I was going to get weepy in a minute if I didn’t shake off those thoughts. Glancing around the room, I could see the stress and confusion in everyone’s eyes. Except Gabriel’s. Nothing seemed to surprise Gabriel, including the pain of betrayal.
It was Guru Bob whose reactions wrenched my heart the most. I couldn’t remember a time when I’d seen him express negativity. Ever. But watching him now, I could see anger and great sadness mar his features as the details of Shiva’s duplicity emerged.
We had Derek’s Interpol friends to thank for filling in a number of blanks in Shiva’s story. For instance, the big man who died in my home was Yuri Borkov, a Russian operative who had received a tip early on that there was highly embarrassing information on the market that could disgrace people at the top levels of the Russian government. He’d had no choice but to follow every lead.
Shiva later confessed that she’d been the one who leaked the flash drive information to the Russian. She wanted a kickback from their side as well. And why not? She needed the money. She wasn’t getting any younger, and wealthy men were starting to lose interest in her. When she realized she couldn’t count on her wealthy lovers to keep her in the high life much longer, she took matters into her own hands.
When Robin heard that, it was the last straw. I agreed it was a pathetic, arrogant, and egotistical excuse for doing what she did, but it was the closest Shiva had come to revealing the true motivation for her actions.
“I still can’t believe it,” Robin said, her tone a mix of bewilderment and scathing anger. “I know she didn’t do the killing herself, but she set everything in motion, and a lot of people died just so she could line her own pockets. And I saw her pointing that gun at Jeremy. She was so desperate, who knows if she would’ve gone ahead and used it, just to get her hands on that butt-ugly scarf and the stupid flash drive.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Mom said, “I’m so sorry. I’m having a hard time believing it myself.”
“I know, Becky,” Robin said, and sniffed a few times. “My own mother was a double or triple agent. It’s so bizarre. It’s like I stepped into the Twilight Zone or something. I mean, Shiva was never what you’d call maternal, but still… I keep expecting someone to jump out and tell me it’s all been a giant misunderstanding, that she was actually one of the good guys and… I never really knew her, obviously.”
And that was Shiva’s fault, not Robin’s, I thought, angry all over again at her mother’s treachery. Robin insisted she’d given up years ago on ever being close to Shiva, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy for her to overcome this major revelation.
The other night, after we’d left the FBI building, Robin had begged to come home with me and Derek. Once again, her own place had a stigma attached to it. Shiva had stayed there. She’d probably searched the place while Robin was sleeping, made phone calls, maybe arranged a murder or two. Robin didn’t have the heart to return there just yet.
While at my house, Robin had spent hours on the phone with Austin, filling him in on the latest news and discussing their future. Later, she told me that Austin wanted her to move to Dharma, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to right away. He had offered to buy her a store or office on the Lane in town, where she could sell her sculptures and operate her small tour company. I was impressed with my brother’s offer; the Lane was currently the cynosure of wine-country chic. Fancy shops, restaurants, and wine bars attracted people from all over the Bay Area and the country.
But along with the offer of a fashionable place to do her work, Austin had offered himself. He wanted to marry her.
Through misty eyes, I had assured her that it all sounded wonderful, and while I would miss having her living so close to me in the city, she would be only an hour’s drive away.
It was a lot for her to think about on top of her mother’s betrayal, so Robin was still debating her next move. Seeing her with Austin today, realizing again how perfect they were together, I had a feeling her decision would come soon.
“But wait. Shiva’s story is not over yet,” I said to the group.
“Then keep going,” Dad said with the air of a man who wanted all the story out in the open so they could deal with it and move on.
“Okay, so guess what.” I looked around the room at everyone’s expectant faces. “It was all bogus.”
“Bogus?” Dad said, his eyes narrowing. “Explain.”
I nodded at Derek to take over, because he told the story so much better than I did. I think the British accent helped.
“It was Shiva’s old friend Rajiv Mizra,” Derek began. “He was the one who set the whole operation in motion in order to snare Shiva in a trap.”
“Wait a minute.” Dad shook his head as though his ears were plugged. “Her friend set her up?”
“Yes.” I sat forward and gave Robin a sympathetic look. “It was all a sting to catch Shiva.”
“Rajiv has always been one of Mom’s oldest and dearest friends in Varanasi,” Robin explained. “But it turns out that he’s really an agent for the Indian government. He’s been watching her for years. But she’s always been so devious, it was impossible to catch her until now.”
“Whoa,” Mom said. “Now, that’s bizarre. This is starting to sound like a bad spy movie.”
Dad stood. “Does anyone want more wine?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, needing a breather. “I’ll help pour.” I pushed myself up off the couch and walked carefully around the room, filling glasses for everyone.
“You’re moving kind of slow, sweetie,” Dad said. “You got a hitch in your get-along?”
I was relieved that, for once, I didn’t have to feel guilty about my aches and pains. “That guy Rajiv pushed me off the steps and I fell on the blacktop. I’m still a little achy.”
