Limassol, Cyprus
Present day
Twenty minutes later Katerina walked into her office. Vasilis was with her. Dora, her loyal personal assistant, stood up when she saw her, her face wreathed in smiles and bathed in bright light.
Katerina’s troubles always shrank when she got a dose of “Dora-induced” warmth, perspective and a reality check. She was back to being a member of the workaholic routine-chasing human race.
‘Welcome back.’
‘It’s good to be back. They couldn’t keep me away long.’
‘They…?’
‘The Cretan men of course.’
‘Have you managed to smuggle in any, and maybe one for me?’
‘Oh, Dora. You don’t need my help to find someone and you don’t need to use subversive means by abducting them either. But no, I didn’t manage to smuggle in any and not because I didn’t try. But unfortunately the package was confiscated at Customs. Which is the same with the sun I see. Crete was in the throes of a heat wave. It’s nice to have a bit of cloud for a change. Even if it’s only a day’s respite, I wouldn’t say no to it.’
‘I couldn’t agree more. Pity about the good weather, though. But more’s the pity about the men.’
Dora launched into her usual efficient updates and was picking up stuff from her desk ready to follow Katerina into her office. While Dora was talking Katerina studied her personal assistant.
She was a rare individual and, dare I say, indispensable assistant, the model of efficiency. Katerina loved Dora’s trademark no-nonsense approach. She was warm, but she did not suffer fools gladly. A woman after my own heart, she thought. Unless she was a very good actress, which after all this time working for her, Katerina knew couldn’t be true.
She knew Dora truly adored her and worshipped the ground she treaded on. After ten years of working for her, Dora was like a member of the family. Dora couldn’t help being very protective of her boss and very often acting more like another mother to her than a personal assistant.
Katerina knew that Dora would only leave her job there if she could no longer do it to her usual exceedingly high standards.
Dora was talking when she suddenly stopped, her mouth going dry, the rest of what she was about to say staying on her lips and flying from her mind. Vasilis had at that moment come through the door.
Now, Vasilis, though younger than Aristo by three years, had an uncanny resemblance to him. They were not identical, but their colouring, body shape and height were the same.
But it was their similar mannerisms and gestures and voice that sometimes made people do a double-take, as if seeing a ghost, wondering how a person could be at two places at the same time. That was of course the initial brief reaction, which did not last. They did have their own distinctive individuality after all.
Dora was aware that Aristo was missing in Crete. It was as if she had seen a ghost and she went as white as chalk to match a ghost’s bright colouring and shiny complexion. Katerina realised what had happened.
‘How…?’ Dora started to say, but even though her mouth was willing to form the words, her brain was not, as the rest of the sentence flew from her mind.
Katerina saw that Dora was about to faint and was immediately at her side grabbing her arm and pushing her gently down to her chair.
‘Dora, this is Vasilis, Aristo’s brother. Please, sit down. It’s alright. Take your time.’
Dora obeyed. Katerina brought her a glass of water and waited. Dora gulped the water down and then sat there staring at Katerina and Vasilis as if frozen. It took her a good few minutes to recover.
When Katerina and Vasilis saw the colour returning to her face and were confident that the shock had passed, Katerina walked into her office with Vasilis in tow.
As if on cue, Dora came in behind them with coffee and Katerina’s mail. It was as if nothing had happened.
Her face still a bit clouded, she looked at Katerina. ‘Katerina, sorry about that, but…’
Katerina smiled amused. ‘Sorry for what? It’s alright. I hadn’t realised before now how much alike they were. I must have got used to them and don’t notice it anymore.’
Dora nodded, still not trusting herself to speak. But she quickly recovered, becoming her usual consummate professional self. ‘Now, let me start all over again. Welcome back. It’s good to see you Mr Vasilis.’
‘Thanks, Dora.’ Katerina and Vasilis answered almost in unison, which caused all three of them to laugh.
When they all recovered from their bout of laughter, Dora turned to Katerina. ‘How was your holiday?’
‘It was short but good, thanks. And the weather was glorious, if a little on the hot side. I had a good much-needed rest.’ Katerina put on a bright and untroubled face. However, inside her worry for Aristo was causing mayhem.
‘You work too hard, boss. This is the first break you’ve had in a year.’
‘Anything happened while I were away?’
‘No, nothing. It’s been quite uneventful around here. Unless you count a fire next door a report-worthy event. Oh, but don’t worry, it was snuffed out in no time and very little damage was caused. But honestly, you haven’t missed any excitement. Anyway I’ll leave you to catch up with your emails.’
