A Traitor’s Ransom

A Traitor's Ransom

{Transcript of interview with Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola No. 28392. Lubyanka. Moscow. Political Commissar Igor Illyachin residing - typist Seveyaya Artyomich attending.}

Commissar Illyachin: I think it apt we start with the book Alexiandra Mikailhovna.

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: I would like to state that my devotion to the socialist struggle is unquestionable Comrade Commissar. I am not a traitor.

Commissar Illyachin: Your devotion to the state is truly remarkable Comrade Mikhailovna, this is true. I have seen many files and few are as thin as yours. Yet, this little black book has led you to be considered a capitalist traitor, Comrade Mikhailovna, and the fattening of your file beckons.

[The Comrade Commissar takes the book from his pocket and places it before the suspect. The Comrade Commissar opens it and directs the suspect to the first page]

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: I believe I owe you an apology Comrade Commissar for I know not who these people are or the purpose of this little book. I am simply an innocent bystander who has come into this book by an ill trick of fate.

Commissar Illyachin: And what of the money then, Comrade Mikhailovna? It is quite a sum. Strange that you should not recognise the book yet be discovered with $18,000 US dollars in your small apartment. A woman of such humble standing. The truest champions of the proletariat.

[The Comrade Commissar places precisely $1000 US dollars in two stacks of $50.00 notes onto the table in front of the suspect. Exact amount noted.]

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: I assure you, Comrade Commissar, I know not of where this money comes from, nor do I know the purpose of the black book. I am a humble woman from Kazan. I know nothing.

Commissar Illyachin: Forgive me, Comrade Mikhailovna, for I enjoy none of this but you must understand I do not believe you. What did you want with this money? A new American car? A Ford perhaps with a nice house in California? Does the Motherland not sustain you to your satisfaction? And these names? Are they your contacts in the ‘Land of opportunity?’

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: Please, Comrade Commissar, do not mock me!

Commissar Illyachin: MOCK YOU!

[The Comrade Commissar slams his fist onto the table. He is angry. Loss of control noted for future investigation.]

Commissar Illyachin: Comrade Mikhailovna, I do not mock you because I do not believe you understand quite the level of trouble you have found yourself in. Remember, it does not matter what the truth is, whether you are innocent or guilty. What matters is that you can tell me precisely how you came into possession of the money and the book.

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: What can I tell you, Comrade Commissar, if I do not know.

Commissar Illyachin: I would speak, Comrade Mikhailovna. And do so quickly.

[The Comrade Commissar has lit a cigarette, he has offered the suspect one but she has refused. Note: add to file - suspect is a non-smoker.]

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: I was waiting for the train to take me to the Army Hospital in Gorky. My son is there. He is very sick. A man in a long overcoat and Ushanka came from one platform and was headed for the other. I was awaiting my train on a bench. The same bench I always sit on. This man came and sat beside me. He did not speak nor even look at me which I thought was unusual because it seemed to me for he had sat so close. Then the whistle blew and he waited just as the train began to set off and he pounced up and raced for the train and left the briefcase on the bench beside me. So close my elbow was touching it. I meant to go after him to alert him to that fact that he had misplaced his briefcase but he was gone before he had the chance.

Commissar Illyachin: Because you were supposed to receive it, Comrade Mikhailovna? Because you were supposed to sit there at that exact time and await the delivery of the $18,000 American dollars and this...this…’little-black-book?’

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: I did not know this man. Comrade Commissar, please. I do not know this man. I do not know anyone who is in that book.

Commissar Illyachin: Ah, well since you seem so concerned with the names of these strangers then perhaps that should lead us to our next line of conversation. In the book, there are over seventy names. Almost all of them a Russian however we have counted over thirteen Poles, two Czechs, nine British citizens and a large number of Lithuanians. Do you say you do not know these names? One of them is your sons.

[The suspect has been reduced to tears. She seems to be muttering under her breath - inaudibly - the Comrade Commissar seems to have paused out of pity. Note: Comrade Commissar seems to be emotionally compromised with the suspect.]

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: The book I only looked inside once…

Commissar Illyachin: Why, Comrade Mikhailovna. Because you saw your son's name? Because you were too suspicious of what you would find inside. Nosiness is a Capitalist trait Comrade Mikhailovna, do not forget that.

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: I did not understand it at first, and then I found my son's name by coincidence. It is at the back.

Commissar Illyachin: Hmm. Perhaps the stranger was on his way to see your son, Comrade Mikhailovna. After all, it seems you missed your train for the stranger leapt to catch the 3:49 to Gorky. Coincidence perhaps? Or just seditious thinking?

[The suspect has re-composed herself. She seems to have gathered herself at the mention of the train times. Note: Possible her tears were an attempt to stall interrogation.]

