Mishka Ben-David - Forbidden Love in St. Petersburg

When we got back to the agent’s office to sign the contract I asked that it be in his name. Anna and the agent were surprised but I told them that on my declared income I would have difficulty explaining the high rent to the tax authorities. In exchange for a not inconsiderable commission, the agent quickly agreed and the deal was closed before Anna had a chance to say anything. Covering the trail, mine and hers was, I thought, vital.

I’m beginning to understand how western capitalism works, Anna said to me on our way out. First of all there’s the speed of closing the deal and then the property is hidden from view. Nice, very nice.

Yes that’s part of the capitalist game. It suited me to agree with her.

Anna remained happy throughout the whole evening. She wanted us to go out to a show and we found tickets for an evening of jazz that embarrassed me for its cheap take-off of Americana. It wasn’t enough for the members of the band to dress up as Americans, they also had to try, in the few words spoken, to sound like blacks from New Orleans. But that didn’t disturb Anna and she continued to enjoy it well into the night.

On our return she called her mother and sister and for the first time told them about me. My mother is fairly apathetic she said, it’s an age thing. My sister, though, is happy for me but also worried because you’ve come here for only a limited time. Usually we barely manage to talk to each other once a month, but she wanted to know everything and I promised to update her soon. You see, because of you even my family relations are improving.

Don’s first report reached the Mossad that same evening. In accordance with the instruction given by the head of the Mossad, Udi asked to come up to see him with the results. It was almost midnight before the chief was free to meet him.

We can’t deduce much from the fact that both the office and the apartment are in darkness and locked up, Udi said. And we also learned nothing from Don’s initial check on the six possible addresses for the woman.

Right. But I don’t want us to sit here like a bunch of lemmings, the chief retorted. First of all I want to block all his options of partying at our expense, and it’s a pity we haven’t already done this. We must block his credit cards and close the company bank account.

I don’t think he’ll live it up at our expense, Udi said. He’s not the type.

Come now, what are you, a child? You think that someone who deserts the Mossad for a roll in the hay would shy away from dipping his hands into our pockets? Desertion costs money. You need an apartment, there are other expenses, and to keep hold of such an ass you need a certain standard of living, fur coats and vacations. Do you really need someone to explain that to you?

The full transcript didn’t censor the freewheeling comments of the chief and I could imagine the serious-minded Udi swallowing hard before going into detail: we can block the credit cards because we had them issued for him and the company’s account in Canada can be closed as well but only if we dispatch his controller Ariel, who also has signing rights, there at once. In Russia we can’t do it because he opened that account by himself.

So get going with what is possible and tell your man in St Petersburg to be vigilant. We’ll give it another couple of days and then decide. And let Alex give his cotton-picking peasant a kick up his ass. How long can it take for him to find out from his friends if this Natasha Romanova is one of theirs or not.

Anna Starzava, Udi corrected the chief.

Lucky us! I was already afraid that she might be a member of the royal family.

Udi looked at him, puzzled.

From the House of Romanov, the chief said impatiently. The last Czarist dynasty. Go on, get to work, it’s already nearly tomorrow, he laughed.

As soon as he left the chief’s bureau, Udi summoned Ariel from his house. Get here with a bag and enough clothes for three days, he told him. He then instructed the night secretary to book a seat on the first available flight to Montreal. When the eager controller arrived at HQ in the middle of the night a ticket for a flight via Vienna was already waiting for him.

Get to Montreal, find a place to stay and go straight to the bank, Udi wrote in his instructions to Ariel. To close the account you’ll need to show your power of attorney and that’s being arranged for you right now in the documentation department. Report to me by phone as soon as it’s done.

THE VERY NEXT day we arranged for a removal company to take all our belongings to the new apartment. Once everything was arranged we began looking around to see what was still needed. Anna’s apartment had furniture for only two rooms and in any case we both preferred a more modern style. A quick visit to the bank revealed that the money transfer had not yet arrived. But I trusted Orit to do what I’d asked of her, relied on the bank in Montreal to carry out my instructions, and had enough cash to satisfy Anna’s expectations without having to tap the company account for a loan. And indeed with every piece of furniture that Anna took a fancy to and I agreed to buy, she became visibly happier.

Towards evening, after a new living-room suite had been delivered to the apartment, we decided to stay in. From the huge window we could see a sky of astonishing beauty. Layers of low-lying dark clouds covering the wintery heavens were painted rosy pink by the setting sun. Streaks of orange coloured the gaps between them. Across the city, the lights were being turned on. We stood at the small window overlooking the shopping thoroughfare, spotting street billboards as they lit up and following the fading colours of the sunset as a mist rising from the sea drifted ever closer and slowly shrouded the city’s gardens.

We hadn’t turned on the light before sunset and now found ourselves in pitch darkness, standing at the window spellbound as the city donned its night-time finery and was slowly covered by a blanket of fog.

Come to me, Anna said, and I stood behind her, rolled her pants down and inched my way into her. With delicate movements she adjusted herself to the position, her forehead and the palms of her hands resting against the window. When Anna said ‘glass will break’ it took me a moment to understand that the definite article was missing and that she was telling me to pay attention to the forcefulness of my movements and the shuddering of the window panes.

At that very moment, Don was making his rounds in the neighbourhoods of my old office and apartment as well as exploring the six addresses where an Anna Starzava was known to live. He chose varying times: in the morning and evening and then earlier in the morning and later in the evening. But even if he saw and photographed a few Anna Starzavas he didn’t see me and couldn’t link me to any of the women.

When, after three days of such efforts, his detailed report arrived, Udi convened a staff meeting.

It’s possible that Paul has gone to live at the woman’s place and from the various options we have we don’t know which of them is the right Starzava. Perhaps the two of them have left St Petersburg and may be part of his attempt to cover his tracks. Here’s what I want to do. We need to have a number of fixed vantage points: the office, the house, and the addresses of the various Starzavas. We have to tail women seen leaving these addresses who could be our Anna Starzava and that, maybe, will lead us to him. If he’s not working in his office then it would seem he must have some other work. He needs to do something to earn a living. All of that is for you to handle, Levanon, assuming, of course, they’re still in St Petersburg.

Udi then turned to Alex. We need a Russian to start investigating the Russian-Canadian, or St Petersburg-Montreal chambers of commerce, the register of companies, and real estate offices, in case some Canadian has rented an office from them, and so on and so forth.