foot crossed over his knee, cuffed hands in his lap.
“How long you plan to keep me here? You think I don’t have better things to do?”
Cardinal didn’t look up.
“I asked you question.”
Cardinal put aside the form. It was actually just a federal tax form; you couldn’t beat the feds for ominous- looking documents. At this proximity he could see Divyris’s resemblance to Irena. He had the same deep-set eyes, the same wide cheekbones, and Cardinal wondered if his sister had had the same arrogant attitude.
“You don’t have right to keep me here,” he said. “You have to charge me.”
“You’re charged with fraud.”
Divyris gave a snort. “Credit card. I thought you were investigating my sister’s murder, but no, big detective is worried about credit card. Is nothing.”
“It’ll do for now.” Cardinal flipped back through his notebook. “You owned a fur farm outside Kiev, didn’t you?”
Divyris stared at him. “Long time ago. Big deal.”
“It was doing quite well until about, let’s see, five years ago. What happened then?”
“Market problems. Suddenly no one buys furs. No one in Russia.”
“But some people were doing quite well. Lev Bastov, for example.”
“Lev Bastov? Is nothing. Nobody.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but Lev Bastov appears to own several fur farms in Russia, and owns or has a controlling interest in fur factories in Russia, China, the U.S. and Canada. He sells furs, buys furs, manufactures coats, hats, you name it, and sells them again. Hardly nothing.”
“Who cares? Is his business.”
“Just before the fur market really tanks, he sells his factory in Russia and buys two in China. That’s exactly one year after he marries your sister.”
“Maybe you never notice-so busy chasing credit cards-some guys are lucky. Other guys? Not lucky.”
“Which brings us to your own fur farm.” Cardinal consulted the notes. “A thriving business when you take it over, a disaster when you sell it-presumably for peanuts-two years later. Again, right before Lev Bastov hits the big time.”
“You get this from Internet? Internet is always wrong.”
“We have witnesses who say you were hot on the idea of Irena marrying Lev Bastov. You were totally excited about it. Lev Bastov was going to buy your fur farm and save you from ruin. Lev Bastov was going to set you up on a new farm somewhere profitable. Or better yet, he was going to make you manager of a fur factory.”
“Some guys like to talk big, you know? Some guys like to make promises-especially when they have eye on woman like my sister. If you cannot win her with your looks, you buy her with your money. You make big promise her family will benefit also. He will look after everyone. Then he’s married and big promises are forgotten.”
“But he did keep one promise. He did put you in charge of a factory in-where was it…” Cardinal flipped a page in his notebook, scanning until he found the entry. “Kalinin?”
“Kalinin. Fuck Kalinin. Kalinin, it’s like getting charge of auto factory in Detroit. Like getting charge of Titanic. Bon voyage, Captain!”
“Sales went down, profits turned to losses, people lost their jobs, and Lev Bastov put it all on you.”
“Lev tells me, ‘You drink too much, party too much. You pay yourself too much. And you pay too much for furs when no market.’ As if I’m supposed to know future. I’m supposed to know China is going to rule universe? Fucking slave owners.”
“And he fired you.”
“Fuck him.”
“He gets your sister, he gets his factories, his profits, his jet-set lifestyle, and you get…”
“I hated the bastard, okay? Big revelation: I’m not going to miss Lev Bastov. But if you suppose I killed him, no. Kill him, maybe I can imagine. Kill Irena? Never. And you will never prove this, because I did not do it.”
“Why are you even in Algonquin Bay, if you’re not in the fur business anymore?”
“I buy for couple of Jews in garment district. Pay is shit.”
“Where were you the night your sister was killed?”
“My hotel.”
“Was anyone with you?”
“Yes, of course someone was with me. Irena and her fucking husband were with me. You saw their car outside hotel. You think I’m going to go out to some house with them, cut heads off, and stay in hotel waiting for you to arrest me? And all this time I leave their car outside my room?”
“You probably didn’t know it was their car. They come to visit you, they knock on your door-why would you see their car? Did you call them or did they call you?”
“They called me.”
“The memory on your cellphone says otherwise.”
“So I called them. Why not?”
“You weren’t on good terms. Why did you call?”
“With him. With him I was not on good terms. I didn’t ask Lev to come. With my sister, yes. I call her to come see me, say hello, spend some family time. Is my sister. Also, I wanted to see Anton.”
“Anton. Bastov’s son from a previous marriage.”
“I know, strange I should like him, but he’s good guy. Not like Lev. He was supposed to come to auction, but he had to cancel. Got sick.”
“Was anyone else with them?”
“No.”
“You arranged for someone else to meet them, didn’t you?.”
“No. They came alone. We were supposed to go out for a drink, Irena, Anton and me. Lev came too, I don’t know why. We were just leaving when they get a call. Lev’s cell. Some guy wants to show them house.”
“What guy?”
“Some guy. I don’t know. Real estate guy. I knew they were looking for house, but still I thought was strange, real estate agent calling late at night. Supposedly they met some guy night before was going to set it up. Ten minutes later Lev’s phone rings again, guy is outside in car, and they leave.”
“What guy? What did he look like?”
“I didn’t see him. Phone rings, Lev answers, they go out.”
“What kind of car?”
“I didn’t see.”
“What did you do after they left?”
“I stay in my room. No. First I go out to beer store, buy six beers, come back and watch TV. You can check with beer store.”
“What did you watch?”
“Movie. Some porno.”
“What movie?”
“You want title? Of porno movie? Pussy something. Starts with window washer, sees blonde working out on treadmill. Then comes repairman, then comes painter-oh, and her personal trainer-brown hair, tits size of your head. Spitfire Pussy.”
“Sounds like a classic,” Cardinal said. “Okay, so you know Lev and Irena are coming to the fur auction. You know they are thinking of buying a house here-”
“Investment property, they tell me. I don’t have house. I rent lousy apartment. They collect houses.”
“So you arrange a set-up. Some guy posing as a real estate agent, but he’s really someone you paid to kill Bastov.”
“Not true. No.”
“Lev and Irena have everything. They collect factories, houses, and you’ve got nothing but broken promises. What’s to stop you hiring someone to kill them?”
“I told you. With Lev, yes, I was pissed off. With Irena, no. Is not her fault. You think I hire someone to cut my sister’s head off? You are one crazy cop. I hope you got some other suspect, because you can’t blame this
