Wednesday 9/24
FATHER GIORGI HEAVED HIMSELF UP FROM HIS PRAYERS IN HIS TINY room. He had knelt like this at his bed every morning for his whole life, and he wasn’t going to let a stiff knee stop him. Limping, he went into his lavatory. He washed his face and combed his hair and beard. The small mirror above the washstand revealed new creases in his forehead, and a haunted look that all his prayers to Lord Jesus Christ this morning had failed to dispel.
He pulled his robe over his head, attached his belt with the keys and pouch, and walked into the hall. He felt privileged to live right next door to a saint, at least, the room of a saint. Saint John Maximovich had lived and died behind the brown door he was passing. Bishop Vasily, Father Giorgi’s superior, had been a member of the committee examining the miracles claimed, and there were many. He had told Father Giorgi that when the saint’s tomb was opened in 1994, twenty-eight years after his death, the saint’s body had not decomposed, though it had turned a deep mahogany color.
With such a holy neighbor, Father Giorgi had no trouble recalling his mission and the Church’s mission. The saint’s cell with its iron bed was now a place of pilgrimage. Or it should be. Few of the faithful actually came, and fewer still were coming to the Sunday Divine Liturgy every year. For so long it had only been elderly women. But then, the change. Freedom had come in Russia. The Church could again freely bear witness to Christ, and a new wave of emigration began arriving in California.
But the newcomers, young and poor, couldn’t afford San Francisco, and those who could might come to a Eucharist or a Paschal, but at heart many weren’t really good Christians-the Communists had instilled the poison of doubt so strenuously that heartfelt, straightforward faith couldn’t get a purchase.
Even the Church could not be faithful to itself. The Church here had basically cut itself off from its mother. Saint John was not recognized in Russia, because the American Church had been responsible for his canonization.
Such a shame. A saint in the house, but doubt, doubt poisoning the Church as it poisoned Russia.
Father Giorgi moved down the nave of the cathedral, greeting a few old people who had come in early to pray in the side chapels, fingering his pouch with the dollar bills inside, thinking about these sad things. The deacons had already lit the beeswax candles and the oil lamps under the ikons. He breathed deeply of the incense smoke, frowned as he noted one of the women wore pants. Kneeling, before God, dressed like a man!
He had been born in America, in Minnesota, but this did not mean he subscribed to the ultraliberality of the American church. His training had been at a strict theological seminary in St. Petersburg, and he had been happy there. He knew what to do and when to do it, loved the liturgies, loved the absolute and ancient nature of the rules of living he had vowed to follow.
But in America-this national church had lost all bearings and fallen into the heresy of ecumenism. He was constantly at odds with authority figures here. They found him stodgy, strange. No telling how long he would last. He just didn’t fit in.
Blasphemy is easy when you’re so far from your mother, he reflected, lighting a candle that had sputtered out, which was not to say that the Mother Church was without stain. What did she do with her God-given opportunities during the nineties? She sold tobacco and alcohol received as “humanitarian aid”! She slept with Yeltsin for money!
As he did every morning, Father Giorgi opened the heavy entry doors and stepped out. Several of the faithful, familiar with his routine, awaited him on the steps. Patiently, he took their hands and blessed them, but finished quickly and went to the corner light, where he could resume his thoughts in peace.
In the decade since the awful finds at Ekaterinburg, when the photos of the skeletons of the tsar and his family were shown even on American television, Father Giorgi realized that a great hero of the Church had died in the person of Nicholas II. Others felt the same way. He had even heard talk of sainthood for the family. The tsar and his family had appeared on an ikon of New Martyrs circulated around the world.
Yes, they had been true to the Church, and martyred.
Many in this church would not agree. Oh, he had heard what the conservatives thought of him and his radical opinions, those without vision. On more than one occasion he had been asked to consider another career. Fortunately, he knew a few good people and he knew how to hold on to power, however little he wielded in this tiny universe.
His brand of bold idealism begged for attack in these cynical times, so he now operated quietly, missing Christina. If only she had not died-she had taken his credibility with her. He wanted so much to see the Church in America and the Church in Russia tied again, one undefeatable religious force in the world. He wanted a return to order and authority. Christina had believed in the same cause, or at least some of it. He would help her make contacts and gain support, and then, she would help him.
But the second phase had never come. So many dreams had died with her.
Maybe he should leave the church. In his darkest moments, he knew he probably didn’t belong here.
And now along came Alex. Could he be convinced to take up the cause? Could Giorgi convince him, or was this a futile, dangerous exercise that might get another person killed? He had broached the subject the night before, but Alex was not Christina. He didn’t have the same yearnings, and he felt no responsibility. He was American through and through, he had told Giorgi, not Russian. And he seemed to blame Giorgi for setting up the events that had led to her death, the decision to hire the odd-jobs man who had killed her.
