The Commandants continually fabricated that Father was in touch with the outside world, and that Father had written a letter to some person telling him how to get into the house. Father had no knowledge whatever of the layout of the house. From the day we entered the premises all of us, including Father, were confined to our quarters. We used the same stairway every time we went out or returned. We could not even see the street because the window panes were painted to make them opaque. We heard only the voice of the guard on duty in front of our window, who often sang obnoxious songs. There were two tall wooden fences surrounding the house, but we did not know their distance from each other. Another day, Yurovsky and Goloshchekin told Dr. Botkin that both Father and Mother knew of an escape plot. Dr. Botkin answered firmly it was not true. It had been suggested to us in Tobolsk, but Father refused even to think of such a thing. Then Yurovsky said that we had been communicating with our friends. For some time our parents were puzzled but, after learning that every move they made and every letter they wrote were known to the authorities in Moscow, they realized that they were being betrayed. There was nothing incriminating in their letters that were sent from Tobolsk through Markov and Soloviev. They were not censored by Colonel Kobylinsky. However, Mother complained in those letters about the leaders selling out Russia to the enemy. She also expressed her harsh feelings toward the traitors and the crooked foreign policy that centered in Moscow and said that Father would stand firm no matter what the consequences might be. One morning Yurovsky and Voykov appeared with some papers. After making themselves comfortable in our sitting room, they called Father’s attention to photostatic copies of the letters that Mother had written to Anna Vyrubova and other friends in Tsarskoe Selo and Petrograd. There were some letters written to us from Mlle. Fredericks and Mme. Sukhomlinova, the wife of a former Minister of War. These were carried to and from Tobolsk by Soloviev, husband of Matriona, Rasputin’s oldest daughter, who was selected for this mission by Anna Vyrubova. There were also letters purportedly in Mother’s handwriting but which she did not write. Voykov said: “You thought Anna, Yaroshinsky, Markov and Soloviev were your friends. We have photostatic records of all the letters and activities in Tobolsk.” Father glanced at the photostatic copies, recognized Mother’s and Anna’s handwriting. His face turned white and the “Otsu mark” on his forehead became red.