Under lock and key, p.6
Under Lock and Key, page 6
“Anthony, Kim is dead.”
Anthony’s eyes went wide, and his mouth fell open. “What? How?”
“She was found last night, or this morning I guess. It looks like she accidentally overdosed, but—” Maggie shot a questioning glance at Kevin, her eyes asking how much she could tell Anthony.
He should have briefed her on what to say and not to say before they’d entered. Interviewing a witness could be a tricky business. Asking the right questions but doing so without leading the person in any particular direction was a learned skill. It was too late now.
He jumped into the conversation before Maggie said too much. “The police are still investigating. Maggie says you and Kim were...friends. We were wondering if you’d seen any signs that she was using again?”
Anthony looked confused. “If you work security for the Larimer, why are you asking me questions about Kim’s death?”
“Because the Larimer was also robbed yesterday,” Maggie answered.
“Damn.” Anthony walked around the bar to one of the tables and sat.
Kevin and Maggie took seats across from him.
“A very precious ruby was stolen, and a guard and I were attacked,” Maggie continued.
“Damn. I’m sorry to hear that. So you think Kim’s death is connected to the theft? It would be quite a coincidence if it wasn’t, I guess.” Anthony answered his own question.
“As I said, the police are exploring every possibility. My firm, West Investigations, is helping with the investigation into the theft,” Kevin said. “So, about Kim’s possible drug use.”
Anthony gave a wan smile. “If Maggie brought you here, I’m sure she would have told you about my relationship with Kim. We weren’t friends, not in the traditional sense.”
“She told me you are Kim’s bookie.”
Anthony’s shoulders went back, and he stayed silent.
“Okay.” Kevin held up his hand. “During your nontraditional friendship, did you notice any signs that Kim might be using again?”
Anthony cocked his head to the side and thought for a moment. “I can’t say I did, but I only saw Kim for short stretches of time. She’d come in, grab a cupcake, maybe a little something else—” he looked away guiltily “—and leave.”
Kevin sighed. The whole baker-bookie thing was cute, an innovative way to stay under the radar, but he was investigating a theft and possible murder. He didn’t have time for cuteness. “Look, man. I’m not a cop. I don’t care about your bookmaking business unless it led to Kim Sumika’s death. I just want some answers.”
Anthony’s expression hardened.
Maggie reached across the table for the clerk’s hand. “Anthony, I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye. I don’t like your side hustle. I don’t like what it did to Kim, but this is bigger than all that. There’s a chance...” She shot a glance at Kevin, and he gave a slight nod. Sometimes giving a little led to getting a lot. He suspected this was one of those times. “A good chance Kim didn’t accidentally overdose. That someone set it up to look like she did.”
Anthony pulled his hand from Maggie’s grasp, his expression incredulous. “You can’t possibly be suggesting it was me?”
“Was it?” Kevin pressed.
“No. Of course not!”
Maggie straightened in her seat. “Kim was in a lot of debt.”
“She’d been placing a lot of bets lately that didn’t pan out, sure, but I wouldn’t kill anyone over that. Most of my clients aren’t good gamblers. It’s how I stay in business.”
“People have been killed for a lot less than three hundred thousand dollars.”
“What?” Anthony stood so quickly his chair fell over backward. “Three hundred thousand. Uh, uh. No way. Kim didn’t owe me anywhere near that amount of money.”
“Sit,” Kevin directed. He waited for Anthony to right his chair and reclaim his seat. “How much did she owe you?”
“A couple thousand. Look around, man. You think I’d be slinging cupcakes if I had three hundred thousand dollars to front one person? I’d be in Tahiti or something.”
Kevin believed him. Three hundred thousand was a lot of cupcakes. “Do you have any idea why Kim would be in that kind of debt?”
Anthony’s eyes darted to the ceiling.
“Anthony, please,” Maggie said.
Anthony sighed. “I’m small-time, okay? I did the bookmaking thing to earn enough money to open the shop, and I continued taking bets from a select number of clients after I opened, but it’s not my main source of income, you know.”
“Okay.” Kevin wished the man would just come out and say whatever it was.
“She was obsessed, addicted to gambling. I’ve seen it before, and I tried to steer her away from getting in too deep but...” He shrugged.
“She started placing bets with another bookie,” Kevin said, seeing where this was going.
Anthony nodded. “Yeah.”
“Do you know who?”
Anthony’s gaze strayed again. “I don’t know for sure...”
“You have an idea,” Maggie said. “Tell us.”
“Look, like I said, I don’t know for sure, but she did ask me about Ivan Kovalev.”
“Russian mob?” Kevin didn’t know the name. He hadn’t been in Los Angeles long enough to get to know who the major players in the local underworld were, but the Russian mob had long tentacles in the US. And they weren’t the kind of men you wanted to owe money.
Anthony shrugged then nodded. “When Kim asked me about Ivan, I warned her to steer clear.”
Maggie was chewing her bottom lip again. “What exactly did Kim want with this Ivan person?”
“She wanted to know if I knew him. Could I make an introduction.” Anthony twisted his hands in his apron. “To be clear, I don’t. I stick to my small-time hustle and don’t mess with those guys.”
