The policeman looked over his shoulder gleefully then came into the room, closing the door behind him. His open, amiable face registered good-natured surprise when he saw Virginsky on Porfiry's fake leather sofa. 'Good morning to you, Pavel Pavlovich. I heard you had joined the service. A case of poacher turned gamekeeper, is it?'
'I cannot imagine what you mean. Your jest makes it sound as if I was once a criminal. I was never arrested with any crime, merely suspected. And wrongly arrested.'
'Of course, of course. A very important distinction, I'm sure,' said Nikodim Fomich, winking at Porfiry. 'One can always count on you, Porfiry Petrovich, to eschew the obvious in preference for the obscure.'