The Spectre of Alexander Wolf

by Gaito Gazdanov

  “Never, do you hear? Never!”

  I ran, as if in a dream, along the corridor leading to her room. In the corner I saw Annie’s face, grey from fright, although I recalled this detail only later. Unconsciously, I think, I had already been holding the revolver in my hand for some time. Suddenly I heard the crash and clatter of broken glass; it was followed by a shot and a second cry that was devoid of any words, sounding more like convulsive intakes of breath: “Ah!… Ah!… Ah!…” I was already at the glass door, which was lying half-open; from the threshold I could see Yelena Nikolayevna standing by the window, and, half-turned towards her, the silhouette of a man who was also holding a revolver. Without raising my arm, almost without even taking aim (it would have been impossible to miss at that distance), I shot him twice in quick succession. He spun around, stiffened and then slumped down to the floor.

  I stood motionless for a few seconds, everything spinning in a haze before me. However, I did notice blood on Yelena Nikolayevna’s white dress: her left shoulder had been wounded. I learnt afterwards that, in defending herself, she had thrown a glass vase at her assailant almost at the same time as he pulled the trigger; this accounted for the deflection of his bullet.

  He was lying flat out on the floor, his arms spread wide; his head had fallen next to her foot. I took a step forward and leant over him. Time suddenly seemed to start swirling and disappearing, bearing away the long years of my life in this inconceivably rapid shift.

  There, staring back at me from the grey rug covering the floor of the room, were the dead eyes of Alexander Wolf.

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  Despite all efforts, the publisher has been unable to ascertain the owner of the rights to the original Russian text. We welcome any further information on the matter.

  English translation © Bryan Karetnyk 2013

  The Spectre of Alexander Wolf was originally published in 1947–48 as Prizrak Aleksandra Vol’fa in the Russian-language journal Novyi Zhurnal (The New Review), New York.

  This translation first published by Pushkin Press in 2013

  ISBN 978 1 782270 36 2

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