‘Let me look at this patient of yours,’ I said to change the subject, for there was a sting of truth in what my friend was saying.
We spent over an hour with the man. I explained Dr K’s experimental system of wound drainage. Tomas said he would ask Dr Lazovert to speak to Prince Yusupov so that they could obtain the necessary equipment. It was galling to think that the officer class would have access to this innovation, while the ordinary soldier languished in a poorly provided hospital scarcely a mile across the city.
When we’d finished, we made our way down the staircase to the kitchens. The landing windows looked out onto the beautiful snow-covered gardens and courtyard. Below us we heard a motor engine and twin beams of light pierced the darkness.
‘It’s gone eleven o’clock,’ said Tomas. ‘One of Prince Yusupov’s guests is late for his mysterious supper party.’
We paused on the landing floor. So it was that we both saw the car stop and Dr Lazovert emerge from the driver’s seat to walk round to the opposite side. He opened the passenger door and offered his arm to the person inside.
A large man climbed out. Framed in the headlamps, his shirt reflecting bright white from the snowy ground, there was no mistaking the figure of Grigory Rasputin.
Chapter 28
‘It’s none of our business,’ said Tomas.
‘But don’t you think it strange that Rasputin arrives here secretly so late at night?’ I asked. We’d carried on down to the kitchens and were sitting on stools enjoying a piece of chicken washed down with some pale ale.
‘Strange things go on in the Moika Palace late at night,’ said Tomas. ‘Prince Yusupov holds séances and Ouija board sessions. His society has an unhealthy interest in the occult. He entertains disreputable people from every walk of life and indulges in every vain pursuit that money can afford.’
It was obvious that Tomas was uncomfortable talking about his host so I decided to leave it. In any case, I was tired. Unaccustomed to having my stomach so full of food, and woozy with the beer, I wanted to go home and sleep.
As I got up Tomas said, ‘Please let Nina know that I was enquiring after her health.’
‘I will,’ I said, ‘although she pays scant attention to anything I say.’
‘That’s not true, Stefan. When we’d converse she was forever quoting your opinion on subjects. Things you said around your dinner table.’
‘Really?’ I replied. ‘I never thought that she paid any heed—’ I was interrupted by a sudden sharp noise. ‘What was that?’
‘It sounded like a gun going off.’ Tomas went to the kitchen door and opened it a crack. ‘It came from Yusupov’s private apartments.’
‘I thought Yusupov didn’t like guns,’ I said. ‘Isn’t that why he didn’t enlist in the army?’
‘Should we investigate in case anyone is hurt?’
‘If they kill each other off it will save the Bolsheviks the bother,’ I said.
‘But we are doctors …’ Tomas said.
‘Oh, very well.’ I gave in to his kind heart. ‘I’ll come with you. It’s worth the price of a jug of ale. But let’s be cautious. They might think that having finished our work we want to join their party.’
We went to the main door of the palace and rang the bell. Faintly we heard a gramophone record playing music with a lively tune.
‘They can’t hear us,’ said Tomas. ‘Let us go down to the kitchens again and into the gardens to the courtyard.’
We’d just stepped outside when there was the sound of another muffled explosion. This time the noise was unmistakable. It was definitely a firearm going off.
‘I’m not sure that we should interfere.’ I stepped hastily behind a pillar and Tomas came with me.
On the other side of the gardens a door crashed open.
Rasputin staggered out. He was foaming at the mouth and bellowing with the full power of his lungs. ‘Help me!’ he howled. ‘For Mother Russia! Someone hear me and help me!’ Roaring and screaming, he flailed his arms wildly.
A figure appeared at the door he had come through. Silhouetted from behind, it was hard to tell who it was. Not tall enough for the doctor, yet too broad to be Yusupov.
He raised a gun in his hand. Took aim and fired.
Rasputin fell down – the red blood from his body a sharp contrast on the white snow-covered ground. He got onto all fours and clawed his way along a few more paces.
The man approached him, step by determined step. This assassin kicked the body, which was squirming at his feet. Not once, but several times. Then he lifted his foot to stamp upon the defenceless man’s head.
