As he spoke, he picked up the skull from the nearest table.
'Can you see here? Many of the facial bones are missing, the skull having sustained repeated heavy blows, which have virtually destroyed all of its features, along with most of the jaw and teeth.'
He gently lay the skull back onto the table. 'Poor soul, whoever you are,' he said softly before smiling sadly at May. 'Our primary goal is to find and reconstruct as many of the facial bones as we can, as obviously, that will aid us immensely with identification.
'I'm quite overwhelmed by the magnitude of it,' she said, looking around the room. 'I have never worked on anything as big as this, involving so many bodies. One or two maybe, but certainly not nine, and in so many pieces.'
'Well, I have heard great things about you and your work in this area, and as I said earlier, I am extremely glad to have your help, particularly as thus far, there have only been the five of us working on it. The good news is, though, that Moscow has just now approved a formal investigation into the identification of these people, so we will hopefully soon receive some additional resources. The first thing that we need to do, of course, is to move into a more appropriate working environment, and so will be moving them from here to the morgue. I am quite sure we will find it much easier to work there.'
'That's good news,' said Agni. 'When do you expect that to happen?'
'In a few days, hopefully, they are just clearing a room for us so that we can set everything up permanently and not have to worry about being moved again or disturbed as the everyday business of the morgue continues.'
Nikhil introduced May to his two assistants, Vadim Krivov, a tall slim, middle-aged man with a shock of blond hair shaved at the sides, and Petya Vistin, who was younger, perhaps in his late twenties, and slightly overweight. Petya wore circular John Lennon glasses, as May called them, which made him look rather scholarly. He wore his black hair long down to the collar of his shirt. After the introductions, Nikhil left her as he continued sorting through one of the piles of bones on the floor.
Despite what Agni had said yesterday, she felt no animosity from the Russians. They had all greeted her warmly and seemed genuinely pleased to have her on board, and she found herself relaxing, her earlier anxiety eased.
'Were the bodies not taken from the grave one at a time so that any loose bones that may have become detached were taken out and matched at the same time?' May asked Katya, speaking quietly so that her voice did not carry too loudly in the small, quiet room.
'Unfortunately, no. The skeletons were, for the most part, just wrenched from the ground, and removed as they became uncovered. Because they had been laying one on top of the other, many of the bones had intermingled. This is why I was concerned that the excavation was conducted too hastily. We did not have time to identify which loose bones came from which skeleton at the time.'
'I see,' May responded, although she didn’t at all, gazing around the room, overwhelmed. Was Olga here? One of these piles of bones? How could such a beautiful young woman have ended up like this? An incomplete skeleton with a destroyed face and a collection of disconnected bones lying on a sheet of brown paper on the cold concrete floor of a horrible room in a police station?
She quietly told herself to remember that she was a professional here to do a job and that not get emotional. However, that didn't alter her opinion that the treatment of these remains was undignified and disrespectful, bordering on abusive, and she wanted to scream at the injustice of it.
She caught Agni’s eye, and he smiled at her, a sad, sweet smile, and she knew that he felt the same. His calming and empathetic presence reassured her, and she smiled brightly back at him, understanding then what his cryptic remark from yesterday had meant, and understood why he had not tried to explain this scene to her. It really did have to be seen to be believed.
Katya took her on a tour of the building, which, apart from the room in which they were working, also consisted of a small tearoom with a fridge, tea, and coffee making facilities and a small table with four chairs. Squashed into one corner was an old settee, stuffing hanging from the ripped seams on its arms.
The small yet functional women's bathroom also contained two lockers, and May changed there into her white lab coat, locking her outdoor clothes and handbag securely away and pocketing the key.
Back in the lab, she pulled on a pair of protective gloves as well as a pair of paper shoes. She didn't want to take any chances with contamination, mainly as so much of the evidential material she would be handling was currently on the floor.
May asked Katya if she could work with her to begin with until she had a proper sense of what she needed to do, and Katya readily assented, smiling broadly. They worked together at the same table where Nikhil had stopped and discussed the skull with her while he was showing her around. The skeleton had been allocated the number four, and the corresponding sheet of brown paper also marked number four lay on the floor in front of the table.
'Tell me what you see.' Katya invited her.
May walked slowly up and down beside the table, studying the partial skeleton. As she had already observed with Nikhil, the skull had been damaged so severely, she doubted whether it could ever be reconstructed. Surprisingly, a fragment of the desiccated brain still remained within the skull cavity, and she wondered whether it could be tested for DNA at a later date. The skeleton, of course, was incomplete; the majority of the rib cage was missing, as were both hands and feet.
'Definitely a middle-aged Caucasian man, I'd say in his fifties, around five feet six,' she observed. 'The edges of the vertebrae show signs of deterioration,' she continued, touching the edges gently, 'which could indicate that this man may have suffered from back pain and limited mobility. I would also say that he spent a lot of time riding, judging by the shape of his femurs.'
'That's interesting,' said Katya leaning over to get a closer look, 'I hadn't noticed that. Good work, May!'
