ENDING OF PREVIOUS POST:

Helen and Jane looked at each other. Finally, Helen picked up an empty dish. "If I want to be ready for Jeremy, I'd better get busy."

As Jane moved away, she said, "I'll do a quick dusting and vacuuming in the den."

Anderson glanced at Philip. "Don't you have some place to go?"

"Not really. I figured I better stay and make sure you don't put your foot any further in your mouth."

Anderson checked his watch. "Jeremy will be here in about an hour and a half. Philip, get a pad and pen from my office. I think we need to get ready with our questions. It may be our last chance to get them officially answered. Jeremy does work for the NYCPD. He should know what or who we're dealing with."

TODAY'S POST:

Chapter 8 part 4

As Philip walked into the room, Anderson grinned. "You are the designated note taker."

After he took a seat, he held up the pen. "Give me something to write."

Anderson faced Shana. "What are your questions?"

"Well." She paused. "Just who is Ivan Kuznetsov? We know he's Russian or at least suspect he's Russian. What does he do? Is he really in the Russian Mafia? Maybe his family came to the US just like mine."

Shana fingered her napkin. "My family crossed the ocean during WW II to escape Nazi persecution. My Russian history isn't great but if I remember correctly Rabbi Goldstein said Stalin expanded the powers of the secret police and encouraged citizens to spy on each other. He had millions of people killed or sent to the Gulag. Maybe his family came over during that time frame."

"Rabbi Goldstein?" Philip's eyebrows rose.

"I went to a Jewish high school." Shana's cheeks held a pink blush.

"Makes sense." Philip nodded and then wrote as he added, "You make a very good point. His family could be immigrants."

Anderson sipped coffee. "I agree. I guess we need to know what his occupation is."

Shana tilted her head. "He could be an innocent bystander in all of this."

"Is there anything else going on in your life that would cause anybody to follow you?" asked Anderson.

"No. I teach high school English. I spend most of my time reading, grading papers, and with my family. Hannah, she's my cousin, and I did things together, but," Shana stopped to think, "about three months ago she had a baby girl and has been busy since." She smiled.

"When you came to New York City over spring break, who did you come with?" Anderson waited for an answer.

"Lisa. She also teaches English. Her grandparents' sixtieth wedding anniversary is this week and she couldn't make the trip. That's why I came alone."

"Did anything happen to either of you while you were on vacation?" Philip tapped the pen against the pad.

Shana shook her head. "We had a great time, but it was uneventful. The first day we took the ferry to Ellis Island and visited the Statue of Liberty. That took most of the day. The following day, we went shopping and saw 'The Glass Menagerie' that evening. Of course we visited the 9/11 Memorial. The last two days were spent at the Art Museum. The second day, I saw my painting. I asked the curator what steps I needed to take to prove the painting belonged to my family. We left after that and the following day came home."

"When you returned with the proper paperwork and showed them to the curator, did anything happen?" Anderson moved his chair closer.

"After I showed him the paperwork, he called a specialist who verified they were authentic. Once that was completed, I waited outside his office for probably an hour and a half, while he called the family who owned the painting and told them about my claim. He didn't tell me who owned it. To be honest, I didn't ask. I should have."

Shana took a sip of iced tea. "Now, I think about it, it does seem strange I waited so long for him to return with really no additional information. All he said was he'd check into it and made a copy of my paperwork. I refused to leave it with him. When I left the museum, those men began following me."

"Everything leads to the painting. I wonder if the curator is involved. Maybe Kuznetsov is innocent. We never considered the curator. We need to check him out." Anderson dialed his cell phone. "I'll have a background check done on him." When he finished his call, he added, "Jeremy will be here shortly. Let's finish our list."


Characters so far:

Shana Kohlberg -- a 25 year old high school English literature teacher -- she's trying to get her family's painting back

Anderson Sharp -- often called Drew -- 31 years old -- works part-time on Wall Street -- a billionaire from Texas oil wells

Dmitry Bezrukov -- one of three Russian men in black suits

Jeff Burk -- takes care of Anderson's cars

Helen -- Anderson's cook

Jane -- Anderson's housekeeper

Philip -- Anderson's butler -- close friend and confident

Ben -- Anderson's dog walker

Axel -- Anderson's lead German shepherd

Thor -- Anderson's second German shepherd

Romeo -- Anderson's third German shepherd

Aaron -- Shana's older brother

Ivan Kuznetsov -- formally Ivan Morozov, I accidently chose a real person, so I've changed it.

Patricia -- Anderson's ex-wife

Emily -- Anderson's five year old daughter

Isaiah Glassberg -- Anderson's divorce/custody attorney.

Jeremy -- Jane's second-cousin twice removed, NYC undercover cop.

Hannah -- Shana's cousin, the same age. Married within the past year and has a three month old daughter.