East of the Sun

by Janet Rogers

  ‘Quite.’

  ‘We have also determined that the other blood that was found in Robert’s car was the same type as Patrick’s blood, but it will take a little more time to match it exactly.’

  Of course! The thought hit Amelia like a lightning bolt. The volleyball photo of Patrick wearing a bandana in the weeks after Robert went missing obviously had more significance. He was hiding an injury.

  They waited as Legault appeared to consider his next words carefully.

  ‘Patrick insists that he didn’t kill Robert. He says he simply handed him and the driver over to Prism’s men and that he doesn’t know what else happened to them.’

  ‘Do you believe him?’ Amelia asked.

  ‘I’m afraid I do, in part at least. I believe that he did not commit the final act of murder himself.’ Legault shuddered visibly. ‘I think he was ambitious, narcissistic and increasingly desperate, but I don’t think he would’ve had the ability to carry it out all by himself. Or perhaps he knew somehow that he would only be able to believe in his own blamelessness if he stopped short of killing Robert. What I do not believe, is his claim that he knows nothing else. I eh, I believe he made very sure Prism’s thugs were going to get rid of Robert before he released him to them. I think he knows about Robert’s fate, but he is holding out, unfortunately. We will get it out of him, but it will probably take time.’ Legault looked at Amelia as he spoke the last words. She felt her throat constrict.

  ‘What will happen to him?’ Nick asked.

  ‘There will be many investigations and interrogations, but I’m afraid I can’t predict the exact outcome at this point.’

  ‘Will he be given diplomatic immunity?’ Amelia couldn’t stop herself from asking.

  ‘I don’t think the Russians will ask us to lift the immunity, since his crime was not against a Russian or a Russian entity, but against a fellow-Canadian. From our side, I can only guess at this stage, but I would say he will face stiff charges back in Canada. The exact charges will depend on what we uncover.’ He looked from Amelia to Nick. ‘We would of course appreciate your help in obtaining all the necessary information.’

  For a few moments they digested in silence all Legault had told them.

  ‘What will happen to Cathy and the children?’ Amelia asked, wondering fleetingly if Cathy had any knowledge of what Patrick had been up to.

  ‘Most likely nothing,’ Legault answered. ‘We will question her, but I do not believe that she was involved.’ He sighed. ‘They will go back to Canada. I imagine there are some tough times ahead for them.’

  ‘She must hate me,’ Amelia murmured. Like Legault, she didn’t believe that good, kind Cathy had any prior knowledge of Patrick’s scheming.

  ‘No, she won’t,’ Mara said. ‘If there is anyone she’ll hate, it will be Patrick.’

  Amelia shook her head. ‘I don’t know, Mara. People react in unexpected ways when they’re going through a crisis. It must have come as such a shock to her. You know, she confided in me that Patrick had changed and that their relationship was in trouble, but of course I thought it was just the hardship of living in Moscow and the normal ups and downs of a marriage.’

  Mara shook her head. ‘So many lives are affected by this.’

  ‘Too many.’ Amelia turned to Legault again. ‘And Ravi, Ratna’s son?’

  ‘He will go home with Ratna immediately. And depending on what happens to her, he will probably stay with his father or maybe with other family members.’

  ‘Poor kid,’ Mara voiced the thought on all their minds.

  They talked for a while longer, but soon Legault stood up to leave.

  ‘I’m afraid I have to go, but please call me if there is anything else I can help you with. As we continue interviewing Patrick, I will make sure to get all new information to you. I promise. And, one last thing. I know I have no right to ask this after everything you’ve been through, but for the sake of the embassy and the investigation, I would appreciate it tremendously if you could keep the information to yourselves. Please. Just for the moment.’

  Amelia nodded, stood up and let him take her hands. For a moment he held them gently, pressed them, dipped his head and then turned away to follow Mara to the front door.

  Amelia and Nick sat in silence. A million thoughts raced through her mind. She couldn’t believe how many people had been affected. So many victims, so many families torn apart. Robert was gone, Cathy and her children have lost the husband and father they worshipped, and Ravi would lose his only protector.

  ‘This place is so damned terrible,’ she said.

  Nick raised his eyebrows and waited for her to continue.

  ‘It really does make it possible for the bad in people to come out. Whether it’s crime, ambition, fear or jealousy that drives them, people seem to act on their worst instincts here.’

  Nick didn’t reply.

  She suddenly felt overcome by such anger and heartache that she couldn’t stop from continuing. ‘And things fall apart. Relationships, trust, cooperation, business deals, you name it, and everyone is left with only half of what they could have and should have had.’

  He nodded solemnly, but said nothing.

  ‘I know what you want to say,’ Amelia said, her anger undiminished.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Not always. You want to say that it’s not always the case.’

  Nick looked at her silently. His face was gentle and his next words surprised her. ‘Once upon a time, east of the sun, west of the moon, there was a different place, but not too different . . .’

  Amelia frowned.

  ‘It’s the first words of some old Russian and European fairy tales.’ Nick paused. ‘I’m saying you’re right, Amelia, it’s true that Russia is different and messed up and that, for a multitude of reasons, it has the ability to enable people to act on their worst instincts.’