'And here, a broken and healed rib. Here I can clearly see that this man has been struck by three bullets, through the chest and rib areas, all have entered through the front and exited out of his back.'
'Personally, from what I think and what you have just confirmed, I think that these are the remains of Nicholas.' Katya said. 'Nikhil doesn't agree with me, purely based on the state of the remaining teeth.'
May picked the skull up again to have a closer look. 'They are badly diseased and show no signs of ever having been treated professionally. There are no fillings, and some of these cavities are enormous! This poor man must have suffered terribly from dental pain!'
'Nikhil doesn't believe that Nicholas, the emperor of Russia, would not have had his teeth treated by a dentist.' Katya laughed, 'he certainly could have afforded it.'
'It is rather strange, isn't it? Hopefully, it's a mystery we will be able to solve at some stage.'
She moved between the skeleton on the table and the pile of loose bones on the sheet of paper, trying to match bones and fit them into gaps, working slowly and methodically hoping to be able to eventually build a complete skeleton. She felt intense satisfaction when she was able to fit a piece together and see her work being rewarded, along with the corresponding frustration and disappointment on the numerous occasions that a particular piece didn't fit and she had to set it aside and move on.
She mentioned this to Katya, who confirmed that it was really just luck if the loose bones on the sheet of paper actually married up with their corresponding skeleton. Although the bones had been sorted, it was still guesswork as to whether they were correct.
'Any that don't match up are being placed separately over there,' Katya indicated to another table, 'and hopefully, we will be able to match them with someone else as we progress.'
She had been so engrossed in her work; it came as a surprise when Agni called a lunch break at one; the morning had gone by so quickly. She stretched, trying to ease the niggling ache that had begun in the small of her back, and followed the rest of the team to the
tea room where sandwiches and hot coffee had been provided. She was glad of the coffee, and ate several sandwiches, finding herself surprisingly hungry.
'I need to call London Agni and update my boss. Am I able to make a call from here?'
He led her to a small office, and she managed to get a connection reasonably quickly, with the phone at the other end being answered on the third ring.
'Leyla Tapper speaking.'
'Leyla, it's me, May. Is James available by any chance?'
'May! Oh, my goodness! How wonderful to hear from you. How's it all going?'
'Good, Leyla, but I'm not sure how long I'll have this line for. Is James not there?'
'No, sorry, he's in a meeting for another hour or so. I'll tell him you called.'
'Can you please tell him that things are very muddled here, and at this stage, I don't know how long I will need to stay.' She took a deep breath and charged on. 'It may be weeks or even months.'
'Really? Gosh, May, it sounds terribly exciting,' Leyla gushed. 'I'll certainly let him know as soon as he gets back.'
'Thanks, Leyla. I'll try to ring again in a couple of days,' May promised. In the meantime, he knows where I am staying and can always contact me if he needs to.'
May hung up, feeling relieved that she had not been able to speak to James himself. She had no idea of his expectations on how long she could stay in Russia, but now that she was here and had started work, there was no way she was going home before she had the chance to help solve this mystery. In herself, she believed that one of the bodies in the next room was Olga, and she did not want to leave until she found out for sure.
'The remains are being removed to the morgue at 4pm,' Nikhil advised after lunch. 'I suggest that we finish up here as best we can today. Vadim and I will supervise their removal, and we will resume working there at nine tomorrow morning.'
May was reluctant to leave, she would have liked to have been present during the transfer, to observe and to make sure that things were done correctly and that there were no mix-ups, however, she took her lead from Agni and Katya. They also appeared reluctant to leave, but said nothing and just quietly packed up their things.
On their way back to the hotel, Agni explained something about the political battle taking place between the officials in Ekaterinburg and Moscow over the ownership of the remains. Added to that was the role of the church, who had quite strong views regarding the possible identification of the remains.
'We mustn't step on any toes, just do as we are told, and follow instructions. Agni stated firmly. 'The last thing we want is to be replaced. The execution of the Romanov's is considered to be a stain on Russian history, and my personal view is that the religious and political factions should keep out of it, and just leave it up to the experts to do their jobs.'
May took a nap that afternoon and thankfully didn't dream this time. She awoke refreshed and decided to go out and do some sightseeing. There was a map stand at reception, and picking one up on her way out, was relieved to see that it was in English. She didn't know where she was going, she was just happy to be walking out in the late afternoon sunshine, on such a warm balmy day.
Unconsciously, she found that she was retracing the steps that she and Agni had taken yesterday and was heading towards the Ipatiev House site. Did she really want to go there again? Stop being stupid, Dawson, she chided herself. Up ahead, she saw a roadside flower stall, and she stopped to look, finally deciding on a bunch of perfect pink roses. She lifted them to her face and inhaled their sweet scent, catching the eye of the young woman behind the makeshift counter.
'So beautiful.' May said, smiling.
'From Crimea.' The young woman said in halting English, returning the smile and May fumbled in her purse for the correct money. It was the first time she had purchased anything using the rubles James had given her, and it gave her a feeling of independence and of normality.