“Smart,” Kevin said.
The bell on the door tinkled, and four women walked in, chatting.
Anthony stood. “Listen, I have to go. I don’t know anything else that can help you. I hope you figure out what happened to Kim. She had her issues, but she was a nice woman.”
Anthony headed for the bar display case to help the new customers.
Neither Kevin nor Maggie spoke until they were back in his car.
“Do you think Kim got involved with this Ivan person? Could he have killed her? Or had her killed?”
It was definitely a possibility, but he could see the idea was already weighing on Maggie.
He reached across the car and squeezed her hand. The electric currents that he’d felt the first time he’d touched her were back, even stronger.
“I think our talk with Anthony the baker slash bookmaker raised more questions than answers.”
Chapter Eight
Kevin called Tess from the car as he drove toward the museum and updated her on what they’d learned from Anthony.
“Ivan has his hands in a number of pies in Los Angeles and beyond. He owns several seemingly legit businesses, including a bar in downtown Los Angeles. Nightingale’s. Conducts his shadier business at night out of the party room.”
“Think you can get a meeting with him?” Kevin asked.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Tess answered before ending the call.
“If we know this Ivan guy hangs out at Nightingale’s, why don’t we just go there tonight and ask to speak to him?”
“Because, a, you don’t just drop in on a mobster. And, b, we are not going to talk to him.” Kevin glanced across the car. “He’s someone you should stay away from.”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you planning to go to talk to him? Find out if he knew Kim and lent her money?”
“Maggie, listen to me. Ivan Kovalev, the people he probably works for, these are not men you want knowing you even exist. I’m not going to let you anywhere near them, do you understand?”
“Let me?”
He sucked in a deep breath then let it out slowly, which only infuriated her more.
“I didn’t mean it that way. I’m just trying to protect you. We don’t know what Kim got herself into, but it is starting to look very dangerous.”
As if it hadn’t been dangerous before now. She’d been clocked in the head, her friend was dead, likely murdered, and a precious historical jewel was missing. She hadn’t exactly been living in Shangri-la.
They made the rest of the ride in silence. He pulled to a stop in front of the museum a few minutes after twelve thirty.
“I can come back and pick you up at the end of your workday if you’d like,” he offered, stiffly.
“That’s nice of you,” she responded, already reaching for the door, “but I’ll get a ride from a colleague or call an Uber.”
She hopped out of the car and headed for the museum. It actually wasn’t that far of a walk from the museum to her cottage. She’d made the walk before.
The police tape was gone from the front of the museum, and her employee identification, which doubled as a key card, opened the door to the employee entrance without any trouble.
Her head was still swirling with news that Kim might have gotten herself involved with mobsters. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she gave a startled scream when the door to the ladies’ room swung open as she passed and Diyana Shelton stepped out.
“Oh my gosh, Maggie. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Diyana said, a flush pinking her pale cheeks. Diyana was in the UCLA graduate art history program and interning at the Larimer for the semester.
“No, it was my fault,” Maggie said, her hand still pressed to her racing heart. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“How are you?” Diyana cocked her head to the side, her expression one of concern. The graduate student was pretty in a somewhat unconventional way. Dark brown eyes were set a little wide and her lips were thin lines, but her olive-colored skin was smooth as silk, and somehow the individual features worked together. “I heard you and Carl were here when the ruby was stolen and that the thief attacked you both.” Her eyes strayed to Maggie’s injuries. This close, Maggie had no doubt Diyana could see the results of her encounter with the thief clearly enough.
“I’m okay and, thank goodness, so is Carl. It’s the museum I’m worried about.” Maggie started walking again toward her office.
Diyana fell in step next to her. “You’re right to be. The theft is huge. I mean, I’m not sure what Robert is going to do. I heard him talking to Colin Rycroft on the phone earlier, and it did not sound like a friendly conversation. How could this have happened?”
Maggie stopped in front of her office. She didn’t usually mind Diyana’s curiosity, but she was simply in no mood for it today.
“I don’t know, but I’m sure the police will find out. I can’t chat right now, Diyana. I have to get ready for the staff meeting. I’ll see you there.” She slid into her office, closing the door behind her firmly before a wave of guilt hit.
She’d been a little abrupt, possibly bordering on rude. Diyana didn’t deserve that. She’d apologize after the meeting.
Remembering her promise to Kevin to reach out to the dealers she knew about the stolen Viperé ruby, she put a call in to several dealers, including her friend Apollo Bouras. She left him a message asking him to call her back as soon as he could. No doubt he and every other dealer in the Los Angeles area had already heard about the theft of the Viperé ruby, and they’d either want to stay as far away from her and the Larimer as possible given the situation or they’d call back quickly, eager to snatch up any crumb of gossip to spread.
Messages left, she got busy wading through the hundreds of emails she’d received overnight. Several were from colleagues at other museums asking if she was okay and wanting the skinny on the break-in. She’d respond to those later. More than a dozen were from news organizations, several from the same reporters. Interview requests. She deleted those without opening most of them. All too soon, it was time for the staff meeting.
