By the time Wojcik finished the interrogations, most of his colleagues had left the police station. However, he knew that Farnicki would have already returned to Resovia, so he expected to find him in the office. Instead, he found him standing next to his Lada in the parking lot.
"Farnicki! How was your trip to Cracovia?"
"Good, Sir," Farnicki replied briefly and returned him his car keys. Wojcik noticed from his colleague's absent stare that the latter was preoccupied with something.
"Did you find out anything?"
"Yes, Sir. But I need to talk to you first."
"Okay, let's go inside," the Inspector suggested.
"No, Sir. Privately."
From the very start, Wojcik knew that Farnicki was hiding something. He was keen on finding out what his Sergeant's secret was, because the hesitant introduction from the day before revealed that Ivan wasn't the type of man who let anyone into his private life. That was why Farnicki's request to have a private talk had surprised him and he was extremely curious to hear what the man had to say. Wojcik motioned for him to get in the car.
"Sir, I was there," Farnicki blurted out as soon as they closed their doors.
"You mean in Cracovia?" Wojcik asked, acting confused.
"No, Sir. I was there in Agnes' apartment yesterday at lunchtime. Those fingerprints are mine."
"Go on," Wojcik said calmly. He believed his Sergeant wanted to talk about private affairs. Something insignificant that could be easily dealt with. Instead, the Inspector discovered the most inconvenient information that could lead to serious complications. Edmond wasn't prepared for that, but he didn't let it show.
"After your fight yesterday, I followed Agnes outside. She was very distressed, and I tried to help her by promising her I would investigate her case. She invited me to have lunch at her place, and I agreed. But she was alive when I left her."
"How late was that?"
"Some ten minutes to one, just enough time for me to walk back to work."
"What did she tell you?"
"She told me how her cats had died. All were poisoned. However, I don't think it was cyanide."
"What makes you think so?"
"Agnes saw one convulse in agony, and all the cats were foaming before they died. I'm not an expert, but those are no symptoms of cyanide poisoning."
"What did she do with the dead cats?"
"She buried them under the flowerbeds outside."
"Okay, Vic will tell us what they died of, if he can find traces of that other poison. What else did she tell you?"
"Agnes didn't buy cat food because she couldn't afford it. She fed them whatever she ate herself. I believe Agnes was the target, not her cats."
"I wondered how you had found out about that. Just before you came to her apartment, Vic suggested that Agnes fed her cats with foodstuffs from the fridge," Wojcik said pensively, recalling their conversation when they left the apartment on Liberation Street the other day.
"She offered me that rice for lunch, but I declined," Farnicki involuntarily shrugged his shoulders, realising he could've died that day, "I think that right after I had left her, she had lunch and ate the left-over rice."
Farnicki paused, waiting for Wojcik's reaction. But the Inspector remained silent, lost in his own thoughts, while looking out of the car window.
"Are your fingerprints in the database?" Edmond suddenly asked.
"No, Sir."
"That's good."
"Aren't you going to report this?" the Sergeant asked, sounding surprised.
"Are you insane, Farnicki? What do you think this will look like? Wroclaw sends its best officer to work in my precinct and on the first day that officer gets involved in a murder case, being the last person who had seen the victim alive, leaving his fingerprints all over the place! Your short-sightedness will have consequences for both of us! Besides, once you're on the list of suspects, you'll get taken off the case and I'll have to solve it on my own! So, the answer is no, Sergeant! There will be no report of this!"
Farnicki didn't know how to feel about his Inspector's decision to cover up his presence in Agnes' apartment the day she had died. On one hand he was grateful for getting away with it, but on the other hand he hated himself for not acting by the book. He didn't want to be that cop, even though there was nothing for him to be ashamed of. However, he believed that by executing the law he had to abide by it himself.
Ivan knew that he had to let the subject rest, because Wojcik didn't feel any remorse and wouldn't understand Farnicki's inner conflict concerning the situation.
"What did you find out in Cracovia?" Wojcik asked, indicating with the subject change that the fingerprints issue was closed.
"I spoke to Karl Gott. An extremely disagreeable individual. His greediness instantly showed when I informed him of his cousin's death. His wife betrayed his desire to inherit Agnes' property to sell it because of its good location in Resovia. Despite Karl's claims of not having seen his cousin since they were children and calling each other twice a year, he knows of the apartment's conditions and cats living in the house. This means that he had been inside. I told him to send me all his comings and goings in the past month and the footage of their outside cameras. I also asked him to come to our office for fingerprints."
"Karl knowing how the house looks from the inside is not enough evidence to use against him. Agnes could've told him about her apartment and her cats in a telephone conversation," Wojcik parried.
"That's not all, Sir. Karl Gott is a pharmacist and owns a pharmacy."
"That is more like it!"
"Indeed, Sir! Karl got all worked up when I remarked that only professionals had access to toxins like cyanide."
"Well, now we must wait for what Vic has to say. If he finds his fingerprints in her house, we can close the case!"
"Something tells me it won't be that easy, Sir. I instantly disliked the guy, but being greedy doesn't necessarily mean that one is capable of murder. Besides, people like Karl Gott are afraid of taking risks, especially if their life is at stake."
"How did it go in Liberation Street?" Farnicki asked curiously, suddenly reminded of the Inspector's plans to interrogate Agnes' neighbours.
"Nothing. No one had seen or heard anything that could shed a light on the murder. I also talked to Helena Grom from apartment 53. Quite the woman! Someone had been spying on her and her boyfriend having fun in the bedroom that night, but I don't think it has anything to do with our case. Just a local pervert," Wojcik concluded.
"I suggest we call it quits for today. With the results tomorrow we'll have a better understanding of the situation."
"I'll first have to get my scooter on Liberation Street and then I'll get the dead cats and bring them to the coroner. See you tomorrow, Sir!"
Farnicki had opened the door to get out of the car, when he felt Wojcik's hand on his shoulder."
"Wait, Farnicki. Is there anything else you need to tell me?"
Wojcik looked at his colleague, trying to fathom the endless depth of his dark eyes.
"No, Sir," Ivan replied impassively and got out of the car.
"Lier," Wojcik whispered as he watched Ivan leave the police premises out of his car.