“Unfortunately, there wasn’t time.” Even if there had been, his phone wasn’t waterproof.
“Back to square one,” Remi said.
“Maybe not. Let me email everything to Selma. Who knows what that might turn up?”
“How does inferior olive oil, my stolen camera, and our kidnapping all connect?” Remi asked.
“Considering Adrian must think you saw him that morning, I’d say the theft of your camera is more than likely connected. Any idea what the missing photos were of?”
She stared into her coffee cup a moment, then looked up at him. “I was trying to get a shot of the birds. Something startled them and they all took off . . .”
“Something Kyril and his men were doing?” he asked.
“After, I remember thinking they probably set the birds to flight. But if so, it definitely wasn’t anything obvious the moment I saw them.” She gave a slight shrug. “As I mentioned last night, they were just standing there. I’ve even thought about what was on the memory card that was lost—there’s not a shot on it that would explain why they came after us.”
“You’re sure?”
“Very. I have a near photographic memory. I can recall each of the photos I took, and none of them were of those men.”
“She’s right,” Dimitris told Sam. “If it wasn’t for the birds, we probably wouldn’t have noticed them at all, they were that far away. And we left shortly after. If they were doing anything, it wasn’t obvious to me, either.”
“Whatever they were doing,” Sam said, “it’s clear they think the two of you saw or photographed something that they didn’t want anyone to see. Maybe a field trip up there is in order. If we’re lucky, we’ll discover what has them so rattled.”
Nikos looked up at the clock. “It’ll have to be without me. I have a full crew coming in to start documenting the shipwreck.”
“Are you sure it’s safe for you to be out on the water?” Remi asked him. “What if Adrian Kyril’s men come after you?”
“I have a hard time believing they would be so foolish as to try something again in broad daylight. Especially now that the police are aware. And if that isn’t enough to dissuade them, perhaps the presence of nearly twenty divers and archeologists will make them hesitate.”
* * *
—
Their first stop before returning to Fourni was to replace the water-damaged cell phones. Once back on Fourni, Sam, Remi, and Dimitris hiked up to the top of the hill, where Remi had stood taking photographs. The offshore breeze swept across the hilltop as they surveyed the countryside. Remi, holding her auburn hair off her face, pointed to her right. “You see that patch of junipers about halfway down the hill? That’s where I saw the men.”
Dimitris nodded. “And the birds flew up from there. I think if we drive around to the other side of the island, it’ll be easier to get to that spot.”
Sam pulled his binoculars from his backpack, focusing in on the area. From this vantage point, there wasn’t much to see but the rocks and shrubs. “Let’s go have a look.”
They hiked down to the car, then drove to the other side of the island, having to stop for a herd of goats that crowded the road. Dimitris honked, slowly idling the car forward as the animals took their time crossing the pavement, before disappearing down the east bank in a cacophony of bleats and bells. Once past, he drove a bit farther, then pulled over, parking on the side of the road. Sam saw a number of footprints in the dirt on the side of the road, indicating several people had been there before them. He stopped the other two as they started forward.
“What’s wrong?” Remi asked.
“Nothing, yet,” he said, crouching down on the ground, eyeing the footprints on the trail leading up to the area. “How many people did you see?”
“Four, but then only three.”
“Interesting. There’re four sets of prints leading up. And look, over here, only three going back.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Remi moved next to Sam, crouching down beside him. “Maybe one set is older.”
“Maybe . . . We won’t know until we get up there.” He stood, moving around the outer edge of the trail. The area was a mix of low scrub and jagged stone angling up the steep hill like steps. It was slow going, but they made it to the area Remi had pointed out, recognized by the odd grouping of junipers around what at first appeared to be a level clearing of flat limestone.
“Wait here,” Sam said, then moved closer on his own. He crouched beside a spindly fig tree.
The sun glared down on them, keeping her from seeing what Sam was looking at. “Did you find something?” she asked.
“Possibly an explanation as to what they were looking at.” He motioned them to join him, adding, “Keep to the far right. There’s a few footprints here.”
She and Dimitris picked their way across the same path Sam took. When they reached his side, Remi was surprised to see a yawning, dark hole just in front of him. As she neared, she could feel the cool air coming up from the depths. “How deep do you think it is?” she asked.
Sam found a large rock and tossed it in. She heard it hit four times on the way down. “Deep enough,” he said.
Dimitris seemed shocked. “I didn’t know this was here.”
Remi examined the footprints in the patch of dirt near the cave entrance, seeing what looked like scuff marks, as though one of the persons standing there suddenly pivoted. She stepped across a narrow gap between two rocks on the right of Dimitris, thinking it might have a better view down into the cave. The stone beneath her foot shifted, causing bits of gravel to fall into the hole. She peered down, realizing what she thought was a solid surface was anything but. “Sam . . . ?”
“Don’t move your feet.” He leaned forward, reaching out. “Take my hand.”
The urgency in his voice frightened her. She grasped his fingers, her palm sticky with sweat.
