Putting the Band Back Together
Chapter 7
Liz asked a question. "The cruise line you were trying to bail out, you said one of your competitors was able to buy it out from under you because your money didn't get there in time. Who was the competitor?"
"Baldur Magnusson but I don't believe he's involved – and my money didn't just not get there in time - it didn't get there at all. Smoll was in the process of moving the money to a new account to pay for the ships – one that couldn't be traced back to me. The 250 million dollars in bit coins that were in transit went poof along with Smoll. No one knows what happened to the money."
Mr. Kaplan looked skeptical. "I find that very hard to believe. According to whom?"
"Abe."
Mr. Kaplan raised an eyebrow. "Smoll's second in command who conveniently enough received a promotion? Has Brimley vetted his story?"
"Smoll and Abe have been partners for years. They've been best friends since before college. You really think Abe set Zack up to be murdered – and murdered in such a monstrous way?"
Mr. Kaplan didn't sound as sentimental as Reddington. "I can think of 250 million reasons why Abe might have done it."
Mr. Kaplan asked another question. "Smoll was killed at a massage parlor in the middle of the day?"
"Not exactly the happy ending he went in there hoping for." Reddington acknowledged.
"You said Natalie Luca was sent to kill him and given instructions on when she would find him at that specific location. I take it Smoll going there was a regular occurrence?"
"Smoll was by no means a saint, but he was as loyal a customer as they come. Apparently, he had a standing appointment there twice a week."
Mr. Kaplan's eyebrow arched again. "A loyal customer, but not a very loyal husband. Which brings us up to 250 million and 1 reasons. If you dropped in on Mrs. Smoll to pay your condolences, I wonder who else might be there to comfort the grieving widow?"
Reddington didn't look pleased. "I'll ask Teddy to have a chat with him, but Abe didn't know about the apartment. None of my money people knew about the apartment."
Trying to contribute something, Elizabeth made a suggestion. "Okay so let's make a list of people who did know about the apartment."
"It's a very short list."
Liz made a new column. "Who knew about the apartment?"
Reddington answered. "Dembe and Kate. Oh and you."
"Elizabeth did fake her death to try to get away from you. That didn't work. Logically ... killing you would be the next step."
Liz didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure if Mr. Kaplan was being serious.
Reddington looked her over, but dismissed that idea too. "I don't see Lizzie having it in her."
"Never underestimate what a mama bear will do to protect her family."
Before Liz could stutter a response, Mr. Kaplan was moving on.
"Who else are you leaving off, Raymond?"
When Reddington denied there was anyone else, Mr. Kaplan prompted him. "The cat."
Liz didn't understand, but Reddington seemed to be mulling the idea over.
"I do speak freely in front of her and she can be a bit of a diva, but I just don't see her pulling it off. That whole not having thumbs – it's very limiting. Besides, she's much more the Godfather type - leaving a mouse head in my bed while I'm sleeping."
Mr. Kaplan gave him a look of irritation. "Who feeds her and takes care of her when you're away? More often than not, when you are away so is Dembe."
"My neighbor, but she has no idea who I really am. She thinks I'm a traveling sales rep."
"How difficult would it have been for one of your accountants to have discovered the apartment by following the paper trail?" Liz asked.
Reddington dismissed the idea. "Impossible. I don't use money from the account that paid Isabella Stone or any of the my other laundering accounts to pay for the expenses relating to the apartment – at least not directly. I use cash to buy money orders."
"Do you ever bring women -"
"- No." Reddington cut Liz off.
"Maybe someone followed you."
"That apartment was my sanctuary. Knowledge of its existence was closely guarded."
"Is there anyone else who knew about the apartment, had access to the account and knew all the details about your operation that were given to Isabella Stone?"
"Just Dembe and myself." Mr. Kaplan answered for him.
Liz frowned. Truly, she didn't want to believe it anymore than Reddington did, but … "Reddington, I know you don't want to hear it -"
"-Then don't say it."
Liz was out of ideas.
"When you eliminate the impossible -" Taking the dry erase marker, Mr. Kaplan went in a line crossing off Dembe's name, her own and Liz's. "- whatever you are left with however improbable is the answer."
"Been reading some classics in our retirement, have we?" Reddington asked.
"Going out of my mind with boredom would be a more accurate assessment." She circled his neighbor. "Just because you didn't tell her doesn't mean she doesn't know."
"She's a sweet, little old lady."
Mr. Kaplan's raised eyebrow and head tilt said it all.
Reddington protested. "She wouldn't have had access to the bank account."
Mr. Kaplan's tone held a mixture of tolerance and pity. "You're not considering all of the possibilities, Raymond. You're fixated on the idea of one person who could have done it all."
"You think it's a conspiracy? You think the Cabal is behind this?" Liz asked.
"No." Reddington looked grievously wounded. "She's suggesting multiple of my people have betrayed me."
"I think we should bring her in for a little chat with Brimley."
Reddington didn't look convinced. He shook his head. "She's in Florida. She turned snowbird this year. She's been gone since Thanksgiving."
Mr. Kaplan's head whipped in his direction. "Then who has been taking care of the cat since Thanksgiving?"
There was a barely perceptible hesitation before Reddington's denial. "No one. It hasn't been necessary."
By the narrowing of her eyes, Liz got the idea that Mr. Kaplan didn't believe him. "Raymond -"
Liz's phone began to ring. Trying to decide if the interruption was worth it, she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. It was no help. BLOCKED CALLER
"Keen."
"Elizabeth -"
He only got out one word, but she would recognize that distinctive voice anywhere. "Dembe! Where are you?!"
tbc
A/N Thank you to those who have left a review on the earlier chapters. Please keep it up.