qualifications and ended up with the full-time teaching job, and that’s pretty much how it’s been ever since.”
I could see the
Good Will Hunting
wisecrack germinating inside Aparo’s head, and headed it off with a follow-up question.
“And no big arguments, nothing going on that caused you any concern? Nothing that could lead to them leaving home all of a sudden like this?”
Rena’s face crumpled with concentration. “Not really. I mean, I always thought it was a bit weird that we never met anyone from Leo’s family. He never talked about them. Daphne said any family he had were all back in Russia and it wasn’t as easy back then; it’s not like they had e-mail and Skype, right? But he was a quiet guy anyway. A loner, really. Which Daphne didn’t mind. In our family, she was the quiet one too.” She softened, and a bittersweet smile warmed her face. “She was his life.”
I nodded and wondered about the Sokolovs again. I didn’t think Rena was hiding anything from me, which meant that whatever it was they’d gotten themselves into, they hadn’t shared it with her. It was time to move on and dig elsewhere.
Then she said something that resonated with me.
“Maybe the one thing that did give them some hard times was when they were trying to have a kid and it wasn’t working—they were shattered when they found out they couldn’t. But with time, that sadness went away. Leo’s students kinda took their place.”
I just nodded and said nothing. Tess and I had been through that, of course. And we’ve been lucky to have little Alex fill part of that hole. I understood what the Sokolovs must have gone through, and it explained the lack of kids’ photos in their apartment.
“That’s all I can think of, really,” she added. “That, and a bad day for the Yankees. You don’t want to be around Leo when they lose.” She smiled again, but it didn’t really disguise the worry in her eyes. “I know what you’re thinking. Money problems, God knows we all have them these days. Gambling, maybe. The kind of stuff you guys must come across a lot. But there’s none of that. Not with Leo. He’s a sweet man and stand-up guy. Big on values, you know? Lives in a dream world. Like with Russia. He loves his homeland. We all do, right? But seeing it like that, even from this distance and after all these years. All that promise after the Wall came down and how it got all screwed up instead, all these gangsters running around, robbing the place blind . . . that made him sad. The rigged elections . . . he cared, you know? Like when that activist was killed last week, you know the one I mean?”
“Ilya Shislenko?” Aparo asked.
I gave him a look of surprise and admiration. He winked back, proud and cheesy.
“Yeah, him. Leo was so bummed about that.” She let out a small, wistful shrug. “Daphne told me he even went to their embassy and joined the protesters. She said she’d never seen him like that. Really down, she’d said. And he’d taken a few pulls of vodka—one too many, according to her—which he didn’t do, not anymore. You see what I’m saying? He’s a decent guy.” She paused, then added, “You’ve got to find them. Please.”
We left Rena’s shop without much more to go on than we had going in. We’d need to follow up at the school and at the hospital and see if any of Leo’s or Daphne’s colleagues had anything else to say about the missing couple. The CCTV footage from the hospital’s security cameras would be checked to see if anything unusual was going on around Daphne, especially at the time she had left. We’d also be checking any footage we could get from any cameras in storefronts or on ATMs close to the Sokolovs’ apartment building, as well as video and still images taken on cell phones by bystanders who had been there when Yakovlev had taken his dive.
Beyond that, I didn’t see that there was much more we could do. Not until we caught a break with some new piece
I could see the
Good Will Hunting
wisecrack germinating inside Aparo’s head, and headed it off with a follow-up question.
“And no big arguments, nothing going on that caused you any concern? Nothing that could lead to them leaving home all of a sudden like this?”
Rena’s face crumpled with concentration. “Not really. I mean, I always thought it was a bit weird that we never met anyone from Leo’s family. He never talked about them. Daphne said any family he had were all back in Russia and it wasn’t as easy back then; it’s not like they had e-mail and Skype, right? But he was a quiet guy anyway. A loner, really. Which Daphne didn’t mind. In our family, she was the quiet one too.” She softened, and a bittersweet smile warmed her face. “She was his life.”
I nodded and wondered about the Sokolovs again. I didn’t think Rena was hiding anything from me, which meant that whatever it was they’d gotten themselves into, they hadn’t shared it with her. It was time to move on and dig elsewhere.
Then she said something that resonated with me.
“Maybe the one thing that did give them some hard times was when they were trying to have a kid and it wasn’t working—they were shattered when they found out they couldn’t. But with time, that sadness went away. Leo’s students kinda took their place.”
I just nodded and said nothing. Tess and I had been through that, of course. And we’ve been lucky to have little Alex fill part of that hole. I understood what the Sokolovs must have gone through, and it explained the lack of kids’ photos in their apartment.
“That’s all I can think of, really,” she added. “That, and a bad day for the Yankees. You don’t want to be around Leo when they lose.” She smiled again, but it didn’t really disguise the worry in her eyes. “I know what you’re thinking. Money problems, God knows we all have them these days. Gambling, maybe. The kind of stuff you guys must come across a lot. But there’s none of that. Not with Leo. He’s a sweet man and stand-up guy. Big on values, you know? Lives in a dream world. Like with Russia. He loves his homeland. We all do, right? But seeing it like that, even from this distance and after all these years. All that promise after the Wall came down and how it got all screwed up instead, all these gangsters running around, robbing the place blind . . . that made him sad. The rigged elections . . . he cared, you know? Like when that activist was killed last week, you know the one I mean?”
“Ilya Shislenko?” Aparo asked.
I gave him a look of surprise and admiration. He winked back, proud and cheesy.
“Yeah, him. Leo was so bummed about that.” She let out a small, wistful shrug. “Daphne told me he even went to their embassy and joined the protesters. She said she’d never seen him like that. Really down, she’d said. And he’d taken a few pulls of vodka—one too many, according to her—which he didn’t do, not anymore. You see what I’m saying? He’s a decent guy.” She paused, then added, “You’ve got to find them. Please.”
We left Rena’s shop without much more to go on than we had going in. We’d need to follow up at the school and at the hospital and see if any of Leo’s or Daphne’s colleagues had anything else to say about the missing couple. The CCTV footage from the hospital’s security cameras would be checked to see if anything unusual was going on around Daphne, especially at the time she had left. We’d also be checking any footage we could get from any cameras in storefronts or on ATMs close to the Sokolovs’ apartment building, as well as video and still images taken on cell phones by bystanders who had been there when Yakovlev had taken his dive.
Beyond that, I didn’t see that there was much more we could do. Not until we caught a break with some new piece
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