Death in the Aegean (7 page)

* * * *

While Don was lying in bed worrying, Paul was walking Jane home and telling her about his conversation with his brother. She was both shocked and surprised to hear that Lucy had been having an affair.

“I can’t believe it, I really can’t,” Jane said, shaking her head. “I know they were having problems, but Lucy didn’t seem the type of woman who would be unfaithful.”

“I know,” Paul replied. “I could hardly believe it myself, but Kevin said she’d done it before.”

Jane shook her head again in disbelief, while Paul tried to think who Lucy could have been having an affair with. She was such a surly woman that he couldn’t imagine her enticing anyone into her bed.

“Are you staying tonight,” Jane asked as they reached her front door.

“I don’t think I will if you don’t mind, Jane. I’ll need to be up at the crack of dawn to go to my brother’s to see if he wants anything. I have a feeling it’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.”

“I thought you probably would be getting up early,” Jane replied. “I think Justin will need you as well.......Paul, I can’t help thinking how weird all this is.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t quite put my finger on it. For a start, there’s been yet another murder here. It’s such a small community that it seems unreal. And then there's Lucy having an affair which seems so out of character, although from what Kevin said, it’s not.......”

“I know,” Paul butted in. “I find it all hard to believe as well. On top of everything, I keep thinking about Christmas and memories of my mother have started to flash through my mind. It’s very unsettling. And I’m worried about Kevin. He was so angry with Lucy before she died and now he’s showing hardly any emotion at all.”

“You don’t think he did it, do you?” Jane asked nervously, hoping that this wouldn’t upset Paul.

Luckily it didn’t. Paul was thinking exactly the same thing.

“God, I’d like to say no, I really would, but the other day he told me he despised Lucy. There was so much venom in his voice. And he would have had time to do it before going to the airport. I’m sure he would.”

 Jane shivered and moved closer to hug Paul.

“You’re right; this does bring back awful memories of Christmas. Oh dear, I hope Eve doesn’t start hunting for the murderer again. It would be just like her, wouldn’t it?”

Paul laughed.

“Yes, it would. I bet David’s going berserk!”

“Don’t laugh, Paul. It could be the end of their relationship if she does. David was so worried about her last time that it drove him to despair. He even went as far as leaving her.”

“Yes, but he went back to her after I .....”

Paul’s voice trailed off, remembering when he had attacked Eve at Kevin and Lucy’s Christmas party. He didn’t know what had come over him that evening to make him act in such a foolish manner.

Paul had fallen for Jane as soon as he had set eyes on her, but Eve had got involved in the situation by attempting to pair up Jane with James Anderson, angering Paul to such an extent that he lost control. However, even if Eve hadn’t interfered, Jane had been infatuated with James from the moment she saw him and Paul was invisible to her.

James Anderson was Paul’s biological cousin. He murdered Paul’s real mother, Jennifer Anderson and later poisoned Paul, Jane and Eve, leaving them tied up in his house while he escaped. It was then that Jane started to fall in love with Paul, much to his delight. James was now dead, killed by a female accomplice who had never been found.

“Don’t think about that terrible time,” Jane said to Paul. “Eve’s forgiven you completely for attacking her.”

“I know she has, but I still feel guilty. I do have a bit of a temper now and again. I wish I didn’t”

 Jane kissed Paul.

How on earth could I have fallen for that smarmy James when such a kind, thoughtful man as Paul was so close by? Yes, he does get angry sometimes, but it’s his only flaw.  

Paul’s mind started to drift as he held on to Jane. 

I hope nobody heard me having that argument in the street with Lucy a couple of weeks ago. I was so engrossed in the fight; I couldn’t say if anybody went by. I was so angry with her. Not only was she making Kevin miserable, she was hurting Justin - and he’s such a nice young man. I told her that if she didn’t change her attitude, she’d be sorry. If someone overheard, I’d definitely be a suspect. I won’t tell Jane. It’ll only worry her.

