A Deadly Twist

by Jeffrey Siger

  Yianni sat on the edge of the bed, picked up the top notebook, and opened it. On the first page was a notation handwritten in Greek and English.

  IF FOUND, PLEASE RETURN TO NIKOLETTA ELIA, followed by a Greek mobile telephone number and the word REWARD underlined and circled.

  On the next page was a neatly printed name, location, date, and beginning and ending time, followed by pages of notes and long bodies of text, presumably recording the words of the subject of her interview. Sections were arranged similarly for each person she’d interviewed.

  Yianni looked up at Dimitri standing by the bed. “Have you read these?”

  “Not carefully. I glanced at them, but as you can see there’s a lot to read.”

  Yianni held the notebook open to the page he’d been looking at. “Who’s the person named here?”

  Dimitri leaned in to read the name. “That would be our mayor. I understand he was the first person she interviewed for her story.”

  “I’ll need your help in identifying who she met with. The list my office received from her editor isn’t complete.”

  “No problem.”

  “She had five notebooks?”

  “That’s all we found.”

  “That’s a lot to read.”

  Dimitri nodded. “And steps to retrace.”

  Yianni shut his eyes and sighed. “No way I’ll be able to complete all of this by the weekend.”

  “Like I said, the offer of a place for you and Toni to stay remains open.”

  “Thanks.” Yianni slapped his free hand on his thigh and stood up. “Well, let’s get started. First thing I need is a place to read these notebooks cover-to-cover, undisturbed. I want to finish reading them by tonight so that I can begin retracing her steps first thing in the morning.”

  “I know the perfect place for you.”

  “Not the police station. I’ll be inundated with gossipers who won’t take no for an answer.”

  “Don’t worry, no one will disturb you where I have in mind.”

  “Good.”

  “There’s only one hitch.”

  “Being?”

  “Do you believe in ghosts?”

  Chapter Three

  Yianni called Andreas to report on what he’d found, or rather not found, and said he’d call again after he’d read through the reporter’s notebooks. He pondered whether to call Toni, but she might be sleeping. Her job as a piano player in one of Mykonos’s iconic clubs kept her up until four in the morning. She rarely stirred before noon, and then it was off to her day job playing finder of stolen goods for tourists and locals preyed upon by opportunistic thieves. Her late afternoon nap was sacrosanct, but he decided to risk leaving a message on her mobile.

  He leaned against a wall as he patiently waited for the sixth ring to send him into voicemail. “Hi, my love. I’m just calling to let you know I’m on Naxos and will be incommunicado for the rest of the day and likely much of the night, reading documents. I didn’t want you wondering why you hadn’t heard from me, and—”

  Ring, ring.

  Yianni looked at his phone. It was Toni. He switched over to take her call. “You’re awake?”

  “Phones ringing six times have a habit of doing that to me.”

  “I didn’t expect you to leave it on.”

  “When I sleep alone, I leave it on vibrate. And don’t bother to ask why unless you’re prepared to handle the answer.”

  Yianni laughed. “I miss you.”

  “I miss you too. Can’t wait until the weekend.”

  Yianni swallowed. “Me too. I was just leaving you a message that I’ll be tied up into the night reading documents.”

  “What sort of a case has you cloistered away reading documents? I thought all you big-time cops did was break heads and beat confessions out of bad guys.”

  Yianni grinned. “That’s the fun part, but we can’t beat on them until we find them. Which is what has me standing outside a monster medieval mansion atop old town Naxos.”

  “Sounds wonderful.”

  “It is. The local police chief arranged for me to have a key to the place so that I could do my reading undisturbed. But now I’m all alone, about to be surrounded by antiquities dating back to the fifth millennium B.C.E., and who knows what ancient spirits, so I decided to call you for company.”

  “Is it someone’s home?”

  “No, it used to be the School of Commerce for Boys, but now it’s the Naxos Archaeological Museum.”

  “I think I’m supposed to respond, ‘How sweet of you to think of me,’ though my instinct is to say, ‘You sound horny.’”

  “So much for the moment.”

  Toni chuckled. “I’ve never been to Naxos. I hear it’s wonderful. Maybe we could go there together someday.”

  Yianni bit at his lip. “Yeah, why not?”

  “Well, try not to have too much fun among the artifacts while I labor on among the sinners.”

  “One man’s sin is another’s wished-for prayer.”

  “You sound more like a philosopher than a cop.”

  Yianni laughed. “On that note, I’ll say goodbye, get to work on my reading, and let you get back to sleep.”

  “Little chance of that now, my love, but bye-bye.” She signed off with a kiss.

  Yianni lingered for a moment, holding the phone to his ear. Toni was unlike any woman he’d ever known. She could read a bar audience with wildly different musical tastes and come up with the perfect tune to please them all.

  He wondered if that same intuitive gift had her somehow sensing that their weekend plans were in jeopardy. By suggesting they “someday” visit Naxos, did she want him to know that she was okay with that? Yianni shook his head and smiled, put his phone away, and stepped inside the museum.

