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“We’re shooting Olga’s new video,” said Joonas, after staring at Odelia for a few seconds, as if to ascertain whether she was joking or not. “She’s a famous influencer with thousands of followers, and now that we’re in Paris we’re stocking up on fresh vids for her socials.”

“TikTok, Insta, Facebook, Snapchat,” the girl started rattling off, displaying extremely long and pointy shiny pink fingernails.

“I wouldn’t like to be on the receiving end of those,” said Dooley.

“Yeah, they look sharper than ours,” I said.

“So you’re in town for these… shoots?” asked Odelia.

“Yeah, basically,” said Joonas.

“And for meeting with your mom,” Olga said, her accent thick and heavy.

“I don’t think that’s relevant,” said Joonas.

“Oh, but I think it is,” said Odelia. “You were meeting with your mom? Was that why she was in town?”

“I very much doubt that,” said the guy, still giving Odelia odd looks, as if figuring her questions weren’t very intelligent. “She said she was here on holiday.”

“Okay, so you had your meeting with your mom,” said Odelia, valiantly plowing on. “When was this?”

“Yesterday,” said Olga, tapping on the screen with her long nails. It made a funny clicking sound that was more soothing than annoying. Very ASMR indeed!

“What time?” asked Odelia.

“Is that important?” asked Joonas.

“I’m trying to establish a timeline of events leading up to your mother’s murder,” said Odelia. Joonas winced at the mention of the word ‘murder.’ “So yes, I’d say it’s very important.”

“Excuse me, but who are you again?” asked Olga.

“Yeah, and why all the questions?” asked Joonas.

“I thought you discussed this with Mr. Sheffield?” asked Odelia.

“All he said was that there was this woman who wanted to talk to us about my mom. He didn’t say why or how or what.”

I could tell that Odelia was quickly losing patience with these two, but still she went through the motions of introducing herself and explaining her bona fides.

“Okay, so we saw your mom at two o’clock yesterday afternoon,” said Olga, consulting her phone. “And the meeting lasted until three-fifteen.”

“And what did you talk about?” asked Odelia.

Silence from both parties, and stony looks.

“Just that Astra told people that you were asking for money to invest in a new business venture and she wasn’t happy about it. Not happy at all. In fact she complained that you were trying to fleece her. Her words, not mine.”

Gasps of shock and outrage—fake or not—were being projected, and finally Joonas said, “That is so not true! Who told you that?”

“A reliable source,” said Odelia, and this time it was her turn to put on a stony-faced expression.

“I asked her to invest, but I certainly wasn’t trying to fleece her!”

“And? Did she agree to invest?”

“She said she’d think about it,” said Joonas, studying his own fingernails. At least he’d stopped checking his watch every couple of seconds. “Look, we’ve got this amazing opportunity right now. This amazing project, and all it needs is just a little bit of funding and we’d be off theground and flying!”

“Flying high,” said Olga, deadpan, her eyes never leaving her phone’s screen.

“But I should have known she wouldn’t recognize the chance of a lifetime.”

“So she turned you down.”

“She said she’d think about it!” said Joonas between gritted teeth.

“It’s me,” said Olga. “She doesn’t like me. She thinks I’m no good for her son.”

“As if she’s ever been much of a mom to me,” Joonas scoffed. “I’ve lived with my dad all my life,” he explained. “Astra was always off shooting some movie or TV show someplace. She and my dad divorced when I was ten, so it’s almost as if I never had a mom. Not really. And now that Ioffered her the opportunity to finally do something for me for a change, she flatly—”

“Said she’d think about it,” Olga interjected, shooting her partner a warning glance.

“So you’re engaged to be married?” asked Odelia. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” said Joonas with a glance at his fianc?e’s engagement ring. “Look, how much longer is this going to take? I don’t know who killed my mom, and Olga doesn’t know who killed my mom, so this is all just a big waste of time.”

“A colossal waste of time,” Olga chimed in.

“Why didn’t Astra like you, Olga?” asked Odelia.

Olga seemed startled by this direct approach.“I don’t know,” she said, looking up from her phone for the first time. “I’m a likable person. I’d make a good wife.”

“I think we just caught her at a bad time, that’s all,” said Joonas.

“A bad time? And why was that, you think?” asked Odelia.

“Just my impression. She lay into Olga from the get-go. Never gave her a chance.”

“She was a snob,” said Olga determinedly. “Didn’t think I was good enough for her son. She thought I was some peasant girl. I’ll have you know that my family is very rich. My father is an important politician in Moscow. Very important man.”

“So maybe you should ask him to invest in your business,” I suggested, but of course she couldn’t understand what I said.