Could he be convinced? Should he?
Without Alex, the movement would inevitably fail. Giorgi on his own, a small-town boy, an old priest, would never attract the right attention. Puzzling over these thoughts, Father Giorgi crossed the street, his hands behind his back. The car waiting for him honked. He ignored it. He was almost there, and he could sit in his daily refuge for a few minutes now and think about Alex and the confession he had made the night before.
Something had to be done. Was there hope in this confession, or only despair, and an ending? He looked up at the green and white sign, taking a deep sniff of the fragrant elixir he was about to drink.
Ahh. Starbucks.
A tall man with light hair who looked like he hadn’t slept the night before got into line behind him, and Father Giorgi’s heart sank. Was he-but the man greeted him in reassuring American English. “I wonder if I could talk with you for a few minutes.”
“I don’t want to be rude,” Father Giorgi said, “but can’t you come in later, at the church? I’m off duty at the moment.” He said to the girl at the counter, “A Grande Vanilla Soy Latte, please. And I’ll have, let’s see, one of those biscottis.”
“This can’t wait,” the man said. He looked rumpled but not dangerous. “Paul van Wagoner.” He held out his hand, and Father Giorgi shook it. Van Wagoner followed him to the tall counter where his coffee would be delivered.
“Would you be kind enough to tell me what this says?” van Wagoner said, thrusting something into Father Giorgi’s hand. It was a blue Post-it.
“Is this a bad joke?”
“Supposed to be funny, is it? I can’t read it. It was left in my car last night.”
“In your car?”
“What does it mean? ‘Kmo kobo’?”
“Not ‘kmo kobo.’ It says, ‘Kto kovo.’ It means, ah, something like, ‘We’ll see who will screw whom,’” Father Giorgi said uneasily. “Except cruder.”
“I see,” van Wagoner said, taking it back. He folded it carefully and put it in his pocket.
Father Giorgi’s coffee arrived and the man followed him to a table by the window.
“I’ve helped you. Now please, go away,” Father Giorgi said. He had a lot to think about.
“The note was left by a man who was watching you and Alex Zhukovsky at your church last night.”
The vanilla soy latte flew off the table as Father Giorgi’s hand jerked reflexively. Van Wagoner caught it neatly and set it back on the table.
“Who sent you?” Giorgi said. He looked at the license that was being held out toward him. “Who do you represent?” He looked at the man’s hands-not even a wedding ring, at his feet-expensive loafers, and into his eyes-where he saw something tough but not, at the moment, threatening.
“I’m here to prevent the breaking of some more Commandments,” the investigator said. “I think the sixth and the ninth have already been broken by Mr. Zhukovsky. I don’t have much time, and my car is in the shop, and I had to sleep in a noisy hotel room without so much as a toothbrush last night. So please bear with me if I’m a little brusque.”
“What’s this about the Commandments?”
“You know. The one that says you shouldn’t kill people, and the one that forbids bearing false witness against your neighbor. Mr. Zhukovsky lied in a court of law yesterday. And he may have killed his sister.”
“That is ridiculous. What’s this got to do with me?”
“He spent the evening with you. Did he talk about it?”
“If he did, I couldn’t tell you,” Father Giorgi said. “The sanctity of the confession…”
The man interrupted, “The Russian following Mr. Zhukovsky-any idea who he might be?”
“I couldn’t say.” But what crushing news.
Sergey Krilov! Still here, still making trouble!
Alex’s confession had been heartfelt. They had stood side by side in front of the Book of Gospels and the Cross, and Alex had said, “I lied to the Court, Father. I distorted the truth.” They had talked, and Alex prayed the prayer of Absolution. Then Giorgi made his pitch, and Alex rejected it.
Could Alex have killed Christina? He would have confessed, Giorgi thought; he is a believer. This comforted him for a moment. He sipped at the hot coffee, studying the investigator. Was it nevertheless possible that Alex had gotten rid of Christina out of some subversive desire to take her place?
If so, he would have been more accommodating to Giorgi’s plans. No, it made no sense. This investigator must be trying to trick him. Why should he trust this man with those narrowed, flecked eyes? Maybe he was actually sent by Krilov and his gang to intimidate and confuse.
“I can’t help you,” Giorgi said. He needed to warn Alex, but he didn’t want this man to see how flustered he felt. He drank the hot foamy liquid, resenting the fact that he couldn’t enjoy it, set it down carefully, and laced his hands.
A complete silence ensued. Father Giorgi was used to silence. He began praying sub voce. Holy Mother, send this guy away.
