Sofia Petrovna

Sofia immediately determines that she must travel to Sverdlovsk to speak to lawyers, judges, prosecutors—anyone who might be able to help. But Alik informs her that this wouldn’t be useful, since Kolya has most likely been brought back to Leningrad, where he’ll be tried. Instead of rushing off, she should get a good night’s sleep. In the morning, Natasha will tell the people at the publishing house that she’s sick, enabling her to go see the prosecutor in Leningrad and figure out what has happened. 

All night, Sofia thinks about Kolya getting arrested. She knows it was a mistake and can even imagine what the authorities will say when they realize they arrested the wrong person. She waits all night for a telegram, thinking Kolya will surely return to the hostel and be confused about why Alik isn’t there anymore. But a telegram never comes.

The next day, Sofia doesn’t go to the prosecutor’s office—like Alik suggested—but instead visits the prison. A guard tells her that the prison doesn’t start letting people in until nine o’clock and that she has to wait elsewhere, so she crosses the street and turns a corner, joining a large crowd of women waiting in the street. They look freezing, as if they’ve been standing there for a long time. She soon learns that they’re all waiting to visit a loved one who has been arrested. She learns which building she should wait in front of. It’s building number 28, and it’s for people with last names between L and M. 

Sofia goes into building 28 and speaks with a woman lying on the first steps of a big staircase. The woman asks if she wants to put her name on a list, but Sofia doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She tries to explain that her son was arrested by mistake, but the woman cuts her off and tells her to lower her voice. Finally, Sofia gives her Kolya’s last name, and the woman gives her a number: 344.

Back outside, the other people waiting ask Sofia what her number is. When she tells them, they say she won’t be let in today. As she speaks to them, a door opens and the whole crowd starts running. Sofia gets swept up in the commotion and runs along with the others, who all try to stuff themselves through a small door. She then finds herself in a little lobby, in which everyone lines up according to their number. As she looks around, she remembers that everyone is there because their husband or son is a saboteur. They all look quite ordinary, and Sofia thinks about how terrible it must have been for them to find out that their loved ones are terrorists. 

The people waiting in line talk about how long it has been since their loved ones were arrested. Some were taken quite recently by the police, but others have been gone for six months already. When Sofia finally reaches the counter, she asks if her son is there. She tries to explain that he was arrested by mistake, but the man behind the counter cuts her off and asks for Kolya’s last name, telling her to be quiet while he looks. After a moment, he declares that Kolya is in the prison, but he won’t say why.

Because she has seen other women hand over money to be relayed to their loved ones, Sofia tries to give the man behind the counter some cash. But he won’t accept it. “Not allowed for him,” he says, ending the exchange. Sofia has no choice but to go home. She collapses into a chair in her apartment, and though Alik and Natasha are eagerly waiting for her to explain what happened, she finds herself unable to say anything—she doesn’t know how it’s possible that she still doesn’t know what happened to Kolya.