Zoya looked decidedly unhappy; perhaps she was annoyed at being made redundant.
“Please sit.”
Anna gestured at a chair opposite the two of them, and I took a seat.
“No lawyer?” I asked.
“Do you need one?” Anna responded. “It’s early days. We should get to know each other first.”
I smiled. Her short black hair was styled with a parting that made her look tomboyish, but her features were soft and her makeup accentuated her femininity.
“I didn’t realize we were here to make friends,” I said. “I thought I’d been arrested for murder.”
“Even so,” Anna replied. “This is an opportunity for you to tell your story without a lawyer confusing fact and fiction.”
“Is that what they do?”
“Sometimes.”
“Is this standard Moscow police procedure?” I asked.
The translator shifted in her seat.
“Nothing about this investigation is standard, Mr. Morgan,” Anna replied. “You worry about your rules and I will worry about mine. Shall we begin?” She reached into her jacket pocket and took out a digital dictaphone. She put it on the table and pressed record. After a preamble in Russian, she said, “State your name.”
I stayed silent.
“Your name, please,” she tried.
I said nothing.
“I’m with Mr. Jack Morgan, the owner of Private,” Anna spoke into the recorder. “Mr. Morgan, why don’t you tell us in your own words what happened in the apartment of Mr. Ernest Fisher, chief of staff to the American ambassador here in Moscow?”
“I have no comment,” I replied. “I would like to see a representative of the US embassy or a lawyer.”
Anna smiled, but I could tell she wasn’t happy. She ignored my response and reached beneath the table. After a short time spent ferreting in a large satchel, she produced a sheaf of print-outs which she pushed toward me.
“This is the translation of an article that was published today on the Otkrov blog, stating that Private is working with a group called the Ninety-nine to target members of America’s elite,” Anna said.
I glanced at the printout of the original piece before turning to the translated article and reading it with growing dismay. A mix of conjecture and wild allegation, it suggested that after years investigating and covering up the excesses of the very wealthy, I’d had enough and had secretly conspired with the Ninety-nine to assassinate members of the 1 percent. The article pointed out that I’d been caught at the scene of both murders that the Ninety-Nine had claimed responsibility for and said that members of the Private team were colluding to help me in my objective.
“As you can see, the article says you murdered Mr. Fisher because he had evidence linking you to the conspiracy,” Anna said, fixing me with a triumphant stare. “Now, Mr. Morgan, perhaps you would like to comment?”
CHAPTER 46
I STUDIED ANNA, wondering whether she was in on the lies or if she was simply being manipulated.
“Well, Mr. Morgan?” she pressed.
Dinara and Leonid had told me the woman behind the Otkrov blog had been murdered, so I found myself asking whether the blog had been written by more than one person, or if it had been hacked and compromised for disinformation purposes. Dinara had spoken highly of the blog’s record for accuracy, and I was leaning toward the latter theory because I knew what was being alleged was completely untrue. No one interested in telling the truth could have published that article. With Yana Petrova, the supposed true author of the blog out of the way, the Otkrov platform had become a powerful and vacant tool for someone wishing to spread propaganda.
“When your officers arrested me on the roof, I was in pursuit of a suspect,” I said.
“We found no evidence of anyone else,” Anna replied. “Just a rope that you’d set up for your escape.”
“If your people hadn’t contaminated the scene, they would have found another set of footprints in the snow,” I pointed out. “This story is a complete fabrication. I attended the property with two witnesses.”
“Yes,” Anna agreed. “Dinara Orlova, one of your employees, and Marlon West, an American Marine who may or may not be an intelligence operative. I’m not sure how you can expect us to consider these people impartial witnesses.”