Jane meanwhile had her own problems. Holding onto Paul, she suddenly remembered something. She had seen Lucy with Yiannis Neonakis about a month ago. How could she have forgotten this? They were under a tree and they were laughing. Then Yiannis touched Lucy’s cheek; Yiannis who was almost twenty years younger than her; Yiannis who was supposed to be a bully and a woman beater. They had then parted with Yiannis giving Lucy a gentle kiss. Did Lucy reciprocate? Unfortunately, Jane hadn’t been able to see properly. Was Yiannis the man Lucy was having the affair with or was this just a little bit of flirtation?

Jane was sure Yiannis hadn’t seen her, nor had Lucy, but what was she to do? Should she go to the police? If Yiannis found out she had reported him and he was the killer, her life could be in danger and she didn’t think she could go through all that again. It had terrified her being tied up by James, the man she had loved. He had also poisoned her and she had become far sicker than Eve or Paul. It had taken her a long time to get over this experience, both mentally and physically, and she still had the odd nightmare about it. No, she couldn’t go through that again.

Jane hadn’t told Paul about Yiannis and Lucy after she had seen them. She had thought it was probably innocent so why stir up trouble. The relationship between Kevin and Lucy was fragile and Paul was turning against Lucy as well. Jane didn’t want to rock the boat, so she had put the incident to the back of her mind – until now.

My goodness, if Paul knew about Yiannis and Lucy, he could confront Yiannis and who knows what would happen then. Paul does have a terrible temper at times and Yiannis loves to fight. One of them could get killed.

Then Jane had an awful thought and tried to rid her mind of it as quickly as possible.

Of course, Paul might have known already and could have confronted Lucy. That would be even worse. He didn’t much like her and he could have got angry. No, I can’t think like this. Paul would never kill anyone...... would he? Oh dear, how can I doubt him? I’m supposed to be in love with him. No, Kevin already suspected that Lucy was having an affair....... it’s more likely he killed her.

Jane wondered if she should go and talk to Kevin first about Yiannis. However, she was a little scared. If he had killed Lucy, he could kill her as well. Yes, he could be a dangerous man.

 No, it’s not a good idea........ The one person I need to talk to is Eve, but should I?

Jane and Eve were good friends, but Jane didn’t want Eve to get into trouble with David. He hated Eve getting involved in the murders and risking her life. However, Jane was certain Eve was already thinking about looking for the murderer. Whatever David said, Eve would do what she wanted. Yes, first thing in the morning, Jane decided to go and see Eve Masters.

* * * *

A little later that night, Eve was lying in bed thinking.

I’m sure it’s murder. What else could it be? There were definitely marks around her neck so how could it have been an accident? And she was fully clothed. If she had wanted to go to the cave, I’m sure she would have put on a bathing costume. I reckon somebody killed her elsewhere and then carried her to the cave, not expecting anyone to find her for ages. No, it’s definitely murder.

Eve was getting excited, although she was pretty certain that Kevin was the culprit, even though it was an obvious choice. Who else would want to kill her? She racked her brains, but couldn’t think of anyone with enough motive. 

Eve then remembered that David’s niece, Emma, was coming over from England the following day.

Why did this have to happen now with Emma arriving tomorrow? David’s going to start worrying about her with a murderer running loose, but Emma is twenty-one not twelve and I doubt this is a random killing. The murderer will have had a motive, I’m sure, and isn’t going to go round just killing anyone.

Emma, David’s niece, was on holiday from university and she had secured a job in a local bar for the summer when she had visited Crete the previous year. It hadn’t come as a surprise to Eve that David wasn’t keen on her working in a bar, especially as this one stayed open until the early hours of the morning. At least David had promised not to say anything to Emma, admitting that he had to accept that she was growing up.  

While Eve felt that Emma should be left to do what she wanted, the one thing she was determined about was that Emma was to be kept away from Yiannis Neonakis, her arch enemy.

Yiannis considered himself a gigolo, but he didn’t treat women at all well. The previous summer, Eve had blamed him for the death of his girlfriend, Laura. He hadn’t killed her himself, but he’d treated her so badly that she’d been forced to blackmail Phyllis Baldwin to get enough money for a ticket back to England. Unfortunately, Phyllis decided Laura knew too much and killed her.

Eve looked over at the sleeping form of David, knowing he would be very cross if he knew that she was thinking about the murder. However, she would keep it to herself as much as she could. David had been spending most of his time locked up in one of the spare rooms writing and with Emma arriving the next day, he would be moving back to his home to stay with her. He wouldn’t know much of what she was up to.

