Murder and Revolution

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Andrei Sokolov, Russian: manager of the Yermak Estate, a place of exile for Russian dissidents

Rufus du Pavey, British: a former pilot and writer

Mariam Sarafian, Armenian: an orphan

Commander Kılıç Pasha, Turkish: a senior military officer of the Ottoman Empire

“‘Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.’ That is an English saying, is it not?”

“It is, Professor, but I think it comes from the story of the Trojan Wars.”

Professor Axelson and I are sitting by an open window in the professor’s home, a beautiful apartment on Gamla Stan, the island at the centre of Stockholm. A warm breeze blows in off the harbor, which is crowded with ships. The rippling white sails of a four-masted barque are reflected in glittering waters. It’s late summer, 1916, and I’m here on a holiday. Half the world is at war, but in neutral Sweden, there is peace.

“Miss Agnes, I am like the Trojans. I have received a gift – but I suspect that, like the Trojan Horse, it may contain something hidden and unwelcome.”

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