‘Thanks, Dora. I’ll see you later.’
Within seconds Dora was gone, closing the door softly behind her.
Katerina was going through her post when she noticed a postcard. She turned it over and her face told Vasilis that it was important. She could not speak. It was from her brother, Giorgos. Vasilis got up and went to stand behind Katerina.
They both stared at the postcard and its short message. Katerina spoke first.
‘It looks like a normal postcard you would send while on holiday.’
‘And yet something about it is not quite right, but I’m struggling to put my finger on it.’ Vasilis said.
‘He must be trying to tell us something. Judging by what we saw at his home he must be in some sort of danger and he must be sending us a message.’
Vasilis was trying to drag a memory of something that seemed long ago now. Katerina turned the postcard over again to look at the front photograph. And then it struck her. It was the oddity of that photograph. She realised what was bothering her.
‘Don’t you find it odd that someone on holiday outside Cyprus would send a postcard with the photograph of Limassol Castle?’
‘You are right. Yes. Of course. Unless he had taken the postcard with him and posted it from there.’
Katerina shook her head. ‘But that would not make any sense.’
‘Alternatively, he may have sent it from Cyprus before he left, in case he forgot when he got there. That’s assuming he has left Cyprus. But then you are right. It seems unlikely that his house was ransacked after he had left. If as we suspect the blood there is his, though not certain without analysis, then he must have been taken away, after putting up some resistance, judging by the signs of a furious fight there.’
Katerina said nothing, but was shaking her head as if she was trying to work something out that didn’t fit. She looked at the postcard again. She focused on the postmark.
She then had an idea and tapped on the postcard with her forefinger.
‘Look at the postmark, though. It’s a Turkish one. And the date on the postcard is yesterday’s. My mother said that he had left at around noon yesterday. He would have had to take a flight via Athens, as because of the political situation here there are no direct flights between Cyprus and Turkey. He would have landed at one of the big cities such as Istanbul or Izmir, old Smyrna, and he would then have had to take an internal flight. Would he have had time to post the postcard for it to arrive today?’
‘Could someone else have posted it for him on his instructions?’
‘I suppose it is possible but unlikely.’ Katerina paused and then became excited. ‘He must have discovered something. Elli had him working on the location of the tomb. He was researching it furiously. He had asked Katia, a member of the expedition in Cappadocia to come to Cyprus to help him.’ She paused. ‘By the way, what about her? I wonder whether she was involved in whatever happened at that house.
‘Do you think she may have been taken too, or could she be in hiding? Vasilis, I think we should try and see if we can find her. If she’s still around she may be able to give us a clue as to what they had found or what happened. Then again she may have gone into hiding, especially if she had seen something or what happened at the house or, just maybe, if she had not been able to contact Giorgos.’
‘You know it may be a long shot, but let’s put someone onto checking the hospitals just in case they come up with something.’ As he said that Vasilis was thinking the worse for both Giorgos and Katia. It was not just his practical mind talking.
There was something else troubling him, something related to Katia and hospitals that he could not remember, but had no doubt prompted him to mention checking hospitals. He was struggling to dredge the thought when he heard Katerina speaking and came back to the present.
‘Yes. That’s a good idea. Giorgos must have found something. He must have known that he was being followed and wanted to make sure whatever information he had discovered was imparted to us and did not fall into the wrong hands, in case anything happened to him. Yet when I last spoke to him he didn’t show any sign of concern and did not mention anything. Something must have happened since I last spoke to him.’ She paused. ‘Or maybe something had happened already before I spoke to him or even since, and he didn’t want to worry me.’
‘Katerina, I saw him two days ago.’
‘You did? But how? Why didn’t you tell me this before?’
‘Katerina, it was only an hour ago that we were at Giorgos’ home and what we saw there got the ball rolling for all this speculation. It’s only now that I realised the significance of that night.’
‘Vasilis, please. Tell me what happened.’
‘He and Katia, through their research, found clues leading to Limassol Castle. They were investigating there when they found something, this small bust.’ As he spoke he took the bust out of his pocket. ‘Giorgos said that Katia took it when they decided to call it a day and walked back to her car. He followed her out a while later. He heard a scream and when he went to her car she was barely alive and the bust was gone.’
Seeing Katerina’s shocked expression, he rushed to reassure her. ‘Yes, he said he had called for an ambulance to take her away. She’s probably still at the hospital. You can’t have gone through that and be out in two days.’
‘Vasilis, where did you see him?’
