Crying Blue Murder (MIRA) Page 39

  He started running through their chances. Roy would be back from the village with help soon, but the likelihood of anyone finding their way to the blocked entrance wasn’t great. From what he could tell, not many locals knew about this place. And Eleni? Would she be looking for him in the caves beyond the dig that were separated by the rock wall? If she was, shouting would be worth while. After all, he now realised, he had heard Liz Clifton’s scratching.

  That was the best Mavros could come up with. At his instigation, those in the cave with functioning voices began to yell their hearts out.

  Aris ducked under the ancient lintel and moved into the passage with the grave chambers, the dull throb of the generator in his ears. ‘Come on, Mitso,’ he shouted. He waited for the watchman to join him, then headed towards the rock wall at the far end.

  ‘This place gives me the creeps, boss,’ Mitsos said.

  ‘Grow up,’ Aris said over his shoulder. ‘They’re only skeletons. We’ll have a check in the tombs on the way back. I reckon that cow Eleni has been hiding things from us.’

  ‘So what are we looking for?’ Mitsos asked.

  Aris stopped at the apparently solid wall. ‘Not what, who. That lunatic Lefteris. I’m sure he’s been snooping round the dig. Probably when you were playing with yourself in your tent.’

  ‘Well, he’s not in here now,’ the watchman said, turning for the exit.

  ‘Wait a minute,’ Aris ordered. ‘The archaeologist and that private dick bastard were in here earlier on and they disappeared. I want to have a closer…shit, do you believe this? How could I miss it?’ He had run his thick fingers along the rough surface and located the gap at the edge in the gloom. ‘This is where they went. Come on.’ He squeezed his bulk round the blind corner and disappeared.

  In the next cave he switched on the torch he’d brought from the Jeep. ‘Right, Mitso, we’re going to look everywhere in here. Who knows what we might find?’ His voice was quivering with excitement.

  But this soon vanished as they worked their way up the network and discovered nothing apart from scuffed footprints. Then they entered the last cave, crawling under the low wall to find the faint light of the sunset shining through the line of small apertures. They stood for a few moments, taking in the solid wall ahead.

  ‘Looks like it’s the end of the road, boss,’ Mitsos said, trying to disguise his relief. ‘Hey, what’s that noise?’ He cocked an ear. ‘Can you hear it? Sounds like somebody shouting.’

  Aris listened and then nodded. ‘More than one person. On the other side of the rock.’ He shrugged. ‘Not much we can do from here. We’ll have to go round on the surface.’ He shouted back and heard the noise get louder. ‘Who the fuck do you think it is?’

  ‘Can’t make the voices out.’ Mitsos shrugged and moved to the far corner. ‘What’s this?’ he asked. ‘Looks like a tarpaulin. It is a tarpaulin.’ He tugged the heavy canvas aside and stared down at green wooden crates.

  Aris shouldered him out of the way. ‘What have we here?’ He was fired up again, thinking of a priceless find, a treasure that would get him back in favour with his father. ‘Something that the archaeologist has been hiding away?’ He pulled up the lid of the top box and bent over the contents. ‘Look at this.’ He lifted up a criss-crossed metal ball, a ring on the top. ‘It’s a grenade, isn’t it?’

  Mitsos nodded, stepping back. ‘Yes, it’s a grenade. I think you’d better put it down.’ He stretched out a hand. ‘Carefully, boss. It looks pretty old. They can—’

  The first explosion threw both men on to their backs. The subsequent, much louder blast buried them in stone fragments and dust as it brought down the rock wall. If either of them had been able to see, they could not have failed to notice the life-size marble statue on the floor of the hollow chamber that had just been revealed.

  Mavros picked himself up gingerly, feeling his head for damage. To his amazement he found no more wounds, only a thick layer of grit in his hair. He stood up and retrieved the torch. By some miracle it had survived the explosion. Shining it around the cave, he saw that the other occupants were moving. Rena was holding a hand to her face where blood was welling from a cut and Liz was clutching her ears. Mikkel was wiping dust from his eyes while even the previously comatose Gretchen was showing signs of life, gasping and choking but able painfully to sit up.

