Her personnel file listed a standard reason: relocation due to family circumstances. The address she left behind led investigators to the same regional city where Savelyev’s family had later bought that upscale apartment.
According to old residence records, Svetlova had lived there alone from August through December 1992. After that, her paper trail abruptly ended. Investigators sent requests to records offices across the country, and after a week they got a hit.
Olga Svetlova had married in January 1993. After the wedding, she changed her last name to Maximova. Soon after, she moved with her husband to a distant city and stayed there.
Now 60, Olga Maximova lived a quiet, respectable life. She worked successfully as a senior music instructor at a private school. She and her husband lived in a comfortable neighborhood and helped raise two young grandchildren.
She was considered an upstanding citizen. Kuznetsov decided not to leave the first interview to local investigators. He went himself. The meeting was scheduled for May 2 at the regional investigative office.
Maximova arrived on time, unaware of what was coming. She was elegant and well put together, dressed in an expensive but understated business suit. Her hair was neatly cut, and her makeup was light.
Kuznetsov silently showed her the color photographs from the reopened basement room at Jefferson High. Maximova immediately recognized the old school building and gave a faint, nostalgic smile.
She calmly admitted she had worked there for two years, from 1990 to 1992. Then she added, almost automatically, that she had moved away for personal reasons.
Kuznetsov then laid out photographs of the forged farewell notes. Looking her straight in the eye, he asked whether she recognized them.
She studied the images carefully, frowned slightly, and said she had never seen them before. Kuznetsov then explained the handwriting results in a cool, even voice.
He told her that 12 of those notes had been written by her own hand 30 years earlier. At that, the color drained from her face. Her manicured hands began to shake.
In a dry voice, she asked for a glass of water. After a long silence, she said she wanted to call her attorney immediately. The interview ended there.
Maximova was allowed to go home under travel restrictions. She was given three days to retain counsel. She found one quickly.
His name was Sergey Volgin, a well-known defense attorney in the city who specialized in difficult old cases. He spent two tense days with his client, reviewing every available page of the file.
Volgin also consulted an independent handwriting expert in the capital, who confirmed the state’s findings. On May 5, Maximova returned for a second interview. This time she seemed calmer, likely helped by medication.
Her attorney sat beside her throughout, listening closely. Detective Kuznetsov switched on a digital recorder and began the formal interview. Maximova started speaking slowly, choosing her words with care.
Through tears, she admitted that in 1992 she had indeed written the false notes. But she insisted it had not been her idea. She said she acted under direct pressure from other people.
She said she had been young, frightened, and too intimidated to refuse. Kuznetsov asked her to name those people. Without hesitation, she gave two names: Savelyev and Gromov.
According to her, Savelyev came to her apartment early on the morning of May 24. He brought a stack of blank notebook paper and dictated the message. He ordered her to write 12 notes and vary her handwriting as much as possible.
When she asked why, he told her it was the principal’s instruction. He said the students had run away to the city and that the notes were meant to calm their parents and keep panic from spreading.
Maximova told investigators she had been badly frightened by the visit. Savelyev was a physically imposing man, abrupt and intimidating, and many teachers were wary of him…
