I grab my laptop and notes from my bag and spread everything out across the black marble counter. Even though I’ve done it so many times I can basically see the words etched on the backs of my eyelids, I once again go through exactly what I know. It’s this, more or less:
Elena Sergeeva Lazareva, wife of Lukas Lazarev, officially died of a prolonged illness eighteen years ago. Closed casket, no outsiders, no public cause of death. Contrary to that cover story, her remains were recovered from a construction dig site in Astoria seven weeks ago and positively identified through dental records by the Queens medical examiner’s office. Toxicology on preserved bone marrow showed lethal levels of phenobarbital. Sleeping pills killed her, not illness. Giovanni Ochoa, the morgue attendant who first