Dad froze; then his hand tightened around the bottle’s neck. “For that alone he should serve twenty to life.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Derek continued the story. “Rajiv used various channels to feed the fraudulent information to Shiva, then gave her the means to smuggle it all into the United States. Namely, the book, the Kama Sutra. He knew her well enough to know that the very subject matter would intrigue Shiva. He also knew that Robin visited her mother at least once a year, so he’d been monitoring her activity and had timed everything to her arrival.”
“Don’t I feel special?” Robin said, shaking her head in disgust. Austin squeezed her hand reassuringly.
“Unfortunately,” Derek said, “while Rajiv informed some top officials in the Ukrainian state department that he was running a sting operation, he didn’t inform the Russians. He cared only that Shiva would eventually act on the information she got, and when she did, he would make his move.”
“Wow,” Dad said, scratching his head. “Becky, this isn’t a movie. It’s more like a Ken Follett novel.”
Derek smiled. “Shiva’s contact was Galina, because they’d worked together before. She suggested to Galina that the Ukrainians might use the information to barter a better oil deal with Russia. In a classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left was doing, the sting information never filtered down to Galina and Alex, and those two never told their superiors what they planned to do. Mainly because they were promised a kickback from Shiva if they retrieved the flash drive in record time.”
“Amateurs,” Gabriel muttered.
“They probably thought they’d get a big bonus for capturing the information,” I surmised. “But instead, they both died gruesome deaths.”
“For nothing,” Robin said grimly. “I should blame Rajiv for their deaths, since he started the ball rolling, but I don’t. I blame my mother. She was at the center of it all. She lied to everyone from day one, and the worst part is, she did it for money. Why? She had plenty of money, but she wanted more. She could’ve killed Jeremy! I’ll never forgive her for that.”
Guru Bob, sitting in the chair next to Robin, reached out and took her hand in his. “Forgiveness will remove the weight of guilt from your shou
lders, gracious. Allow me to suggest that you learn to forgive, but do not ever forget. Do not forget her lies. Do not forget her true nature. Do not forget that her beauty cloaked the snake within. That is the lesson I will have to take with me, as well. For I, too, and all of us were deceived by the woman.”
Robin gripped his hand. “I’m so sorry.”
“You have a lovely heart,” he said. “You have done nothing wrong, gracious, and I want you to remember that always.” Then he smiled at her so sweetly that I felt tears spring to my eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
After a solemn moment, Derek picked up the story. “Shiva had told Yuri Borkov, the Russian, about the flash drive hidden in the scarf. And since Robin was staying with Brooklyn, he broke in to search for it. He didn’t get very far before we returned and he had to run.”
“I don’t know what would’ve happened if he found the Kama Sutra,” I said. “But thank God he didn’t.”
The book was now in the safe hands of Ian McCullough and the Covington Library. Ian assured me that Minka had been fired-again-so I would finish my work on the Kama Sutra in one of their on-site workshops.
Rajiv had received a slap on the wrist for his part in the fiasco. He’d shot both Jeremy and Shiva, but he said he’d meant only to scare Shiva into backing down. He also insisted he’d grabbed Robin only to make her mother toe the line.
Rajiv had been so guilt ridden by the outcome of his sting that I was able to coerce him into donating the Kama Sutra to the Covington Library. He would receive credit as the donor, of course, and I would receive credit for discovering the book’s connection to Jean-Pierre de Garme, royal bookbinder to the French court of Louis XVI. A small win-win in a sea of tragic losses.
“Indeed, it was a good thing Yuri didn’t find the book,” Derek said. “But his day got worse when he was unknowingly spotted by little Tyler, Brooklyn’s neighbor. Once the police got a workable sketch from Tyler’s description, Galina was able to use a connection she had inside the police department to track down Yuri. Based on Shiva’s admissions, we believe Galina is the one who killed Yuri, because he admitted to her that he killed Alex.”
“So who killed the young one, Stanislav?” Dad asked.
Derek leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “We don’t know. My money is on Rajiv, but I’m not sure we’ll ever know.”
“And who killed Galina?” Mom asked.
Derek struggled not to smile as he and I exchanged glances. Mom and Dad were hanging on to every word of the story.
“Again, we’re not sure,” I said. “Rajiv and Shiva have denied killing her, even though both of them had the means and motive. But now that Galina is out of the picture, it becomes a matter of ‘he said, she said’ between Shiva and Rajiv. We may never know what truly happened unless one of them breaks their silence.”
“So many deaths,” Mom whispered.
“It’s all an ugly mess,” Robin said. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she continued. “They let me see Shiva before they took her away. You know what she said to me?”
“What, honey?” Mom said.
Robin sniffed. “She said I should forgive her because she didn’t do anything to hurt me.”
I gasped, then covered my mouth quickly.
Robin glanced at me. “I know; it’s unbelievable. She used me as an unwitting mule. I was drugged. Viciously attacked. A man was killed in my home. My friends were almost shot. I could’ve been killed by any one of those silly agents, not to mention that jackass Rajiv, and she wouldn’t have given a damn. As long as she got her money.”
Guru Bob took her hand again. Austin held her other hand tightly. I got up and knelt before her. Mom and Dad came around the back of the love seat and touched her shoulders.
“You are loved, gracious,” Guru Bob said. “You are strong. Your mother was weak.”
