‘What are you smirking at?’ The Tsar asked the question uncertainly, looking down at himself to check that every detail of his personal appearance was perfectly in order.
‘I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I was not aware of …’
‘You were undeniably smirking at something.’
‘I am sorry. I cannot explain it. Except to say that for some reason I found myself thinking of one of Gogol’s stories.’
‘They tell me you are the most brilliant investigator in St Petersburg. You seem to me to be something of an imbecile.’
‘The truth, I dare say, lies somewhere in between, Your Majesty.’
The Tsar’s face remained fixedly blank for a moment, then opened up into abrupt laughter. The laughter somehow failed to touch his eyes, which seemed infected with a perpetual wariness. ‘Well, we will have to make do with that, I suppose. Do you smoke?’
The Tsar opened a jewel-encrusted box on his desk. Porfiry breathed in the heady waft of dormant tobacco suddenly released.
‘Yes, thank you, Your Majesty.’
‘Good man.’ The Tsar sat back as he breathed in the first draught of his own cigarette. ‘You may sit down.’
The study was filled with a profusion of empty chairs, as if the Tsar preferred the possibility of company to the reality of it. However, there were no doubt times when this room was crowded with ministers of state, jostling for a seat.
Porfiry bowed his gratitude and took a seat on the other side of the Tsar’s desk.
‘You are investigating the murders of those unfortunate children.’
‘That is correct, Your Majesty.’
‘I know it is correct. I am not in the habit of uttering statements that are not correct.’
‘I beg your pardon.’
‘This is a case that touches me deeply.’ Here the autocrat struck his chest with one clenched hand. ‘As head of state, I am father to all the empire’s children. Indeed, I look upon all my subjects as my children. Can I not protect my children? That is what they will say about me now.’
‘Your Majesty, I am sure that no one would dare-’
‘Oh, they dare!’ His head shook in a tremor of self-righteousness. ‘Now they dare to say anything of me. I can do no right by them. Of course, to continue the analogy, fathers are always misunderstood by their children.’ The Tsar paused to reflect on this, then burst out bitterly with: ‘What do they want from me? Did I not free the serfs?’
‘The noble act of a generous heart.’
‘And what were the thanks I got? I didn’t go far enough, said the radicals. I went too far, said the conservatives. And the nihilists started shooting!’
‘I fear, Your Majesty, that discontent is the natural state of mankind.’
‘I am not free! I am not content!’ There was a note of personal hurt in the Tsar’s voice. His eyes for a moment lost their wariness and became wistful. ‘But do you hear me complaining?’
Porfiry suppressed the urge to answer in the affirmative. He bowed his head solemnly instead and said nothing.
‘And then there are the law courts. You’re a magistrate. You know what goes on there. Every trial is reduced to an indictment of the state, which is to say of me, because I am the state. It is not poor Ivan’s fault he stole the loaf of bread, it is the Tsar’s for making him hungry. That’s what they do with the freedom I gave them! I have a good mind to take it back.’
‘I am afraid, Your Majesty, you cannot take freedom back once you have given it.’
The Tsar regarded Porfiry with a steady, dangerous gaze. ‘And now this. These children. I will be blamed for this, without doubt.’
Porfiry took a moment to hold and savour a lungful of smoke, which saved him from the necessity of speaking.
‘How is your investigation progressing? You suspected that woman, I believe. Yelena Filippovna, was that not her name?’
‘No, no, no. I never suspected her. That was an erroneous story that somehow found its way into the newspapers.’
‘Really? How extraordinary. How on earth did that happen, do you know?’
Porfiry raised both arms in a despairing shrug. ‘Tittle-tattle. It may have been something that was discussed. All sorts of theories are discussed in the course of an investigation.’
‘Yes, but there must have been something linking Yelena Filippovna to those children? Something that led you to consider her as a possible murderer?’
‘There were a number of things, in fact. But everything linking her to the deaths was highly circumstantial.’
‘Please be more specific. It is essential I know everything about the case.’
‘It is?’
‘Yes. I intend to take over the supervision of the case personally. You will report to me. Is that clear?’
‘Your Majesty, surely you have other more pressing duties?’
‘There is nothing more pressing than the welfare of my children. When this case is solved and the perpetrator brought to book, you will let it be known to what extent I aided you in its solution. Until then you will say nothing of our meeting to anyone, in case … you are unsuccessful.’
‘You wish to take over the investigation?’
‘Not at all. I merely wish to take credit for it. It is not quite the same thing. Everything, of course, relies on a successful outcome. I am relying on you, Porfiry Petrovich. My children are relying on you. You must catch this monster before any more are killed.’
‘That is my earnest desire, Your Majesty.’
‘So, what led you to suspect this society woman?’
Porfiry had the sense that he was being tested. Perhaps the Tsar knew more than he was letting on. He felt the need for caution. ‘Before I answer that question, Your Majesty, I would be grateful if you would answer one from me.’
‘What’s this? Are you interrogating me, your tsar?’
‘This is a delicate matter. I merely wish to be sure of something before I proceed.’
‘I don’t like the sound of this. Very well. Ask your question.’
‘Did you know Yelena Filippovna Polenova?’
‘Did I know her?’
‘Yes.’
‘Am I somehow now a suspect in your investigations? Do you realise how impertinent your question is?’
‘As I came in, Prince Naryskin was leaving your study. You will know that Yelena Filippovna was murdered at the Naryskin Palace.’
‘And so I am implicated? I was not there!’
‘You were not, although your son was.’
‘What has this to do with the children? I brought you here to discuss the children.’
‘One of the things linking Yelena Filippovna to the murdered children was a ring she wore on her thumb. We found marks on the children’s necks that correspond to a design embossed on the face of that ring.’
‘Yes, I have heard of this ring.’ The Tsar missed a beat, before explaining: ‘They mentioned the ring in the newspaper.’
‘The newspaper did not mention that the design in question is the emblem of the House of Romanov. The double-headed eagle.’
This information did not seem to surprise the Tsar. His response to it came quickly, without undue thought, as if rehearsed. ‘I know nothing of the existence of this ring.’
‘But what of your son? Might he have given the ring to Yelena Filippovna?’
‘I cannot speak for the Tsarevich.’ The Tsar crimped his brows angrily. ‘This line of investigation will not result in the desired outcome, that is to say, the discovery of the children’s murderer. I command you to abandon it. Besides, as you have now admitted, you no longer suspect Yelena Filippovna. And so her possession of this ring is irrelevant. You must concentrate your efforts on solving the murders of these innocents and forget all about this ring. I would not be surprised, in fact, if the ring was not what you imagine it to be.’