Oh yes, it’s all going to work out very nicely
, thought Eve, smiling to herself in the dark.

Eve got up at six the following morning after a fitful night’s sleep. Tossing and turning, she had woken up a couple of times during the night, once after having a terrible nightmare. In the dream, Eve found herself back in the cave discovering Lucy’s body. However, as she bent down to see if Lucy was alive, the ‘corpse’ jumped up and started to laugh. Lucy’s eyes opened and worms crept out of them, while snakes slithered all over her body. In the dream, Eve tried to move, but she couldn’t, while Lucy carried on laughing and stretched out her arms, almost touching a very frightened Eve. She tried to move again, but discovered that her feet were now stuck in quicksand and she was sinking. Eve screamed as she sunk deeper and deeper, but then she woke up, perspiring and feeling nauseous.

What on earth could that dream have meant? Eve asked herself.

She lay there for a moment, trembling and wondering if she had actually screamed out loud, but when she looked over at David, she was relieved to see that he was still fast asleep. She got up and quietly crept downstairs to get herself a glass of cold water. Looking at the clock, she saw it was only ten to three.

Returning to bed a few minutes later, Eve wondered if she’d be able to get back to sleep.

I don’t feel at all tired now. I just keep seeing Lucy’s face from the dream. It was frightful. Perhaps it was a sign that I shouldn’t lie to David, or maybe it’s a premonition that everything’s going to go wrong......... No, the dream’s telling me that Lucy was definitely murdered. That’s it; I’m sure of it.

Despite feeling wide awake, it wasn’t long before Eve drifted back to sleep again and this time she went into a deep dreamless sleep. When she woke at six and saw it was light, she didn’t feel scared at all, but was looking forward to finding out if Lucy had been murdered.

She glanced over at David. He was still asleep. Eve envied his ability to sleep for eight hours flat without waking up.

The sleep of the righteous,
she thought, once again feeling a pang of guilt.

David usually got up at around seven to start work on his novel, often taking Eve’s dog, Portia, out for a walk just before breakfast.

This morning, Eve felt too excited to go back to sleep, so she decided to get up early and go out for a breath of fresh air.

This time of the morning will be lovely for a long walk. It won’t be too hot yet, nor will there be many people about. I’ll have time to think things through.

She got up quietly as she didn't want to wake David, and went to get herself a coffee before putting on her make-up. Eve refused to go anywhere without looking her best, even if she was just walking the dog. She always said that you never knew who you might bump into.

Eventually Eve called her dog and they went out, Portia happy to be taken out earlier than usual for her morning walk.

Eve closed the front door, still trying to be as quiet as possible. It was already pleasantly warm outside, though not blisteringly hot, and Eve smiled, enjoying the warmth of the early morning sun. For a moment she thought it might be a good idea to do this every day, but then decided against it. Eve was a night owl and enjoyed going out in the evenings. She certainly didn’t want to forgo that pleasure.

A few minutes later, as Eve walked along with Portia, she saw a figure coming towards her. She was delighted when she realized it was Paul.

Great. At last I might find out more about Lucy’s death.

“Paul, hi,” she said a few moments later. “You’re up very early. I’m so sorry about Lucy.”

Eve tried to look suitably sorrowful.

“Thanks, Eve,” he replied. “However, you know we weren’t that close. She was never particularly fond of me. In fact, I’m sure the whole thing has been more traumatic for you; finding her body I mean.”

“Well, it was quite a shock, yes, but I’m okay now I think. I did have a bit of a nightmare last night, but things always seem better in the light of day.”

“I’m sure it will take you a little while to get over a fright like that,” Paul replied sympathetically. “I’m just off to Kevin’s to see how he is. I expect he’s going to have a difficult day. His son, Justin, took his Mum’s death particularly hard.”

“And Kevin didn’t?” Eve asked nosily.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Paul replied, trying not to give anything away.

He didn’t want to tell Eve that Kevin didn’t seem to care, though he thought that she probably knew. It was no secret that Lucy and Kevin’s marriage had been on the rocks.