“We love you, honey,” Mom said, and squeezed her shoulder.
“Sure do,” Dad said.
I slipped Robin a tissue as tears trickled down her cheeks.
Guru Bob stood. “We will not speak of her again.”
“Right on, Robson,” Dad said, and raised his fist in solidarity.
Derek kissed my forehead and gave me a tight hug, and I sighed with relief that it was all over.
“Rebecca,” Guru Bob said, turning to my mother, “I suggest you perform one of your charming purification ceremonies to rid us of the negativity that the woman has wrought upon us all.”
“Super idea!” Mom said, clapping her hands. “I’ve been working on a cleansing chant that’s a guaranteed humdinger.”
Robin laughed, and it was the loveliest sound I’d heard in days.
Brooklyn’s Glossary
PARTS OF THE BOOK
Boards-Usually made of stiff cardboard (or, occasionally, wood) and covered in fabric (cloth, paper, leather).
Covering-Cloth, paper, or leather fabric used to cover the boards.
Endband-Small ornamental band of cloth glued at the top and bottom of the inside of the spine, used to give a polished finish to the book (also called a headband or tailband).
Endsheets-The first and last sheets of the textblock that are pasted to the inside of the cover board; the pastedown.
Flyleaf-First one or two blank pages of a book, not pasted to the inside of the cover board. These pages protect the inner pages of the textblock.
Foredge-The front edge of the textblock opposite the spine edge. The edge is usually smooth but may, on occasion, be rough, or deckled. The edge may be gilded or, in rare instances, painted. Fore-edge painting gained popularity in the seventeenth century when religious or pastoral scenes were painted onto the foredge to embellish the book’s content. The painting was invisible until the pages were fanned in a certain direction.
Grain-The direction in which the fibers are aligned in the paper. When grain direction runs parallel to the spine, the paper folds will be straighter and stronger and the pages will lie flat.
Head-The top of the book.
Hinge-Inside the book cover, this is the thin, flexible line where the pastedown and flyleaf meet and is the most easily damaged part of the book.
Joint-Outside the book at the point between the edge of the spine and the hard cover that corresponds with the inside hinge. Its flexibility allows the book to open and close.
Linen tapes-Strips of linen sewn onto the signatures and used to hold the signatures together. The tapes run perpendicular across the spine edge and are pasted down between the cover boards and the endsheets.
Pastedown- See Endsheets.
Signature-A gathering of papers that are folded and sewn to make up the textblock or the pages of a book.
Spine-The back edge of a book, where the pages are sewn and glued.
Swell-Term that indicates the way paper lies after folding. Generally, the folded edges of a stack of paper will be thicker than the outer edges. Consolidating and rounding the textblock will reduce swell and allow the book to lie flat and even.
Tail-The bottom of the book, where it rests when shelved upright.
Textblock-The sections of paper sheets or signatures sewn through the fold onto linen tapes.
OTHER BOOKBINDING TERMS
Conservation-The care and preservation of books, often at a total resource level-that is, a library or the archives of an institution. Conservators will take into consideration the damaging effects of age, use, and environment (including light, heat, humidity, and other natural enemies of paper, cloth, and leather) and strive to apply their knowledge of bookbinding, restoration, chemistry, and technology to the restoration and protection of the collection under their care.
Consolidation-Once the textblock is sewn and pressed, the spine should be consolidated (that is, compressed, in a press) and coated with adhesive (PVA). When consolidation is completed (the glue is dry), the textblock is rounded by pushing and pounding against the sections, first one side, then the other, with a bookbinders hammer.
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Kettle-The kettle actually refers to the first and last holes (usually found at each end of the page) where the stitching together of the signature pages begins and ends (or reverses back to the beginning). The kettle stitch refers to the stitch used to sew one signature page to the next, linking the next page to the previous one, as well as binding the linen tapes to the textblock.
Restoration-The process of returning a book to as close to its original condition as possible. A book restoration specialist will pay close attention to the materials and techniques in use at the time the book was first made, and will attempt to follow those guidelines in terms of resewing, rebinding, and reconstructing the book. This is in contrast to book repair, which does not encompass restoration or conservation but focuses strictly on bringing a book back to its basic functional level (which may or may not involve duct tape).
Rounding-The process of hammering or manipulating the textblock spine into a curved shape after gluing and before backing. Rounding diminishes the effect of swelling and helps to keep a book standing upright on a shelf.
SOME BASIC BOOKMAKING TOOLS
Awl-Used for punching sewing holes in folded paper.
Bone folder-A tool used for making sharp creases in folded paper and smoothing out surfaces that have been glued. It is generally made of bone and is shaped like a wooden tongue depressor.
Bookbinders hammer-Used for rounding the spine of a book, a bookbinders hammer is smaller and lighter than a carpenter’s hammer, with a large, flat, polished pounding surface.
Book press-There are various types. One small type of wood press can be used to hold the textblock while gluing. With a newly finished book, a large brass press will help strengthen, straighten, and fuse the book together.
Punching jig or Punching cradle-A V-shaped piece of equipment with a slim opening at the bottom for cradling signatures in order to punch holes in them.
Murder Under Cover Page 25
