"I don't know anything, Oleksei. Not outright. I can come to a conclusion, based on personal experience and empirical evidence."

He raised the glass to his lips, tasting the kiss of the liquor.

He was inebriated, it was true, but not falling down drunk. There was a looseness and languidity to his speech that was more pronounced than normal.

"But you're not actually asking me to believe he's incapable of something like that, are you?" Liadov lifted an eyebrow. "You should know him better than that."