Ambassador Lev Romanov (Rus: Лев Романов; 1934–1969) was a suspect in the murder investigations of spy Billy Snapshot in Gone in 30 Seconds (Case #7 of Travel in Time) and his girlfriend, actress Lorna Westerberg, in What Happens in Vegas... (Case #9 of Travel in Time) before being murdered in Crime and Punishment (Case #10 of Travel in Time).
Profile
Lev was the 35-year-old Soviet Ambassador, who was also the father of the late Natasha Romanova and the grandfather of Marina. He had auburn hair, blue eyes and a stubble. Lev was seen wearing a white shirt with blue and pink stripes underneath a blue suit. He also sported a red tie, a gold badge with a brown Soviet insignia, along with a gold watch on his left hand.
In his first appearance, Lev sported a rash on the right side of his forehead. It is known that Lev ate tomato soup, smoked hand-rolled cigarettes and saw Starshine the Musical.
In his second appearance, Lev's rash had healed. Additionally, he was seen holding a cigar between the first and middle fingers of his left hand. It is discovered that he ate shrimp cocktail, was superstitious, had seen What's Up, Daddy-O and drank kissel.
| Height | 6'0" |
|---|---|
| Age | 35 |
| Weight | 175 lbs |
| Eyes | blue |
| Blood | A+ |
Events of Criminal Case
Gone in 30 Seconds
Lev became a suspect after the team identified the victim as a Soviet spy, prompting Jack and the player to speak with Lev as he was the Soviet Ambassador. When they presented Lev with the victim's Soviet passport, he claimed to have never seen him in his life, but assured the team that he would look into it.
Lev was spoken to again about the fact that the victim was spying on him. He admitted that Billy was working as a spy for the Soviets, but slowly realized that Billy had started to follow him. He then denied killing Billy and reminded the team that he had diplomatic immunity.
Lev was found to be innocent after the team incarcerated Ellie Argent for Billy's murder.
What Happens in Vegas...
Lev became a suspect again after Nebet and the player (per Theo) learned that Lev had shared a drink with the victim in her hotel room. He told the team that he had bumped into her at the hotel and that she had invited him to her room for a drink, classing their encounter as nothing more than a pleasant chance meeting.
Lev was spoken to again about his underwear in Lorna's hotel room. After Nebet insinuated that he was betraying his motherland, he informed the team that, as long as he was discreet, his relationships carried no weight for his work. He then admitted that Lorna had wanted to publicize their relationship, but he had quickly convinced her into silence.
Lev was found to be innocent again after the team incarcerated Frankie Paisley for Lorna's murder. Later, Zara and the player discovered an audio bug in Lorna's suitcase. Per Kai, the audio bug proved that Lorna had bought Leonardo da Vinci's "Ruminations On Time" (the manuscript the team needed to fix the time machine machine) for Lev. Upon questioning, he informed the team that he was a collector of ancient documents and that he had locked the manuscript away at his home in Washington, DC. This prompted the team to collaborate with experienced thief Nicoletta Marconi to attempt to steal the manuscript from the embassy.
Murder details
Lev's body was found by the gate of the Soviet embassy, strangled to death. Janis determined that Lev had been strangled with a thin metal wire. She also found a crumpled piece of paper in his mouth. The paper was a page that had been torn out of a copy of Crime and Punishment. This allowed Janis to conclude that the killer had read Crime and Punishment.
Back at the embassy, Jack and the player found a blood-stained garrote watch hidden in a rosebush. Janis filed the watch as the murder weapon and isolated skin cells from the watchband that had come from the killer's wrist. From the skin cells, Janis was able to conclude that the killer was older than 40.
Relationship with suspects
Lev's body had been discovered by Nicoletta when she tried to disable the Soviet Embassy's security system. Prior to his murder, he had met with Marina, who was under the guise of a journalist. During their conversation, Marina berated him for his harsh treatment of his daughter, her mother, Natasha. His wife, Ekaterina Romanova, was planning to leave Lev and take Natasha to stay with her parents, although Lev prevented her from leaving. Lev had also been interrogated by KGB agent Zavrazin to determine his allegiance to the Soviet Union (a test which he had passed) and he blackmailed American Congressman Graham Winslow over his drug use.
Killer and motives
The killer turned out to be Winslow.
Winslow admitted to killing the ambassador to kickstart an armed conflict between the Soviet Union and USA so that the USA could wipe out the Soviet Union immediately. The team then took him to the judge to answer for his crimes.
Trivia
- Lev is one of the characters to appear as a suspect twice.
- Lev is one of the characters to appear as a suspect in the second-to-last case of a time period, only to be murdered in the very time period's finale.
Case appearances
- Gone in 30 Seconds (Case #7 of Travel in Time)
- What Happens in Vegas... (Case #9 of Travel in Time)
- Crime and Punishment (Case #10 of Travel in Time)
Gallery