  Rinus stumbled into the outer chamber and returned quickly. ‘Trace and Jane are all right,’ he said, wiping blood from his forehead. ‘What happened? Can we get out that way?’

  Mavros nodded. ‘The cave system leads to the dig. I found some explosives in—’ He broke off as the torchlight fell on the sublime shape that was lying on the ground ahead. ‘Oh my God,’ he said, his eyes widening. ‘Oh my God.’

  He was dimly aware of the others gathering around him, staring silently at the piece. It was in the Cycladic style and, as far as he could tell, it was unique. There were the usual graceful lines and limbs, the arms folded beneath the woman’s pointed breasts, her triangular head and nose raised upwards as if to the wide heavens. As in the smaller figurine Eleni had found, the marble was pale blue, its surface smooth, scarcely pitted by the passage of time or by the blast. But unlike the other piece, unlike any Cycladic work he’d ever seen before, this one was of two bodies, a male with braided hair alongside the woman, his arm round her back, the perfect, narrow fingers of one hand on the female’s upper arm. It was a vision of love and serenity, of a prehistoric harmony that must once have prevailed on Trigono.

  He stepped over the uneven surface and through the gaping hole in the cave wall, taking in the sprawled bodies on the other side. Both were motionless, dust-covered, but blood was welling up through the mineral layer. In the limited natural light from the apertures he caught sight of a tattered green sunshade on the far side. Aris. He was the nearer of the bodies, his head seriously damaged and the face shot with stone splinters. Moving to the other, he recognised the bulky frame of the watchman Mitsos. He must have been farther from the source of the blast and he looked less affected by it. His arms were twitching and his head rolling.

  ‘Come on!’ Mavros shouted to the others. ‘The roof and walls may not be safe. We’ve got to get out.’ He slipped back through the hole and ushered them out of the prison cave—Rena supporting Liz, Rinus helping Mikkel, and the two Englishwomen looking after Gretchen, whose head was lolling. He pointed them in the direction of the next exit hole and then pulled Mitsos to his feet. Aris was still out cold and he would have to take his chances till a rescue party arrived. They were also leaving the remains of what he feared was Rosa Ozal, but there was nothing that could be done for her now.

  It was a struggle but the unscathed members of the group eventually got the injured through the caves, past the grave chambers and into the open air. The sun had sunk far into the west and twilight was well advanced, the north wind slightly less strong now that night was on its way.

  ‘What shall we do?’ Rinus asked, looking around the enclosed area of the dig nervously. ‘Do you think Lefteris is still in the vicinity?’

  ‘I’m certain he is,’ Mavros said. ‘But help should be on its way soon. Where the hell’s Roy got to?’ He checked his mobile and saw that it was still not picking up a signal. ‘You stay here with the others. Get them back under cover in the trench. The generator will give light. If you feel like it, you can try to get your friend Aris out.’

  The Dutchman looked very reluctant to re-enter the caves. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘Down the track. I’ll call for help from the Theocharis estate if I don’t meet anyone on my way.’

  Rinus nodded. ‘Be careful, Alex.’

  Mavros returned the nod and set off for the fence. This time he found the gate open. Presumably Aris hadn’t thought he’d be gone for long. He went through it, glancing about in the gloom. If Lefteris was lurking out there, he was easy prey. He headed down the track past Eleni’s useless motorbike, remembering that his mountain bike was at the bottom of the hill.
He had only taken a few steps down the rutted path when he saw a shadowy figure ahead of him. He stopped moving, his heart pounding. Then he heard a familiar voice.

  ‘Alex?’

  ‘Eleni.’ Relief flooded through him.

  ‘Are you all right?’ she asked, coming closer. ‘I was on my way to find you. How’s your head? That was quite a bang you gave yourself.’

  ‘I survived it,’ Mavros replied. ‘You’re a bit late. Where have you been?’

  ‘Theocharis kept me in the tower.’ Her voice was bitter. ‘We’ve been busy impressing a dealer with the figurines I found. At least Aris and that wanker Mitsos didn’t find the last one. I hid it under a bush. The bastards messed up my tyres.’