“Slowly, step toward me.”
She lifted her left foot, hearing more rattling as the limestone turned to sand under her weight. “You’re sure it’s safe to move?”
“I’ve got you.”
Remi’s throat went suddenly dry. As she moved toward him, her right foot slipped out, sending the top stone plunging down into the cave. Sam pulled her to him, wrapping his arm around her. Her heart thundered in her chest. When she was on solid ground, she looked back. The stone where she’d stood was completely gone. A coating of dust and gravel was all that was left in the space beneath.
“That was close.” She turned, looking up at Sam, who was still holding her.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded.
“You sure?”
She nodded again, but her heart continued to beat loudly.
Finally, Dimitris, with a scuffling noise and a very loud cough, reminded Sam that they were not alone. He held Remi a moment longer, then let go. When he found solid purchase, he turned on his phone’s flashlight, aiming the beam downward. It barely penetrated the darkness.
Dimitris kneeled beside him, trying to see in. “I have some gear, but Manos and Denéa are both climbers,” he said. “They’re out on the boat with my father. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if we borrowed some of their equipment.” He nodded at the tree growing on the other side of the rocks. “We could anchor to that.”
Sam looked up at the tree trunk, shaking his head. “I don’t like the look of these rocks. A few too many cracks for my comfort.”
“It looks solid right here.” Dimitris patted the rock beneath him. “Remi’s light. We could lower her down.”
Remi, standing behind both men, thought about her close call, and was glad when Sam nixed that idea. “What about a video camera?” she said. “We could lower it down. Safer than tempting fate.”
“That, Remi, is brilliant.”
Later that afternoon, they returned
with the needed equipment. Sam had managed to rig a small cage that held the camera tilted at a slight angle downward with a flashlight next to it. To keep the contraption from spinning, they attached the cage to two sixty-meter ropes, Sam on one side of the cavern entrance and Dimitris on the other. The basket hit something solid close to the fifteen-meter mark.
“Must be the bottom,” Dimitris said.
They lifted the rope a few feet on each side, then moved in a clockwise circle. At one point, Remi thought she saw a flash of white, but the light moved past before she could tell what it was. Finally, they lifted the camera to the surface and removed it from the cage.
The three moved away from the opening, and sitting beneath the shade of the tree, Dimitris opened the control panel of the camera and rewound the video to the start. When he played it back, they saw the rough cave wall as the camera descended. Apparently what it hit wasn’t the bottom at all, but a ledge.
“What’s that?” Sam said.
“It looks like bones,” Dimitris replied, confirming that Remi had indeed seen something white down there.
“No. Not that. A few seconds before.”
Dimitris rewound the video and played it back.
Sam pointed to the lower left corner of the screen and Dimitris pressed stop. At first glance it didn’t look like much. But Dimitris shaded the screen with his hand, then sucked in a breath. “It’s a shoe. Do you think someone’s down there?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The last murder on Fourni occurred decades upon decades ago. The local police were woefully unprepared to deal with this kind of investigation. They called for the federal police, who sent out a team to recover the body from the cave. Arrangements were made to search the cave for other remains.
Sam stood off to one side as the investigating officer took a statement from Remi and then Dimitris about what they’d seen that morning on the hill. When they were finished, the three waited together as the police raised the body from the cavern, using a stretcher. Two men at the surface guided it up, then moved it away from the cave’s entrance.
Dimitris froze when he saw the victim. “Tassos Gianakos.”
“You know him?” one of the federal officers asked.
He nodded, unable to speak for a moment. “A friend.”
Remi’s hand reach for Dimitris’s. “Zoe’s grandfather.”
Sam, seeing how upset Dimitris was, suggested to the police that they allow them to take him home. The investigators could contact them there if they needed anything further.
“Dimitris.” Remi took his arm. “Let’s go home.”
He stood rooted to the spot, unable to pull his gaze from the dead man.
Sam took his other arm. “We should go,” he said. “Let the police do their job.”
The pair guided him down the hill to the road. He didn’t speak, barely even seemed to be aware of his surroundings. He had a hard time understanding when Sam asked him for the keys to the car, then drove them back to Fourni. When they reached his house, Sam led him to a chair, while Remi found a bottle of ouzo. She quickly poured some in a glass, dispensing with any formalities. When he didn’t take it, she set the glass on the table next to him. “Dimitris,” Remi said. “Look at me. You need to talk to me.”
Finally, he focused on her. “I don’t understand. Why would Tassos be up there with Adrian Kyril?”
“Is it possible he knew Adrian?” she asked.
“I don’t know how.”
“Let me get this right,” Sam said. “Tassos is Zoe’s grandfather. Zoe is Dimitris’s girl.”
“The same,” Remi said. A moment later they heard someone at the door. It burst open. A young woman stood there, her face a mixture of shock and grief. Her gaze landed on Dimitris.
“Zoe,” he said, standing.
“Is it true?” When he didn’t answer, her eyes welled with tears. She shook her head, backed from the room, then turned around and raced out the door.
