Episode 9: Wreckage in a Winter Wonderland
Part 2
Despite the crime scene tape across Yuna’s door, a flash of his credentials allowed Nick to compare notes with the police detectives who were there investigating. So far, they had found no evidence. Their subsequent tour of the small apartment revealed nothing substantial.
“I don’t think we’re gonna find nothin’ here,” Styx spoke up dismissively. “Y’all are right — we oughta start with the competition, anyone who would benefit from takin’ her outta commission.”
Nick arched an eyebrow, taken aback by the rookie’s sudden assertiveness. “Sounds good…” he said slowly. “You heard the man, Lancy. Who should we talk to, and where would we find them?”
Lancy beamed. “The ladies short program is in two days. Any girl within medal contention will be practicing at the Coliseum.”
“Then back to the Coliseum we go!” announced Diamond, hooking her arm through Lancy’s elbow as they led the way back out into the cold Canadian air.
It was a short, four-mile ride to the Pacific Coliseum, where Lancy said all of the figure skating events were hosted. “We were just here Friday night for the ice dancing compulsory dance — and we have tickets tonight for the original dance!” Lancy gibbered excitedly as they entered the building. “The free dance is tomorrow night — oh, I hope Tanith and Ben pull through! They got the silver in Torino, you know, but they really deserve gold!”
“Lancy’s favorite ice dancing pair,” Diamond explained when Nick and Styx exchanged bewildered looks. “In pairs, it’s Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett, and in men’s singles, he lusts after Evan Lysacek.”
“Tall, dark, and handsome… the Greek God of the ice,” sighed Lancy.
“Yeah, Lancy tried to jump onto the ice to tackle him when he won the gold the other night,” Diamond laughed.
Styx gave them both a revolted look.
“And for the ladies…” continued Diamond.
Lancy whispered just two words: “My Queen.” He bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, sniffling back tears. “My ice queen. She’s… so lovely. So much talent and grace… So much–”
“So much to be jealous of. Ain’t that right?” Styx interrupted. “Who’d be at the top of the jealousy list?”
Lancy shook his head regretfully. “Well… of course, there’s Mao Asada of Japan. She’s the only one Yuna’s lost to in the last two seasons, at the 2008 Worlds and Grand Prix finals. Not to mention, they’re the same age — nineteen — and from neighboring countries. They’re natural rivals.”
“Then we should start with her. Who else?”
“There’s also Miki Ando, Mao’s teammate. She was the 2007 World Champion and came in second at this year’s Grand Prix — behind Yuna, of course.”
“So if Yuna hadn’t competed, she would have won.” Styx smirked. “There’s a motive.”
“But South Korea’s not just pointing fingers at Japan.” Nick shook his head. “Who are the top skaters from other countries?”
“Joannie Rochette is the home favorite,” Lancy replied immediately. “She’s been the Canadian champ six years running.”
“What about ours?” Nick asked, crossing his arms.
“It’s a toss-up between Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu. They’re both a long shot for the gold, but Rachael is consistent — she’s medaled at Nationals the last three years, winning gold this year — and Mirai has the same ‘it’ factor her idol Michelle Kwan had.”
“Kwan never won an Olympic gold, did she?” asked Styx. Nick raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Lancy sighed and shook his head. “Alas, no. She took silver in Nagano, bronze in Salt Lake City, and had to drop out due to an injury before the Torino games.”
“So this new girl… what was her name?” Styx paused for confirmation.
“Mirai Nagasu?”
“Yeah… Nagasu — she Asian, right?”
“Japanese-American, yeah!”
“So maybe she wants to win for all the Asian-American skaters; maybe she wants to avenge Michelle Kwan’s defeats,” Styx theorized wildly.
“You think??” Lancy’s eyes were like saucers; he was clearly enjoying the drama of all the speculation.
Nick eyed his protégé again, impressed that Styx considered all the possible motives — unlikely as some of them were. He had assumed the newbie had been recruited for his brawn more than his brains, but maybe that wasn’t the case.
“We gotta talk to them all,” Styx crossed his arms, nodding to himself firmly. “It could be any of ‘em. The Canadian has the home-field advantage; she could have gotten anyone to abduct Yuna. On the other hand, it easily could have been the Japanese or the Americans, maybe even trying to frame each other. I mean, no one’s forgotten Pearl Harbor or Hiroshima, have they?”
Everyone stared at Styx.
“Those are all possibilities…” Diamond frowned. “…if another skater was involved. But who knows, there’s always a possibility it was random or planned to look like an extreme rivalry.”
“A top skater disappears four days before the start of her event? That ain’t no coincidence,” Styx replied dismissively, shaking his head. “It’s gotta be someone involved in the Games. Now we just gotta figure out who.”
