Zugzwang by Ronan Bennett

why. Above all, I do not know the identities of the other members of Yastrebov’s cell or where they are hiding. These are the things I must find out because the cell will reorganise and press on with its plans. I have to stop the terrorists before they kill the tsar and you are going to help me.’
    â€˜Help you?’ I laughed. ‘After all you have done to us, why would I help you?’
    â€˜I hope it would be because you are not one of these Jewswho pretends to be a loyal subject but in his heart despises everything about our Russian civilisation.’
    I said nothing to this.
    â€˜Catherine still refuses to reveal Yastrebov’s identity,’ he went on. ‘If you can get her to tell me, I will have you both released.’
    I searched his features but it was impossible to say if he was sincere. ‘How can I persuade her if I’m not allowed to see her?’ I said, playing for the time I needed to think his offer through.
    â€˜I will arrange for you to see her, if you promise you will try to persuade her.’ When I did not reply, he said, ‘It’s only a name, Spethmann. The name of a man who is already dead.’
    â€˜When can I see her?’
    â€˜This instant,’ Lychev replied at once.
    A chance to see and speak to Catherine. I nodded my head and Lychev called the jailer.
    Catherine’s cell was identical to mine. She was sitting on a little wooden chair, her back perfectly straight, a book in her lap. She looked up as the door opened and, when she saw me, leaped to her feet.
    â€˜Are you all right?’ I asked, kissing her over and over.
    â€˜Yes, yes,’ she said. ‘I’m fine, I’m completely fine. Don’t worry about me.’
    Looking past me, she saw Lychev. ‘What does he want?’ she said, her look implacable and fierce.
    â€˜I’ll leave you to it, Spethmann. You have ten minutes,’ the detective said as he stepped outside to the corridor. The door was pushed to.
    Catherine looked at me with suspicion. ‘Leave you to what?’
    I took a deep breath. ‘He says he will release us if you tell him Yastrebov’s real name.’
    â€˜No,’ she said at once.
    â€˜Does that mean you admit to knowing Yastrebov?’ I said.
    A look of annoyance came into her eyes; she was furious with herself for having let her guard down. ‘No,’ she said. ‘It means I won’t tell Lychev anything. I wouldn’t tell him my own name or yours or even his own if my life depended on it.’
    â€˜Catherine, think about this. We are utterly in his power –’
    â€˜I have said I will tell him nothing and when I say I’m going to do something that’s exactly what I do.’
    This I already knew, only too well. Nevertheless, I had to try.
    â€˜Why not?’ I said, repeating Lychev’s own logic. ‘Yastrebov is dead. You’re not harming him in any way. The only people suffering because of his name are you and me.’
    â€˜And who will suffer if I give the name – even if I knew it, which I don’t? Who will Lychev arrest then? Who will he throw in prison? Tell Lychev I am content to stay where I am for as long as he wants to keep me here.’
    â€˜I am here too,’ I reminded her.
    Her features softened. I think she may even have been on the point of saying sorry. But then her defiance reasserted itself. She had said no. She would be true to her word. We passed the remaining few minutes reassuring each other as to our health and spirits. I told her I loved her. When our ten minutes were up and the door was once more barred and locked, I stood with Lychev in the corridor.
    â€˜She may be content to stay where she is, Spethmann,’ the detective said. ‘However, she doesn’t seem to care that by her stubbornness you also have to stay. How do you feel about that?’
    In weighing her alternatives, Catherine had not taken me into account, even