Page 87 of King’s Ransom

They disappeared inside.

I didn’t see them again.

They must’ve left by another exit.

Shortly after, Nurse Narelle came out and told me that Dr Shepherd was planning to bring Audrey out of her coma on the 28th.

I thanked her for letting me know and for being so kind to me.

‘It’s okay, honey,’ the nurse said. ‘I haven’t seen anyone hang around this place for as long as you have. You’re one loyal young fella.’

‘As long as I’m not getting in the way, ma’am, I’d like to keep coming back, if that’s okay,’ I said.

‘You hang here as long as you want,’ she said.

And so I settled into my plastic seat again, preparing to wait for another two days.

Then around 10:00 a.m., I received a phone call.

It was from a number I didn’t know.

It was Yasmina Ivanova’s attorney. Calling me from Rikers Island.

He was with Yasmina and put her on the phone.

‘Mr Speedman,’ she said, ‘please, you have to believe me, I’m innocent of all of these accusations and I want to hire you to prove it.’

THE THIRD WIFE

It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data.

– Sherlock Holmes

Rikers Island Jail

26 December, 1100 hours

An hour later, I arrived at Rikers Island in an Uber.

Since there wasn’t going to be any change to Audrey’s condition for at least two days, I figured it might be good for me to stay occupied, so I decided to take the meeting.

I went directly to the women’s facility, Rosie’s, where I was met out front by Yasmina Ivanova’s attorney, a skinny guy with a receding hairline, glasses and badly tied tie. He couldn’t have been more than 25.

‘Dr Speedman, hello, hello. My name is Georgy, Georgy Ivanov,’ he said.

His accent was Russian and his mannerisms quick and nervy. To call him skinny was an understatement. He was fragile. He was so thin, he made me look chunky.

I also think this might have been his first time at a jail.

‘Thank you so much for coming,’ he said. ‘Yasmina is very keen to speak with you.’

We entered the prison together.

When I’d first seen Yasmina Ivanova on the 95th floor of Aristo King’s penthouse on December 21st, she’d cast an imperious figure.

Tall, taut and dressed in yoga pants and her designer track top, she’d looked like a woman who was used to getting whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. The doors of the world opened for her everywhere.

She didn’t look that way today.