  ‘But?’

  ‘I have to agree with some of Sudakov’s beliefs. This is not the only place that corrupts and it isn’t the only place that corrupts as badly as in this case. Recent history has shown us that many other places and circumstances can do to people what Russia does.’

  Amelia felt unable to answer, the rawness of the events making it too difficult to agree with him. She sat back and wordlessly looked at the weary sadness she could see on his face.

  Much later, after a subdued dinner during which everyone had reflected on the discoveries of the previous few days, Amelia and Nick sat in the lounge while Mara briefed the residence staff on the next day’s schedule.

  ‘I know you haven’t told me everything that happened between you and Patrick on the bridge, Nick. I’m sure you will, but it can wait a while, because, frankly, I don’t think either of us has the stomach for it right now. There is one thing I’m curious about, though.’ She watched his face, but his expression revealed nothing. ‘Earlier today you said that Sudakov called you and said two things. Two things that helped you put it all together. The first was that we shouldn’t trust Patrick, but you never told me about the second thing. What was it?’

  Nick looked down, rubbing his thumb over the back of his hand for several moments before he looked up. ‘Do you remember that we asked him about “white water”, the words the driver at the mental hospital repeated so feverishly?’

  Amelia nodded, not sure where he was going with the conversation. ‘I remember, but he said that it didn’t mean anything to him.’

  ‘At the time, it didn’t, no. When he called me back, though, he said that he’d had a thought about its meaning. And I think that thought will lead us to Robert.’

  32

  ‘You could still change your mind, you know.’ It was an option Nick had brought up more than once since they’d left Moscow the previous evening.

  At first he’d cited his concern about their flight in a very rickety aeroplane, a remnant of hard times long forgotten in the present, more prosperous Russia. After everything they’d been through, she’d been somewhat surprised, and touc
hed, by his uncharacteristic anxiety, but hadn’t been tempted to change her mind. The hour-long flight to Vologda she’d endured willingly, knowing that the end destination was more important than any temporary discomfort.

  All the while Nick had watched her closely.

  The night had brought more temporary discomfort. She’d slept on and off, kept up by her sore body and the reason behind the trip. Over a breakfast of kasha and strong tea in their Soviet-style hotel, Nick had again expressed worry. Now, as they were nearing their destination, after a bumpy three-hour trip in an ancient Lada, he looked over at her again.

  ‘I know we’ve come far, but it isn’t too late to turn back.’

  ‘I know I can, Nick, but why would I? Your concern for my well-being is kind, but we’re almost there now.’

  He was silent, but she knew he was thinking about the effect their destination might have on her. In truth, she was considering the same thing and had done so since he’d told her about Sudakov’s theory about ‘white water.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ he asked at last.

  ‘Yes . . . no,’ she said, ‘but we’ve come all this way and I think I’d regret it if I didn’t do this.’

  ‘Everything is okay?’ the driver of the old Lada asked, his smile still wide after the windfall of getting hired by two foreigners paying rates locals could never afford.

  ‘Everything is okay,’ Nick replied, glancing at Amelia as he did so.

  ‘This must be a pretty landscape in summer,’ Amelia said as they drove past yet another old wooden church.

  Nick nodded. ‘I’m sure it is. I’ve only been here once. It was on one of my very first Russian trips and it was autumn. Imagine sun on the water, the golds and reds of the autumn leaves. It was spectacular.’

  The stark winter landscape wasn’t exactly charming now, but possessed a raw, brooding beauty that couldn’t leave the observer untouched. Bare trees lined the road and there wasn’t much to see, but having driven through part of the Vologda oblast, and having seen the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery and several other old churches in the distance, she could imagine the landscape during a more forgiving season.

  Soon a signboard announced Belozersk in big black letters.

  ‘It’s a very ancient city. I looked it up and it was first mentioned in chronicles around 862,’ Nick said. ‘Apparently the city, or what would have been only a settlement then, was moved a number of times from one bank of the lake to another. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it was the capital of a princedom. But back then it wasn’t called Belozersk. That became its name in seventeen hundred and something. Until then it was called Belo-ozero.’

  ‘After the lake.’

  ‘Yes, after the lake.’

  For a while they drove in silence as they entered the outskirts of what appeared to be a small city. Nick leaned forward and spoke to the driver, asking him to take them to a place where he could park the car. Twenty minutes later, he stopped the car on a small flat stretch of land and pointed to his left.

  ‘I must wait?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, please.’

  Now that they’d arrived, Amelia wasn’t sure she wanted to get out, but this was the last stop. The very last before she could get on with her life.

  She took a few deep breaths, got out of the car and followed Nick through the trees for a hundred metres before they stopped side by side on the banks of a vast body of water. A cold wind rose off the lake and tugged at their coats.

  ‘There it is – Beloye Ozero. White Lake,’ Nick said.

  Amelia stared in disbelief at the vast expanse of water that was frozen in patches. She hadn’t imagined it would be this enormous.

