But not everything was so straightforward. In the course of the funeral supper it was revealed that the General had actually re-married. And he was not divorced. His second wife, a young librarian employed by the district council, had lived in his house for a short time. She left him back in Soviet times, helping herself to his late first wife’s gold jewellery, and several hundred Soviet roubles in cash which the General had withdrawn from his savings account at her request because she said her mother needed help. After Ukrainian independence, this petty swindler never re-appeared. When you take a long time to make a choice and you are too fastidious, you are bound to make a wrong decision, as was the case with the General. So, as the notary officially informed Eugene, he would have to wai
