Death in the Aegean (18 page)

“No, he didn’t. I just thought you should know what he said. I think the family could be covering something up.”

“Or Paul’s the killer more like,” Eve butted in. “Don’t you think you should be giving her protection or something.”

“This isn’t New York, Miss Masters. We don’t have the manpower. Perhaps she could stay with you.”

“Oh, and you think I could tackle Mr. Fowler do you?”

“Well, you keep telling me how you have escaped the attempts of the murderers so many times, so I am sure nobody would dare try to get past you.”

Eve was ready to explode while David tried to stifle a laugh. Dimitris Kastrinakis was a worthy opponent for his darling Eve.

“Well really, it’s no wonder that I go off looking for the killers with that attitude,” Eve remarked.

“Miss Masters, to be serious, I have taken note of what Miss Phillips has said, believe me. We are taking everything into consideration. Do not think that we are accepting Mr. Kevin Fowler’s confession just like that – it came too soon after his son was arrested as you know. We are not stupid.”

“I didn’t say you were,” Eve replied, wishing she hadn’t bothered to come to the police station.

“Very well. Again, I tell you to be careful, Miss Masters.”

Eve refused to say anything while the others wished the inspector a good afternoon. As they left, David suggested that Jane moved in with Eve for the time being and it was agreed that it seemed the best solution.

As they got in the car, none of them noticed a blue Atos following them.

That afternoon Emma and Justin went to Almerida beach. They hired sun beds, intending to relax.

“I can’t help feeling guilty,” Justin said about half an hour later, sitting up. “Dad’s in custody and I’m lying here enjoying myself. It doesn’t seem right.”

Emma sat up as well and took Justin’s hand. He felt a spark of electricity shootthrough his body. It made him feel even guiltier. Not only was he lying on a sun soaked beach, but he was also with a gorgeous young woman who obviously liked him despite the fact that he had been accused of murder earlier in the day. Although he had been released, now his father had confessed to the murder. Justin imagined that most girls would run a mile from such a dysfunctional family; but not Emma. She certainly was special and he was so glad that he had met her.

“There’s nothing you can do at the moment, Justin,” Emma said, trying to reassure him. “There’s no point hanging around at the police station. They’ve already said you can’t see your Dad at the moment. It’s better that you wait until Wayne gets here later today and then you can perhaps go back together and see what’s going on. Nor will it do you any good sitting at home worrying. You’re better off out here with me, trying to unwind.”

“What if someone sees me? They’ll think I don’t care about Dad.”

“To hell with what anyone thinks, Justin. You’re hardly out partying are you?”

Justin tried to smile, but he was feeling lost and vulnerable. A couple of days previously he’d had two parents who lived together, albeit in a rocky marriage, and he was excited about spending the summer on Crete. Now, his mother was dead and his father could be locked away in a Greek jail forever. He was afraid and if it hadn’t been for Emma, he knew he would have already gone off the rails. As it was, he was still taking his meds properly, even though he had been tempted not to bother, feeling he wanted to experience the grief of losing his mother as himself, not the one pumped full of drugs. However, he knew how erratic his behavior could be without his meds and since he’d met Emma, he wanted to be as normal as any twenty-one year old man.  

Justin looked into Emma’s eyes and saw her concern for him.

I can’t believe this is happening, he thought. We only met last night and yet there’s a connection between us already. She doesn’t seem to care about my family being involved in the murders nor does she think I killed Yiannis. Perhaps I should tell her I’m bi-polar.............or will that be too much for her to take in at once. No, I’ll leave it for a little while. I’ll wait until she’s seen how normal I can be and then I’ll tell her.

“Come on, Emma,” Justin said all of a sudden, grabbing her hand. “Let’s go in the sea.”

Emma laughed as they both jumped up and ran into the water.  

“My goodness, it’s freezing,” she shouted as they went in. “I can’t believe it. It’s such a hot day.”

Justin laughed as he splashed water over her.

“Hey, Justin, that was cruel,” Emma shouted.

However, he knew she wasn’t angry with him as she laughed again and then splashed him back. Justin forgot about his parents. Emma was helping him put them out of his mind for a little while.

