Soviet Russia has started building a tank on the eve of World War II, but the tank's chief engineer is murdered before completion of the project and Stalin wants the murderers brought to book before they cause a premature German invasion. It's 1939 and Europe is on the brink of World War II. Stalin, the president of Soviet Russia is increasingly nervous of an attack by Nazi Germany. After years of revolution and instability, the country is unprepared for war. So in Moscow, Stalin puts together a team of engineers led by Colonel Nagorski to create an F-34 tank to withstand the German attack. Nagorski names the project, Konstantin after his son. But for the men working on it, it's the ‘Red Coffin' because it has no safeguards against construction accidents.
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Before the tank can be completed, however, Colonel Nagorski is found murdered at the project site. Stalin sees this as an attempt to sabotage Soviet Russia's war preparations and make it easier for Germany to destroy the state. Stalin suspects a shadowy counter-insurgency group known as the White Guild, made up of soldiers who formerly served under Tsar Nicholas II. He believes they will stop at nothing to avenge the Tsar's death at the hands of the communists. The murderers must be stopped before they encourage a premature attack on the state. Stalin calls on Pekkala, an investigator who had distinguished himself in service to the Tsar.
At the tank facility and close to Nagorski's body, Pekkala and his assistant, Kirov, recover a cartridge from a gun belonging to Nagorski. But the murder weapon cannot be located. They hear someone fleeing the murder scene through the surrounding bushes but they fail to track him down. The two investigators are suspicious of Maximov, Nagorski's driver and a former assassin during the time of the Tsar. Could he be a member of the White Guild? There's no clear proof.
Pekkala makes the short trip to Nagorski's house which is close to the tank facility. There he breaks the news of the murder to Nagorski's wife, Yelena, and his son, Konstantin. They can provide no clues to the murder.
Meanwhile, Pekkala pines for his one-time love, Ilya, who fled to Paris on the eve of the Communist Revolution. Pekkala was arrested and sent to Siberia before he could join her. Years later, when he's in a position to join her, he learns that she is married and has a child. He decides not to intrude but secretly sends payments for her upkeep. At a cafe that Pekkala frequents, he bumps into Kropotkin, a former colleague and chief of police in the service of the Tsar. Kropotkin is now a truck driver, transporting cargo all around Soviet Russia. He informs Pekkala that he can help him leave the country. Pekkala is initially tempted and then declines.
Pekkala and Kirov turn to pursuing Zalka, an engineer who had been working with Nagorski but who'd left the project acrimoniously. When they track him down, they find that he has a withered leg so could not possibly have been the person they heard running away from the scene of the murder. They learn that he'd quarreled with Nargoski because he couldn't get him to agree to safety measures for the workers.
Pekkala again bumps into Kropotkin, at his favorite café. Kropotkin suggests that they work together again like they did during the time of the Tsar. Pekkala thinks Kropotkin is asking to be reinstated in the police force but knows he hasn't sufficient clout to effect this. So he tells Kropotkin he can't help him. While outside the café, Pekkala narrowly escapes assassination by a passing motor bike rider. There are no clues to the identity of the rider.
Pekkala receives a call from Nagorski's widow, Yelena. Her son Konstantin has gone missing after a quarrel with a drunken Maximov. He'd informed Konstantin that the reason why his parents had wanted to break up was because his mother had been having an affair with, of all people, Zalka.
Pekkala tracks Maximov down to the project site where he finds him in a drunken stupor. He takes Maximov's car and begins a search for Konstantin in the surrounding area. Eventually, someone starts firing at the car and it stalls. It's Konstantin. He'd mistaken Pekkala for Maximov. He is also holding the gun that shot his father. Pekkala realizes that he is the killer. Konstantin makes a full confession. Maximov had written him a letter on the day of his birthday and his father's murder, informing him that his parents were planning to split up. To Konstantin, it felt as though his father had chosen the tank over his family. But on the fateful day as a birthday present, and unbeknown to anyone else, his father had taken him to the tank and allowed him to drive it. But all Konstantin could think of was his parents' impending split, and when his father stated, “Whatever happens, I want you to know that I love your mother very much,' Konstantin snapped. He couldn't believe his father's hypocrisy. So when his father moved around and his gun fell out of his pocket, Konstantin seized it and shot him death. It was his footsteps that the investigators had heard fleeing the scene of the crime.
Pekkala and the now hand-cuffed Konstantin, proceed on foot to the project facility. On arrival, they learn that a prototype of the tank is missing. The person who'd stolen it claimed he'd been authorized to move it to the Stalingrad tank factory. But it had never arrived In Stalingrad and personnel there denied authorizing the move. Suspicion again falls on Maximov. Pekkala learns that before the tank thief had left the Moscow facility, he'd been seen talking with Maximov.
Pekkala revives Maximov from his drunken stupor with a bucket of water, and learns that the tank had been taken by none other than Pekkala's café friend, Kropotkin. At their last meeting, Pekkala had mistakenly believed that Kropotkin had been asking for his help in returning to the police force. In reality, Kropotkin had hoped they would work together in the White Guild, to exact vengeance against the Stalinist regime. Following Pekkala's lack of interest in working with him, Kropotkin had hired Maximov to assassinate Pekkala outside the café.
Pekkala realizes that Kropotkin is taking the stolen tank to the border with Poland to cause skirmishes which will lure an already suspicious Germany into attacking Soviet Russia across the Polish border. In this way an unprepared Soviet Russia would be drawn into a full blown war which it couldn't possibly win. In this way, the old Tsarist system would be avenged. Pekkala also learns that it was Kropotkin and not Maximov who'd written the birthday letter to Konstantin about his parents' impending split, hoping he would be driven into doing exactly what he had done – kill his father – and so stall the project.
Maximov agrees to assist in tracking down Kropotkin in return for a promise from Pekkala that he will ensure Konstantin doesn't go to jail. He gives Pekkala 48 hrs to stop the tank or he'll send in the army and risk full-scale war. Pekkala, Kirov and Maximov race to the border with Poland to stop Kropotkin. They have with them special ammunition for destroying the tank before it can be used. They succeed in their mission and Kropotkin is destroyed together with the tank. But Maximov escapes across the border and heads for the U.S. He knows that if he were to return to Soviet Russia, he'd face a fate worse than death because of his dealings with Kropotkin.
Meanwhile, Stalin pardons Konstantin for his father's murder, hoping he will show the same brilliance as his father and ultimately benefit the Soviet state. He allows the project to continue under Engineer Zalka who's to have Konstantin as his assistant. The latter is to afterwards attend the Moscow Technical Institute to study engineering. Pekkala, on the other hand, is assigned to another murder investigation.
A good absorbing historical thriller. The constant flashbacks to Tsarist Russia don't detract from the plot but go a long way in explaining what drives Inspector Pekkala. The sub plot is really of a tortured soul who is living half in the past and half in the present and not quite sure whether he loves his country or hates it but towards the end, he seems to have resolved many issues in his head. It's also about the fear and insecurity that prevails in Soviet Russia under Stalin and the easy and humorous relationship between Pekkala and his assistant, Kirov. This story is undoubtedly a springboard for more Inspector Pekkala mysteries.
Best part of story, including ending:
The portrayal of Stalin as a benevolent despot. In reality he was paranoid and had people disposed of willy nilly. Even the descriptions in the book about how people lived in fear testify to this.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene was when Pekkala finally decides that he wants some answers from Maximov but he's too drunken to make much sense, so he throws a bucket of water over him to bring him to his senses.
Opinion about the main character:
Pekkala still longs for his lost lover, Ilya and he sends her money secretly even though she's married. His life is frugal as a result and his only interest is work.