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: That is impossible, Comrade Commissar. There was no train to Gorky at that time.

Commissar Illyachin: You mean to question the knowledge of the state, Comrade Mikhailovna, is it not by their devout dedication that these trains run on time, every day to the hour?

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: You are correct Comrade Commissar. I apologize Comrade Commissar. I meant no offence to you or the state.

Commissar Illyachin: You are forgiven Comrade Mikhailovna but your son will not be if it is proven that he is the one who has arranged the delivery of the dollars to his mother along with this book. Have you not noticed that his name is in a different handwriting and in red ink as all the other names are in black ink?

[The suspect has taken another look inside the black book. She has looked at the back page and then the first page. She seems pale.]

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: I have only noticed it now Comrade Commissar. As I say I only looked inside it once.

[The Comrade Commissar has taken a seat opposite the suspect and put the book back into his pocket.]

Commissar Illyachin: Comrade Mikhailovna I grow tired of these circles we find ourselves spiralling within. I am under advisement that if no reasonable doubt to your treachery can be uncovered, then I have no choice but to sign an order to have you shot.

[The suspect has remained silent for some time. She is not looking at the Comrade Commissar. The Comrade Commissar is once again handling the foreign currency. Note: Exact amount recounted and noted. Recount at the end of the session requested.]

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: If it is a confession you seek, Comrade Commissar, then I am certainly guilty but not of what I am accused of.

Commissar Illyachin: Of what are you guilty of then, Comrade Mikhailovna?

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: Of failing to adhere to the principles of our socialist state, Comrade Commissar. I am guilty of greed for I am poor and only sought a means to make my life easier. I live alone and my deceased husband only gave me one child. As you know he no longer lives with me and is in hospital.

Commissar Illyachin: Ah Comrade Mikhailovna. Some truth at last. Yet not the truth I seek. I can understand the temptation of keeping the $18,000 dollars. After all who does not seek an easier life. But there are no burdens of life in the Soviet Union, Comrade Mikhailovna, and no such burdens can be admitted.

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: Then I am guilty of yet another crime Comrade Commissar. But I must insist. I know nothing of the book.

[The Comrade Commissar has removed the foreign currency from the table and placed it back into the briefcase beneath the table. The suspect denies any criminal activity concerning the acquisition of the book and foreign currency. Note: Comrade Commissar has performed unsatisfactory. Separate report requested.]

Commissar Illyachin: It seems to me Comrade Mikhailovna whether knowingly or unknowingly you have been involved in an international conspiracy involving the criminal activity of foreign spies; including your son. Due to your close affiliation with one of the listed individuals within the black book and your close brush with that of the stranger at Kazan train station that you are implicit to some degree in this plot. Furthermore, the failure to report the discovery of the $18,000 of foreign currency is also in breach of your duties as a citizen of this republic and therefore further levies suspicion towards you on your duplicity. What do you have to say to these charges?

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: Only one thing Comrade Commissar, and that is something that has been bothering me throughout this interview.

Commissar Illyachin: Please, Comrade Mikhailovna, do tell.

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: When I first looked inside the case I counted the money in my head, I long worked in a bank during the late days before the revolution so I am very competent at mental arithmetic. And I counted the total as $20,000, Comrade Commissar. Not $18,000. Perhaps you have miscounted Comrade Commissar?

[The Comrade Commissar has paused. He seems flushed. Suspect suggests the Comrade Commissar has miscounted the total of foreign currency. Report states total as $18,000. Note: Reference arresting officers report as to correct total of foreign currency at time of arrest.]

Commissar Illyachin: The report stated...err...that the total was $18,000 Comrade Mikhailovna. Do you assume to correct the state again?

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: To do so with impertinence is not my intention, Comrade Commissar, but I find that in these circumstances I am bound by oath to speak the truth and I only seek to give attention to this discrepancy as to raise my concern that someone could have taken the remainder of the total sum for themselves?

Commissar Illyachin: You mean to say that an officer of State Security has taken evidence? That it has been stolen from the state?

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: No Comrade Commissar. I mean not to suggest any member of the State Security, but one in particular.

Commissar Illyachin: And who do you mean to accuse them, Comrade Mikhailovna?

Alexiandra Mikhailovna Schola: Well, Comrade Commissar. I mean to accuse...you.

[Suspect has accused the Comrade Commissar with the embezzlement of foreign currency taken in as evidence. Comrade Commissar’s conduct throughout the interview was suspicious. Request investigation into the Comrade Commissar and final recount of all foreign funds. Note: Request execution order for Comrade Commissar Illyachin following internal investigation. Suspect’s fate… UNDECIDED.]