Elated by their survival, Eva and Arkady retreat to meet up with Zhenya. Walking through the door, he encounters one of the thugs that accompanied the camera crew promoting the Russian Patriots. Still infuriated by Renko's previous meeting with him, he stabs Eva and prepares to finish off Arkady. Zhenya, meanwhile, trapped on the other side of the room, fumbles to repair an old pistol - a skill he acquired by rebuilding Arkady's gun, but fails to find the final piece. In desperation he fires the weapon anyway - knowing that because of the missing piece he has only one shot. His aim is good, and Arkady is saved. Eva is rushed to hospital, and, like Arkady, manages a near-miraculous survival. He calls Zurin and proclaims the charges against Isakov and describes the taped confession. Finally, he notes that the prosecutor in the town was in league with Isakov and states that this means that a respected impartial prosecutor, namely Zurin himself, must come to look over the case. The novel closes with Renko alone on the hospital roof taking a long, sweeping, pensive look over Lenin Square, the Volga River and the town of Tver as the snow begins to fall once again.