Van Wagoner studied him, then his whole body seemed to relax. “I understand there are things you can’t say.”
“Right.” Giorgi straightened his cassock and took another sip of his coffee. “Now then, who are you?”
“As you saw on my card, a licensed private investigator. I’m working with the defense in the matter of the murder of Christina Zhukovsky.”
“You’re helping the man accused of killing her?”
“Is there something you should confess to me, Father? I can’t believe you would allow my client to be sentenced to life in prison if Alex Zhukovsky confessed to the murder last night.”
“He did no such thing; I will tell you that. Your client must have killed her. His blood was found in her…” Father Giorgi stopped.
“You know about the case, Father. Following the trial?”
“Not really. I just-it’s a tragedy. A matter of interest to the Russian community in Northern California.”
“I see. Why is that?”
Giorgi thought hard for an answer. He could not tell the truth. The pain had dulled after four months of daily prayer, but the greater disappointment remained. All that Christina could have been, dashed to bits by this young American, Wyatt…
“Was Christina a prominent member of the community?”
“Yes, that’s it. She was a great organizer. You know about the conference she set up at the college?”
“Yes.”
“That conference brought many factions of the community together.”
“Were you there?”
“Briefly. I went only the first day. She asked me to be there. I think she was a little nervous.”
“How well did you know Christina?”
“From the time she was a little girl. Do you actually believe this accused person might be innocent?”
“I’m working on it. How did you come to know Christina and Alex?”
There seemed no harm in discussing the past, so Father Giorgi said, “A family of the faithful. Their parents always came to the Holy Virgin Cathedral, even after they moved to Monterey many years ago. Their mother passed away, but Constantin still brought Alex and Christina to us. Christina was a-good woman and a true believer. I miss her.”
“So you knew Constantin Zhukovsky?”
“Of course, but he died many years ago.”
Paul pulled out some photographs. He handed one to Father Giorgi.
“This was buried with Constantin Zhukovsky.”
“Yes. I remember the medal. I performed his burial service, as I did for Christina.”
“Can you tell me something about it?”
“Saint George was a Christian martyr, and is venerated as sacred in the Orthodox tradition. He represents a valiant, selfless warrior. It’s suggested by some scholars that the story of his slaying the dragon is a recasting of the Greek legend of Perseus, who rescued Andromeda from a sea monster. I’ve seen very old ikons at Novgorod State University dating back to the tenth century.”
Actually, he was a good saint who interested Giorgi. He didn’t mind talking about Saint George. He just didn’t want to discuss the medal.
The tall man listened for a while, until Giorgi veered way off the point and he got exasperated. “So Constantin really was a page of the tsar of Russia. Where else would he get something like this medal?”
Father Giorgi cringed at this turn of conversation. “He used to tell that story, among others.”
“He knew them, then. The imperial family.”
How many times had Constantin talked about his youth, the incredible last days of Old Russia, the tsarevitch’s pony, the padded saddle and stirrups, the excruciating attacks the boy endured whenever he bumped his hand or body, the blood leaking slowly through the capillaries, ballooning into terrifying hematomas. And yet the boy had wanted to play; he wanted to ride, wanted to live.
Constantin had said, “He was brave, but he did cry.” The tsarina weeping in the anteroom outside his bedroom. Rasputin, summoned, murmuring unknown things to the boy, passing his hands over the boy’s body, while Constantin stood in a corner, invisible, waiting to be called for any task.
As he recounted these memories of his early life, Constantin would always tear up. He had only escaped the purges by accident, he told them. Then his stories would begin to conflict. Once he said he had fled to Estonia, once to Finland. His parents died in various ways, in labor camps in the thirties, on a farm in Finland, even during the Revolution while still in Russia.
The details never matched, and Father Giorgi had begun to wonder. So many people who had gone through these terrible experiences made up stories to fill the holes in their memories. So many people lived ordinary pasts and embellished them, because who does not enjoy a good story?
What Russian does not have many secrets? What was Constantin’s real story? He had tried many times to cajole the truth out of the old man. But the truth had been left for much, much later.
“I never knew what to believe,” Giorgi said. The truth. He hadn’t, back then.
“Let me ask you something, Father. You know Constantin Zhukovsky’s bones were stolen?”
“Another shameful thing.”
“Any chance somebody wanted to test those bones because they suspected that this man was somehow more closely connected to the Romanov family? A cousin? Maybe even someone who could claim succession?”
Giorgi laughed. “Look, it’s hard enough to believe that the old man was a page to the tsar, isn’t it? A typical old man’s story, elevating himself beyond his station to give himself a bigger position in the eyes of his family and friends. But if he were a Romanov, why not shout it out?”