  He put the notebooks down on a small table just inside the entrance, picked up a brochure from the same table, and wandered for ten minutes through the museum’s warren of rooms, halls, terraces, and staircases. According to the brochure, one of Yianni’s favorite authors, Nikos Kazantzakis of Zorba the Greek fame, had attended the school that once inhabited this building. Yianni also read that an upper floor of the school had once housed a library full of artifacts and other valuable treasures, but occupying German and Italian forces destroyed them in World War II.

  Yianni could easily spend a day in here wandering among antiquities. He decided the best place for him to do his reading would be as far away as possible from those distractions. So, he planted himself and Nikoletta’s notebooks at the desk where visitors stood in line to buy their tickets.

  Yianni drew in and let out a deep breath, picked up the notebook containing the reporter’s earliest entries, and muttered to himself, “In the beginning…”

  * * *

  Toni turned onto her left side and stared at a blank wall next to the lone window in her bedroom. There was nothing there for her to see, but she wasn’t looking, she was concentrating her thoughts. Since their last weekend together, all Yianni had talked about were his plans for them in Athens. What they’d see, what they’d do, who they’d meet. Now, not a peep.

  Something’s happened. I hope it’s only work.

  She rolled onto her back, stretching and yawning as she did. She lived in a hotel close by the sea. It was more of a big house with bedrooms, but its owner called it a hotel and the Tourist Board allowed him to do so, thereby entitling him to charge higher rates for his rooms. Toni had no complaint about the price because as a year-round resident she had a special deal. More importantly, the owner and his wife treated her like family. That meant a lot to Toni, because her mother had died a few years back, and her father’s subsequent depression led him to give up his overseas position with the U.S. State Department and move back to New York City, the place of their marriage and Toni’s birth.

  She’d grown up as a diplomat�
�s child, bouncing from one foreign American school to another. Music was her only constant during those early expat years. Straight out of high school, she skipped college and took off on her own, bumming around Europe, dreaming of setting the world on fire with her music. Ultimately, she landed on Mykonos.

  She swung her legs out of bed, faced the bathroom doorway, and shifted her eyes to the mirror to its right. “Good evening, Toni, how nice to see you looking so fine and chipper. Another late night in store for you, I presume? Now don’t start complaining, Dearie. After all, you’re the one who wanted to be a piano player. In other words, get your ass out of bed.”

  Toni shut her eyes and shook her head. “I must be crazy talking to a mirror.”

  She looked back at the mirror. “No, Dearie, you just miss your boyfriend.”

  * * *

  The more of the reporter’s notebooks Yianni read, the more certain he was that his weekend plans were toast. As unhappy as that made him, he saw no alternative. From what Nikoletta had written, there could be any number of reasons why she’d disappeared, several of them fatal.

  Her notes of her conversation with the hacker went into details not revealed in the newspaper article. Details pointing fingers at mobsters, private citizens, and government officials he claimed had retained him to target competitors, enemies, colleagues, and spouses. If true, every one of his clients had a reason to want Nikoletta silenced.

  But her other notebooks suggested a different sort of suspect, one unrelated to him or his kills, yet with a definite motive for keeping her from publishing her second story. The players ranged from big-money developers to activists to uncompromising fanatics. Nikoletta’s plans for laying bare the bad intentions and hidden agendas she saw as stoking a looming, pitched battle over the island’s future would not endear her to many.

  But enough to kill her?

  Yianni leaned back in his chair and stretched. With all the crazies in this world, he wasn’t about to play psychiatrist and eliminate any potential suspect. He’d simply assume the worst and say a prayer that it wasn’t too late for Nikoletta.

  On that thought, he looked at his watch. It was nearly one in the morning. He hadn’t eaten a thing since a quick bite with Dimitri on their way up to the museum. He thought to call Andreas and report on what he’d read since they’d spoken shortly before midnight, but it was late and he’d didn’t have much more to say than he’d already told him. Too many suspects, too many divergent motives. He’d call first thing in the morning. Tomorrow would be a busy day. Make that, today will be a busy day. He should get to bed, but before retracing Nikoletta’s every step, he needed something to eat.

  * * *

  The path from the museum down to the harbor was a mix of stone steps and inclines, but all well lighted. There was life on the old town’s winding streets, not surprising what with it being tourist season. Yianni had no trouble finding the bar where Nikoletta had held her interview, and though its kitchen was closed, a man Yianni took to be the owner offered to microwave a frozen pizza.

  Yianni sat sipping a beer when the owner returned with the pizza in one hand and a fresh-made Greek salad in the other. “I thought, what kind of a host would I be if I didn’t at least offer you a salad?”

  Yianni smiled. “You’re too kind. I never expected this.”

  “You don’t like salad?”

  “No, I meant this is very generous of you. Thank you.”

  “I always try remembering that hospitality shows respect not just for my customers but for what I do every day of my life to earn my living. That was a lesson passed on to me by my father.” He crossed himself.

  Yianni studied the man, who looked fit, in his late forties, taller than Yianni, but wiry, with a broad round face, a three-day beard, uncombed more than tousled hair, and the sort of close-set, dark eyes that suggested feral intensity.

  Yianni extended his right hand. “My name is Yianni.”

