Similar scenes took place at other cemeteries in the city. There, too, the FSB agents preferred to err on the side of caution, rather than leave any stone unturned. So, the FSB staff at Bolshoy Dom was quite busy interrogating the caretakers from all the cemeteries in the grand city of St. Petersburg. Despite the physical and psychological pressure, none of the caretakers admitted seeing a hearse delivering a coffin to their cemetery.
The identity of the dead driver was revealed after an intensive investigation. The owner of the funeral parlor, Yevgeni Karnikov, who had already been interrogated said that Ilya Yashin had been a model employee. He was always on time, never turned up drunk for work and was very respectful to the deceased and their families. He didn't believe the interrogator when he was told the man was from a Chechen Muslim family and that his name was Ali Yashar. David and Edna had watched the interrogation of the owner on a closed-circuit camera. David was convinced that the man was not putting on a show, when Edna translated the questions and answers.
Colonel Alexandrova had to concede that there was no lead regarding the whereabouts of the coffin. David said, "This link to a Chechen Muslim is very troubling. It supports our worst-case scenario that the NEMESIS terrorists are involved here. We must find Le Docteur and the women and stop them."
Le Docteur, Lara and Fatima were back on board the cruise ship, waiting for it to leave the port of St. Petersburg and make its way due west, to Helsinki. They had spent the previous night on board the ship, that had remained two nights berthed in the port. No one took notice that the fourth member of their small party, Dr. Yuri Bakavlev, had not returned to the ship after the coffin was unloaded in St. Petersburg. In case anyone asked about his absence, they would say that he stayed in the city to arrange the burial of his wife and was delayed by the entangled Russian bureaucracy.
Lara was closely watching Fatima's reaction to the loss of yet another lover — first, Rudi and now Yuri. However, her friend appeared to be quite cheerful. Fatima saw their faces and said, "I know that I should be mourning Yuri, but the knowledge that he is sacrificing himself for the cause is some consolation." With an impish smile she continued, "Did you see the elegant Algerian man that seemed to follow me around the ship?"
Lara exchanged a glance with Le Docteur, and said, "Fatima, what are you talking about? Why didn't you ever mention this? It could be a problem."
"He tried to chat with me whenever Yuri was not around. He even offered to buy me a drink when he thought that none of you were watching." She saw the surprised expression on their faces, "He said that he couldn't figure why a beautiful and attractive young woman like me was spending her time with an old man like Yuri. He blatantly suggested that I would have more fun with him and although I rejected his advances he persisted."
Lara said, "Fatima, you should have told us about this. It could have driven Yuri out of his mind and dissuaded him from carrying out the mission. This was irresponsible behavior."
Fatima shrugged, "I think that this Algerian man, Karim, recognized me a Muslim, and that's why he tried to befriend me. Perhaps, we can recruit him…"
Le Docteur didn't like Fatima's unauthorized initiative. "Fatima, as Lara said, your behavior could have put us all, and the mission, at risk. When did you get away from Yuri and have time to chat with this Karim?"
"Yuri tried to make love to me every night. He was desperate to enjoy his last days… But, he's an old man and fell asleep immediately afterwards, and sometimes even during the act. Many times, I felt that I needed a cigarette to calm myself and silently slipped out of the cabin to have a smoke on the deck. That's where I came across Karim, who was also smoking and enjoying the fresh air. Once, he even offered me a 'special cigarette' and it was indeed quality stuff."
"Fatima, do you mean you smoked pot with a strange man?" Lara asked. "You must have been out of your mind. Please, tell me that's all you did with this Karim."
Fatima looked embarrassed, "I may have gone a little further. After all, I was quite frustrated by Yuri falling asleep so quickly. So, I allowed Karim to console me…"
Le Docteur almost blew his top, "What do you mean 'console'? Are you saying you had sex with Karim?"
Fatima blushed, "After the second 'special cigarette', we were both a little excited and went to his cabin. Don't worry, Yuri was still fast asleep when I returned to our cabin."
Lara and Le Docteur were besides themselves with rage. Finally, Lara said, "Fatima, it looks as if you are deeply involved with this man. Now, we must either recruit him or make him meet with an unfortunate accident. It's up to you…"
After Fatima left the room, Le Docteur said, "I don't like this. We may need to do something about Fatima."
Lara answered, "A lot depends on the schedule of Putin's visit to St. Petersburg."
Practically all the passengers were back on board after spending two days sight-seeing in St. Petersburg. All the dining-rooms were crowded, and some of the passengers, including the three members of NEMESIS, had to wait for the first shift of diners to leave the place and give the staff time to clear the tables and reset them. Le Docteur and the two women were sipping aperitifs at the bar, adjacent to the dining room, when the Algerian man approached them. He smiled at Fatima expectantly and she introduced him to her colleagues. "Lara and Le Docteur, this is Karim. Karim, please meet my friends."
Lara saw a tall, handsome man, who was probably in his late thirties, and played the polite hostess, "Karim, pleased to meet you. Would you like to join us for a drink before dinner?"
Le Docteur was more direct, "Karim? Is this an Arabic name?"
Karim said, "Thanks for inviting me to join you. I am honored to meet Fiona's friends", he used the name in Fatima's passport, so Le Docteur and Lara knew that she hadn't revealed her identity to him. "I am an Algerian, but you are right, Karim in Arabic means generous or noble. You have probably heard devout Muslims saying Allah el-Karim that is one of the 99 names of Allah."
Lara asked, "Are you a devout Muslim?"
Karim blushed, "I am a Muslim, but not very devout. As a businessman who deals with many Christian clients, I drink alcohol, as you can see, but unobtrusively try to avoid eating pork products. I say that I am allergic, which is not inaccurate. Something in my upbringing does really make me react adversely to pork. You could say that it is a kind of psychological allergy."
The Chief-Steward entered the bar and announced that the dining-room was now ready for the next shift. The NEMESIS people rose from the bar, and Karim tagged along without an explicit invitation to join them. Before sitting down, he looked inquiringly at Le Docteur, who was obviously their leader, and sat down at the table when the man nodded. He said, "Thanks for inviting me to join you. I'll order a bottle of good Algerian wine to celebrate." However, the wine list had no Algerian wines, so they settled for a good 2009 vintage red Bordeaux.
They chatted about the cruise and the museums of St. Petersburg and exchanged gossip about the passengers dining at the other tables. After having dessert, they returned to the bar for a digestif. When Lara and Fatima excused themselves and went to the ladies- restroom, Le Docteur asked, "Karim, you seem to be a man of the world. Tell me a little about yourself."