Chapter 20
"So you're Vladimir Rodchenko. Nice to finally meet you," Mandora smirked slightly as she interrogated the man who sat in the chair across the table. Lea had gotten Zhukov to tell her where the Presidential candidate was and when Mandora arrived on the planet later the previous evening, the lioness had filled her in. Now the next morning, the Evil Chaser was working the suspect over down in the bowels of the Lair, inside the holding area.
"I'm not exactly sure why I was rousted out of my bed at such an early hour," Rodchenko spoke in rough English, his Russian accent thick.
"Well you see President Kostoff is still in critical condition and since you're running against him, you're the first one I want to talk to," Mandora said, leaving out the part about the President's death.
"You've been speaking to Zhukov. He's a fool if he thinks I tried to take out the President," Rodchenko shook his head.
"Oh I don't know. Though space is vast, political rivals trying to eliminate one another is hardly uncommon. In fact, the Mutants did it not so long ago. Now, Kostoff was leading in the race for the Presidency before you all were forced to evacuate. His murder leaves only you and I'm guessing Zhukov would take Kostoff's position should the worst happen. Zhukov actually would be a worse opponent since his family comes from a long line of people who have done a lot of good work for Mother Russia. Though I bet he's not as connected as you," Mandora said.
"He is definitely not connected as I am and he has the spine of a wet stroganoff noodle; a far cry from his distant relatives who saved Mother Russia all those generations ago. He was more of a party favor than a running mate," the Russian chuckled.
"Makes you the number one suspect then," Mandora told him.
"Then why is the FSB not torturing me?" He wanted to know.
"Well you see the crime started on Mars. Makes this an intergalactic incident and those are the Evil Chasers bread and butter," she smirked.
"You've lost me," Rodchenko played coy.
"See the person who ordered the creation of the earthquake machines and then turned them loose on Mars also tried to assassinate President Kostoff. Only other Russians had a beef with both China and Kostoff, and you're it. To me it seems silly to have attempted the assassination considering the fact that this person had to know that the earthquake machines failed in their ultimate goal. Though those that did not know the two were related would think that China was just retaliating. This can be ruled out because FSB found the leak last night. They cornered him and rather than talk, he killed himself but not before claiming what he'd done was for Mother Russia. Three more suicides followed per this morning's talk with FSB. The team who tried to assassinate Kostoff could have just shot him and been done with it but they wanted something from him. I think you know what that is because I think you're behind this," The Evil Chaser said.
"It's all very convoluted. I think I should be asking for my attorney now," Rodchenko told her.
"Why do you need one if you're innocent?" Mandora prodded.
"It doesn't matter how innocent you are in Russia. Things have a way of working themselves out and usually not in the suspect's best interest," he gave her a look. He had yet to crack and the Evil Chaser's dander was getting up.
"Well you can certainly make your phone call. While we're waiting, do you know a Doctor Sergei Rostov?" Mandora asked as she pointed to the phone on the wall. The call would be patched through to the Lair's Control Room and then to the FSB's ship headquarters.
"I'm a Russian so I must know all of the other Russians, is that it?" Rodchenko asked while he waited for his call to be patched.
"We found his body on Mars before I left. Seems that whomever he was working for made sure he wouldn't talk, though they didn't do a good job of hiding his body. We found the poor bugger in the sewer, a laser blaster blast through his forehead. Some of my team is still collecting evidence. We might get lucky and find something that ties his killer to the scene," Mandora shrugged. Rodchenko said nothing as someone on the other end started speaking to him. She wasn't sure but Mandora could have sworn she saw him sweat.
To Be Continued…