In the village “Kurochkinо,” my friend Svetka was killed by her husband in a very original way—he drowned her in a bucket of milk. All the facts point to him. But why would a quiet simpleton—Kostik—kill his beloved wife? The village “blessed” Dunya keeps repeating one mysterious phrase. Where did she hear it, and does it have anything to do with the murder? And what do the words of the village witch, Granny Klopikha: “Blood is one, faces are two?” mean? I will have to figure it all out—Aglaia Zhuravlyova.