"The first attack. I spent a long time looking for where this story began. Truly a long time, too much was unknown. And their earliest raid, at least by the gang in its full and final composition, was made on the house of Sergey Yakovlevich Dubov. Before that, they carried out raids, but the gang's composition changed, and those were not as loud and had no relation to what happened later."

"What do you think started the events?"

"Exactly that raid on the house, where a security guard was shot and a maid beaten."

"Why do you think so?"

"Too few witnesses remained after what happened who were in the loop. However, we were able to find one, you could say, collector of rumors and stories."

"And who is that?" the host asked.

The detective flashed a charming smile.

"The bartender. He's one of the few who knew the reasons, at least roughly. Because the tipsy clan members were always eager to discuss something with someone, complain, or just chat amongst themselves. He was more part of the scenery than a person to them, and he knew what would happen to him for revealing their secrets. So, his knowledge was not surprising. What's surprising was they didn't kill him after what happened to cover their tracks."

"And now he's..."

"In witness protection. Like many others who helped to unravel this case. He told us that it was after this incident that a conflict arose between Matvey Lumenko, known as Malu, and Pierre Flusie, known as Arrow. After that, Flusie bore a grudge against Lumenko."

"And what was the reason for the conflict?"

"Are you familiar with case two two six thirteen?" he counter-questioned. "It's also known as the lost orphans case."

"Yes, I... I've heard of it," she reluctantly admitted. "He's currently serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison."

"Oh, yes," the detective smiled threateningly this time. "Seven life sentences - one for each girl - without the possibility of parole. Thirteen suicide attempts. We all understand that inmates don't like such people. I believe that such a punishment is much better than the death penalty. Dubov targeted orphaned girls without a home or money, whom no one would miss. By our count, seven girls died at his hands, four of them underage. One of the girls was his niece - her parents died in a car crash, and he became her closest relative. She was his first victim. I suspect that Lumenko stumbled upon all the evidence, including photos and videos, and wanted to kill him. Flusie was against it, as he planned to blackmail Dubov to get a share of the profits from the business. From what I understand, Lumenko offended Flusie, which is why they fell out."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Do you think it started precisely after that?"

"Yes," the detective nodded. "Then I had the opportunity to interrogate a maid in Dubov's house after the incident. She didn't want to talk for a long time, but eventually, she talked about that intrusion. They came, killed the guard, tied her up, cracked the safe. After cracking it, Lumenko began to smash everything and beat her, trying to extract whether she had participated in anything. Given all the available information, the reason was the compromising material on Dubov."

"I see. Then, let's go back to Malu's gang. As I understand it, the Khanksk police had nothing on them before this?"

"They did, but there was no evidence. Most of the evidence we have now emerged after the incident."

"Do you mean to say that no one paid attention to them before that?"

"Not that they didn't pay attention..." The detective waved his hand in the air, searching for words. "Rather, the cases were not that high-profile. There was already a file on almost everyone by that point except for the last one to join. And the reason for what happened in the future started with that raid on Dubov's house. Yes, and it was after that event that they started to behave too loudly, which is why they attracted attention."

"Just the fact that such a young gang could make so much noise surprised many. Why were they trusted with such tasks rather than, say, other, more mature and trained people? They were too young and inexperienced, such matters are better trusted to professionals."

"Do you know what distinguishes a gun in the hand of a child and an adult?" the detective posed unexpectedly, causing the host to fall silent for a moment.

"What?" the host asked, slightly surprised.

"Nothing," he shrugged. "It kills the same in either hand. They may be young, but many forget that age is not always an indicator. Some people don't get wiser even at sixty, while others start their own companies at eighteen. Even now, in some hotspots, minors participate in the war on par with adults. They participated in the Second World War, too. And in the noble houses? Do you know that they are practically full-fledged members from the age of fourteen, who also have a say? They even have the right to make important and life-changing decisions. Many people have ingrained the idea that if he's not eighteen yet, he's good for nothing, at most petty theft. But that's not the case. Teenagers can be just as efficient as adults, or even better, due to the lack of fear, mental flexibility, wildness, and the desire to prove their worth to everyone. For instance, dozens of children's gangs operate in Silverside, and you wouldn't say they're too young for such things if you met them. In crime, and in general, they can be just as effective as adults. Age doesn't mean anything yet."

"So, they were trusted because, despite their age, they were successful?"

"Not just successful. They were also convenient because they were supposedly easy to get rid of. Not clan members, not even members of the clan soldier's gang. Rather, they were just hired workers, not tied to them in any way. Minors, and just very young ones, are often used as pawns for certain matters, so that in case of any trouble, they can simply be removed. That's why they were used - so that if anything happened, there would be no claims against the clan - they would be killed, and that's it."

"But until then, they were needed."

"Correct."