He turned further pages. “Exemplary record, until…”
“Until the theft?” Ruzsky prompted.
Shulgin cleared his throat. “Until then, yes.”
“So she worked in the nursery here?”
“Yes.”
“What did her duties involve?”
“She assisted in the nursery.”
“Looking after the Tsarevich?”
Shulgin didn’t respond.
“When he was sick?”
Shulgin flushed. “The Tsarevich’s health is not a matter for public discussion.”
“Of course not, but as a member of the household staff, and one with such an important role, she would have had access to other sections of the palace?”
Shulgin frowned.
“Presumably, the money she stole wasn’t kept in the nursery.”
“As I’ve said, the events surrounding her dismissal are a matter for the palace alone.”
“What if I said that the man in the photograph I just showed to you was a notorious American criminal and labor agitator?”
Shulgin stared at him uncomprehendingly. “I do not understand…”
“Was she ever seen with the man? Would any of the other palace staff have met him? Who were her friends?”
Shulgin shook his head. “She was a very quiet girl. A labor agitator?”
“Yes.”
“An American?”
“Yes.”
“What was he doing in Petersburg?”
“That is what we would like to know.” Ruzsky leaned forward. “If Ella stole something-a sum of money, or perhaps something else-then isn’t it possible, indeed probable, that this man was involved? Assuming that she had never behaved in this way before…”
Shulgin stared out of the window, deep in thought.
“What Ella stole is of quite some significance to us, Colonel Shulgin, do you see that?”
He still did not answer.
Ruzsky glanced at Pavel. They waited.
“Ella… she was not a bad girl. I did not know her well, but she was quiet, shy, quite solemn. What you have said… a man, leading her astray, it would make some sense of her actions. The Empress… we were all surprised. Shocked.” Shulgin gazed into the middle distance. “The Empress was very cast down by this. It was a sign of the times, in her eyes. With so many difficulties outside the palace, to be betrayed by one of your own staff, from within… You understand.”
“She confessed to her crime?” Ruzsky asked.
Shulgin hesitated again. “Yes.”
“And regretted her actions?”
“I believe so.”
“Did she mention the American?”
“No.”
“Or any man?”
“No.”
“You never heard her refer to him in any way?”
Shulgin shook his head.
“So why did she do it?”
“I have no idea.”
“Was she short of money?”
Shulgin’s jaw tightened. “As I have said on several occasions, I am not prepared to discuss the circumstances of her dismissal.”
Ruzsky leaned forward. “May we speak with other members of the staff? Those who knew her best, in the nursery perhaps?”
Shulgin placed the teacup on the table in front of them. “I will consider your request.”
Ruzsky stretched out his hand. “Colonel Shulgin, may I look at the file?”
Shulgin opened the file again and leafed through it, removing several pages before handing it over. “It is of no further use to us.”
Ruzsky and Pavel decided to walk back to Tsarskoe Selo Station, but stopped by the railings as soon as they had got far enough away from the gate to be beyond the eyes of the palace police. “What did you make of that?” Pavel asked.
“It wasn’t money.”
“Why not?”
“I’m just certain it wasn’t. Vyrubova was lying. If Ella really had stolen money, why not tell us and have done with it? No, she stole something else, much more embarrassing, that Shulgin couldn’t talk about.”
“Perhaps they had her killed.”
“Shulgin? Never. I’d say he is as confused as we are. And he’s no fool. He knows how everything hangs by a thread, and he’s worried. Three years ago, we’d not have made it through that gate under any circumstances.”
“I think you’re being too soft on them,” Pavel said. “If she stole something embarrassing, who’s to say they didn’t arrange to have her killed? Maybe they got the Okhrana to do it. Maybe the Empress arranged it herself.”
Ruzsky shook his head and opened the file. Ella Kovyil, it read, Born Yalta April 12, 1895. Father Ivan, postal worker, mother Anna, 14 Ilivichi Street. Employed June 29, 1910. References: schoolteacher Mme Ivinskaya, father Ivan Alexandrovich (former NCO, Preobrazhensky Guards 1890-1906).
“That’s why she got the job,” Ruzsky said. “Her father was in the Preobrazhenskys. He must have retired to the Crimea.”
Unmarried. Employment record: summer 1910, assistant in nursery at Livadia, and summer 1911. Autumn 1911, requested full employment and transfer to Tsarskoe Selo. Assistant nanny with special responsibility for Tsarevich. Remains in Post.
Somebody had written, by hand, at the end of the first sheet: Reliable. Category One.
Ruzsky showed this to Pavel. “Categorizing staff by loyalty,” he said.
“Yes, I suppose so.”
Most of the rest of the file was given over to Ella’s evaluations, which had been completed in December every year since she had reached Tsarskoe Selo. They were written by hand, never stretched to more than a paragraph, and signed at the bottom by Shulgin himself, alongside the palace seal.
Performs her duties adequately, the first sheet read, and is in possession of a cheerful manner. Claims to have formed a strong bond with the Tsarevich and has expressed a desire to concentrate on looking after his needs…
Ella can be somewhat careless over detail (and other nursery and household staff have had occasion to complain of poor moods and sloppy manners), but is considered reliable and honest…
Shy character, well suited to work in the nursery…
Time off is spent with mother in Petersburg…
Continued employment and security clearance granted.
In the evaluation for 1915, he noticed the line acquaintance of Father Grigory. The next year, Shulgin had written: spends time with Rasputin and Vyrubova, at cottage here, but also in Petrograd.
The last sheets contained details of her salary. She had begun earning ten rubles a month in Livadia, the Tsar’s palace in the Crimea, but her pay had not risen much over the years and remained low right up until her dismissal.
Pavel had been reading the notes over Ruzsky’s shoulder. “It’s good to know someone is paid less than us,” he said.
“Why give us this?” Ruzsky asked.
“What do you mean?”
“The details about Vyrubova and Rasputin. He removed several pages from the file, but he left this one in. Why?”
“I don’t see what you’re driving at.”
“I think Shulgin was trying to help us, as far as he feels he can.” Ruzsky held up the file. “He didn’t have to give us this at all, and he made a point of removing several pages. Therefore what we have, we have for a reason.” Ruzsky looked down again. “He has given us her background, and he’s linked her to Rasputin and Vyrubova.”
Ruzsky turned the page. The last sheet contained an address for Ella’s mother in Petrograd.
“Something tells me,” Ruzsky said, “that Ella was the real victim.”