The Moscow Vector [antikvár]

February 14 MoscowSnow, blackened by auto exhaust and industrial pollution, lay heaped along the sidewalks of Tverskaya Street, a wide boulevard running right through one of the Russian capital's busiest commercial districts. Beneath glowing street lamps, pedestrians who were bundled up against the frigid night air jostled one another along the icy pavement. Streams of cars, trucks, and buses rumbled past in both directions. TTheir thick snow tires crunched over the salt and sand strewn to provide traction on the huge, multi-lane thoroughfare.Dr. Nikolai Kiryanov hurried north along the right-hand side of the street, doing his best to mingle unobtrusively with the bustling crowds. But whenever anyone, young or old, man or woman, brushed past him, he twitched, fighting down the urge to shrink back or break into a sudden, panicked run. Despite the bitter cold, sweat trickled down his forehead from under his fur hat.The tall, rail-thin pathologist clutched the wrapped gift box under his arm tighter, resisting^Jie temptation to shove it out of sight inside his coat. Although Valentine's Day was a relatively recent addition to the Russian calendar, it was increasingly popular, and plenty of the other men around him carried their own boxes of chocolate and candy as presents for tlieir wives or girlfriends.