‘Yes, I’m coming to that. Giorgos realised he was being followed and went to his friend Maria’s house. It was there that I saw him. He had called me to ask me to go there and help him get rid of his pursuer.’
He saw her face go white and rushed to explain. ‘Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. His pursuer had caught up with him at Maria’s house. By the time I got there he was no longer a threat. He had been neutralised with Maria’s help and I just arranged for him to be taken away. Giorgos had found the bust taken from Katia in his pursuer’s pocket.’
‘What happened afterwards? Where did Giorgos go?’ Katerina wanted answers and she wanted them now.
‘I left soon after my men had taken away the pursuer. I was in a hurry, because I had left a board meeting to go and help him and I had to get back, which I did of course only when I was certain that there was no further danger, at least there anyway. I would have thought he would probably have gone home or, now that I think about it, if he thought that home might not have been safe, I don’t know where he might have gone.
‘But then whose is the blood at his house if not his? He must have gone home and they must have been still watching him, and followed him and got him and the bust as well. Otherwise we would have seen it there. That’s what they must have been looking for.’
Katerina had her priorities right.
‘We need to check up on Katia. We need to make sure that she’s alright and that she’s receiving the best medical care. I may have to arrange to have her moved to a private clinic at our expense. And we need to talk to her about what she and Giorgos have found out. Let’s hope she’s in a fit state to talk, and doctor’s orders permitting of course.’ She paused.
‘All their research was most probably at Giorgos’ house. And if it was, then I’m sure it’s all gone. They must have taken it. That’s why the laptop and my brother’s hard drive are missing. But knowing my brother, he must have had an insurance policy. He must have taken precautions.
‘He must have had backed up the files in his laptop and hard drive. And not at his house or the office. It must be some place where they would not even think to look, a safe place.’ She was thinking furiously. She turned to Vasilis. ‘Vasilis? You look as if you are miles away. Have you heard anything of what I just said?’
‘Yes, I have.’ He looked up at her, but not really seeing her, actually seeing right through her.
Katerina pressed him. ‘What is it?’
Vasilis thought back to that strange night and then it struck him. ‘There was something else. I believe that Giorgos may have found something significant. He tried to tell me. I forgot about it until now, but he started to say something when the men I had sent for to come and get their pursuer arrived and distracted us. And then it all got forgotten. Otherwise I would have reminded him and asked him about it.
‘The intruder was a Ruinand and his chums must have been the ones at Giorgos’ house looking for the small bust and his research. I would bet that Giorgos is in the Ruinands’ protective custody. And I know you are thinking it, but I believe…’
‘Don’t say it.’ Katerina cut Vasilis off. She was afraid the worst for her brother, even though she didn’t want to accept it could happen.
‘… he’s still alive. He’s much too useful to them. They should be pumping him for information as we speak.’ Vasilis saw Katerina’s expression soften, but the relief did not last long as her expression tightened again. A worrying thought crossed her mind.
‘If he’s hiding and we were searching for him we could be putting him in further danger, especially if this is part of some plan of his to throw them off the scent.’
‘It is possible.’ As Vasilis looked at Katerina he saw determination overriding emotion. When she spoke it was her common sense coming to the fore.
‘Then again, how could he be in any worse danger than he already is, that we all are, considering what happened in Crete as well?’
‘You never did tell me the whole story of what happened to you there.’
‘I told your mum. I’ll tell you some other time. There has just been too much to cope with. Anyway, the ‘hiding’ option is beginning to look more unlikely with every passing minute.’ Katerina thumbed the postcard and looked at Vasilis.
‘This postcard was his back-up plan, his plan B. We have to figure it out. It should give us all the clues we need to pick up from where Giorgos left off. I know this is what he meant for us to do and not waste precious time looking for him. We’ll worry about him later.
‘Besides we don’t know where to start and we should not be diverted from the main issue of resolving this mystery and bringing it to a successful conclusion in our side’s favour. This should be our main objective. This is bigger than any one of us even though where loved ones are involved we may want to do otherwise. By solving the mystery we help him by honouring and continuing what he has done so far too.’
Vasilis knew it was hard for Katerina to find the courage to say what she just said and he saw the sense in her words. He joined her in studying the postcard.
They looked at the back of the postcard, but again nothing jumped out at them from the text. Suddenly Katerina seemed to have thought of something and she examined the front photograph again.
‘Vasilis, take a look at this.’
With her finger she indicated some text in very small, almost illegible characters at the top right-hand corner, almost lost in the foliage in the photo. She opened a drawer and took out a magnifying glass. She could see characters that did not make any sense to her whatsoever.
