Greek Island Mysteries Boxed Set (Books 1-2-3): Gripping, psychological mystery/thrillers destined to shock you!

by Luke Christodoulou

  ‘That old?’ I asked with a grin, and pulled one more chair to the other side of the desk. I placed my pocket-pen on the table and took out my little, black notebook. Ioli placed her jacket on the chair’s back and took out a pack of Jelly Babies, pretzel sticks and a pack of strawberry flavored chewy gums from the inside pocket. Noticing my stare, she smiled.

  ‘What you amazed by? You should know me by now, partner.’

  ‘Oh, I do. You need no pen because you have an eidetic memory and you get hungry easier than a lion during hunting season. Oh, I get you. It doesn’t mean it ceases to amaze me.’

  A knock grabbed our attention and turned our heads towards the door. We had decided to keep things as casual as possible. We left dinner early and informed everyone to come one by one to the library to give a statement. In any order they preferred. I recommended passing by, just before heading up to bed. That way, they could continue eating and drinking, which would keep them preoccupied, rather than sitting outside the library door.

  Cosma’s head popped in.

  ‘Cosma. Come in,’ I said, in a friendly tone.

  ‘Err, it’s not for me. I brought my mother. I was taking her up to bed and she insisted she come. I told her there was no need, yet she does not want to be the odd one out.’

  ‘Stop mumbling, boy! And close the door behind me,’ Helena Zampetaki’s strong voice ordered him. A mother will always be a mother, never mind how much you grow. My thoughts travelled back to New York and my own mother, now a widow and with an ungrateful son who always keeps forgetting to call as he promised.

  Helena Zampetaki marched up to the chair, quite speedily for a woman with a cane. She slowly sat down and placed her olive-wood cane by her side.

  ‘I was in my room during both incidents.’ She spoke loud and clear, her wary eyes focused on us. ‘Now that’s out the way, I wish to discuss ways to keep all this out of the papers. Is there any way we could say Irene went from a broken heart? A heart attack is not uncommon for a woman her age. Suicide is quite the scandal and against our religion, too! I will not have anyone badmouthing my precious Irene.’

  ‘With all due respect, ma’am, we cannot lie. And to be frank, the scandal’s going to be the murder of the bride, don’t you think?’ Ioli asked.

  ‘Yes, but that is murder, not blasphemy.’

  ‘Religion is not what it used to be, grandma. I doubt people will be so harsh to condemn Irene to hell just because she committed suicide out of grief for her loss,’ Ioli said, leaning forward in her soft armchair and placing her arms upon her legs.

  ‘I can’t stand the thought of Irene not being buried inside the cemetery. And don’t underestimate religion, child. The devil himself is at play here, have no doubt. What we need is to get rid of the evil eye. I’m telling you, someone is targeting our family and I’m worried about who will be next,’ the old lady said, in a steady voice.

  ‘Evil eye? Ma’am, again with all due respect, no one has placed a curse on the family.’

  ‘Find who wants to hurt us and quick,’ she demanded and with shaking arms, she lifted herself out of the chair. ‘Good night, officers. Happy hunting.’

  We said no more. We watched the elderly woman stroll through the library as if on a walk in the park. She grabbed the door handle and struggled to pull it open. Cosma, her son, waited outside and helped her exit through the heavy doorway.

  ‘I’ll take her up and be straight down,’ Cosma said. He received my nod and just as we turned to each other to discuss the senior woman, Kallisto popped in.

  She cat-walked towards us, her healthy curves moving side to side in her tight, glittery dress. ‘I know I won’t be any help, yet I get anxious knowing that I have something I must do and I am just sitting around waiting to do it, if you understand the feeling.’ She spoke at a speed that could win the Grand Prix. Her full cherry lips with the red lipstick moved rapidly up and down. ‘This is such a lovely room. Has character, right? And, oh my, is that a genuine Forester piano?’ she continued, staring at the piano tucked away in the far right corner, next to the balcony window. The piano player view would be breathtaking; the flat island never obscuring the oceanic horizon. The sunsets here must be majestic; now a pitch black sky met a huge layer of thick olive oil, once the turquoise sea. ‘Sorry, I tend to ramble when I’m nervous.’

