and, shall we say, secret. It is so secret that I do not appeal to the police ... sorry, I can’t get used to the police, but to you. Do you understand? Moreover, this thing is not of a private, but rather of a public nature, and it has, say, not only private, but also public, even universal, human value ... Do you understand?

Yegor was silent, studying his gaze. Then he said:

- Not.

- What is no?

- I do not understand.

- I can't tell you more.

“If you tell your lab technician,“ to whip something stupid to me by morning, but see that it turns out the way I want, not the kind of dismissal, ”does she look at you like an idiot?

- What lab technician? What do you allow yourself? Why did you decide that I have ... uh ... attitude to science?

- You are a major scientific bigwig in the institute, which is on government subsidies. Lead a secret research. They are not related to weapons, rather something chemical-medical. You have stolen the finished product research. You are afraid to confess to your patrons; on the other hand, the product must be sought, otherwise skiff. To the police nizya. Attracting special services means signing your own lochism. And you cling to a straw: go to a detective agency, and in the fresh one - the people are untwisted, working on the record book. Less chance of being drained. But the straw will break if you do not tell me everything you know yourself.

- Who told you ?!

- you.

- When ?!

- Just. Right now and right here. So?

The customer sighed ...

“Wait here, I'll drive the car,” he said when they went outside. His name was Grigory Ignatovich.

Yegor reached out, arching his back. Then he looked at the very same shop.

On it still sat Tasya. And looked at him.

- Well, how? Got a job? She cried.

Yegor approached her.

- Which task?

- Oh, well, just do not. We are still playing this game, that you are from a real estate office, right? You look like a cat in ambush, and the mustache tremble.

- Mustache? I don't have a mustache, ”said Yegor, sweeping his finger over his upper lip.

- Never mind. Still trembling ... Do you want me to be with you?

- What?

- Take me with you. Pozhaaaaluysta!

- Tasia, what are you? These are not toys.

- I know. Well pohaaaluysta! Every Sherlock Holmes needs Dr. Watson. Do you have a doctor Watson? Nope Vacancy is free! Well, and I hammer it.

“No,” said Yegor, taking himself in hand. - You know, Xia ... I like you very much. Seriously. You're beautiful. Beautiful and smart, I did not even expect. But ... You're smart, and you understand everything.

“Yes,” said Xia. Her voice dropped like a child. - So that? So we will not see you again?

Yegor suddenly didn’t like this thought.

Sighing, he pulled out his business card.

“Call me tonight,” he said. - Not the fact that I will answer, but not because it is bad, but because ... Realtors are such. You know.

“Yeah,” said Xia. - And as I know.

A horn sounded nearby.

- Okay. Bye, Xia! - Yegor waved her and sat down in a black Land Rover, which approached the square.

***

- Once again: as long as you do not describe in detail to me what kind of thing we are looking for, I will not lift a finger.

- Understand: the project is secret, and ... I'm not even sure that you will understand. This is a purely scientific development, and ... - said the young bearded scientist, looking at his feet.

- To understand is my business. And yours - to help the investigation. Or disturb him. Depending on what you need, ”answered Egor.

- Eeee ... Ok. I ... don't even know where to start.

- From the main thing.

- OK. This project is ... of tremendous importance to humanity. Yes, yes, - Sanya took a tone higher, seeing Egorov's eyebrows crept upwards. - It is not finished yet, but ... it is already clear that this is one of the greatest discoveries in medicine, in biology, in genetics, and in the whole complex of sciences related to organic matter. In medicine, this is a revolution comparable ... no, superior to the discovery of an antibiotic.

“And what does this thing do?”

- This is about...

- Sanya! - Grigory Ignatievich shouted at him.

“Well, I went,” Egor turned to leave. - Bye everyone.

- Wait! ... Grigory Ignatievich, well ... well, what about ... This is about protein regeneration. We have developed a technology by which protein restores itself, if the organism is alive, of course. Protein reads information from genes and reconstructs all destroyed structures, and in a matter of minutes! This function is manifested in the ability to heal, but we have learned to force it thousands, tens of thousands of times! We have learned to release the hidden forces of the body ...

- If I understand correctly, your piece allows a person to grow a cut off hand as a lizard grows a severed tail, only much faster?

Sanya beamed.

- Exactly! And not just faster, but with the highest accuracy. It looks like a system restore in a computer. At the molecular level, data about the current state of the body are recorded - something like recovery points. They are read out, and according to them the organism self-repairs in exactly the form in which it was at the time of the creation of the recovery point. Accurate to the molecule. And, please note, it all starts with an ordinary 4000 mA rechargeable battery.

Yegor was silent. Then he said:

- Yes. Not bad.

- But ... you see ... - said Sanya. - The project is not finished yet. Ahead are years of testing. We have not tried it in public. In some experiments, the process gave strange anomalies ... In short, it is difficult to even imagine what will happen if it falls into the wrong hands.

“I've already got it,” said Grigory Ignatovich gloomily.

“Mutants, clone attacks and all that?” - asked Egor.

Sanya giggled nervously.

- Well. Let us proceed to the inspection of the crime scene, - said Egor. - Tell me how, when and under what circumstances your grower of tails disappeared ...

After asking everyone for the tenth time, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Sanya, Pasha and Grigory Ignatovich silently watched him.

- Something is wrong? - timidly asked Pasha.

- Yes. Not so, said Yegor, opening one eye. - Total: the day before yesterday, three masked men broke into the institute. Tying security, they penetrated the sealed laboratory, took the device, which nicely lay itself in the usual Soviet cabinet ... no, well, what the fuck did you have for the secret institute, huh? ... They took it. They left a bunch of traces, shouting outright that they were from Al-Ghazavat, a Chechen group that had recently been girdled. Would leave, in fact, a business card with an address and telephone numbers. And at the same time, as far as I can judge, not a single print. However, we will check it today ... But this is not what confuses me.

- Why? - asked Sanya after a pause.

- Tell me, do you have cats at the institute?

- Cats ?! - Sanya and Pasha were genuinely surprised. - Of course not. It's impossible. Our research requires a high level of hygiene, and ...

- And the ladies' part? You know how it happens: Aunt Dusya will find a kitten in the cold, there is no one to follow at home, here and ...

- Not. Excluded.

- And at home? Some of you or your colleagues?

- I do not know. Hard to say...

- Okay. - Egor got up.

Following him, as if on cue, the others also rose.

“Come to your secret computers.” I need a complete list of your employees. The most complete, including Aunt Dusya and the monterer Vasya, no matter how many you have.

“This is impossible ...” Sanya began, but he stopped short, meeting Grigori Ignatovich’s gaze.

***

In the evening, Tasia called.

“Hello, Dr. Watson,” Egor told her. - I have an unexpected offer. Holmes is so missed that he invites you to dine with him in a small but cozy basement. What about?..

She came all in the same outfit.

“No, well, this is disgusting,” grumbled Yegor, taking off her jacket. - If only for decency, I would show how you want to show off in front of me.

- I wanted to! I just did not have time! - justified Tasia.