As they pondered, they had come full circle, returning to the Pacific Coliseum. Once inside, they circled the arena, looking for any of the aforementioned skaters or members of their respective teams. They counted on Lancy to recognize these potential suspects as none of the others followed figure skating in the slightest.
What they had not counted on — except for Diamond, who had already witnessed it — was Lancy’s reaction when he spotted one of them. “OHMYGOD! JOANNIE! JOANNIE ROCHETTE!!!”
A young woman with a blonde ponytail approached them in a red-and-white warm-up suit and offered a smile. “Hello.” Nick could pick out the French accent in her voice.
“James Lancybassy,” said Lancy, thrusting his hand out to take hers. “I’ve been following you since Torino. Congratulations on your sixth Canadian championship! You must be so excited to be going for gold in your home country, right?!”
Joannie smiled. “It’s very exciting, yes.”
“What about Francois-Louis? He must be so excited for you too, right?! Are you guys just super-psyched to be competing together in another Olympics?!” Before the skater could answer, Lancy turned to the others and added, “Her boyfriend — he’s a Canadian speed-skater, and they met at the 2006 Olympics in Torino! Isn’t that just too precious?!”
Joannie looked quite taken aback, but she offered another polite smile and replied, “Yes, yes, Francois is very supportive. We support each other.”
“Is he nervous about the 5000-meter relay finals? OHMYGOD!” Lancy suddenly gasped. Nick, who had been marveling over Lancy’s sudden interest in sports, raised his eyebrows. “His relay team took the silver in Torino, didn’t they?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“They lost to… the SOUTH KOREANS!!!” Lancy’s eyes bugged out of their sockets. He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, flapping his hands, too discombobulated to speak.
Nick understood. That only solidified a motive. Not only was Joannie the underdog to the missing South Korean skating phenom, but her boyfriend had lost to the South Korean team four years ago. Perhaps they both held a grudge. Perhaps they’d teamed up to make sure they weren’t thwarted by a South Korean athlete again.
He stepped forward, whipping out his badge. “The name’s Carter. Nick Carter. I’d like to ask you a few questions, Miss Rochette…”
***
“Nothing,” grumbled Nick after a full day at the skating rink, during which Lancy had tracked down and interviewed every skater he’d mentioned, as well as their coaches and Joannie Rochette’s boyfriend, the speed-skater. While Lancy had acted more like an overexcited E! red carpet host than an interrogator, Nick, Diamond, and Styx had managed to get the important questions in.
They still had alibis to confirm, but none of their suspects had raised any red flags. There was no evidence to prove that the rival skaters had anything to do with Kim Yuna’s disappearance. They seemed equally disturbed by her vanishing and concerned about her whereabouts, leaving the HimTak agents with no real leads.
“But it’s gotta be one of them!” Styx insisted as they made their way back to the arena’s entrance. People were already lining up for the ice dancing event that would take place that evening. Lancy fished out his and Diamond’s tickets, eager to join the other spectators.
“But which one?” countered Nick. “We’ve got nothing to go off of, no leads in any direction, no… um, what the fuck is that?” He pointed, distracted by the sight of a large, black-and-white costumed creature with an immense head dancing around in front of a merchandise stand.
“Oh, that’s Miga!” Lancy exclaimed. “He’s one of the Olympic mascots!”
“What’s it supposed to be?” Nick asked, squinting. The costumed figure looked sort of like a skinny, anime-style panda.
“He’s a mythical sea bear: part orca and part Kermode bear.”
Nick nodded slowly. “Uh-huh…” He watched the mascot making jazz hands with his puffy red mittens.
“The other mascot is Quatchi, a Sasquatch,” Lancy went on. “And then there’s Sumi, the Paralympics mascot. He’s part orca, part black bear, and part thunderbird.”
“What the fuck’s a thunderbird?”
“A supernatural bird of Native American legend,” Lancy answered promptly.
Nick gave him an odd look. “Since when did you turn into a walking encyclopedia, Lancy?”
“What do you think I do all day while you’re out saving the world, 00Carter?” Lancy grinned. “I surf Wikipedia! Well, someone has to make sure all of HimTak’s secrets stay off there!” he added defensively when Nick smirked.
“Hey, I’m not sayin’ nothin’. K’s the one paying your salary.” Nick snickered.
“And thank goodness he does, or I wouldn’t have been able to afford these fabulous tickets!” gushed Lancy, waving them about. He presented Diamond hers with a flourish. “Excuse us, gentlemen, but we’d best be getting in line. Tanith and Ben await! Meet you back at the hotel?”
“Sure,” said Nick. “What’s your room number?”
“269.” Lancy reached into his man-purse with a sly smile and withdrew a key card. Slipping it into Nick’s hand, he murmured, “Just let yourself in. I’ll be waiting…”
“Uh… ‘kay. See ya later.” Shooting Diamond a bewildered glance, Nick turned to Styx. “Dude… let’s go.”
***