  ‘I noticed.’ Mavros gave her a résumé of what he and the others had been through, watching in the dying light as her face registered surprise and then horror at the discovery of Liz and the other victims. She didn’t seem particularly interested in the double statue. When he’d finished, he started walking rapidly down the track again. ‘I’m going to find a place with a signal to call for help,’ he said over his shoulder.

  ‘What shall I do?’ Eleni called after him.

  ‘Say goodbye,’ said a deep voice in Greek to her left.

  Mavros froze and jerked his head round. He made out a heavy form behind the archaeologist, one arm round her neck and the other holding a knife to her side.

  ‘No!’ he shouted. ‘Don’t, Lefteri, don’t! It’s finished. Too many people know what you’ve done. You can’t kill everyone.’ He started to move up the path cautiously.

  ‘Can’t I?’ the fisherman asked with a hollow laugh. ‘Can’t I?’

  ‘People know about what you’ve been doing,’ Mavros said, trying to stop himself from gabbling. ‘We all know about you. And I’ve told the police too.’ He held up his mobile phone.

  ‘Fuck you,’ Lefteris said with a grunt. ‘I’m not stupid. You can’t get a signal out here, you Athenian pimp.’

  ‘Barbara was your partner, wasn’t she?’ Mavros said, playing for time but standing still when Lefteris moved the knife closer to Eleni’s side, making her gasp. ‘Why did the two of you kidnap the women?’

  The fisherman gazed at him in the gathering gloom, his eyes narrowed. ‘Why do you think? I got to stick it in them, she got to film them. She hated that Rosa bitch because all the men in the Astrapi fancied her. Barbara was getting older and she couldn’t take it. She liked seeing young women rot. And the other one? She was a real beauty. Barbara wanted her to pay too. Besides, she was asking too many questions about the past.’ He glared at Mavros. ‘Don’t come any closer, you louse. My father and I would have crushed your head the other night if your friends hadn’t saved you. You won’t escape me again. But first you can watch this one die.’

  Eleni’s eyes were bulging, focused on Mavros.

  ‘You killed Barbara, didn’t you?’ he said quickly, remembering Mikkel’s words. ‘Why?’

  The islander grunted again. ‘The bitch was losing control. She spent all her time playing the videos, watching the women suffer. She needed the dope too much and there hasn’t been any since my fool of a son screwed up the delivery.’ His eyes dropped for a moment. ‘Besides, I can’t get it up any more.’ He pushed his groin against Eleni. ‘Not even when I’m rubbing myself against a soft arse like this one.’ He shook his head. ‘Don’t ask me why Barbara was doing it. She filmed them starving and dying of thirst, she even kept filming the first one on the same day every week after she was dead. She talked me into ramming a goat bone into the last one.’ He gave a slack smile. ‘Barbara was falling apart, she was crazy. If it had gone on much longer, she’d have landed me in trouble. I had enough of it. Killing her was easy.’ Lefteris gave Mavros a bitter smile. ‘Besides, you were turning up the heat with all your questions about Rosa. So you can take some of the blame, you piece of shit.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Don’t worry, woman. It won’t hurt for much longer.’ He squeezed Eleni’s neck then swore as she sank her teeth into his wrist.

  Mavros stepped forward but he wasn’t quick enough. The noise he’d been aware of behind him for a few seconds increased in volume and the three of them were caught in the glare of headlights on full beam. A vehicle was speeding up the slope, veering from side to side and, almost too late, Mavros realised it wasn’t going to stop. He leaped out of the way, rolling over on the hard ground and watching it head straight at Lefteris and Eleni. At the last moment she managed to wrestle free of the fisherman’s grip and dive away. There was a solid thud as the yellow hire car’s front end ran into him, the blade of his knife glinting in the beam as it spiralled away through the air.

  ‘Are you all right?’ the driver asked, jumping down and running to Eleni.

  ‘I think so,’ she replied, standing up shakily.

  Mavros joined them, his T-shirt studded with sharp burrs. ‘Roy,’ he said, taking in the Englishman. ‘Christ, you took a chance there.’

  Roy nodded. ‘I saw the bastard was holding a knife to her so I took him out.’ He smiled loosely. ‘Me and Norm were commandos. You learn moves that you never forget. Don’t worry, love,’ he said to Eleni. ‘I’d have missed you even if you hadn’t got out the way.’ He looked ahead to the glow from the dig. ‘Where’s everyone else? Are they all okay?’