He followed her.
Sam glanced at Remi, who didn’t seem at all surprised by the interaction. Remi walked to the door, looking out, then back to Sam. “Do you think this will change your friend’s mind about having the Kyrils looked into?”
“If this doesn’t, I don’t know what will.” He took out his phone to call Rube. Word definitely traveled fast on the island. Someone must have radioed the Asteri, because they saw it pulling into port while Sam was on the phone with Rube, updating him on what they’d discovered. Remi left to meet Nikos, saying something about stopping him before he called her father.
“If it wasn’t an accident—” Rube said.
“After everything that happened?” Sam replied. “Obviously it was murder.” He glanced out the window to see Remi on the dock. “Which is what worries me. These people are Remi’s friends. She feels responsible and guilty. If it wasn’t for her taking pictures, none of this would have happened.”
“Responsible?” He heard Rube taking a frustrated breath. “The sooner you two are out of there, the better.”
“Assuming the police let us go in the middle of a murder investigation.”
“You’ve got that right. Chances are good that the two of you are going to be there for a while. The best thing you can do for her is to tell her to stay close.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to let her out of my sight.”
“In the meantime, I’ll see if I can find a reliable contact in the Hellenic police to keep you abreast of the investigation.”
“Appreciate it.”
He disconnected, looking out the window to see Remi talking to Nikos and a policeman on the dock. A moment later Remi walked in. She nodded out the door, where the officer and Nikos stood, deep in discussion. Just beyond them, Dimitris was trying to console Zoe. When the young woman pushed away from him, clearly not ready to talk, Remi glanced at Sam, her eyes holding a glint of tears. “Such tragedy. Thankfully, she has Dimitris. He’s a very understanding man.” She sighed. “What did Rube have to say?”
“He’d like it better if we were out of here. But that doesn’t seem likely with a police investigation.”
“Even if we could,” she said, looking out the window, “we can’t just abandon them.”
“It’s possible we could be here a lot longer than we anticipated.”
“I figured.” She turned toward him, her gaze troubled. “Do you think it’s safe?”
“I think it’s a small island, where everyone knows everyone. We stick together, look out for each other, we should be fine.”
She nodded, her attention back on Nikos speaking to the officer. “I hope you’re right.”
So did he.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The next couple of days were filled with interviews with the port police and the federal police, who, along with Rube, assured Sam that the safest place he or Remi could be during the investigation was right there on Fourni.
Sam, knowing Remi was worried, mentioned what the police said as he, Remi, and Nikos walked up the hill to Zoe’s house.
Remi was quiet as they started up the steep stairs leading to the winding path. Finally, she looked over at Sam. “I still think we’d be safer on one of the bigger islands. Like Samos, where there’s a larger police force.”
“The Kyrils would be stupid to try anything here,” he replied, pointing to the police boats in the port. “With the federal police here, too, I’d say it’s the safest place to be.”
“He’s right,” Nikos said. “As small as this island is, we’ll be the first to notice strangers. Everyone here knows you. They’ll keep you safe. On Samos . . . ?” The older man shrugged. “Too many tourists. How will you know who belongs and who doesn’t?”
When they arrived at Zoe’s house, Dimitris came out to meet them. He’d been helping her notify her extended family and friends on the neighboring islands of
the upcoming funeral.
“How’s Zoe doing?” Sam asked.
“Okay, for now. Denéa’s staying here with her until her cousin gets in tomorrow morning. At least we finished the last of the calls to notify everyone about the funeral.” He gave a tired smile. “I didn’t think it would be this hard.”
Nikos put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “As much time as you and Zoe spent together as children, it’s no wonder. Tassos practically raised you along with her.”
Dimitris nodded, then led them inside. Zoe, her eyes red, the circles beneath dark, brightened when she saw them. Denéa and Manos stepped out of the kitchen, carrying a few dishes that the neighbors had prepared and dropped off. They sat down at the table, Zoe picking at her food, the others eating quietly.
Nikos watched his son pouring more wine into his glass. “What you need is a break. All of you.” He gave Zoe a kind smile. “If Tassos were here, he’d agree with me. We declare tomorrow a day of rest. We go out on the boat. Do a little fishing, a little diving. We toast your grandfather on the water. If the police want to talk to us, they can wait.”
She looked up at him, quiet for several moments, then nodded. “I think you’re right. It’s exactly what my grandfather would want.”
Dimitris turned a grateful look toward his father. “What time should we meet?”
“Let’s all have breakfast at Skavos’s café at nine, then head out.”
With plans finalized, they finished their dinner, cleared the dishes, then sat around the table, listening to Manos as he told them a story about the time Tassos caught him and Dimitris, both about ten at the time, throwing eggs down the stone stairs not too far from the house. “We hadn’t even gotten through an entire dozen,” he said. “But he handed us a bucket of water and a couple of rags, and made us wash every step, all the way down to the port.”
Remi’s brows rose. “Are you talking about the stairs we took to get here? There have to be nearly a hundred of them.”
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