I started forward, but Tomas held me in a neck lock. ‘Nothing we can do!’ he sobbed in my ear. ‘Nothing we can do. Stefan, listen to me. If they know we are here, we are dead men.’
The man bent over and grasped Rasputin by the collar of his coat. He heaved the body round so that it faced upwards. Then he leaned over and, placing the gun to Rasputin’s forehead, fired a single shot.
Tomas dragged me to a side gate and out into a lane. We tottered towards the river, where both of us were violently sick. I chipped some ice and put it in my mouth to swill away the spew and rid myself of the taste on my tongue.
Tomas spat into our foul-smelling vomit. ‘Waste of good beer,’ he said.
We were crouched so low that the car was almost upon us before we noticed it, the engine purring as it inched along the road. We flattened ourselves into the gutter.
‘Yusupov’s car,’ Tomas groaned. ‘Are they searching for us?’
I risked a peek. The driver was facing straight ahead, concentrating on the road. ‘I don’t think so,’ I said hoarsely. ‘He’s driving like that to be as quiet as possible. Perhaps they’re getting rid of the corpse before morning.’
Instinctively we began to follow them. They drove so slowly that we were able to keep them in our sights. The car stopped at the parapet of the Bolshoy Petrovsky Bridge. It was a night of high cloud, with the moon luminescent amid a multitude of stars. When we reached the bridge, one of the men was on the riverbank with a hammer in his hand, trying to batter a hole in the frozen surface.
‘Here!’ he cried out in muted tones.
The other two manoeuvred a bulky object from the car. It was weighted with chains, which clanked as they towed the body of Rasputin down the slope. They pushed him off the bank and guided the corpse to the hole in the ice. Below, the current of the river would be moving and breaking up ice into floes downstream.
They hefted the body through and it plunged into the depths.
I was hardly aware of them getting into the car and driving off. My eyes were fixed on the long streak of blood smeared across the surface of the frozen river.
‘We must never speak of what we have seen this night, Stefan. Stefan!’ Tomas was shouting at me. ‘Are you paying attention? Stefan!’
‘Yes. Yes,’ I said. My head was spinning; my breath coming in great ragged lumps, the scientific part of my brain trying to deduce whether I was taking in too much oxygen or not enough.
We separated – both of us heading for home by a circuitous route via back streets and alleys. I crept silently into Dr K’s house. There was a light shining from under the door of the dining room. Without thinking I brushed my fingers upon the wooden panels.
‘Come in.’
Nina was sitting up reading a book. In the glow from the bedside lamp, her hair gleamed gold as it cascaded around her shoulders. ‘Stefan!’ she said in surprise. ‘I thought it was Galena knocking.’ She paused. ‘Is there something I can help you with?’
I didn’t speak.
She peered closer. Then she dropped the book, scrambled out of bed and came towards me. ‘What is wrong? Tell me! Why are you so distraught?’
I couldn’t form the words on my tongue. I gulped and gasped and then managed to say: ‘Tonight I witnessed a murder.’
Chapter 29
‘Murder!’
In disbelief I repeated what Stefan had said
. ‘Witness to a murder? Who has been murdered?’
He couldn’t reply, just stood, unable to move – as if saying those words had sent him into shock. From this rigid state he went into a fit of shaking. I ran to Dr K’s study and poured a measure of brandy. I led Stefan to my bed, made him sit down and then held the glass, which knocked against his clenched teeth.
‘Drink it!’ I said in my firmest nursing voice.
But he was trapped in a state of terror. He cast his glance about the room as if there were monsters lurking in the corners. As if beasts might leap out at any moment and rip him apart.
‘Shot in front of me,’ he said. ‘Shot right in front of my eyes. Falling down in the snow. Blood spilling out, staining the snow red.’
‘Who?’ I asked him. ‘Who fell down in the snow?’
‘Mama.’ He spoke in the voice of a lost child. ‘My mama fell down in the snow. Her eyes are open, but she cannot see me. I can see her. But she cannot see me.’
