They discussed the matter long and passionately, then some of the boldest among them, headed by an old soldier, set out to investigate.
On the road they encountered some Austrian war prisoners who were hay-making, and asked if they had seen the army. They replied that quite early, while they were working on the road, some Russian Cossacks had ridden up and driven them away. The villagers became all the more curious to know what it all meant.
Presently, as they came abreast of the mine, they heard horses neighing. Coming to one of the turnings, they saw that the grass had all been crushed and the saplings bent. They were on the point of following this strange trail, when out of the wood appeared a horseman armed with sword, revolver, rifle and hand-grenades and asked them what they were doing. The muzhiks put on a bold face, although badly frightened, and asked if the tovarishch (comrade) would kindly reassure them, because the whole village was in a state of excitement.
They were graciously informed that there was no cause for alarm. “Our front has been entered at several points. We are merely scouting and practising. Do not be afraid if you hear firing!” They had a friendly smoke together and then the muzhiks departed. They had scarcely gone when a report like the explosion of a hand grenade was heard, and then a short while afterwards another explosion. Soon after their return to the village the same horseman appeared “to tranquillise them all,” as he explained.
They were reassured about the hay-making, but now arose another matter. Many of the villagers fished in the large Issetsk lake which spreads its lovely waters in front of Koptiaki. They had obtained a good haul that night and must take it into the city—it was market day (Wednesday) and in the hot weather fish does not keep. But the “Russian Cossacks” were inexorable.
On the city side there was a crowd at the level crossing over the Ural line striving to get to Koptiaki, which being a pretty place attracted many summer residents. These unfortunates, thus “stranded,” waited for hours and hours in vain. Some of the railway servants were accommodated with “benzine” from the casks of petrol waiting in reserve. The stream of fisher folk and the procession of dachniks coming and going enabled the investigation to define very precisely the exact limits of the cordon placed round the wood. It pointed in one direction—Ganina Yama. That was the locality that had to be kept from prying eyes.
The peasants were also the first to discover the place where the bodies were destroyed. Their evidence afforded immense, invaluable service to the investigation; in fact, without them the truth might never have been established owing to the earlier mistakes of the inquiry.
As soon as the cordon was raised, some of the Koptiaki men hastened to the spot where the horses had neighed and the detonations had been heard. They had thought that the Red guards were burying arms. The ashes around the pit suggested something else. They started to scrape; soon they found a cross belonging to the Empress and the brass buckle of the Tsarevich’s belt. Some instinct prompted them to jump to the conclusion that it was “the Tsar’s,” although they knew nothing of the murder.
There were eight of the muzhiks standing round the pit examining with awe the finds that they had made:—“Boys,” said one, and he voiced the secret thought of all, “it is just this, they have been burning Nicholas here. That cross can belong only to him. And that buckle, I tell you, is the Tsarevich’s.” They crossed themselves in prayer and silently came away. Needless to say, these honest souls promptly handed over the relics to the White authorities.
On my first visit to the burning-mound, I was attracted by an inscription carved on the giant birch that overhangs one pyre. It read:—“T. A. Fesenko” and the date “July 11, 1918,” i.e., six days before the murder. A young man sat beside the tree. He was a stranger to me. I took him to be one of Sokolov’s agents, especially as outsiders were not encouraged to hover round the iron-pits. I was looking closely at the ground to note where the bodies had been burned and pick up any remaining clues.