The Abominable Man

The management of a single state publishing concern receives an anonymous letter threatening to blow up the House of Press. During the investigation, police inspector Jensen—assigned to handle the case—learns about the existence of a tightly classified 31st Department, created by the concern’s leadership to eliminate opposition printing. Talented opposition journalists were invited to work for the concern, forming the country’s cultural and intellectual elite. They were invited, supposedly, so that they wouldn’t let the “spirit of free discussion” die. Their duties included creating the first all-around and absolutely independent magazine in the country, and they were given all imaginable resources. But not a single article of this mythical magazine ever saw the light—everything existed only as an example of how one must not write…