Page 90 of King’s Ransom

Not to mention my—let’s be honest—creepy conversation with one of the villains himself when he shoved me into the sauna.

Working on this case would also have one other benefit: it would keep me in New York City and close to Audrey.

Yasmina mistook my hesitation for something else.

‘I can’t pay you anything now, but when it is over—’

I held up my hand.

‘It’s all right, Ms Ivanova. Don’t worry about payment. I’ll take your case.’

‘Oh, thank you, Dr Speedman! Thank you!’ she exclaimed.

‘Please, call me Sam,’ I said. ‘Just give me a moment. I need to gather my thoughts.’

I bowed my head and stared at the Formica table.

(Note 1: First of all, I needed to reframe how I’d seen the events of December 21st. Instead of viewing them as the exploits of a cunning Russian kidnapper employed by Yasmina Ivanova, I now had to see them as the work of someone who was working against her.)

(Note 2: When you take on a case where the client says they’ve been set up—this is very common in divorce cases—you need to make a mental list of the people who would want to ruin that client’s life.)

Yasmina and Georgy waited in silence as I sat there motionless, my mind whirring.

I tried to remember all the people I’d met or heard about on December 21st: all the people in Yasmina Ivanova’s life.

Names and faces flashed across my brain.

Aristo King’s two other wives.

His children to those other wives.

The young nanny who’d been sleeping with King while he’d been married to Yasmina.

And of course, Aristo King himself (seriously, he wouldn’t have been the first guy to arrange his own fake kidnapping).

Then I looked up.

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘I need to ask you a few questions. Some will be, well, uncomfortable.’

‘Go ahead,’ Yasmina said firmly.

‘King’s first wife, Winnie Tan, have you ever dealt with her?’

‘No.’

‘Ever meet her before December 21st?’

‘No.’

‘His second wife, Shelby Cox. Have you met her?’

A hesitant pause.

‘Yes . . . a few times.’

‘In what circumstances?’

‘The first time was soon after Aristo divorced her and married me. She came by the house to drop off some of his things. She said, “Enjoy him while it lasts, Slut. He’ll do to you what you did to me.”’