  Mavros told him what had happened to Norm.

  ‘I wouldn’t worry about him too much,’ Roy said. ‘In the unit we used to say his head was made of concrete.’ He glanced down. ‘Is that bastard alive?’

  Mavros had completely forgotten about Lefteris. He kneeled down by the islander’s sprawled body and felt for a pulse. He didn’t find one.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  THE island doctor arrived shortly afterwards. His breath smelled of ouzo, but he seemed to know what he was doing. He paid most attention to Liz Clifton and then to Aris after a group of locals had carried him out of the cave. As soon as the wind dropped, they would be taken to Athens by helicopter. The less seriously injured—Mikkel, Gretchen and Mitsos—were to be moved to the village for treatment in the pick-ups and vans that had belatedly followed Roy out to the southern massif. Before the American woman was driven from the dig plateau she asked after her man. Mavros had to tell her that Lance was dead.

  ‘The idiot.’ Although Gretchen’s voice was weak, her tone was as irritated as ever. ‘I told him to keep back from the edge. The fisherman told me he thought we were spying on him. Lance never had a chance.’ She paused to take a breath. ‘That crazy guy threw him over the edge before he could move. I went to look for him and got caught. I…I only managed to scream once before I was knocked out. I woke up in some ruined building with the Greek standing over me…God, he was frightening…I’ve never seen anyone so angry. He hit me again and I came round in that stinking cave. How did I get there?’

  Mavros shrugged. ‘He must have carried you and Mikkel down. He was as strong as an ox.’

  ‘What a waste,’ Gretchen said, her eyes dampening at last. ‘It’s my fault that we were out there. I was trying to find another way into the dig. I was only doing my job. I wanted to compare funerary customs.’ She gave a crooked smile. ‘I suppose the killer’s behaviour will be a good source for my study of anger.’

  Mavros looked to the sky in distaste and let a pair of villagers carry her away. He felt eyes on him and looked down the slope. One-armed Manolis was standing in a van’s headlights. For a moment he thought the old man was going to approach him and berate him for what had happened to his son, but he didn’t. He just turned away and melted into the night with his head down. Rena watched him go, a bloodstained dressing held to her face. She smiled shyly at Mavros then climbed into a pick-up.

  Roy came out of the darkness to the west. Norm was walking behind him, one hand on his head. The Englishwomen ran to their men with shrieks of delight.

  ‘Told you he’d be all right,’ Roy said with a grin. ‘The lead piping’s had it, though.’

  Norm gave a hollow laugh. ‘V
ery funny, mate. At least I haven’t run into anyone recently.’

  ‘You’d better drive back, then,’ Roy said, punching his shoulder.

  Jane shook her head in despair. ‘You guys,’ she said. ‘You’re like kids. We could have been killed.’

  ‘Nah,’ Norm said, putting his arm around her. ‘We had all the angles covered.’

  Jane didn’t look convinced, but her expression lightened as she nudged him in the ribs.

  ‘See you in the bar later, Alex?’ Trace asked.

  He shrugged. ‘I don’t think Rinus will be opening. He’s going to be helping the police with their enquiries pretty soon if Rena and Mikkel get their way.’

  Norm shook his head and winced. ‘No worries. I know where his spare key is.’

  Mavros watched as they got into the Farma. To his amazement it started, despite the badly damaged front end.

  After the injured had gone, Eleni insisted that Mavros accompany her to Paliopyrgos. While the convoy of vehicles had been loading up, she’d gone back into the cave system to make a preliminary examination of the entwined prehistoric figures. This had made her look even more determined. They got a lift down from the hillside in a pick-up. On the way into the tower, Mavros caught a glimpse of the dealer, Tryfon Roufos, through a doorway. Now he knew that Eleni was right—Theocharis had been going to dispose of the pieces she’d found.

  In the study, after Mavros had told Theocharis and Dhimitra what had happened, Eleni stepped forward. ‘You cannot sell the figurines,’ she said to the museum benefactor. ‘If you proceed, I’ll go to the press. Alex will help me.’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t care if you implicate me. Do you want to tell Roufos or shall I?’