 By December, the Turks inside Plevna are starving.Varvara, on her way back from the hospital where she had been sent due to a case of typhus, encounters McLaughlin, the Irish reporter, who informs her that he has been tipped off that the Turks will surrender that night in a distant sector.She tells Fandorin, who guesses correctly that the Turks are not surrendering but trying to confuse the Russian army so they can stage a breakout.