  ‘White Water,’ she whispered, thinking of the driver in the Krasnogorsk mental hospital. Staring at the water, she remembered the fear in the man’s eyes. He would probably be plagued by nightmares about this place for a long time.

  ‘I wonder what made Sudakov think of this, and more importantly, why he felt compelled to share with you his theory that the driver’s “white water” obsession was in fact “white lake”.’

  ‘It seems even the most criminal of men have their limits,’ Nick said. ‘He liked and respected Robert, and thought that Prism was taking the lawlessness that tends to reign in this country one step too far.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  She walked a few metres away and then turned back to him. ‘How sure are you that white water means “White Lake”?’

  ‘Fairly sure. There is of course a chance that Patrick lied, but I don’t see why. Sunday afternoon on that bridge, well, I asked him a few pertinent questions.’

  Although Amelia hadn’t heard a full account of what had happened on the bridge, she hesitated now, unsure of whether she wanted to hear everything, unsure of whether she had the inner strength to handle more revelations. But if this was the place where Robert’s body was, it was the most appropriate place to hear the final details.

  She walked back to Nick. ‘Tell me,’ she said, turning her gaze to the water that stretched into the distance.

  For a minute Nick was silent. Then he started speaking quietly.

  ‘It’s true that Patrick left the party before Robert. Because of Ratna’s role and his own involvement with Prism, he knew that the driver would take a longer route to get back to the embassy. He knew Jennings had organised for someone to wait for the car, intercept it and frighten Robert into keeping quiet about the value of the diamond deposit. They – Jennings and his sidekicks – didn’t know about the additional pressure Patrick was feeling. They had no idea of Robert’s ability to reveal Patrick’s mistakes and damage his career.’

  Amelia nodded. This much she knew. She waited for Nick to continue.

  ‘After he left the party, he drove to a spot on Denezhniy Pereulok, to a different place than the one Prism had organised, and waited. He intercepted the car before Jennings’ henchmen could. As far as I could tell, a struggle ensued, but Patrick had come prepared. He managed to wound Robert to the extent that the option of frightening or convincing him to back off from any of it no longer existed. I believe Patrick went too far and that Robert was hurt badly. When Patrick realised what he’d done, he called Jennings and threatened to expose him if he didn’t take care of Robert permanently. Jennings didn’t have much of a choice. To insure himself, Patrick had most likely been collecting incriminating evidence against Jennings and Prism. They all thought that they’d run out of options, so they had no choice but to work together to hide the mess they’d created.’ Nick took a slow, deep breath. ‘The poor driver, Sergey Alyoshen, was forced to go with one of the Prism thugs to take care of the body. My guess is that they wanted to limit the number of people who would know how things ended.’

  ‘And they brought him here?’

  ‘That’s what it sounded like. To get as far away as possible from Moscow so that nothing could link them to what happened. I think they forced the driver to drive all the way here and after they’d rid themselves of Robert’s body, they roughed him up, left him for dead and thought it was the end of the matter.’

  ‘But then I came back.’

  ‘And threatened to expose them all. It sounded like Patrick was in constant contact with Prism and particularly with Jennings. I don’t know if we’ll ever have confirmation of meetings or conversations between them, but Jennings would have been pretty focused on trying to control Patrick’s actions. They were all involved in Robert’s death and they all needed to protect themselves. Most importantly, each needed to ensure that the other involved parties kept their mouths shut too about what they’d done.’

  ‘There’s a lot of guesswork in there.’

  ‘Yes, there is, but when I confronted Patrick on the bridge, he said a few things that revealed more of what happened. Other things I stated as facts and he didn’t contradict me. He confirmed much of what I was still speculating about without knowing that he was doing so.’

  Amelia looked up at Nick’s troubled face, sensing the last awf
ul fact she didn’t really want to know. But she had to and knew that he would tell her. It was the only way to move forward.

  Nick became very still. He looked towards the lake and then back at her. ‘He said: “. . . don’t worry, he was dead when he was dumped into the water, he wouldn’t have felt a thing . . .”’

  Amelia winced at the harsh words and involuntarily moved a few paces away. She’d expected the worst, but this was too much to bear. The image of Robert so helpless, so alone and so diminished in his last hours, was one she knew she would have trouble with for the rest of her life. A heavy grief gripped her heart.

  For a long time she stared out at the half-frozen grey water, searching, yearning for a connection with Robert. At last, when nothing in the cold, unforgiving landscape spoke to her, she realised that there was nothing to be reclaimed from the shores of the lake. He was gone.

  Eventually she turned back to Nick. ‘How big is this lake?’

  He hesitated and she could see on his face that this role he was playing for her now, this role he had agreed to fulfil without having to be asked, was a difficult one.

  ‘It’s around 46 kilometres across and in places up to 33 metres deep.’ He looked into her eyes and she could see that the words that seemed so harmless, but conveyed so much, were not easy for him to say.

  ‘They’re never going to find him, are they?’ she forced herself to ask.

  Nick didn’t answer immediately. He looked across the water and back at her. ‘I don’t think so.’