Justin, letting go of all his inhibitions, finally grabbed Emma and pulled her close. They were both a little out of breath and Emma’s heart was beating faster than usual, but she wasn’t sure if it was due to the exercise she’d just had, or to the closeness of the young man she was with.

He pushed back her wet hair, thinking she looked even more beautiful now than she had done when he had first seen her in the restaurant the previous evening. Even though she had very little make-up on, she had the longest lashes he had ever seen and her skin already had a silky bronze tinge. Although he was terrified of rejection, Justin pulled Emma closer until their wet bodies touched. They were both trembling as he put his lips to hers. To Justin’s delight, Emma wound her fingers through his hair and started kissing him with more passion than he could have imagined. He became oblivious of everything around him, not caring now if anyone he knew saw them.

When their lips parted, Justin looked solemn, but Emma had a big grin on her face.

“Justin, don’t look so serious. That was fun wasn’t it?”

He nodded and then smiled, at which point Emma decided to splash him again. He couldn’t resist splashing her back and their games started for a second time. Justin couldn’t think of a time when he’d felt quite this happy. However, a moment later, the guilt stepped in again.

* * * *

Eve drove Jane to her house to collect a few things. She had decided that they would be discreet and tell nobody that Jane was staying with her.

Eve waited in the sitting room while Jane packed upstairs. She looked around the room remembering that this was the place where John Phillips, Jane’s father, had been murdered by Phyllis Baldwin. She shuddered as memories of that woman flooded her mind. However, she then wondered how she was getting on in a Greek prison.

It must be awful for her. I know she’s a murderer, but still, the woman hardly speaks a word of Greek.

Eve had heard that her family were campaigning to have her transferred to a British jail, but she had no idea whether this would happen or not.

And now there was poor Jane, scared about her future as well.

Could Paul really be the killer? And if he is, will he let his brother rot in jail for his crime or will he own up?

As Eve was mulling through these thoughts, Jane came down the stairs with a small suitcase. She looked as if she’d been crying again. Eve jumped up immediately.

“Oh Jane, you’re finding all this too difficult to handle, aren’t you?” Eve commiserated, giving her friend a big hug.

“I’m okay, Eve. I feel a bit better now that I’ve had a good cry. I was only thinking how unlucky I’ve been in my choice of men. First there was James and now Paul. I really can pick them, can’t I?”

“We don’t know that Paul is the murderer, Jane. There’s still a good chance that it still could be Kevin.”

“I know, but to tell you the truth, I don’t think I want to carry on my relationship with Paul anyway.”

Eve couldn’t believe her ears.

“Even if he’s innocent?” she exclaimed. “I thought you were in love with him.”

“Do I really give that impression?” Jane asked a stunned Eve.

She nodded, but for once was lost for words.

“No, Eve,” Jane carried on. “I was utterly crazy about James. Every time I looked at him my legs turned to jelly and when he touched me, it was like an electric shock went through my body. He was my dream man, but he broke my heart. Now that was love at first sight.”

“I’m so sorry, Jane,” Eve said, sadly. “So what do you feel about Paul, or should I say, did?”

“Paul was so kind to me after we were all poisoned. He took care of me and yes, I did fall in love with him a little. We get on well and I’ve enjoyed spending time with him, but I’ve not felt that overwhelming consuming love I felt for James. I don’t think I ever will feel that again. That was a once in a lifetime thing.”

“So even if Paul isn’t guilty, you’ll break up with him?” Eve asked, already believing she knew the answer.

“Yes, I think it’s for the best. He probably has much stronger feelings for me than I have for him, so it’s better it ends now before he does something silly, like asks me to marry him.”

“Are you going to go back to live in England?” Eve asked bluntly.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead. Possibly. I doubt if I’ll be able to get a job here. It’s a pity as I do like Crete, but I need to work, both financially and for something to do. I can’t sit around all day doing nothing.”

“I understand that,” Eve replied. “I will miss you though.”

She went over to give Jane another hug. It wasn’t often that Eve showed affection to anybody except David. Jane was flattered.

“Come on; let’s get back to my place.” Eve said. “We’ll have a girls night in; what do you say? I’ll cook and we’ll have a few glasses of wine?”