My heart trembled. ‘Your mama is not here, Stefan.’
He looked at me with an air of bewilderment.
‘I’d like you to drink this,’ I said, offering the brandy glass again.
‘Where is my mama?’
‘She is not here. But I am,’ I said. ‘I am Nina, and I am here.’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘You are Nina.’
‘I am Nina and I would like you to drink this brandy.’ I coaxed the glass to his lips.
‘I’m cold,’ he said. ‘So very cold.’
I set down the brandy. Taking my green and purple shawl which was draped over my shoulders, I wrapped it around his, and pulled it tight to try to bring some warmth to his body. I reached for the glass again. ‘Stefan, please drink the brandy,’ I whispered.
His teeth parted and the liquid burned his throat. He spluttered, and I patted his back with the flat of my hand as nurses do to ease a patient’s racking cough. The shaking stopped and he shook his head a few times, as if beginning to be conscious of where he actually was.
‘Nina …’ He turned to me.
His eyes were on a level with my mine. Deepening pools of amber. His breath was on my face. And the next moment he was in my arms, and … and … I’d no idea that a kiss from a man could be like that, to send a wild fire coursing—
‘What am I doing!’ Stefan drew back and jumped up from the bed. ‘I didn’t mean to take advantage of you. My behaviour is appalling. I regret what has happened here. Nina, I am very sorry.’
I looked up at him. Penitent – like a small boy caught in a misdemeanour, his black hair tousled. Colour rising in his handsome face.
A range of emotions was surging through me but the one thing I did not feel was regret.
For what had just happened, I was not sorry at all!
Chapter 30
‘Who do you think has been murdered?’ I steadied my voice as best I could.
‘Rasputin.’
‘Father Grigory Rasputin?’
Stefan nodded.
I was astounded. I expected him to say that on his way home he’d run into some street brawl and inadvertently got himself involved in it.
‘How can you possibly know this? Were you in his company?’
‘I met Tomas coming from the hospital. He was on his way back to the Moika Palace, having been on an errand for Dr Lazovert to collect some potassium crystals from the pharmacy— Oh!’ Stefan broke off, looking at me in horror. ‘Tomas and I are so stupid! The plan was to poison Rasputin! I saw the doctor grinding up the crystals into a powder. No doubt they sprinkled it on the cakes and pastries. It’s why they arranged the table as if people had already eaten some of the food – so Rasputin wouldn’t be suspicious. The intention wasn’t to shoot him. That’s why it turned into such a chaotic mess.’
‘Whose plan was it to poison Rasputin? What mess are you talking about?’
And then Stefan told me what had happened in the Moika Palace and afterwards at the river. I was silent as the full wickedness of the events was related.
‘Is Father Grigory definitely dead?’
‘Yes,’ said Stefan.
‘You are absolutely sure of this?’
‘I am. By now Rasputin is more dead than any corpse I’ve ever seen. They pushed him below the ice on the Neva. If he was not dead when he entered the water, then he most certainly is now.’
‘This is a tragedy. For the poor man himself, and for his wife and children.’
‘Yes,’ said Stefan. ‘I thought him a selfish shyster, but no one deserves to die in such a manner.’
‘His relatives will have no body to pray over, no grave to visit,’ I said. ‘That will be a heartache.’
‘It won’t be long before his absence is noticed,’ said Stefan, ‘and his family will report it to the police.’
I knew that there was another family who would take note of his absence. In the Alexander Palace the Tsarina and her children would build their anxiety to a crisis. And then another thought struck me. One that caused my throat to constrict in fear. ‘Did anyone see you or Tomas? Were you followed here?’
‘I can’t be sure, but I don’t think so.’
‘I’ll look outside.’
The street was empty, but the Okhrana had spies everywhere.
‘I should go to my attic,’ Stefan said. ‘Galena will be getting up soon. If she found me in your room like this she’d horsewhip me.’
‘Horsewhip you!’ I scoffed. ‘Galena adores you. You are the son she never had.’
‘If I hold the position of son, then you are the daughter of this house.’
