You might say Grimley was the James Bond of his day. He arrived in Ekaterinburg shortly after the White Army chased the communists out and talked to the army officer investigating the murders. He found bullet holes and blood – but no bodies. The officer confided to Grimley that at most only two of the Romanovs had been murdered: the tsar and his son, who was heir to the throne. The officer's superiors suppressed his findings.'
'Why would they do that?'
'The Whites were commanded by a reactionary monarchist general on a divine mission to save Russia from ruin.
He wanted the public to believe that the Bolsheviks murdered women and children. The family were more valuable to his cause as martyrs than as living people.'
'What happened to the women?'
'It's all in Grimley's report. He suggested that the Bolsheviks moved the tsarina and the four girls before the male Romanovs were disposed of. The communists were in military trouble, and Lenin may have wanted the family as bargaining chips in case he got himself into a hash. Some researchers think the tsarina and her daughters were taken to a city called Perm, and stayed there until Perm came under attack by the Whites. Witnesses say the family was moved out with treasure and gold bullion that the communists had accumulated, and they and their treasure supposedly vanished from the official record on a train trip to Moscow. The Soviets clamped the lid down on all further information. It would have tarnished Lenin's halo if it got out that he was dealing with the Germans over the fate of the Romanovs.'
'What happened to the Romanov treasure?'
'Only a small fraction of it was ever found.'
'Your father reported his agent's findings to the king?'
'He filed a report saying that the mother and girls were probably alive and asked for help in putting together a rescue scheme. King George washed his hands of the affair, although he and Nicholas were related. Remember that the hated kaiser was cousin to George and Nicholas as well. Family loyalty only went so far among the royals. The king was afraid that he'd stir up the British left if he gave the women asylum. The tsarina was German by birth, and Germany was the enemy.'
'So no attempt was made to rescue them.'
'A rescue scheme was hatched by some Englishmen, but it didn't go anywhere because the family was moved. There were a couple of attempts by Cossacks, supported by Germans who wanted a restoration of Russia's imperial house. The kaiser may have felt guilty about inflicting Lenin on the tsar to take pressure off the Eastern Front. The most interesting plot was a scheme to kidnap the family and spirit them through German-occupied Ukraine, then across the Black Sea in a neutral ship.'
'Why did it fail?'
'It didn't, actually.'
'They were rescued?'
'Yes, but not by the Germans. The Cossacks didn't trust Germany. Somewhere along the way, possibly during that trek to Moscow, the intrepid band of Cossacks who had failed to save them once before managed to kidnap the family and fought their way to the Black Sea.'
Zavala picked up the manuscript. 'Major Yakelev?'
Dodson smiled. 'The Cossack officer must have been extremely resourceful and determined. Yakelev is vague about exactly how the women came under his protection. He was saving that for when he got out of Russia. The journal was to be published when the Romanovs made their appearance in Europe. This manuscript was to go to Europe by a neutral ship and would garner them the instant sympathy of the world. It came into the possession of my grandfather, and when the family failed to arrive, he kept it for want of anything better to do.'
'Do you have any idea who might have sunk the ship?'
'This is where it gets dicey,' Dodson said, with a frown.
'Especially in light of what you said about the ship having been sunk by gunfire.' He took a deep breath. 'As my father recounts it in his papers, the family were to be taken secretly to Turkey, where a German U-boat would be waiting to spirit them out of the country. Turkey was allied with Germany. Britain was told of the plan and agreed not to attack the V-boat on its way to Europe.'
'That was generous of the British.' Dodson guffawed. 'Oh, they were a wily bunch in the good old days. Their generosity was based on the assumption that the family would be captured by the Bolsheviks.'
'That was quite a gamble.'
'Not really. England told Lenin and his thugs that the family were escaping on the Odessa Star.'
'Your grandfather knew of this?'
'He argued strenuously against it, but was overruled.'
'By whom?'
'By King George.'
Zavala's eyes narrowed. 'I see why you were reluctant to make this information public. Some people might not like learning that the king was a traitorous informant and accessory to a multiple murder.'
'I don't know if I'd go so far as to identify the king as a criminal, though what he did was morally reprehensible. It was naivete on his part, but George never dreamed that Lenin would be so ruthless as to order them assassinated. My father said the king assumed the women would be kept in a convent. The Bolsheviks may have given the impression that no harm would come to them.'
They sat in silence for a few moments, alone with their thoughts, listening to the trill of the birds.
Zavala shook his head in puzzlement. 'There's something I don't get. A few years ago, the Russians dug up some bones that were supposedly identified as those of the Romanov family.'
'The Soviet government was masterful at fabricating evidence. I would assume that they passed along that skill to their successors. There may be some truth to the story of the tsar's bones, but even so, the remains of the boy, Alexis, and his sister the Grand Duchess Maria were never found.'
'Maria?'
'Yes, she was the second youngest. Why?'
Zavala went out to his car and returned with the Perlmutter file. He leafed thorough the contents and pulled out the book excerpt on the little mermaid, which he handed to Dodson. The Englishman donned a pair of wire-rimmed reading glasses. As he pored over the file, his expression grew grave.
'Astounding! If this is accurate, the Romanov line didn’t die out! Maria, or Marie as she's called here, went on to marry and have children.'
'That's my take on it.'
'Do you know what this means? Somewhere there may be a legitimate heir to the tsar's throne.' He ran his fingers through his hair. 'My God, what a catastrophe!'
'I'm not sure I understand.'
Dodson composed himself. 'Russia is in the midst of great turmoil. It is still seeking its identity. Beneath this bubbling cauldron is a fire of nationalism. Those who would go back to the days of Peter the Great and the tsars have touched a yearning in the Russian people, but all they have had to sell is a memory of a forgotten time. With an actual heir to the tsar, their cause would have focus. It is a country that still controls weapons of mass destruction and a major share of the world's natural resources. It will not be safe for the world if Russia lapses into a civil war and follows the lead of the worst kind of demagogue. British complicity in the plot against the tsar will stir up all those paranoid feelings against the West.' He affixed Zavala with a steely gaze. 'Tell your superiors that they must be discreet. Otherwise no one may be able to control the consequences.'
Zavala was bowled over by the emotional reaction from this reserved Englishman. 'Yes, of course, I'll tell them what you said.'
But Dodson seemed to have forgotten that Zavala was even there. 'The tsar is dead,' he murmured. 'Long live the tsar.'
26
WASHINGTON, D.C.
