Yesterday, for Valentine’s Day, my wife and I went out for lunch at a restaurant called Lastochka ("Swallow"). It was the first I’d heard of it, but apparently it’s some trendy place. Completely packed—you can’t get in without a reservation. We’re sitting there. Across from me is the biggest table in the place, occupied by a large group. Right in the middle of the group, directly opposite me, sits this guy. His face looks incredibly familiar. I’m even sure I hadn’t just seen him somewhere—I’d actually spoken to him. I racked my brain for a whole hour, and then I remembered. Sure enough, he was an operative from the Moscow police department’s tax crimes unit. He had questioned me about one of my complaints concerning theft at some company or other. And the other guys at the table were cops too—his colleagues. Some of them I later recognized as well, and with some of the others, you could tell just by looking. I didn’t go over and say hello, so as not to embarrass anyone. For reference: the menu at the Lastochka restaurant. Lunch for two came to 6,500 rubles (without alcohol; roughly $70–75 at the time). I’m not going to draw any moral from this. After all, why shouldn’t young, promising Interior Ministry operatives go to an expensive restaurant? I’ll just say that the operative sitting opposite me stuck in my memory because, after taking my statement, he went outside for a chat. And there, in an informal setting, he told me that although nothing would come of it, he fully approved of what I was doing. Those crooks in the raw materials companies needed to be crushed. "You have no idea how many reports come in about enormous thefts, but they never let a single one move forward. They should be shot." So that’s where the dissenters are. That’s the story. And on top of that, they added an extra 1,800 rubles to our bill for wine we didn’t drink. I missed it, of course. My wife—she was the one who uncovered this shocking scam—was fuming afterward: How can you fight Gazprom if any waitress can scam you like you’re the world’s biggest sucker?!