  The man shook it. “Stelios. Welcome to this little bit of heaven.”

  “It’s a lovely setting. You must get a lot of business.”

  The man nodded. “Yes, business has been very good. Puh, puh, puh.”

  Yianni picked up a piece of pizza and took a bite.

  Stelios started to turn away. “I’ll leave you to eat in peace.”

  “No, please. Join me.” Yianni pointed to the chair across from him. “No reason for me to eat alone, assuming you don’t need to be doing something else.”

  Stelios sat. “No, the bartender has everything under control. The few customers remaining are just sipping drinks and basking in the notoriety of the place.”

  Yianni saw his opening. “Notoriety?”

  “You didn’t know?”

  “Know what?” Yianni feigned ignorance.

  “That reporter, the one who wrote a story about a mysterious computer guy she met in a bar, she met him here.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, they were sitting at that table behind you, in the window.”

  Yianni turned and looked at the table, then turned back to face Stelios. “How long were they here?”

  “Two, three hours.”

  Yianni turned around to look at the table again. “What were they like?”

  “He talked; she took notes. And before you ask, I never heard a word they said.”

  “Why do you think I would ask?”

  “Because everyone asks me that.”

  “I guess that’s only natural, but I’d also think it only natural for you not to admit you’d overheard anything, even if you had.”

  Stelios smiled. “Considering what the newspaper said they talked about, I think you’re right.”

  Yianni nodded. “So, what did he look like?”

  “I’m not good at remembering faces.”

  “Another wise trait. Though probably not a good one for a bar owner.”

  Stelios smiled again. “Don’t worry, I’ll remember yours. So, what has you over here on Naxos? Are you on holiday?”

  Yianni reached into the front of his shirt and pulled out his ID on a lanyard around his neck. “Nope, I’m a detective with Greece’s Special Crimes Unit.” He took another bite of the pizza.

  Stelios’s face blanched. “I guess I’ve already said too much.”

  Yianni gave a quick upward jerk of his head. “Not at all.” He took a taste of the Greek salad. “This is terrific. I particularly like the touch of oregano.”

  Stelios’s face constricted, and he bit at his lip.

  Yianni took another bite. “Tasty.”

  Stelios started to stand. “I’ve really got some work I should be doing.”

  Yianni nodded “no” again. “Stay. I like your company.”

  Stelios slunk into the chair. “Honest, I heard not a word.”

  “So, what did he look like?”

  “I told you, I—”

  “Would you like a piece of pizza?”

  “No, I—”

  “How about at least a bit of feta?”

  “No, I—”

  “Then how about a bit of truth serum?” Yianni slid his beer across the table to Stelios.

  “He was a tall man, slim, with dark hair, but it could have been a wig. His eyes were intense. My guess is he’s from one of those Scandinavian countries, maybe Iceland, but from the little I heard him say, he spoke perfect Greek without any trace of an accent.”

  “Anything else?”

  “A big smile, I mean a really big smile.”

  “You said he was tall. How tall?”

  “A little taller than I.”

  “When did he come into the bar?”

  “Right after the woman sat down at the table.”

  “Did they know each other?”

  “He knew her, but she didn’t know him. I watched to make sure he wasn’t going
to harass her. I protect my customers from that sort of thing.”

  Yianni nodded. “I’m sure. So, what did you hear?”

  “Basically, the things she wrote in the article. I heard him say he had some interesting things to tell her. Once she told him to sit, I lost interest in their conversation. I had no idea who he or she was and didn’t have to hear another seduction routine. I think I’ve heard them all at one time or another. Besides, we were busy, and I had other customers to sit with.”

  “Did they leave together?”

  “I don’t remember. And I’ve never seen either of them again.”

  “I assume that’s another question you get asked.”

  Stelios nodded.

  Yianni extended his hand. “Thanks, for everything.”

  Stelios quickly stood and shook Yianni’s hand. “May I go now?”

  “Sure.”

  Stelios turned to walk away but paused and looked back at Yianni. “You’re not so bad for a cop. Your dinner’s on me.”

  “No, I insist on respecting your business by paying for it.”

  Stelios touched his chest with his hand. “Thank you. But only for the pizza. The beer and salad are on me.”

  Yianni returned the gesture. “Deal.”

  Yianni devoured the pizza and salad and ordered a second beer for which he insisted on paying. As he was about to leave, Stelios came over with a plate of fresh fruit. He placed the fruit on the table and sat down across from Yianni.

  “Something else occurred to me. I’m not sure it’s important, but just in case it is, I wanted you to know.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “Someone else came into the bar at about the same time as the man and the woman. I can’t be certain when he arrived, but he sat at the bar sipping beers with his eyes glued to the mirror behind the bar.”

  “Could he see their table in the mirror.”

  Stelios nodded.

  “Did he speak to either of them?”

  “No.”

  “When did he leave?”

  “Right after the woman left.”

  “Why didn’t you tell anyone this before?”

  “I didn’t even think about it until you asked me whether she and the hacker guy left together. That’s when I remembered the fellow at the bar. He could have been her driver waiting for her to leave, but I don’t recall her saying a word to him, even when she left.”