I smiled. ‘Is it sibling rivalry then, that we so often clash?’
‘Earlier tonight Tomas told me that I spoke to you in a dismissive manner.’
I raised my eyebrows and waited. I wasn’t going to make it easy for him.
Stefan bit his lip, striving to overcome the obstacle of his pride. ‘It isn’t done intentionally to offend you.’
I was so glad that he’d admitted this that I decided to be merciful and change the subject. ‘Speaking of Galena,’ I said, ‘we shouldn’t tell her or Dr K what you saw tonight.’
‘There’s no point,’ Stefan agreed.
‘What has happened … has happened,’ I said. ‘If the assassins didn’t see you or Tomas, then it’s safer that no one else knows you were there.’
‘The body may never be found,’ said Stefan. ‘It is weighted with chains. The current should drag it towards the sea.’
But the aura of malevolence which surrounded Rasputin would not dissipate with his death.
We looked at each other. We both knew that the body of Rasputin would be found.
Chapter 31
Two days elapsed before a policeman patrolling the bank of the River Neva noticed an object wedged in the frozen surface.
‘It took them twenty minutes to cut through the ice to get to him,’ Galena told us at dinner that night. ‘A woman in the bread queue is married to a fireman in the Nevsky Brigade.’ She lowered her voice. ‘It wasn’t an accident. Rasputin didn’t fall down in a drunken stupor. The body was weighted with chains. This woman says he was found lying on his back with his hands up, fingers curved, as if he was trying to claw his way out from under the ice. Rasputin must have been alive when they threw him in.’
‘He couldn’t have been alive when he was put in the river!’ In an immediate reaction, the unguarded words flew from Stefan’s mouth.
‘What makes you say that?’ Dr K looked searchingly at him.
‘If Rasputin’s body was tied with chains,’ I said quickly, ‘then it’s most likely he was dead.’
‘Yes,’ said Stefan. ‘Obviously.’
‘Maybe not,’ said Galena.
‘Grigory Rasputin was without doubt dead before he entered the river.’ Dr K spoke very deliberately. ‘His body was brought to the morgue at the City Hospital for a preliminary examination before being impounded by the Secret Police.’
‘Did you see him?’ Galena ask
ed.
‘Briefly. To ascertain that there was no sign of life. The post mortem will be done by a police surgeon, with forensic tests and a full pathology report.’
‘If you only saw him for a short time, how can you know that he didn’t drown, or wasn’t suffocated under the ice?’ Galena was not giving up her quest for more details.
Dr K hesitated. ‘This information must not be shared with the ladies of the bread queue, or indeed anywhere else.’
‘Of course not!’ Galena said indignantly. ‘What do you take me for? A common gossip? Over the years I have kept silent about many things I’ve seen and heard in this house.’
‘Forgive me.’ Dr K stretched out his hand to her. In response Galena tossed her head. ‘I apologize,’ he said. ‘To everyone at this table,’ he added. ‘I’m trying to protect you. These are dangerous days and I fear the consequences of this murder will echo around the world and never be forgotten.’
‘Well then, tell us.’ Galena smiled at him to show he was forgiven. ‘What makes you say that Rasputin was dead before going under the ice?’
‘He’d been shot in the forehead. There were other serious injuries which would have killed him more slowly. But the bullet in the brain was the one which rapidly terminated his life.’
I murmured what I thought was an appropriate response, while Stefan bent his head and focused on eating his food. I sensed that Dr K was observing both of us. Galena chatted on, telling us of the situation on the streets, where factories were running out of coal and the owners were refusing to pay the workers even though it wasn’t their fault that they couldn’t work – until, nearing the end of the meal, the front doorbell rang.
‘I’ll wash up the dishes,’ I said as Galena rose to answer the door.
‘And I’ll help Nina, if you have work to do,’ Stefan said to Dr K.
The doctor quirked an eyebrow, but went in the direction of his study.
‘Now they have found Rasputin’s body, we must be careful what we say,’ Stefan whispered to me.
The Rasputin Dagger Page 15
