It had taken some sweet-talking on Beverly’s part, but she somehow managed to get the owner of the Treasured Remembrances store, Rachael Pyke, to agree to Beverly and Mr. X’s scheme. The two agreed it was too risky to let Rachael know all the details about Kozak and the arsons and simply told her this was a way to protect her store from the recent fires.
Beverly was pleased to see from meeting Rachael that the woman was youngish and had a voice not too far off Beverly’s. Perfect. With Beverly’s acting experience from Dartmouth, she was confident she could impersonate Rachael without any problems. She just had to add a thicker dark wig that was a little longer than her own and some horn-rimmed glasses.
The next step was setting up a meeting with Ivon Kozak, at a place of his choosing to set him at ease. He selected Capp’s Tap House, which made Beverly a little nervous when she scoped out the bar in advance. It had mostly private booths. And that meant she couldn’t be certain they’d find a way to get Mr. X involved as he’d insisted.
He calmed her nerves by saying, “I’ll take care of it.”
“How?”
“Money talks, love.”
After he’d bribed the waiter, Beverly was seated at a table on the left side of the bar in the middle, and Mr. X sat at a table in the back where he could keep an eye on the proceedings. Before he took his spying-perch, however, he wired Beverly’s table with a hidden recording device.
Beverly was tremendously grateful for his foresight when Kozak arrived. The first thing he did was demand that Beverly-as-Rachel put her purse, coat, and cellphone in a locker in the hatcheck room.
Beverly thought to herself, So’s that why he chose this place. She asked aloud, “Then how am I going to pay?”
“I’ll buy your drink to toast our agreement since you’ve apparently changed your mind. I assume that’s what this meeting is all about?”
After they’d ordered Beverly a Tom Collins and Kozak a White Russian, Beverly studied her opponent. How to describe him? The best she could think of was a slimy weasel in a worsted vest, but that wasn’t being fair to weasels.
The drinks arrived, and Beverly told him, “I’m afraid the toast may be premature. I’ve been thinking about your offer to buy my shop, and I only came today because I want to hear more details about the offer. Seemed a bit low to me.”
Kozak almost spit out some of his White Russian as he frowned. His appearance had changed from a benign—if unctuous—slimy weasel to snarling wolverine in seconds. It gave her a chill. She hadn’t experienced anything quite like it with the various crooks she’d dealt with in the past. Not even her uncle.
“It’s a very fair offer, Miss Pyke. I’m sure you won’t get anything better.”
“I’m not convinced about that. You see, I contacted the sister of Jared Lake, the deceased owner of Vintage Vibes. And also the current owner of True Gems, Annika Grimes. Funny thing—after Lake and Grimes turned down your ‘generous’ offer, their businesses burned to the ground only a few days later. I can’t help but wonder if that isn’t a coincidence.”
Kozak’s face was dark and threatening, which he had a way of channeling only at her. Anyone else in the room looking at them right then might see him as merely being polite, if a bit “focused.”
He sipped some more of his drink and took his time answering. “You should be quite careful about making such false accusations.”
“But are they so false? What are the chances something like that would happen on its own? I mean, there have been rumors about you that are going around in the antiques world in this state. Ugly rumors.”
“Miss Pyke, I must firmly reiterate that my offer is the very best you are going to receive. And you should really keep your mouth shut regarding things you have no business digging into.”
“Why is that?”
“You might not like the consequences.”
“Are you threatening me, Mr. Kozak?”
“I don’t threaten, Miss Pyke. But I do believe you’re a little too smart for your own good.”
“Like Jared Lake, perhaps?”
Kozak downed the rest of his drink in two gulps and rose stiffly as he prepared to leave. He said, “I’ll give you a few days to think about it. But only a few days. After that . . . ”
Beverly had a good idea of what would happen “after that.” And she and Mr. X had to make something happen very soon or else the real Rachael Pyke and her business would be in great jeopardy in a couple of days’ time. Maybe Mr. X could rig up some extra security from his vast collection of devices and tools. But would it be enough?
Before Kozak left, she had to get in one more dig at the man and said to his retreating back, “Reggie Forsythe.”
He stopped in his tracks for a moment and turned around slowly to face her. “What about him?”
“He thought he was a Big Cheese, too, but look at where he is now. In a nursing home in a coma. Well, he was in a coma, that is.”
Kozak blinked at her. “Was?”
“I hear he’s awakened and is doing much better.”
Every muscle in Kozak’s body seemed to tense into a missile of sinew and gristle, and he looked as if he was ready to rocket through the ceiling right then and there. He gritted his teeth and slapped some money done on the table for the drinks. “Three days, Miss Pyke.”
After he was gone, Mr. X slid into his seat and rescued the recording device. Beverly put her head in her hands. “What if we’ve doomed Rachel Pyke’s store?”
“Not to worry. I’ve thought of that.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Not do, did.”
“Still not following.”
“Kozak is going to be at a meeting today in . . . ” Mr. X looked at his watch. “A little over half an hour. And I’ve arranged for the real Miss Pyke to attend the meeting and introduce herself in person.”
“What?” Beverly’s jaw dropped open. “But he’ll know I was a fake.”
“Precisely.”
“Oh, I see. Yes, I suppose that might work.” Beverly was a little more skeptical of the outcome than he was, but she hoped his instincts regarding Kozak were correct. Having worked alongside both Forsythes for years, Mr. X knew his way around evil pretty well.
He tossed the little recording device into a pocket. “We didn’t get him to admit to anything directly. But it’s very suggestive.”
“Isn’t recording someone without their permission—”
“Against the law and inadmissible in court?”
“Something like that.”
“Oh, this isn’t for your detective friends, Beverly. This is insurance for us. And if Detective Dutton should need additional convincing, this may do the trick.”
Beverly signaled the waiter to order another Tom Collins, and Mr. X said to “Make it two.”
“One of us should be the designated driver.”
He replied, “Then let’s have some food. We can stay awhile and scheme. I’ve heard scheming burns calories and reduces blood alcohol content at the same time.”
She smiled and tipped her glass. “You always know how to say the nicest things to a girl.” After grabbing a menu from the end of the table, she added, “Did you see his face when I told him about Forsythe?”
“I did. Most rewarding. Although I feared for a moment, he might hit you.”
“As the bearer of bad tidings?”
Xenakis nodded. “But he’s such a physically mousy little man, I doubt he would have had the strength to do it. And he didn’t have Redbeard or any other of his minions along to do it for him.”
Beverly closed the menu, realizing she wasn’t all that hungry. “Adam called Kozak a true psychopath. No feelings for anyone, overly sensitive about whims and slights. A very cold and calculating man.”
Mr. X agreed, “A fair assessment.”
“What do you think he’ll do? Now that he knows his rival, Reggie Forsythe, might not be out of the picture?”
“Bide his time, perhaps. Even if Forsythe lives, several of the man’s former criminal associates are now in prison. Kozak may feel Forsythe’s glory days are behind him, either way.”
“I guess. But it was still fun to see that smug expression wiped off his face.” She took a few sips of the cocktail. “As you say, we’ve flushed out the pheasant. We’ll just have to wait and see where he lands.”