  ‘Why is it that you believe you will be no help to us? We are just asking where everyone was,’ I said, while Ioli simultaneously asked ‘Why do you feel nervous?’

  Kallisto smiled awkwardly. ‘It’s my character you see. I always prepare my lines before an interview and now…’ she said and showed us with her hands.

  ‘You have no reason to be nervous. Just tell us your whereabouts during both incidents,’ Ioli said.

  ‘Incidents. I like that word.’ She theatrically took a faint breath and stated her whereabouts. ‘I left the party with my boyfriend, Leonida, around quarter to twelve and we went straight to bed. We were exhausted and it did not take long before we were off to dreamland. As for the incident with the mother, I was downstairs the entire time. You saw me, you were there,’ she said, staring at Ioli who politely smiled back.

  ‘How well did you know Cassandra?’ I asked.

  ‘Not that well. I only met her once back in the States and she seemed a lovely girl. Homer had sorted out a little get together with his cousin. We went wine tasting. It was splendid. Oh, there I go blabbing again. I was going to do her make-up for the big day and we did a couple of rehearsals that day. She was so polite and kind,’ Kallisto said, and wiped the corner of her eye. Her long nails so close to her eye made my shoulders shiver. I never could stand people touching or rubbing their eyes. Watching someone place their contacts in was among the scariest things I have ever witnessed.

  ‘You were going to do her makeup?’ Ioli wondered. ‘No offense, it’s just that a rich girl like Cassandra could have had any professional makeup artist she pleased.’

  ‘I am a professional,’ Kallisto retaliated. ‘That’s how I started out. I did the makeup for the actors before the show, before I became a star myself. I was pretty good, if I may say so myself. I was so good that many questioned if it was a good idea to give it up and became an actress. My mother knew I was making good money and did not want me to be an actress.’

  ‘Must have been a difficult decision for you,’ Ioli said, failing to hide the sarcasm in her tone. Kallisto looked straight at her.

  ‘There are no difficult decisions in life, my dear. When you throw up a coin in the air, you always know on which side you really want it to land.’

  Just then, the door opened and the tragic figure of a broken man walked in.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I did not realize that…’ Cosma began to say and turned to leave.

  ‘No, no. Stay. I am just chatting away, eating up these peoples’ precious time.’ Kallisto stood up and gave the armchair to Cosma. ‘My condolences,’ she said as she sat him down and cat-walked back out of the room, her hands in her red purse, searching for her thin, stick-like cigarettes.

  I looked at Cosma. All color had left him. He seemed to have grown a decade older in the last day. It is times like this I wished I still smoked. He kept his swollen, red eyes low. He played with his fingers the whole time he sat in front of us.

  ‘Mr Zampetaki, I’m not even going to pretend to comprehend what you are going through at the moment, but I’m going to need you to bear with me here. Let’s say for argument’s sake that the old lady had an accomplice. Who in the house would you consider it to be?’ Ioli took no time to head to the point.

  His eyes open wide; his strong jaw dropped a few inches and shook as he spoke.

  ‘You believe she had an accomplice?’ he asked.

  ‘Just a possibility we have to examine, sir. She was a very old and fragile lady. Seems a bit difficult to imagine her pulling this off alone,’ Ioli replied, deliberately leaving out words about murder, slicing of the throat and stabbing in the back.

  ‘I can�
�t think of anyone here that could be connected to the vendetta. Everyone here is family of mine and Homer’s or friends from America.’

  ‘What about your personnel?’ I asked.

  ‘We run background checks on all our staff -house, office and winery. We would never hire anyone related to that horrid family. Besides, everyone loved Cassandra,’ he said, choking on her name. ‘She was such a lovely girl. So happy all the time…’ His eyes fell to the floor; his head shaking with sorrow.

  ‘Cosma, indulge me with the next few questions, and try to not read so much into them.’

  He lifted up his head slowly, as if sedated; his eyes revealing his inner curiosity building up. He nodded with difficulty.

  ‘Who benefits from your wife’s will?’

  He smiled at the question. ‘I feel like I am on one of those shows. You know, the investigative cop ones. The husband is always the prime suspect and I guess I would be when I disclose that everything goes to me. However, my wife committed suicide and my daughter had nothing to her name.’

