.

What did he do?

He called me a gossipmonger and banned me from his house.

Thank you... John.

So Mrs. Sviridova is having an affair with her husband’s assistant.

You think they might be involved in his disappearance?

I wouldn’t rule it out.

Dr. Milts says he saw

Uminsky coming inside the next day, covered in mud.

- He got rid of the body. - And the cable?

A pure invention.

This Pishchikov seems a nice and harmless weirdo.

In any case, we need to check his statement.

“The shadows were getting thicker.

The night was gradually putting the day to sleep,

when every sorrow seems more harrowing.

Agatha was in her bed,

listening, waiting for her husband to come home.

Agatha was thinking about her life.

She couldn’t...”

What are you doing here?

Eavesdropping?

It’s wrong.

It’s wrong to stay so late at someone’s house.

What if the master decides to come back, and this guy is here?

It’s none of your business. Go.

“She strained her ears, but the footsteps were departing.”

Larisa Ivanovna, excuse me for coming so early.

Don’t apologize. I’m worried sick.

Have you found out anything about my husband?

Yes and no.

We visited your neighbor Pishchikov yesterday.

Pishchikov? What does he have to do with anything?

That’s right, what does he?

However, he told us...

how should I put it?

He said that you and Arkadiy Uminsky...

I see. This gossipmonger told you that Arkadiy and I are having an affair,

and thus we decided to get rid of my husband.

Not exactly.

He said he had had a fight with the professor over it,

and your husband had banned Pishchikov from your house.

There was a fight,

but not because of that!

May I ask what it was about, then?

You see, Pishchikov is crazy about England.

He makes lemonade, kidney pies.

In a word, pretends to be a squire.

He came to our house with an Englishman once,

and they both tried to talk Afanasiy into moving to London,

claiming he would build a brilliant career for himself there.

- Is that so? - Yes.

Did professor say no?

He didn’t just say no.

My husband is a true patriot.

He was so outraged by their innuendoes that he kicked Pishchikov out

and told him never to come back.

That’s interesting.

Yes. As for my affair...

If you have to know,

I’ve been living with Arkadiy for two years,

and his wife Masha lives with my husband.

You know that divorce is impossible in our country.

You mean you...

Well... All right.

Right.

Help yourselves.

Thank you.

Did Mr. Pishchikov come here the day before yesterday?

Yes.

He brought the flowers, too.

They are still fresh.

Why? Did he do something wrong?

Somehow I feel you aren’t surprised.

Yuri is a devil.

Someone needs to keep an eye on him or he drifts into crime.

Do you plan to engage yourself with a man like this?

I like him so much.

My late Stepan Petrovich had provided for me,

so I can follow my heart.

If you say so.

I know he is interested in me because of my money.

But it isn’t that bad when a husband looks up to his wife.

Strangely, I like your honesty.

I told him, “If I find out you’re lying to me,

or gambling, or cheating,

I’ll show you the door.”

Did he agree to it?

Did he have a choice? He doesn’t have a penny to his name.

And this anglophilia, too!

Brewing beer in Russia, can you believe it?

Not lemonade? Beer?

That’s what I told him.

“Russian people like their vodka, you fool!”

Anyway, that idea had driven him to bankruptcy.

He had invested all he had in it, and he lost it all.

Who would want him now?

I wouldn’t marry him, either, but I like him so much.

What time did he leave?

It was 20 minutes to midnight.

Are you sure it wasn’t later?

I’m sure. I always go to bed at midnight.

Yakov Platonovich! It’s good you’re here.

I wanted to discuss the Poliakova case.

Anna Viktorovna, it’s always some case with you.

So, what is it?

I think she didn’t commit suicide.

She went out to meet someone.

Did her spirit tell you this?

No.

I found this in her room.

Interesting.

Yakov Platonovich,

I was going to go to your house.

Good morning, Anna Viktorovna. Larisa Sviridova has just visited me.

She said that a year ago

Pishchikov tried to persuade the professor to move to England.

This anglophile isn’t as simple as he seems.

An anglophile. A true gentleman.

There are hop plants on Pishchikov’s sundeck.

I remember.

His fiancee said he used to have a brewery.

So what?

Dr. Milts’s report says the girl was poisoned with strychnine

mixed with beer to cover its scent.

I see. But Pishchikov has an alibi.

The thing is, he doesn’t.

- Let’s go. - Just a minute.

I’ll bring the constables. One minute!

Gentlemen and the fair lady!

What do I owe the honor?

You lied to us, Mr. Pishchikov.

You left Mrs. Arsenyeva’s house long before midnight.

Maybe. I must have forgotten.

Have you also forgotten how you tried to persuade him

to work for the Englishmen a year ago?

I don’t understand what you’re getting at.

I believe you helped to kidnap

and maybe kill him three days ago.

Are you mad?

It’s true I was offered big money

to persuade Afanasiy to move to Cambridge,

but killing him?

I swear I have nothing to do with it.

Where were you after you left your fiancee’s house?

All right. I was on a date with a lady.

Was the lady’s name Yuliya Poliakova?

Yes. How do you know?

Did you write this?

Unfortunately, that was the last time we met.

The poor girl killed herself.

No, she was killed...

by you.

What? Her, too?

This is ridiculous.

I can assure you, my lady,

she was alive and well when I left her.

I’m not your lady, and Poliakova was pregnant.

- Did you know that? - No.

I swear she didn’t tell me.

The letter says,

“your situation will be settled

in the best possible way.”

What did you mean by that?

It’s about the money.

- Yulia needed it, and I helped her out. - How much did you give her?

Twenty rubles or so.

We didn’t find the money in the room.

I think you appeased her

by promising to marry her

and gave her a bottle of your beer laced

with strychnine.

Strychnine? God, where would I get it?

You add strychnine to your beer to enhance its taste.

Being an anglophile, you had to know about this trick used by English brewers.

You can barely taste strychnine in the beer.

So you added a lethal dose into Yuliya’s bottle.

You have a vivid imagination.

You decided to improve your affairs by marrying Mrs. Arsenyeva.

But she made it clear she wasn’t putting up with an affair.

You were afraid that Yuliya and her child would stand in your way,

so you decided to get rid of them both in one go.

Let’s consider this your confession.

Anna Viktorovna, you were right, as always.

I’m glad Pishchikov is going to be punished.

Too bad it has nothing to do with the professor’s death.

HEARTS OF FOUR