“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.”
* * * *
Later that evening Paul and his two nephews were sitting out on the balcony at Kevin’s house, having a few beers. Wayne was getting quite drunk. The police had allowed him and Justin to see their father. Justin had become upset by the reunion, while Wayne felt nothing but anger that his father had confessed to a murder he was certain he hadn’t committed.
Kevin had been withdrawn and Wayne thought he seemed like a man who had already given up. He had told his sons that the conditions in the prison were terrible and that none of the guards spoke English. Bail had been set at a million Euros and none of them could pay it. What really angered Wayne was that the police were continually trying to get him to confess to Lucy’s murder. Kevin had promised his sons that he hadn’t killed their mother and they believed him. However, Wayne refused to believe that his father had killed Yiannis, despite Kevin swearing that he had.
Justin was starting to get worried that as Wayne got even more drunk, he would start blaming him. After all, they were both certain that Kevin had confessed to Yiannis’s murder to get Justin out of jail.
Paul got up to get some more drinks and when he came back a few minutes later, he seemed worried.
“That’s funny. I can’t seem to get hold of Jane. Her mobile’s switched off and she’s not answering her landline. I hope she’s alright.”
“Oh, I meant to tell you,” Justin said. “I saw her this afternoon getting into Eve’s car. She had a suitcase. I presume she was going to stay with her.”
“What?” Paul’s voice rose. “Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps Eve knows or suspects who the real killer is and doesn’t want to be alone. David is at his own house with Emma. I mean, didn’t the murderers try and kill Eve before?”
“Yes, they did. I didn’t think of that. That must be it, though what help Jane would be, I don’t know. She’s not particularly strong.”
Or perhaps she thinks Jane is in danger. But why hasn’t Jane told me? I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit...............Eve thinks I’m the killer, doesn’t she? That’s why Jane hasn’t phoned. She’s turned her against me. How dare she interfere in my relationship again? At Christmas she paired Jane up with James. Now she’s trying to split Jane and me up. I won’t have it, I won’t. Jane is the best thing that happened to me and I won’t let Eve Masters ruin it for me.
The more Paul thought about Eve, the angrier he got.
* * * *
It was three o’clock in the morning and a man dressed in black walked silently to Eve’s front door. He took a key out of his pocket and opened the door. Portia was lying in the hall and she woke up. He petted her and she went back to sleep again.
The man crept up the stairs. He listened at one of the doors which he knew was a spare room. It was quiet inside. However, when he listened at the door of the other spare room, he could hear the air conditioner unit working.
“Jane must be in there,” he thought to himself.
He walked a little further down the hall and stopped at the master bedroom. He listened, but it was quiet.
Damn, why can’t she have the air conditioning on?
As if by magic, he suddenly heard it switch on.
She must have it on a timer.
The man breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly and carefully, trying not to make a sound, he opened the door and went in, pushing the door to, but not completely shutting it behind him.
He walked slowly and quiet
ly towards the double bed and then picked up the pillow from the empty side, but before he could do anything, Eve opened her eyes and sat up immediately.
“Don’t scream,” Paul remarked quickly and coldly, “or I will kill you. I will either suffocate you with this pillow or strangle you. Take your pick.”
“How did you get in?’ she asked, thinking that she had locked everything before she had come to bed.
“I have a key, remember. I’m your gardener and I look after your inside plants as well, plus I looked after your dog when you and David went to England for his sister’s wedding.”
Eve did remember. Why had she left him with the key? She could look after her indoor plants herself. But then she didn’t anticipate that Paul would want to kill her. But why did he want to kill her? Did he think she suspected him of being the murderer? Or had he found out somehow that Jane was staying with her and was angry that neither of them had told him? She decided to act as if she didn’t know anything.
“I don’t know what I’ve done wrong, Paul. Why do you want to kill me?”
“I don’t want to kill you, Eve. We are friends after all, but you have interfered again, so I may just have to. You must think I’m the murderer, otherwise why would you bring Jane here? She hasn’t let me know that she’s staying here either. She’s obviously scared of me.”
Eve was trembling by this point, not knowing how she could keep Paul talking and therefore stall him.
“So did you kill Lucy and Yiannis?”
“Of course I did,” Paul laughed. “You are a clever little detective, aren’t you?”
“Why did you kill them?”
“I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to stretch the time out in the hope that someone rescues you. I will answer your questions, but I will get rid of you, mark my words.”
Eve felt sick. Why was this always happening to her? One day she would end up dead. David was right, wasn’t he?
“Anyway,” Paul continued. “Lucy and I had a little romance going on a couple of years ago.”
Eve gasped.
“You and Lucy?” she exclaimed. “My, she did like them younger.”
Paul didn’t comment.
“I fell madly in love with her. She was a lovely person once you got to know her, but she ended the relationship, saying it wasn’t fair on Kevin and that we couldn’t be a couple because I was his brother. It took me a long time to get over her; in fact I never did completely get her out of my system. I thought I had done when I met Jane. Things were going well between us, but then recently, I saw Lucy with Yiannis and I was so jealous. I knew then that I still loved her. I told her, but she laughed at me and said we could never be together again. At that moment I wanted to kill her...... and of course, I did.
On the day she died, Lucy asked for a lift to the shops as her car was in the garage. During the drive, I told her I had problems with Jane and needed to talk to someone. I said I knew a quiet little cove where we could talk without being bothered. Surprisingly, she agreed to go there, but then she had always been helpful, a bit like a mum to me. When we got there, we chatted for a bit and then I strangled her. She begged for her life and asked me why. I told her how much I still loved her and that if I couldn’t have her, nobody could.”
Eve was amazed at how cold Paul’s voice sounded, but she didn’t comment on it.