  ‘Everything? Sorry for asking for details, but if they is a relative or a friend you included in your will…’

  ‘No, no. We had no wills.’

  ‘No wills? I find that a bit difficult to believe. You are a prosperous, wealthy family and…’

  ‘This is not America, Captain. We have no need for a will. By Greek law, everything you own automatically goes to your spouse and if your spouse is deceased, everything goes to your children, in equal shares.’

  Ioli leaned forward, placed her hands on the glass surface of the wooden desk and asked ‘In case of your death who inherits the estate?’ .

  Cosma remained silent for a whole minute. Ioli stared at me, raising her eyebrows.

  ‘In a matter of a day, I went from being a married man with a daughter ready to marry and provide me with grandchildren, to being a childless widow,’ Cosma finally spoke. ‘I guess it would go to my sister, Anneta.’ He paused for a second.

  ‘Well, my share would at least. Irene has just died. I don’t know how long it will take to transfer everything to my name. Maybe if I die, her share would go to her next of kin,’ he continued, his voice more of a mumble than addressing us.

  ‘And that would be?’ I asked.

  ‘One of her first cousins. She had no siblings and her parents have passed on. You may have noticed, most of the guests are Homer’s family. Cassandra wanted a small wedding so Irene did not invite any of her side. They were not that close, really. My wife did not really get along that well with… other people,’ he said and smiled fondly.

  ‘How was her relationship with the staff then?’ Ioli inquired.

  ‘Oh, I would guess that they rather hated her,’ he replied with honesty. ‘She was one tough boss, that’s for sure. My own ‘iron lady’ I used to call her.’ His face fell into his wrinkled hands and tears were born in the corners of his brown eyes.

  I gave him a minute. ‘For our report, where were you around midnight last night and during your wife’s bath today?’ I asked casually, not wanting to hint any sort of blame.

  He raised his head and cleared his throat. He quickly wiped away any tears left upon his cheeks. ‘Last night, Irene and I left last from the dining room around one o’clock. We were the hosts, we left after everyone had gone up.’

  ‘Who were the last to leave?’ Ioli asked.

  ‘Homer’s parents, your uncle Thomas and his wife, and your cousin George, with the girl with the burnt face. Sorry, for calling her that. Sounds terrible. I do not recall her name.’

  ‘Melissa,’ Ioli helped him out.

  ‘Yes, yes. Melissa. Quiet one she is, yet she stayed up drinking with George. He and Leonida got quite drunk. Leonida kept hugging his cousin and ordering drinks until his girlfriend finally carried him off to bed.’

  He sat quietly while both of us stared at him.

  ‘Oh, yes. I forgot,’ he apologized, remembering he did not inform us of his whereabouts during his wife’s ‘suicide’. ‘I was in our bedroom. Irene kissed me and said she was going to take a bath. Christina, our maid, came in to bring her a cup of herbal tea that Irene had ordered. She saw my wife go in the bathroom. I left the room shortly after Christina and went to the TV room on the top floor. My sister Anneta was there, too,’ he continued saying as he stared at the floor.

  ‘That’s convenient,’ Ioli leaned towards me, and whispered.

  He was getting ready to cry again. His eyes were watery and his hands began to tremble.

  ‘Thank you, Cosma. That’ll be all,’ I said with my voice raised.

  ‘No, no. I thank you for doing this. I’m sure the guests would rather speak with you two than the police when they arrive. As soon as the weather settles, I figure everyone will need to rush home and distance themselves from all this,’ he said, got up, nodded to us with a slight smile and sauntered out the room.

  The bang of the door, signalling our time to talk alone.

  ‘Why did you reveal our suspicions to Cosma? He is a suspect. He acts so distraught, yet did you see how casually he walks around?’ I asked.

  ‘What do we have to lose? If he is guilty, it would alert him that we are on to him and maybe force him to do something stupid; a mistake to catch him. If he is innocent, then at least we got answers and warned him to be careful. He could very well be the next murder/suicide. Maybe there will be an accident this time?’

  ‘You’re probably right. Just ran it by me so I don’t get so caught off guard next time.’

  ‘Sure thing, boss.’

  ‘No one related to that horrid family, he said. Maybe someone paid by them?’ I thought out loud.

