Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN FROM THE PHOTOGRAPH
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The caller agreed to meet Sofia Levin at a police station. She introduced herself as Irina Markova, forty-three, a school librarian living under her mother's surname. Her father, Leonid, had disappeared from her life when she was nineteen. She had spent years believing he was dead.
Irina brought letters proving that Viktor had tried to help her mother escape Leonid's violence. She recognized the woman in the photograph as her mother, Galina. The cassette, she explained, had been recorded at a meeting where Viktor confronted Leonid about the missing trust money and coerced labor scheme.
"My mother kept a duplicate," Irina said. "She hid it because my father threatened to take me away."
Nikolai studied her. She had nothing of Markov's arrogance. Her hands trembled around a paper cup. "Why come forward now?"
"Because Ksenia's people found my mother last week. They're asking about the tape."
The investigators arranged protective measures for Galina. Nikolai offered to pay for private security, but Sofia insisted the witnesses' protection should be coordinated with law enforcement rather than controlled by a potential witness in the case. He agreed.
At the children's hospital, Anya learned that Maksim's condition was more complicated than the yacht announcement had made it sound. His medical team recommended a carefully timed intervention after additional imaging, not a rushed operation by a celebrity surgeon. Nikolai apologized for treating the situation as something money alone could solve. He offered to cover medically necessary costs through an independently administered fund, with no obligation attached to Anya's employment.
"I don't want him used as a reason for you to feel generous," Anya said.
"Then let it be a reason for me to correct something I've ignored," he replied.
That night, Anya brought Maksim a drawing of Misha. He added a crooked red heart and asked whether Boris was coming home. "We're trying," she told him.
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On her way out, Anya saw a television report about a warehouse fire in Fort Lauderdale. The burned property belonged to a company named Seabright Holdings. She recognized the name from the ledger.
The investigation had already frightened someone enough to destroy evidence.
