Chapter 46
VICTORIA
The police launch chugs into view just before noon.
‘At last,’ I say, striding towards it. I stop halfway along the jetty and look over my shoulder at Barney in exasperation. ‘Are you coming or not?’
When he offered to walk down to the beach to keep an eye out for the police, I insisted on joining him. I told myself it was because I wanted to escape the oppressive atmosphere at the villa, but the truth was, it felt prudent not to let him out of my sight.
He’s been acting strangely since the discovery of Felix’s body.
Jumpy, almost manic. If he isn’t drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair, his foot twitches like it has a life of its own.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s done a couple of lines of coke.
I hate drugs. They’re a waste of money and make people even more annoying than they are normally.
Barney has been known to indulge occasionally when he thinks he’ll get away with it, but not recently.
When the twins were babies, I found a wrap of white powder in the inside pocket of a suit I was about to take to the dry cleaner’s.
I lost it so spectacularly I reduced him to tears.
I stop at the end of the jetty and glance sidelong at him. At the time he promised never to touch drugs again and I believed him. He’s more than capable of lying to me, but where would he find class A drugs on a tiny island like Pelagia? And if drugs aren’t to blame for his agitated state, what is?
I really will have to keep a close eye on him.
The boat draws alongside the jetty in a cloud of diesel fumes.
The skipper cuts the engine and leaps up, a coil of rope slung over his shoulder.
He ties the boat fast with quick, economical movements, then turns back to help two uniformed police officers onto the jetty.
Wearing aviator sunglasses and blue short-sleeved shirts tucked neatly into navy trousers, they remind me of Tom Cruise in the Top Gun movies. Too cool for school.
The older of the two holds out a hand. ‘Sergeant Nikos Griva, Hellenic Police. You are Mrs Pearson?’
‘No, Mrs Pearson is at the villa. I’m Victoria Wyndham, a friend of the family. And this is my husband, Barney.’
I’m holding my breath as Barney steps forwards, hoping he doesn’t say something ill-advised, but he simply shakes the officer’s hand and nods grimly, the epitome of someone reeling from the death of a close friend. I let the breath out slowly.
‘We’ll take you up to the villa,’ I offer.
‘Thank you, but first I must see the body and secure the scene.’
‘Of course,’ I say smoothly, while inside I’m thinking, scene? What in heaven’s name does that mean? I catch Barney’s eye, not sure whether to be relieved or concerned that he looks as shaken as I feel.
Griva mutters something in Greek to his younger colleague while Barney and I hover on the jetty a few feet away. He turns back to us and nods briefly, his expression inscrutable. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Have you come from Corfu?’ I ask, as we tramp along the jetty. The wooden slats shift and creak under us, adding to a sense of precariousness that’s becoming uncomfortably familiar.
‘Thalassia,’ he says shortly.
‘Must be nice. You know, to have a change of scenery.’ I wave a hand at the beach and the cliffs beyond. ‘Beats working in an office.’
The sergeant grunts a reply. I give up my attempts at small talk and we climb the hill to the half-built Villa Olympus in uneasy silence.
Two workmen stand either side of the gates like sentinels guarding a watchtower. Griva walks over to speak to them, only breaking off to bark a warning to the younger officer when he goes to move a wheelbarrow abandoned in front of the gates. He nods, pulling on a pair of latex gloves with a snap.
‘Villa Paradiso is the next villa up the hill,’ I say, feeling increasingly uneasy as Griva starts winding red and white striped police tape across the entrance.
He looks up. ‘We will be up to talk to you all later.’
‘Will anyone else be coming?’
‘That depends.’
‘On what?’
‘What we find.’