“Thanks,” Mary huffed, sounding a bit breathless, her plump cheeks rosy. Sparkling rhinestones glittered on the shoulders of her white fuzzy sweater.
He took the plastic box and placed it on the table. Mary deposited her purse next to a chair and placed the pink carrier on the one next to it. She unclipped the top and a brown Chihuahua head popped up. Princess had arrived.
Mary picked up her pride and joy, gave her a hug, then placed the dog on the floor. The little dog came over to greet me. Today’s color theme for her fleece coat and jeweled collar was dark green. Two heart-shaped charms dangled next to her dog tags. I gave her a couple of pats on the top of her head and then she went to see what kind of attention the Professor would give her.
I took small plates out of the cabinet and placed them next to the napkins. Helen came in with thermoses of coffee and hot water and a platter of fruit. Mary took a tiny bed out of the closet. The Sentinels met here regularly, and I had told her she could store a dog bed in the room. Mary put it next to her chair, and Princess quickly claimed her space.
Mary pulled the lid off the plastic box. “I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for ages. Peanut butter and chocolate bars with dark chocolate frosting.”
I poured a cup of coffee and took a sip, enjoying the strong brew. It was a dark organic roast from Mountain Mike’s and smelled divine. I checked out Mary’s treats and saw layers of peanut butter laced through chocolate.
Peanut butter. Chocolate. Coffee. My three favorite food groups. I picked up one of the bars, took a bite, and savored the sweet flavors.
More voices in the hallway, one with a deep, loud, booming tone, Ivan, heralded the arrival of the rest of the group. People greeted each other, prepared their drinks, got their snacks, and settled at the table. Rudy placed a worn leather satchel next to where he was going to sit.
Gertie leaned her cane against the wall. Even though she was only five feet two, she was no one you wanted to mess with. A retired schoolteacher, she kept the group organized and on task.
Gertie rapped on the table with her recently purchased gavel. “Ten. Time to get started. Rudy and Ivan, Kelly texted you need our help.”
Rudy nodded. “I am worried…more than that…frightened. A dagger connected to me had what might be dried blood on it, and a man I did business with was murdered. Both were found on the Nadia.”
The Professor twirled his pen. “Please fill us in on the details.”
Rudy picked up his briefcase and placed it on the table. “I will start with the knife.”
With that, he opened the bag and pulled out the case he’d shown us at his home. Unclasping the lid, he opened it, took out his dagger, like the one found on the boat, and placed it on the table.
Mary’s hand flew to her throat. “Oh, my,” she gasped.
I didn’t know if her reaction was because of the fierce-looking blade, the almost blinding sparkle of the jewels, or both. I had looked at the one on the boat but hadn’t really examined the weapon any further at Rudy’s home. With it being the center of attention and resting by itself on the table, I got a second chance to inspect it. It hadn’t lost any of its outstanding beauty.
“Well,” the Professor said, “uh…that’s quite a piece.” He seemed at a loss for words.
“Rudy, are those jewels real?” asked Gertie.
“Yes,” he replied. “I will tell you the story.”
He proceeded to share with them what he had told Stanton and me—the brothers’ life story. Gertie and the Professor took notes. Mary jotted down a few things, but her glance kept sliding to the dagger. Rudy didn’t mention the money or the treasure. He finished, and the group was silent, absorbing what they’d learned.
Mary appeared a little teary-eyed. “Thank you for sharing your story, Rudy. I’m so sorry you were never reunited with your family.”
“Yes, it’s a real pity,” the Professor said.
Rudy nodded. “Thank you.”
“I think our first goal,” Gertie said, “is to find out how the knife got on the boat. Let’s start a chart.”
“Good idea, Gertie.” The Professor stood, picked up a felt-tip pen, and went to one of the pieces of paper I’d tacked on the wall. He put knife at the top and proceeded to add information gleaned from Rudy’s tale.
“Rudy, I know you said you searched for your relatives in the past. Have you continued to do so?” I asked.
“Yes. Not like in the beginning or when the Internet became such an important means of communication, but I still search for their names on a regular basis.”
“Maybe when we find out what is on the blade, that will give us some indication of what direction we should go to get information,” the Professor said.
He wrote substance on blade with a question mark.
“Stanton said he’d let Rudy know as soon as he found out,” I volunteered.
“Let’s move on to the murdered man,” Gertie said. “What can you tell us about him?”
“His name was Alexander Koskov,” Rudy replied. “I sold him gold coins.”
The Professor duly titled another chart.
“On his deathbed, our uncle revealed he’d been able to get some of the family gold out of Russia,” Rudy said. “He had kept the money hidden so we’d have it for our retirement.”
Mary picked up one of her chocolate bars and began nibbling on it. “How thoughtful of him.”
“A good planner,” Gertie added. “You were very fortunate.”
“Yah,” Ivan said. “Not get rich or have retirement plan from fishing.”
“I have been selling the most valuable ones first, so I could keep my number of trips to the gold buyer to a minimum,” Rudy said.