Yet, there was something at the back of her mind that made her feel as if she had seen those characters before. Then she remembered.
‘Vasilis, you won’t believe me, but I know how to read this.’
‘What do you mean you can read this? How?’
‘It’s a code, an alphabet we made up with Giorgos when we were kids. We have rarely used it in years.’
‘And you remember it?’
‘I do.’ She paused. ‘To tell you the truth I don’t remember it by heart, but that’s what a key to a code is for.’ She pushed a button under her desk and part of the floor next to her desk rose, revealing a safe. She opened it and, after a brief search, found what she was looking for.
Vasilis was curious and leaned down to have a look at this code. It was one of the most complicated codes he had seen in his life. These kids should have been taken off the market and given jobs in cryptography departments of the secret services or the software industry.
Katerina had already deciphered the message. She only needed a quick look at the key to the code and her near-photographic memory did the rest. Of course it was like learning to ride a bike. You never forgot. Seeing the key to the code it triggered that part of her brain that had it stored and could do it with her eyes closed, so to speak.
‘The message on the card says “mother’s laptop — put things in the right order.” That must be the clue to the folder name or password.’
‘Katerina, maybe the document on the laptop is password-protected.’
‘Let’s get to my parents house and check mum’s laptop.’
On their way out, Dora started to say something, but Katerina gestured gently for her to stop.
‘I’m sorry, but whatever it is it will have to wait, please, Dora. I need to go out urgently.’
‘Of course, it can wait.’
‘I’ll be back later. We’ll talk then.’
At her parents’ home, her mother was baffled.
‘Katerina, darling, and Vasilis, it’s so good to see you both. Katerina, I wasn’t expecting you until later this evening. Have you come to help me with the cooking? Has my perennially workaholic daughter suddenly developed a hole in the head?’
Katerina shivered inside at the analogy with the danger they were in. Her mother was still talking. ‘You can’t have already managed to catch up with work. I even half expected you to change your mind about dinner and spend the night at the office. Has the building got tired of you and spat you out?’
Katerina always enjoyed her mother’s turn of phrase. ‘Hi, mum. Nice to see you too.’
She hugged and kissed her mother. But Katerina’s calm exterior did not work its magic on Anna. She knew her daughter too well to be fooled. She could see the signs and could sense that something was bothering her. There was an underlying impatience in her daughter’s demeanour.
‘Darling, what’s wrong?’
‘Mum, you are as bad as dad. I think you both worry too much about Giorgos and me and refuse to believe that we’ve grown up and have our problems, which we have to deal by ourselves. We won’t always have you watching our backs.’
‘You will understand when you have children of your own. It is the one job in the world you never retire from, well, obviously, until you die that is. The other side of the coin is that your children are also, hopefully, your pension. When it’s payback time, you’ll know, love.’
Katerina’s face showed her shock and Anna noticed. ‘I was joking, of course. Now you have confirmed my fears. If you have forgotten your sense of humour, something’s very wrong. Is it you or is it Giorgos?’
Vasilis smiled to himself at an exchange between parent and child taking place in every house in the country.
‘Vasilis and I are dealing with it. Mum, was Giorgos here using your laptop recently?’
‘Yes, he said he wanted to install some software, make some updates. Why?’
‘Can I have a look?’
‘Katerina, what’s all this about?’
‘I’ll tell you later.’
Anna knew better than to argue with her daughter. It was a match she could not win. She would bet against herself if she could, if a betting shop would accept her bet.
‘This way darling.’
Katerina sat at her mother’s desk and turned on the laptop. She didn’t want to go through all the files and she thought of her brother’s message. “Put the right things in order.”
The word “order” jumped out at her. Of course. It must be the Order of Vlachernae. Brilliant. Too obvious to be true. She searched for files under that name and she found the folder. She clicked to open it.
A window popped up asking for a password. She hesitated only briefly. She picked up the postcard and the magnifying glass that she had brought with her.
She saw the characters under the message, which were also in their childhood made-up alphabet that included numbers as well. There were twelve lines of code. Each one must be a password. She typed the first one and it worked. She completed all twelve lines. She was in.
She saw various sub-folders. Their names were not clear, but seemed to be in the same code as well. So if anyone came to this point would still not be any the wiser as to their content.
She deciphered the names of the sub-folders. Then she began clicking on them. Each sub-folder required a password to open. She referred back to the postcard to enter the passwords and access the folders.
There were plans, geological scans, word documents with historical research, scanned pages from books, photographs and conclusions, undoubtedly written by Giorgos and Katia.
