STATE COUNSELLOR

The reactionary Adjutant General Khrapov, newly appointed governor-generalof Siberia and soon-to-be minister of the interior, is murdered in hisofficial saloon carriage on his way from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Thekiller, disguised as Fandorin, boards the train at Klin, where it has beendelayed by snowdrifts on the line. He leaves a knife bearing the initials"CG" (Combat Group) thrust up to the hilt in his victim's chest andescapes through the window of the carriage. Fandorin is first arrested for the crime, but quickly released when thetrain pulls into Moscow and the General's staff realise their blunder. Themurder threatens the career of Prince Dolgorukoi, Moscow's elderlygovernor-general, and Fandorin's greatest fan. He asks Fandorin toinvestigate, even though someone new, Prince Pozharsky, has been sent fromSt. Petersburg to head the investigation. The head of the CG is a man named Mr. Green, the son of a Jewishpharmacist whose family suffered very badly from the pogroms. He bears agrudge and, together with his fellow revolutionaries, seeks vengeance. Heis a man of steel, who has toughened himself so much that he is a worthy,and daunting, adversary. However, this is a battle between good and evil and Fandorin reminds usthat two wrongs never make a right as he battles against Green in a testof wills. The mystery surrounds the mole: who is the leak? And whatmotivates them? This is what Fandorin must find out, even if it means thathe places his own lover, the fiery Esfir, under suspician. In the end,Fandorin becomes so disillusioned that he walks away from promotion, andto the life of a civilian, at last.