“Smart,” the Professor said. “I can understand why you wouldn’t want people to get wind of your money.”
“I was using a dealer in Fort Peter, Harvey Goldstein, until recently. I trusted him in terms of being fair and not talking to people about the gold, but Alexander offered me a significantly better deal. We had coffee together and talked about Russia. He seemed like a nice person. I decided I’d give him a try. I downplayed what I had. Said I’d inherited a few coins recently.”
The Professor noted coin buyer on the murdered man’s chart.
“How did the other dealer feel about you not using him anymore?” Mary asked
“He was not pleased. Quite upset, actually.”
The Professor added Harvey Goldstein to the list. “I think we should consider him a suspect, so I’ll underline his name.”
“There’s more,” Rudy said. “I received a call from Deputy Stanton asking if I knew someone by the name of Clay Johnson. His name was in Koskov’s ledger, and he’d been selling coins like mine.”
“Do you know him?” Gertie asked.
Rudy shook his head. “No. I think we should put his name on Alexander’s chart in case we find out something more about him.”
The Professor added the information as requested.
“I have another name you can add as a suspect,” I said. “I heard Tom Brodsky arguing with Alexander about the location of the festival, and accusing him of doing it to better his business. He was very angry.”
“Tom has been in charge of the festival for a long time,” Gertie said. “I used to help him organize the different groups he had coming in. He was very proud of the event.”
The Professor wrote his name and underlined it. “Anything else we can add to the list?”
“I saw Alexander not long before he was killed,” I said. “He mentioned having recently fired an employee, but he didn’t give a name.”
The information went on the chart.
I continued, “I learned at the Russian Heritage Committee meeting that Alexander was working with a man named Vladimir Yeltsin from San Francisco. They seemed on good terms, so I don’t consider him a suspect
.”
The Professor wrote Vladimir’s name; then we looked at what he’d recorded on the lists.
“Let’s start a Next Steps chart,” Mary said.
The Professor posted another piece of chart paper on the wall.
“I don’t see what else we can do with the knife,” Gertie said. “I know the mother of Harvey Goldstein, the dealer you used to use. She’s a member of my organic gardening club. I promised I’d give her some compost. I’ll call to make plans to have her come over to my house to get it. I can strike up a conversation with her.”
Mary chimed in. “She’s in my church group. I can be with you having coffee when she arrives. You know, as if I just dropped in. I might be able to think of some questions as well.”
“And I can talk to the owner of the store Koskov was leasing,” the Professor said. “We’ve been friends for years, meet for coffee regularly, and occasionally go to musical events together. Maybe he can give us some background on Alexander, and he’ll probably know the fired employee’s name.”
“I’ll question Vladimir,” I said. “He gave me his card and offered to make a list of Russian places for me to visit in San Francisco. He also encouraged me to get in touch with him if I had questions about the festival.”
“Good thinking,” Gertie said. “It sounds like he can give you some background on Koskov if you can get him to talk about Alexander.”
“He’s staying at an inn next to where they’re setting up for the event. I’ll call him and tell him I’ve been wanting to see the area and am planning to visit it soon. I’ll ask if there’s a good time for us to meet to talk about the festival while I’m there. When we get together, I’ll ask him if he heard about Alexander being murdered. That, hopefully, will lead to some information.”
We looked at the charts once more. The Professor had filled in our plans of what we were going to do.
“So little,” Ivan muttered loud enough for us all to hear.
“What do you want us to do?” Rudy’s tone and face spoke discouragement.
I frowned, hesitating to say what I was thinking, though I knew what I needed to do. “Rudy, it looks like this business is more connected to you than Ivan. However, we’re dealing with a murdered man and a dagger. I don’t like to say it, but it’s possible you both might be in some danger.”
“But why?” Rudy exclaimed.
“I don’t know why, but I do know there’s been violence and you seem to be at the center of it.” I looked at him. “We don’t know if someone might try to harm you in some way. I think you should lay low.”
Ivan’s brow creased. “How do that? Stay in bed?”
“Sorry, Ivan,” I said. “That’s an idiom that means to stay out of sight as much as possible. It’s not a good time to go out and question people.”
“Yes. I remember idioms. I call idiotgrams at first,” he responded.
We all laughed. Teaching him idioms had been fun.
The light moment amid all the gloom released some tension.
“I agree with Kelly,” the Professor said. “We don’t know why all of this has happened. You and Rudy need to be careful.”
“I agree as well,” Gertie said. “I think it would be even better if you could be with friends whenever possible. That would give you an alibi if anything else happens, and help keep you safe.”
Rudy looked shocked. “Something else?”
Mary got up, walked over to him, and gave him a hug. “We have a saying, ‘better safe than sorry.’ None of us think anything else is going to happen, but the fewer chances you take, the better.”
Rudy sighed. “The chess club is meeting in the town hall this afternoon. I can go hang out there.”
“That sounds perfect,” the Professor said.
“Ivan usually doesn’t play, though.” He looked at his brother. “It could be boring for you.”
“I go where you go,” Ivan said. “Not let anyone hurt you.”
