Ilil Arbel: Madame Koska and the Imperial Brooch

“My dear Miss Saltykov, you are a treasure. I have to thank your aunt again for getting you to vork here. Yes, by all means prepare the samplers and teach the seamstresses. I vould say, stay a little after vork, because then you can simply bring me the key if I am not here, the vay ve did when the place vas ransacked, and put it in the mailbox. Of course I vill pay you for the extra time and no, don’t argue, you shall get paid, my dear. It’s vork like any other vork and all of us vill benefit from it.”

“Thank you, Madame Koska. Just one thing… you know the police officer was very suspicious of me because of the key… if anything happens again, and I stay after hours, he will arrest me…”

“This is nonsense. No one could possibly suspect you of anything wrong. A vell-brought up young gentlevoman, the niece of Countess Golitsyn, a friend of the Tsarina… and if this idiot suspected you, vhat of it? It’s all over! Ve vill concentrate on the show, on getting the name of the atelier famous. It is so much more important. However, if you prefer, vhy not take the materials home with you? Do you have good lighting and a comfortable working arrangement?”

“Oh yes, I have good working conditions at home. It will be wonderful, Madame Koska. Just wonderful. I won’t have to worry about this stupid police officer.”

“Vell, then, you can tell the seamstresses that since they vant to take lessons, they can!”

Natalya nodded happily and seemed perfectly satisfied, but Madame Koska was not sure she believed her own words; she did not think it was all over. Unfortunately, she was right. The next day a visit from the police officer made Madame Koska very uncomfortable.

“Madame Koska, someone is not telling the whole story,” the police officer said. “Would you kindly call Miss Van der Hoven here? I wish to speak to her, and in your presence.”

Gretchen came in, with a surprised look on her beautiful face. “Sit down, Miss Van der Hoven,” said the police officer. “I need to ask you a few more questions about the day of the robbery.”

Gretchen sat down and looked a little alarmed. “Yes, officer,” she said meekly and folded her hands in her lap like a little girl in school.

“You told me that four salesmen came to see you, and you gave me their names and their business.” He consulted his notes, scratching his nose absentmindedly. “Yes… You had the lace person, the shoe salesman, the buttons manufacturer representative, and the thread salesman. Yes… they all corroborated your story, the time of each visit fairly matched.”

“So vhat is the problem?” asked Madame Koska, feeling mildly annoyed. She did not like to have her girls frightened, and poor Gretchen was a mere child, she would be so scared.

“The problem, Madame Koska, is that a witness I have interviewed saw five men coming in. Who was the fifth person, Miss Van der Hoven?”

Gretchen looked at him with obvious bewilderment. “But there was no fifth man,” she said. “I have no idea what the witness is talking about. Who is this witness?”

“For the moment I would rather not name the witness,” said the officer. “Perhaps the fifth came in when you were not looking? Did you leave the front desk at any time?”

“Yes, for about ten minutes, when I went to freshen up. One of the girls sat for me and she did not say a word about a visitor.”

“Would you please call her in?” said the officer.

“Certainly,” said Gretchen and went to the door. “Miss Saltykov, would you come in for a minute? The officer wants to see you.”

Natalya walked in, and looked passively at the officer who got up to greet her. “Yes,” she said curtly. “What can I do for you, officer?” Madame Koska could tell Natalya was extremely frightened by the way she held her hands together tightly, but she kept herself under control.

“Miss Saltykov, I have just heard from Miss Van der Hoven that you took the position at the front desk for ten minutes or so during the afternoon before the attempted robbery,” said the officer. “Is this correct?”

“Yes,” said Natalya, “I sat there for about ten or fifteen minutes, to give Miss Van der Hoven a break. There were no telephone calls, but one visitor came in, bringing a package from the leather company. I took the package and wrote it in the book. I think the package is now in the sewing room, unless someone needed to use it.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” asked the officer.

“Tell you what?” asked Natalya.

“That someone came in when you were at the desk.”

“What is there to tell?” asked Natalya, surprised. “I mean, deliveries happen all the time, this is an atelier.”

“Officer,” said Madame Koska, “No one told any of us that you vere particularly interested in people who visited in the afternoon. Miss Saltykov is not familiar with police procedures and it did not cross her mind.”

“Quite so,” said the officer. “Quite so… but I would like to see the book where you entered it. I assume you wrote the name of the firm? And do you know the messenger’s name?”

“I know the firm, but not the man’s name,” said Natalya.

“It does not matter. I can verify it with the firm. May I see the book?”

Natalya brought the book, and the officer noted down the details of the firm on a piece of paper. “May I use your phone, Madame Koska?” he said. “I will do it right now and it will put all our minds at ease.”

Madame Koska nodded. The officer went to the front room and closed the door behind him. She sat drumming her fingers on the table, while Natalya just stood silently, holding her hands so tightly that her knuckles were white. After a few minutes, he came back and said, “Yes, it seems to be all in order. A man was sent by the firm with a package of leather pieces. Well, this is a bit of a wild goose chase, Madame Koska. I simply can’t make head or tails of this robbery.”

“I suppose there is little ve can do now,” said Madame Koska. “Unless something happens again, I vill not vorry about it. They probably vere just frightened avay before getting to the safe.”

“Time will tell,” said the officer. “We shall keep our eyes on the establishment. By the way, Madame Koska, you told us you had two appointments that afternoon, one with Lady Victoria, for the dress, and the other with a certain Mr. Korolenko. We checked him, and found out he teaches languages… among some other things he engages in doing. May I ask why did you visit him?”

For a moment Madame Koska’s heart leapt up into her throat and fell down again with a thud, but no one could have seen it on her impassive face. She took out her cigarette box and opened it. “I go to Mr. Korolenko to improve my English, of course. I vould like to get rid of the accent, speak like a regular Englishvoman. Cigarette, officer?”

“Mr. Korolenko, I need your help… this is a troublesome situation,” said Madame Koska as she settled down at the desk for her lesson.

“What is it?” asked Mr. Korolenko, looking up from the books he was arranging.

“I do hate to involve you, really,” said Madame Koska. “It’s so delicate…”

Mr. Korolenko put his hands on the desk and looked at them. Madame Koska noticed his habit of doing so when he was thinking, and she waited for what he was about to say. He raised his head and looked at her. “Madame Koska, I will not ask you to trust my virtue, but you can rely on my discretion,” he said.

“Yes,” said Madame Koska pensively. “I do rely on it, obviously, and what is virtue, really? So relative… Well, you know about the attempted robbery at my atelier. There is not a single clue as to what took place, and I think the police will not pay much more attention to it. However, what bothers me is that the police officer asked me why I visited you. He knows you, or about you, since he said that you teach languages, among other things you engage in, whatever that means. I had to think on my feet, so I told him that I come to you to improve my English, take care of my Russian accent. I am not sure if he believed me.”