“That sounds perfect; just what I need.”

Jane double locked the front door and they walked towards Eve’s car. At that moment, Emma and Justin drove by.

“That was strange,” Emma remarked.

“What was?” Justin asked.

“Jane was carrying a small suitcase. Is she going somewhere with Paul?”

“No,” Justin replied. “I don’t think so anyway. Paul’s not said he’s going anywhere. I doubt if he would with Dad in jail.”

“Perhaps she’s going to stay with Eve then,” Emma said.

“Why would she do that?”

“Perhaps Eve suspects who the real killer is and thinks Jane’s going to be the next victim,” Emma said excitedly.

“That would mean she doesn’t think it’s my Dad,” Justin replied, not daring to get too excited. “That would be great. She has been good at guessing the murderers before, so if she thinks it’s someone else, there’s a good chance it is.”

“Let’s hope she can convince the police. They do get a bit fed up of her.”

“I know.”

Justin glanced at the clock on the dashboard and realized how late it was.

“I’d better get you home, Emma. I’ve got to get to the airport with Uncle Paul to pick up Wayne.”

“Oh yes, I forgot.”

They soon arrived at David’s house and Justin, still feeling a little shy, dared to give Emma another kiss.

“I’ll ring you tonight then if that’s alright,” he said, reluctantly pulling away from Emma.

“I’d be cross if you didn’t,” she replied with a grin on her face.

Justin wished he could spend the evening with Emma, at least until she went to work. He didn’t get on with his brother and didn’t much want to see him. Wayne was still jealous that Justin had got so much attention from their mother. He hadn’t been able to hide his delight when Justin had been diagnosed as bi-polar and their mother hadn’t been able to cope. Justin thought that Wayne was a particularly nasty piece of work and he wanted nothing to do with him. 

* * * *

“Cheer up Justin,” Paul said as they waited at the airport. “This may be a chance for you and your brother to make up. You weren’t always enemies, were you?”

“Not when I was very small, but pretty much most of the time afterwards. Wayne could always tell I was Mum’s favorite and he was jealous, not that she didn’t spoil him as well. And when he and Julie had kids, Mum was overjoyed to have grandchildren. She really loved them and kept buying them stuff, so I don’t know why he was always so angry with me.”

“Me neither. I reckon he was a bit envious of your intelligence, Justin. He always wanted to do better at school, but he just about scraped through one GCSE and you got, what was it, nine?”

“Ten and three A levels.”

“Well, I imagine he doesn’t like it that his younger brother is smarter than he is...and talking about brothers, here he comes.”

Justin turned and saw Wayne walking towards them. As brothers, they didn’t look that much alike. Justin was fair haired and slim with baby blue eyes, while Wayne had much darker hair which was shaved very close to his head. Justin thought it made him look like a criminal. He was much stockier than Justin as well, but the one thing they had in common was the color of their eyes.

Paul and Wayne shook hands and then Justin was shocked when Wayne threw his arms around him in a big hug. He stood there, not knowing what to do, before cautiously putting his arms around his brother.

Eventually Wayne took his arms away and spoke.

“Not a time to hold grudges, is it, baby brother?”

Justin hated to be called that, but Wayne seemed to be making an effort to be civil, so Justin agreed with him.

“And arresting you for Yiannis’s murder and then Dad confessing to it? No, I don’t believe either of you are murderers, and I bet the police aren’t doing anything to find the real killer.”

“No,” Paul agreed. “As far as they’re concerned, the case is closed, well for Yiannis’s murder anyway. Kevin has denied killing your Mum even though the police are trying to get him to confess to it.”

“Why would he kill Mum?” Wayne asked. “She was ready to give him a divorce. She said she would. There was no point killing her.”

“Of course Dad didn’t kill her,” Justin said. “We’ve got to work out a way to get him out of jail.”

“How?” Wayne asked. “If they let him go, they might arrest you again.”

Hearing this, Justin looked as if he were going to burst into tears again.

“Come on, you two,” Paul said, seeing the conversation was starting to go downhill. “Let’s get home. There’s no point standing here. I don’t know about you, but I could definitely do with a drink.”