She was surprised to find Carter Tutwilder, chairman of the Larimer’s board of directors, standing in front of the room next to Robert.
“Come in, come in. Find a seat. Quickly please,” Robert said, waving her inside.
Maggie grabbed the empty seat next to Diyana and shot the young woman what she hoped was an apologetic smile. Diyana smiled back wanly.
“Okay, before we get started with the meeting, Mr. Tutwilder wanted to say a few words.”
“Thank you, Robert.” Mr. Tutwilder buttoned his suit jacket. “I won’t impose for long. I just wanted to acknowledge the heinous crime that has been perpetrated against the Larimer and those of us who love the museum. Of course, no one more than Maggie and Carl.” Mr. Tutwilder extended a hand in her direction. “Maggie, the Larimer and the board stand behind you one hundred percent. Whatever you need, we’re here for you.”
“Thank you,” she said, touched by the show of concern.
“As soon as things settle down, we’ll also be planning a memorial for our colleague Kim Sumika. The board has made grief counselors available to anyone who feels they need to talk.” Mr. Tutwilder turned back to Robert. “I’ll hand things back over to you, Robert.”
“Thank you, Carter.”
A polite smattering of applause broke out as Mr. Tutwilder left the room.
“Okay,” Robert said. “Let’s get started.”
Robert began the meeting with an update on Carl’s condition. He was admitted to the hospital with a serious concussion, but the doctors expected him to make a full recovery. The doctors planned to release him from the hospital in a few days, but it might be a couple weeks before he was up to returning to the job. Then Robert turned to the theft of the Viperé ruby and did his best to set everyone’s concerns at ease, although Maggie wasn’t sure how much he accomplished. They all knew that the longer it took for the police to find the ruby, the worse things would get for the Larimer. And there was a fair chance that the ruby would never be found. It would be a coveted possession amongst the sordid world of private collectors, a notoriously secretive bunch of people who collected treasures that should rightly be seen by the masses. A lot of these extremely wealthy collectors didn’t much care how they came into possession of items, just that they obtained them.
It was a short meeting. Maggie pulled Diyana aside before she left and apologized for her abrupt dismissal earlier.
“It’s okay.” Diyana smiled sweetly. “We’re all under a huge amount of pressure right now.”
Maggie returned the intern’s smile. “Thank you for understanding.”
“Maggie.” Robert stepped up next to Maggie and Diyana. “I’d like to speak to you for a moment, please.”
Diyana nodded and scurried from the conference room. All the other staff members had already left the room.
Robert gestured for her to sit and she did. He sat across from her, folding his hands on the table in front of him. She felt like a child being admonished by the principal. She smoothed the front of her slacks nervously. Was he going to fire her? He wouldn’t. She wasn’t responsible for the theft. She was a victim as much as the Larimer.
She sat silently, waiting for him to start.
“I’m glad to see you weren’t hurt badly.”
She tried for a smile and failed. “No. I’m fine.”
“Good, I’m happy to hear that, although I have been thinking that it might be a good idea if you took a leave of absence.”
“A leave of absence?”
So he wasn’t firing her. At least, not yet. But a leave of absence was no consolation.
“Well, some time off, really. Vacation time.”
“Vacation time? Now?” She was confused. It was quite possibly the worst time for her to take a vacation. With Kim...and the media storm around the theft. “Robert, what is this about?”
He sighed heavily. He looked as if he’d aged two decades in the last twelve hours. “The Larimer is under a tremendous amount of pressure at the moment. All eyes are on us with the theft and Ms. Sumika’s untimely death. And well, there are already rumblings that Kim might have had something to do with the theft, and that’s what led her to do—” Robert rolled his wrist “—what she did.”
“You can’t believe that! You worked with Kim for years. You know as well as I do how much she loved the Larimer.”
Robert avoided meeting her gaze. “I have a hard time believing anyone associated with the Larimer would have committed such a heinous act, but the fact is someone did. And your relationship with Ms. Sumika—”
Maggie felt her back stiffen. “My relationship with Kim was that we were friends and coworkers.”
His lips thinned. “Be that as it may, I have an obligation to look out for the best interests of the museum, and we simply cannot afford to have even a hint of impropriety at the moment.”
“Impropriety—”
“I believe that it would be best for you to separate yourself from the Larimer, at least for a time.” He stood as if that put an end to the conversation.
Maggie got to her feet as well. “Well, I have a contract, and I expect it to be honored. And if you try to fire me or force me to take vacation time, I have no problem taking my grievances up with the board of directors.”
“Now, just a moment—” Robert held his hands out as if they might stop the onslaught of words coming his way.
Her heart pounded wildly. She’d been through this before when Ellison was charged with embezzling from his accounting firm. Guilty by association. She couldn’t go through it again. “No, no moments. I will not let you suggest that I am somehow involved in the theft of the Viperé ruby.”
“I never said—” he spoke quickly.
“You came close enough. And if I’m suddenly placed on leave or taking a vacation, those same people who are rumbling about Kim maybe being involved with the theft will be rumbling about me next. I will not have my reputation impugned when I did nothing wrong.”
