When the fourth dining room table was cleared, I was finally convinced that something was wrong. I started watching Karkusha and his class more closely. First, I counted the children and noted how many there were now and how many there were at the beginning of the year and how many times they disappeared. By my calculations, a child disappeared every two weeks. I began to count them every day, and this, of course, did not escape Karkusha’s stubborn glare. She looked at me and her chin was touching her tall shoulders, which were still tense and pulled towards her head, making her look even more like a crow. One day I decided to speak to him in public, but to no avail. I was waiting for her with the class on the stairs, and when she appeared with her charges, I approached, smiling impudently (everything inside was striking with horror).