“They usually have Russian newspapers and magazines,” Rudy commented.
“Yah. I enjoy. Keeps me knowing about Russia today.”
Gertie gave an affirmative nod. “Okay. We have our assignments. Let’s see what we can find out.”
“When do you want to meet next?” I asked.
“Tomorrow, if possible,” the Professor said. “Let’s move as fast as we can on this. Even if we haven’t spoken to everyone we want to see, we’ll pool what knowledge we have.”
We found a time when we could all meet in the afternoon. Mary gathered up Princess and her box of goodies. Rudy put the knife in its case and then into the worn satchel. People said their good-byes and left.
I put the dirty dishes on a tray and ferried them to the kitchen. I then retrieved the thermoses.
Helen came in as I was finishing cleaning up. “How did the meeting go?”
“We have some ideas of where we can gather more information. That’s all we can do at this point. How are the dogs?”
“Snoozing in the sun after playing.”
“I’m going over to the community center for a while this afternoon. I’ll be back in plenty of time to help with the evening appetizers.”
I didn’t mention that I was going to bake a pie…or attempt to.
My cell phone rang, and I saw it was Rudy.
“What’s up?” I hoped it wasn’t yet another find on the Nadia.
“Deputy Sheriff Stanton called.” He paused. “The red substance on the knife isn’t blood.”
Chapter 10
“What is it then?” I asked.
“He said it’s fake blood, like they use in the movies and plays,” Rudy replied.
What on earth? This case kept getting stranger and stranger. “Well, that must be a relief for you. There’s no evidence the dagger was used in foul play.”
“Correct. Now, the question is how it got there and who had it.”
“Why don’t you text the group? That will give them some time to digest this new piece of information before tomorrow’s meeting.”
“Good idea,” Rudy replied. “See you then.”
I gave Helen the news just as Stanton’s car drove in. I waved to him through the window of the back door and gestured for him to come in.
“Hi,” I greeted him. “Rudy just called with the good news about the substance on the dagger not being blood.”
“Yeah. I’m glad there’s no indication it was used in a crime. Now we just have to decide what to do with it.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s clear it belonged in Rudy’s family at one time, but he wasn’t the one who possessed it. We need to see if we can find the owner.”
“If his sister or brother come forward, it’ll be easy for you to identify them. But if they sold it or someone stole it…anyone could try to claim it.”
Stanton groaned. “Please, don’t go there. I know what you’re saying. We’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. We’ve put a partial description of the knife on Facebook and Twitter. We’re also doing a search for the names Rudy gave us. We have a lot of resources Rudy doesn’t have access to.”
“I hope you find his relatives…Deputy Stanton.”
The officer’s eyebrows shot up. “So, we’re back to using formal names? Does this mean what I think it does?”
I nodded. “The Sentinels and I met this morning. We all have our assignments.”
He sighed. “I know I can’t stop you. I know you know to be careful. And I know you’ll keep me in the loop with anything you find out, right?”
“Yes, we will.”
He turned to Helen. “I’ll pack up Gus and be off. Thanks again for tending him.”
“My pleasure. You might have trouble waking him. He and Fred were both snoring up a storm while basking in the sun.”
We shared a laugh and Stanton
departed.
Helen pulled a box out of the refrigerator and put it on the counter.
It was phyllo dough. “People really liked your baklava. I heard lots of appreciative comments.”
“Apparently so. I’ve been asked to make it again, only twice as much this time.”
She pulled a sheet off the stack. The paper-thin dough was almost translucent. Despite her extreme care, one of the sheets tore. The next one did as well. My thoughts darted to my impending pie crust. I was a jinx just standing near anything having to do with pastries.
Nope.
I didn’t feel ready for this.
Maybe I could convince Scott to let me buy the pie crust this time. I went to my room and called him.
“Hi, Kelly. What’s up?”
“I was just watching Helen make baklava—”
“Oh, do you want to make that instead? I just happen to have—”
“No!” I didn’t mean to shout. Panic made me do it. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so loud. Even as good a cook as she is, it was falling apart at times. Probably because I was close to it.”
“Kelly, you had nothing to do with it ripping. Even the best chefs tear it.”
“I was wondering if I could buy a frozen crust and just work on the filling this time.”
“Kelly…” Scott paused. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s do this. You can do the filling with me guiding you each step of the way. Then we’ll work as a team on the crust. It won’t be me just instructing you.”
It wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, but I wasn’t surprised, and it was a good compromise.
“Okay. Please don’t be upset if it doesn’t turn out.”
“No worries there. Besides, I have all the ingredients we need to make as many pies as necessary until we get the results we want.”
My inner groan was louder than the one Stanton had issued earlier. “Oh, good.” Those were the heaviest lighthearted words I think I’d ever uttered.
“I’ll see you in an hour, then,” Scott said.
We ended the call. I fixed a sandwich and ate it at the desk in my quarters while I checked the registrations for next week. After that, I wrote down a few festival questions for Vladimir Yeltsin and called him. He didn’t answer, so I left a message.
Murder at the Marina Page 6