“Times have changed in Russia. During his lifetime, it might not be something you’d want bandied about. Now, it’s a political free-for-all compared to the Communist era. For all I know, there’s interest in restoring the monarchy. Is there?”
“There are a thousand factions and every opinion under the sun when it comes to politics there. My only interest is in restoring the Church,” Giorgi said. “I want a government conducive to traditional religion, that’s all.”
“We’ve been doing some research. I know there are a number of people who are Romanovs left in the world, and I know the country is-searching for something.”
Giorgi forced another laugh. “You mean, to install a new tsar in place of the president? Well, America’s done worse, I guess.”
Van Wagoner frowned, obviously not liking the political insult. Then he shook it off and even smiled, saying, “Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind today. How about this thought: is it possible someone took the bones hoping to prove Constantin was not the page, or not who he said he was?”
“Why ask me?”
“Okay, then let’s go back to Alex Zhukovsky. Why would he lie on the witness stand, invent something that would convict someone else? Unless he murdered his sister?”
“Listen to me. Alex Zhukovsky didn’t kill anybody.” Giorgi made a big point out of looking at his watch. What would it take to unstick this disturbing tick?
“I’ll let you drink your coffee in peace in just a minute,” van Wagoner said. “Just a couple more quick questions.” The investigator scratched his head and shifted his legs. He seemed to have lost interest. Father Giorgi expelled a silent prayer of thanksgiving.
“You do know Sergey Krilov, don’t you?”
How smoothly this was asked, as the man looked idly at a girl standing at the counter ordering coffee. He would never stop asking that question, Father Giorgi realized, and he suddenly felt very tired. “I knew him years ago in St. Petersburg. He doesn’t spend that much time in the U.S.”
“What does he do for a living?”
“He’s involved in his family businesses. He does whatever they need done.”
“I’ll bet. He follows people, he breaks into cars…”
“What?”
“Never mind. Is he blond? Short and built like a brick shit house?”
“He is a big man, but not tall. The Krilov I knew came from a well-known family who managed to make a lot of money during the Communist years, money they squirreled away in foreign accounts. Unfortunately, they squandered it on American biotech stocks and lost most of it when the market fell so drastically a couple of years ago. They are reactionaries who are very unhappy with the current government.”
“They miss Communism because it was profitable? That’s a twist.”
“These people are not ideologues. They want only two things, power and money. They are looking for a way back in. They would happily kiss the president, but he won’t let them near. Therefore they would like to see him gone.”
“Is Krilov involved in some revolutionary activities?”
“I wouldn’t know.” He hoped God would forgive him for all these lies. He lied too much; he knew it.
“Christina Zhukovsky went to Russia to be with him, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“While she was there, did he get her mixed up in his politics and put her in danger?”
Giorgi stared at Paul without speaking. “I wish she was here, and could speak for herself. Christina was a woman with her own agenda, her own dreams. Let’s just say Sergey was part of her education. In the end, she broke with him, remember that. I thought he returned to Russia long ago, but you say he’s here and he followed Alex last night?”
“I’d put fifty bucks on that,” the investigator said. “Now will you tell me why?”
“No.”
Van Wagoner smiled a little and shook his head. “Your call,” he said. “Okay, let’s go at it another way. Alex Zhukovsky wanted his father’s bones. Did he tell you why?”
“I can’t answer that.”
“You know, Father,” the man said. “This guy Krilov, or whoever the man is who followed Alex Zhukovsky up here and left me this note-he might think you were told pertinent things last night. You should be careful. He let Alex go, and he stayed around the church. I don’t know where he is now.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Giorgi squeezed his paper cup and tossed it toward a trash can, missing. He got up to stuff the cup into an opening. “I’m a man of God.”
But then he remembered that Alex had told him there were still bones remaining that had not been cremated after their recovery. A woman in Sacramento was testing them. Krilov wouldn’t like that. He felt cold with fear. He wished he could ask this inquisitive stranger to help him, but the price was so high. He wanted too much. In the end he decided to say nothing. The man finally gave him a quizzical stare, thanked him, and went out the door.
Giorgi left, too. He hadn’t eaten a bite of his biscotti, so he wrapped it in a napkin and tucked it into a pocket for later. He looked everywhere for Krilov on the street, but saw no sign of him.
Back in his room, he picked up the phone and called Alex Zhukovsky.
“Don’t pretend you can’t see the danger. Whether you like it or not, you’re linked with Christina, as her brother. My advice is, talk to Krilov. Tell him you’re no threat.”
But Alex was not Christina. He didn’t want to talk to Krilov or anyone else. He wanted it all to go away, to have it buried forever with Christina. Hadn’t he learned from Constantin’s bones that you can never bury an unfinished past?