  ‘I’ve noted that he, Irene, Thomas, Georgia, George and Melissa were together in the dining room during Cassandra’s murder,’ Ioli said.

  ‘Still got a long list of suspects to add to your theory that the old lady had an accomplice.’

  The knocking on the door silenced us.

  ‘Come in,’ I called out.

  The room welcomed in George and Melissa. George, smart-looking as always, came in wearing a grey pair of trousers, held up by a designer belt, and a navy blue shirt under his charcoal sweater with the thin white lines running across. His shiny black shoes matched his hair; for a forty-year old, his hair stood unharmed by time. Hollywood hair, Tracy had called it. That was not the only feature he shared with Gary Grant. Deep dimples, youthful skin, engaging eyes and a strong jaw formed his face. Besides him, the ‘savaged by fire’ face of his girlfriend. Melissa lacked the confidence of women who normally grace the arm of such a fine specimen of a gentleman. She avoided eye contact and you had to struggle just to hear her speak. She dressed plainly, in a long brown skirt and a dark green cardigan on top. I wondered if she had always been shy in her life or the fire had forced her into it. Nevertheless, it did not stop her from finding George, who she seemed to be very much in love with. Always by his side, and touching him at every chance. With a stroke on the cheek, her hand upon his, or her head on his shoulder. Her rock after her ship had sunk.

  ‘Do you mind if we see you together?’ George asked.

  I shook my head. ‘Of course not…’

  ‘Can I come, too? I know you have already spoken to Kallisto. I would hate to get stuck last.’ Leonida’s head popped in through the open door.

  ‘The more the merrier. Close the door behind you,’ Ioli said, as she stood up to fetch a couple more chairs. George rushed to help her, while Leonida sat down in the only armchair opposite us.

  George sat in a straight posture between the two and spoke first; the most confident of the three.

  ‘Is Homer OK, Ioli? He hasn’t really said a word since Cassandra’s death.’

  ‘Under the circumstances, he is holding up, yet, you know Homer. He is just waiting to go somewhere alone and cry his heart out. He acts strong, but inside…’

  ‘Inside we are all in pain,’ Melissa completed Ioli’s sentence. ‘It helps to cry. I lost both my parents and most of m
y face in a car accident. It’s been years since then and I still cry whenever I think of them.’

  ‘It’s always hard to lose someone so close to you,’ I said. ‘Now, you know why we called you all here. We need to note down everybody’s whereabouts during the two incidents. That’s midnight last night and today afternoon.’

  ‘Well, last night, we left last from the party. What time was it, dear?’ George asked Melissa.

  ‘Must have been after one for sure,’ she quietly said.

  ‘You?’ Ioli asked Leonida.

  ‘I left before midnight with Kallisto. We went straight up to our room. We were exhausted from the trip and after a quick shower we slept like babies. I remember worrying that after a shower and with all the thunder outside, I would not sleep easy, but in a matter of seconds I was out.’

  ‘And today?’

  ‘Today all four of us were in the dining room having drinks,’ Leonida replied.

  ‘And none of you left the room?’ I asked.

  ‘No,’ George replied with a steady voice.

  ‘That is because you were so busy drinking with Leonida to notice me leave,’ Melissa said. George turned to face his girlfriend. His eyes were moving around, unsure.

  ‘Oh, don’t give me that look,’ she fondly said, and stroked his cheek. ‘I’m not complaining. I left the room for a while,’ she continued, turning towards us. ‘But I didn’t go upstairs. I needed to use the ladies’ room and got carried away admiring the art in the hallway. I strolled all the way down to the kitchen. Christina saw me there. Then, I came straight back to the dining room.’

  ‘So, I guess that is all you need from us then,’ Leonida said and stood up. Without waiting for a reply from us, he walked over to the globe situated on a wooden tripod near the first row of bookcases. He flipped the top of the earth open and whistled. ‘So, this is where they keep the good stuff,’ he said, lifting up a bottle of aged cognac. George rolled his eyes. ‘Leonida!’

  ‘What?’ Leonida replied. ‘We are stuck here. Cosma has lost a daughter and a wife. I’m pretty sure he would not mind us having a drink,’ he continued while pouring himself a glass.