The Imperial Revenge

Chapter 25

September 1928

The next evening, Yurovsky telephoned me and claimed that he had a plan. He would be holding a party at the Science Museum he worked at. That way, the four of us would be able to look for any suspicious behavior. I tried to think of some things I could do to them again...and that's when I got a bright idea.

I didn't force Rodion or Hadeon to go with me this time. I wanted to settle this myself. I put on my best suit and hired a chauffeur. I put my pocket watch in my pocket and straightened my bow. At last I put a cigarette in my mouth and lit it. I went to my car and got in. That's when the fun would begin.

The Science Museum was nice. It was considered to be one of the nicest museums in all of Moscow. There was a sofa that was in one of the rooms along with a lot of alcohol and cigar smoke. Yurovsky was practically hiding in the corner with Medvedev and Nikulin. Count Romanov had something up his sleeve. But at least for the next hour, he would relax. I sat on the couch and simply smoked a cigarette.

"Who is that young man right there?" A woman whispered to another woman. They were standing a bit far from me but I could still hear them.
"That's Alexei Savenkov. He owns that new publishing company here in Moscow."
"Hm, he's not bad on the eyes. What's his family like?"
"My husband says that Savenkov is an orphan from Siberia. He just made his way up like so many other men after the revolution."
"Hold my drink. I am going to go speak to him." I heard a woman say. She came over to me and plopped down next to me on the couch. I looked over at her. She sat seductively, tilting her head and giving a wan smile.

I nodded. "Hello."
"Hi. Do you want to leave here with me? My husband is so drunk that he won't even notice that I'm gone."
I chuckled and took another sip of my whiskey. "You are one crazy lady. But I'm going to have to kindly pass on your offer. You're simply not my type."
She scoffed and stood up. "Well, I was just joking! Only a crazy person would sleep with you!" She walked away quickly and huffed.
I put a cigarette in my mouth from my pocket and lit it. I set the lighter back in my pocket and leaned back on the couch.
"Yeah, you're probably right on that one." I whispered to myself.

22:00 came quickly. I checked my pocket watch every second as I grew anxious. Suddenly, the sound of something hitting glass grew loud. I looked up and saw Yurovsky standing on the table and hitting his glass of champagne with a fork. Everyone's attention turned toward him.
"Welcome, my fellow comrades. It's such a privilege to have you here tonight. I first want to say how thankful I am to hold such a position at a museum like this. I want to thank my lifelong friend, Nikulin and Medvedev over there." He pointed to the two men in the corner at the other side of the room. He then looked at me and smiled. "And my new friend, Alexei Savenkov. A man who has supported me through thick and thin. To Alexei."
Everyone raised their glasses. "To Alexei." I gave a smirk and raised mine too. Then, we all started to drink. The music picked up once again and so did the dancing. Yurovsky came to me and sat down.

"Oh, my dear friend! I'm so happy we're here tonight. But let me ask...any suspicious behavior?" He asked me. I shook my head.
"Unfortunately not. But you know, I just think it's funny how Medvedev that Count Romanov is you."
Yurovsky's eyes widened. "Excuse me? What?"
I chuckled. "Oh Yakov, don't worry about it too much. But Medvedev thinks you're Count Romanov and that you're just trying to scare him. He also said something about starting a fire if...oh! He was going to set you on fire or fight you to death if you seem too untrustworthy!"
"But I don't understand...Medvedev and I have been friends since our days at the Ipatiev House. Did he really say he was going to burn me?"
I exhaled and stood up. "Oh, I'm sure he was only joking. If you excuse me, I'm going to go speak to him over there." I smiled and continued on. I made my way over to corner. Nikulin and Medvedev smiled and put their arms around me.

"Look at you, Mr. Bigshot! You're getting called on by Yakov Yurovsky!" Nikulin chuckled. I exchanged laughs with them.
I sighed loudly. "Oh, thank you. Thank you. But it's such a funny story, Yurovsky believes that one of you might be Count Romanov."
The smiles faded from their faces.
"W-what do you mean?" Medvedev mumbled.
I furrowed mr eyebrows. "Oh nothing! Just that you both seem very suspicious. And that if he found out one of you was Count Romanov then he was going to burn both of you." I laughed. They kept very scared faces on them. "'Oh well, I'm sure it's nothing. But as the saying goes: "You can't trust anyone."
Nikulin gulped. "Savenkov, do you think someone in this inner-circle is Count Romanov?"
"Oh, I'm not very sure. I mean, it could be any of you for that matter. But you all probably don't wanna have this conversation tonight." I pulled out my pocket watch and gasped. "My God, look at the time! I have to get going! Have a good night."

I walked out of the room and saw Hadeon and Rodion in the lobby. They were both smoking cigarettes. They grew me a cigarette along with the lighter. I put the cigarette between my teeth but didn't dare light the lighter.
"Is it done?" I asked them.
"Of course it's done." Rodion scoffed.
"We should definitely go home and drink ourselves to sleep." I replied.
Hadeon chuckled. "I second that."
The three of us stepped outside on to the steps of the Science Museum. I finally lit my cigarette and deeply inhaled. I then threw my lighter into the lobby and we took off running. Suddenly, an extremely loud sound of glass shattering and the museum went up in flames. I did not dare look back to watch the explosion. We just continued to smoke and walk home.