She walked on until she came to the site again. It looked no different from the previous day, and she walked up to the small shrine at the centre of the yard. The small posy of flowers the young girl had laid there the day before remained, somewhat wilted but still pretty. Several small religious icons also sat amongst the offerings of flowers, and she crouched down for a closer look.
While not familiar with Russian Orthodox saints, she thought she knew one to be the Virgin and Child. She also saw small pieces of handwritten paper, but of course, she was unable to read what they said. She wondered whether they were messages or prayers to the dead.
She laid her bunch of roses amongst the other flowers and continued walking around the site, just as she had done yesterday. She slowed even more as she approached the area where she had felt so strange before, waiting to see if it would come back, but it didn't. No screams, no shouts, no gunfire or smells, just the normal sounds of passing traffic and bird song along with the excited shouts from children walking past on the other side of the road. She closed her eyes in relief, and stood for a long minute in silence, then clumsily crossed herself as she had seen others do, then walked back to the hotel.
Once back, she went to the bar and ordered a large glass of wine. She felt physically tired from her walk and totally relaxed. It wasn't long before Agni and Katya joined her, and they all went to the dining room again for dinner. She didn't tell them where she had been.
Nine
Sverdlovsk Morgue
Ekaterinburg
1991
The morgue, which was located on the third floor of the Department of Criminal Pathology in Sverdlovsk, was, in May's view, a slightly better location than the firing range had been. The room they had been allocated was marginally bigger; its walls painted a reasonably cheerful green. A locked and gated door at its entrance provided privacy and security and prevented anyone from wandering in and out unnoticed or uninvited.
Arranged around the perimeter of the room were bare metal autopsy tables on which the skeletons had been laid. May was alarmed to see that they had not been covered up or protected in any way overnight from any contaminants that may have been within the room. She also noticed with dismay that the area wasn't air-conditioned, and therefore it would be impossible to keep it at a steady, controlled temperature. She knew from experience that this could, over time, have an adverse effect and hasten the deterioration of the remains.
She felt that the conditions were totally substandard, particularly compared to what she was used to in England, but bit her tongue, hoping that any bacterial contamination would not ultimately make their task even more difficult.
Confident now as to what she was doing, she had decided to work at a table by herself that morning, examining the remains of a skeleton whom she believed to be one of the girls. The skull was missing most of its face, and the upper jaw had also been broken away. She had searched the pile of bones but had not been able to find any traces of what may have been the lower jaw. One tooth had been broken off by she surmised, repeated blows to the face from a rifle butt, and the remaining teeth were out of alignment as a result. There was a single gunshot wound to the upper left section of the skull. Besides the facial bones, many skeletal bones were also missing, including the ribs, right hand, upper left arm, lower left forearms, both feet, and the knee bones.
She searched the remaining pile of bones again, but as with her search for the missing facial bones, it was fruitless. They just weren't there.
'I can't understand it.' She muttered to herself.
She walked over to the table where Agni was working. He looked up and smiled as she approached, raising his eyebrows questionably at her puzzled look.
'I've been working over there on one of the girls, and there are just so many bones missing. Not just small ones Agni, but large bones such as arms and ribs. As well as the smaller parts like the hands and feet.' She shook her head. 'I just don't understand it. I have searched through all of the unmatched bones and can't find anything. It's so frustrating.' She stopped, taking a deep breath, then laughed. 'Anyway, enoug
h about me. Who do you have here?'
Agni moved over to make room for her to stand beside him, and she looked down at skeleton number seven, whom they were almost positive was Alexandra. Her skull had been particularly damaged by blows, almost vindictively, and most of the face was missing. She had a single bullet wound to the head, which had entered and exited ear to ear.
'That's what has killed her, mercifully quick for her, thank God.' Said Agni.
Her top jaw contained eight complete teeth, along with the fragments of a broken one, and her lower jaw had five teeth missing. All of the teeth had platinum crowns and gold fillings.
'Look at that dental work,' said May admiringly. 'It's beautiful. She obviously visited her dentist regularly. It's funny, isn't it, because if that is her husband Nicholas over there,' she pointed over to where skeleton four was laying, 'they had completely differing views about oral hygiene!'
'Perhaps he was afraid of the dentist,' Agni joked. May thought that might have some truth in it. She knew grown men who would do anything that might be considered reckless or dangerous without any fear but who were scared stiff of going to the dentist.
Most of her skeletal remains were also missing; ribs, collarbones, left and right forearms, and both hands, both feet, and the lower right leg bones.
'Missing bones, just like the others.' May said in frustration.
'From what we do have, she obviously suffered from back problems in life,' Agni observed. 'See the vertical inclination here? And it looks as though she may have been stabbed with a bayonet too, probably post mortem. A lot of force has been used as the stabbing has left scarring on some of her ribs; however, as we have already established, the gunshot was the cause of death.'
The Girl With the Crystal Soul Page 8