Part 36 (1/2)
Officer Dan shook his head. ”You're no more Russian than I am. You're from Georgia, and I don't mean the Republic of Georgia.”
”Nyet.”
”Yes.” Officer Dan smiled. ”Don't you remember me? We went to high school together.”
Mo stood and went to Ross's side. ”I don't understand.”
”One day he was plain old Harold Moss, son of a farmer from Guyton,” Officer Dan said referencing a nearby rural community. ”And the next he called himself Yuri Kubikov, a former KGB agent from St. Petersburg with an accent straight out of a Bullwinkle cartoon. He seemed to think it gave him street cred. And this guy,” he said, pointing to Gigantor. ”This guy is his brother, Van.”
”Let me through,” an abrasive female voice said as a woman pushed past a line of onlookers and stepped up to Kubikov with her hands on hips. ”I see you've finally done it now. Got yourself arrested.”
”Betsy,” Kubikov said. ”Sorry, honey.”
”Don't sorry me. How are the baby and I supposed to live?” Kubikov's wife screeched. ”Tell me where it's hidden.”
”My money is in the safe deposit box. The key is taped to the backside of the photo of Mom on the wall in my office at the strip club,” Kubikov replied.
”Thanks,” Betsy said.
You'll bail me out?” Kubikov asked.
”Yeah sure,” Betsy said, smiling. ”That'll be my first priority.” Then she turned away from Kubikov to his brother, Ivan, throwing him an air kiss.
”I'll turn state's evidence against the boss,” Ivan offered in a voice that had no accent.
”What are you talking about?” Kubikov asked. ”You're my brother. You're going to betray me?”
”Yeah. You'll go to jail and I'll be with Betsy...and my son.”
”What?” the mobster formerly known as Kubikov said. ”Your son?”
”You never appreciated Betsy,” Ivan spat at his brother.
A commotion broke out at the police tape.
”Officer.” Mrs. Truesberry, in Kelly green housedress and wide-brimmed straw hat, called from a few yards away. ”I've got important information.”
What could Clarence's landlady want now? Just when everything seemed to be wrapping up smoothly and he would get a chance to talk to Mo alone.
Officer Tim waved her through the police barricade and the old lady wobbled over.
”That's him,” Mrs. Truesberry said. ”That's the man who killed my dear Clarence.”
Had the senile old bat implicated Ross?
”Ross wouldn't kill anyone,” Mo said, stepping in front of him as if she could physically s.h.i.+eld him from the accusation.
Ross's heart melted. He'd never had anyone defend him so sweetly.
”Not him,” the landlady said. ”Him.” She pointed a bony finger at Kubikov.
Mo blew out the breath she'd been holding. The landlady hadn't implicated Ross after all. They just might get out of this with their lives and Ross's film career.
”How do you know?” Officer Tim pinned Ross with a stare as he asked the question.
Uh oh. Ross might not be in the clear after all.
”My lovely boy, Clarence, said he was about to make a lot of money blackmailing someone and he showed me that man's picture,” the landlady answered.
”Blackmail?” Officer Tim shook his head. ”With what?”
”Clarence had a thumb drive with photos of some papers... I didn't understand all of it.”
”Where did Clarence get this thumb drive?” Mo asked.
”I gave it to Betsy,” Ivan piped in.
”Where is this thumb drive now?” Officer Dan asked.
”It's in Ms. Tuttle's purse,” Mrs. Truesberry said with a confident smile.
Suddenly, the memory of Clarence at her house, just after the fight with Ross, came to her. ”That's right. Yesterday, just before his murder, Clarence was hovering around my bag.”
”But how did you know the thumb drive was in Mo's purse?” Ross asked Mrs. Truesberry.
”He...um...he told me,” the old lady sputtered.
”I see,” Officer Tim said.
Mrs. Truesberry returned to her Ches.h.i.+re cat grin, seemingly happy she'd come up with a satisfactory explanation.
But there was something wrong with this.
”Then you did see him yesterday before he was killed,” Mo pointed out. ”You said yesterday that you hadn't seen him.”
”That's right. You did say that.” Officer Tim eyed the old lady with suspicion.
The smile so confidently plastered on Mrs. Truesberry's face slipped into a frown. ”Oh no, I remember now. I was gardening all morning. I didn't see him.”
Mo moved closer to the woman. ”You weren't outside gardening all morning. I distinctly remember you were coming out of your house when I drove up yesterday.”
”Oh no, that's not right,” Mrs. Truesberry defended, her eyes widening as she took a step back.
”Oh yes,” Mo insisted. ”Besides, you had to have seen Clarence yesterday if you know about the thumb drive, because he put that item in my purse about an hour before he was killed.”
”How do you explain that, Mrs. Truesberry?” Officer Tim asked.
The landlady stood silently for a few moments before answering. ”Then I guess I did see him.”