“Why are you so bothered about Jane now?” she asked instead.
“I like Jane. I enjoy her company and she is beautiful, if a little boring. I can’t have Lucy now, so I’ll make do with Jane. The real problem is you. You want to see me rotting in jail for years.”
“I want to see the killer punished and if it’s you, then, yes.”
“You never know when to stop interfering, do you, Eve Masters?”
There was a moment’s silence and Eve believed her time had come so she quickly spoke again.
“And Yiannis, why did you kill him?”
“On the day I saw Lucy kissing Yiannis, I confronted her. I asked her if she was having an affair with him and she said she was. I was so angry. I told her he would sleep with anyone. I said she was ugly and he was only using her for sex. I know I upset her, but I carried on and on and she ended up in tears. I didn’t care though. She deserved it. And he had to die as well. Evil man, defiling Lucy the way he did. Now you know it all, Miss Clever clogs Mas......”
All of a sudden, before Paul could finish his sentence, let alone put his hands around Eve’s neck, he felt a sharp blow to his head and then everything went black.
Eve jumped straight out of bed to see Jane standing there. Her beautiful glass vase, which had been made at the glass factory in Kokkino Chorio, lay in pieces on the ground.
“I’m sorry about your vase, Eve,” a shaky voice said.
“Jane, to hell with the vase,” Eve exclaimed. “You saved my life. Paul was about to kill me.”
Eve hugged Jane so tightly that she could barely breathe before bending down to look at Paul.
“He’s still breathing,” Eve remarked, “so he could wake up at any time. Let’s get out of here. I’ll lock the door. We’ll go downstairs and ring the police and David.”
Jane nodded, even though she felt as if she were in a trance. Eve grabbed her hand and the two women rushed out of the room.
* * * *
Once downstairs, Eve decided to ring Dimitris Kastrinakis directly. She knew he probably wouldn’t be too happy, but trying to explain the situation to someone who might not speak English could waste precious time and the last thing she wanted was Paul waking up.
“Officer Kastrinakis,” Eve said a moment later. “This is Eve Masters.”
“What do you want?” he bellowed. “I’m off duty and this is the middle of the night.”
He sounded angry, but Eve didn’t care.
“I’m sorry, but time is of the essence. I’ve nearly been killed and would have been if Jane hadn’t saved me, so you have to come.”
“Who nearly killed you?” he asked impatiently.
He hoped she wasn’t wasting his time. He wouldn’t be too happy if she was.
“Paul Fowler. He came to my house, woke me up, confessed to killing Lucy and Yiannis and was about to strangle me when Jane knocked him on the head with a vase. He’s out cold and locked up in my bedroom. He could wake up anytime soon.”
Eve was talking so quickly that she was almost out of breath.
“Calm down, Miss Masters,” Dimitris said, realizing the severity of the situation. “I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
As soon as she closed the call, she rang David who also said he would be over as soon as he could.
Having finished the calls, Eve looked at Jane. She looked as white as a sheet and about to cry. Eve went over and put her arms around her.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Jane. This must be awful for you.”
“You were the one who was almost killed, not me.” she whispered.
“Yes, but by Paul, the man you’ve been seeing for six months.”
“I will admit it was a shock. Gosh, I can’t believe I’ve fallen for two murderers. What are the odds? But I had already decided Paul wasn’t the one for me.”
“How did you know he was in my room? It was so lucky.”
“I got up to go to the bathroom. Your door was slightly ajar and I heard voices, so I stopped to listen. I heard Paul’s voice; I heard it all. I knew I had to do something. I grabbed your vase and when the air con came on again and made all that noise, I knew it was my chance to dash in.”
“You were very brave. He still could have turned round and grabbed you.”
“I didn’t even think about that. I knew I had to do something.”
They both heard a key in the door and Eve rushed into the hall. As she thought, it was David and she flew into his arms.
“Oh David, I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered into his ear, trying not to make too much noise in case it woke Paul.
“I’m happy to see you alive Eve,” he re
plied. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”
“But I hardly did anything this time, darling,” she said plaintively.
“I suppose you didn’t,” he replied, releasing her as Jane came into the hallway. “Ah, here’s our heroine.”
“Oh, I only did what anybody would do,” Jane replied, smiling a little.
Eve was pleased to see Jane smile, but she was starting to feel a little put out that Jane was becoming the centre of attention. After all, it had been her idea that Paul could be the killer and he had tried to murder her, not Jane.
Just then they heard police sirens and cars screeching to a halt. David opened the front door and Dimitris marched in with a couple of other officers. Eve took them upstairs and pointed to her bedroom. However, when they opened the door, the window was open and there was no Paul. Dimitris and the other officers dashed downstairs, but as they got to the front door, another two officers appeared holding onto him. There was blood pouring out of Paul’s head and he looked confused, but not too dazed to have a final word or two.
“I did love you, Jane; we could have had a good life together if it hadn’t been for that interfering busybody.”
He looked straight at Eve as he said these words.
“Yes, Eve, I wish I had strangled you last Christmas at my brother’s party.”
Eve looked at him in horror.
How dare he speak to me like this? I shall keep my mouth shut for once. He doesn’t deserve a reply.
Jane, however, felt differently.
“We would never have had a good life together, Paul. Yes, I liked you and we had a nice time together, but I never loved you as I did James. Although he was a murderer as well, he was the most romantic and exciting man I’ve ever met.”
Paul was about to say something which Dimitris, being a little more sensitive than he would ever admit, imagined would be very nasty. He broke into the conversation immediately.
“I think this is enough talk. Ladies, we will require you to come down to the station first thing in the morning to give your statements.”
With that, the police left, taking Paul Fowler with them.
Chapter 13
Death in the Aegean Page 15