Deadly Dance by BV Lawson

Author:BV Lawson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: murder mystery, thrillers, crime fiction, detective novel, private investigators, mystery series, mystery novel, detective series, private investigator series
Publisher: Crimetime Press via Indie Author Project

Chapter 23

Saturday, September 26

Drayco must have looked as tired as he felt because when Sarg entered the door to Drayco’s office, he immediately handed over a coffee. “Quad espresso. You still get these for early morning meetings, right?”

Drayco grabbed the cup, “I’m touched you remembered.”

“Heh. You’re—”

“Touched, all right. Same stale jokes. You haven’t changed much, either, save for a few more gray hairs.”

“Really?” Sarg went over to a cabinet and flipped open the door where a mirror hung on the inside. He ran a hand through his hair. “Elaine bought me some of that men-only hair goop. Supposed to cover up those strays.”

“I thought gray hair made men look distinguished.”

“Wait until you get your first one, junior.” He sat down in the swivel chair and propped his feet up on Drayco’s desk. “Found some tidbits on that murder victim of yours. Via Russian contacts.”

“And?”

“Lara Ekaterina Davidenko, a.k.a Minna Hallow, may have used the name of a deceased woman in St. Petersburg who died around 1900. Probably got it off the internet. Who knows?”

Drayco opened his desk drawer to grab another pair of gloves before he reached into the box from the victim’s neighbor. Last night, he’d called Benny, who was as upset about the box’s contents as Drayco expected, but Drayco was going to hold off releasing it to the Fairfax cops as long as possible. He picked up the two passports and opened them to show Sarg the photos.

Sarg grabbed reading glasses from his pocket and leaned over. “The Hallow one I get. Her legal name and all. Why have one in the fake Russian name? Unless she used it to convince Harry of her ‘true’ identity before the sham marriage.”

“And to convince other men, too. Except for Stuart Wissler. He knew her as little Minna Hallow back when.”

“Then maybe he was the one who had her use the fake name.”

Drayco handed over the piece of paper the adoption worker had given him, and Sarg asked, “What’s this?”

“The woman who dropped Alisa Saber off at the adoption agency handed this note over along with the baby. Oh, and she had a thick accent.”

Sarg looked at the note. “Pushkinsky and Gerasim. Pushkinsky sounds familiar.”

“A district in both Moscow and St. Petersburg. Also a couple of Russian bridges, a square in Moscow, and a few train stations.”

“That narrows it down. And Gerasim?”

“I was hoping you could help with that via those Russian contacts of yours. Maybe check the records again for a Tasha Gerasim, or some variation, from a town that matches the word on that paper. We also have the name of Alisa’s cousin, who was brought here under the adoptive name of Olga Taras Whitman.”

Drayco hopped up to grab the photo Alisa’s cousin provided, pinned to the research board on his wall—next to the original photo of Lara and Harry as well as the de-aged Lara photo. While he was at it, he grabbed those photos, too, and handed them to Sarg to study.

“The victim and Harry, right? And this one looks like a younger version of the woman in that photo.

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