As they were going through the material, Katerina turned to Vasilis. ‘That’s great. If he has made it so difficult to get in this means that his captors would not be able to crack the passwords so the research they’ve taken would be useless to them. Good. That should give us a head start.’
Vasilis indicated the screen. ‘Look at the dates of the satellite geological scans. They only came out yesterday. And they were done by the Valchern Corporation’s mining division. I wonder whether my mother has seen this stuff. This material is amazing. They’ve done a lot in only a few days. They’ve practically cracked the mystery of the location of that construction which could be the tomb.’
‘These subterranean scans that show the area under the Church of Ayia Napa are a bit fuzzy. It says here that’s because of a mineral interfering with the satellite instruments. I wonder whether it was placed there deliberately. However, you can still see the outline of what’s underneath. It looks very complicated. I bet once we are there the detail must be extraordinary, probably beyond what we may expect.’
Giorgos had the foresight to include a description and a plan of the wall concealing the opening to the tunnel. On one of the plans there was a red dot indicating the exact place under the castle.
Katerina turned to Vasilis who was already surfing her mind-waves and believed he could anticipate her thoughts. He saw the look they exchanged as confirmation of that. Vasilis started saying what was most probably on both their minds.
‘The tunnel must lead to that huge construction under the Church of Ayia Napa. Imagine living here all our lives and not knowing what wonders existed under our feet. The same goes for the generations that came before us. And that’s not to say there are not enough wonders above ground.
‘The Church of Ayia Napa has always been a favourite of mine. Its design is sublime and elegant. It’s at the same time weightless and with impressive gravitas pulls the eye to its perfect dimensions and mesmerising form. You know, I was baptised there and have always had a soft spot for it.
‘I was very saddened with the large damage it suffered in the earthquake of 1996. As a result its interior that had the most extraordinarily beautiful decoration and frescoes was controversially whitewashed. The Bishopric of Limassol said that they had to do that because the damage was so extensive that nothing could be saved or repaired.
‘They should have found the money to bring it back to its former glory. I bet you that they could have raised the required amount of money from the local people. And there are enough rich people who could, and I believe would, have done it.’ He paused. ‘Anyway, I’m sorry for this sermon, but I had to get it off my chest. Come on, we need to get down to the castle and check it out. It will be closing in an hour.
‘We need to leave now, if we are going to make it today. The important thing is to at least get in. As long as we are in we can hide when the castle closes until all is quiet and then go about our business.’
‘OK. Let me print out some of this stuff and let’s go.’ Katerina said and she began clicking, opening files and sending them to the printer.
‘Is it wise to have these documents with us? What if the people looking for the tomb, our friends the Ruinands, intercept us and relieve us of our precious weight?’
‘I guess you are right. Let’s take a few minutes to memorise the important stuff, especially the plans, the geological scans and parts of my brother’s notes.’
‘Alright, but let’s hurry.’
On their way out, Katerina remembered what Vasilis had told her about the other thing her brother had discovered. Before she had time to ask her mother about it, she heard Anna calling her. They were standing in the entrance hall and they both turned.
‘Katerina, wait. Giorgos gave me this for you.’
Anna handed Katerina a small package and then ran back to the kitchen. Katerina unwrapped the package. It was a small box. She opened it. Inside was a key with a number on it.
Knowing her brother and his love for his clandestine ways and tricks because of his natural suspicion, she checked the wrapping and the ribbon for any clue or message, but there was none.
Her eye then caught a tiny flash of white on the inside of the round handle of the key. She tried to feel it carefully. It felt like leather. She managed to remove it and unfurl it. On it was one word: ‘Gym’.
Katerina raised her voice so that her mum would hear her. ‘Mum, which gym does Giorgos go to?’
There was silence, only broken by the distant noise of the extractor in the kitchen and the crickets outside whose din seemed to be rising in intensity and volume with every passing minute. Katerina waited. She knew her mother was trying to remember.
‘It’s the Antillos Gym on Karageorgis street. He took me there once when I expressed an interest in losing weight. It was my first and last visit, sadly.’
‘Thanks, mum. We have to go. See you later.’
Anna knew her daughter would not be late for dinner that night, so she did not say it.
Katerina turned to Vasilis and whispered. ‘He seems to have done a bit of legwork in the last two days since you saw him.’ Vasilis nodded and smiled.
They offered rushed final goodbyes and they were off. First stop was the gym. Katerina spoke with the owner who briefly flirted with her and was extremely forthcoming and helpful once she introduced herself.
She said that her brother had asked her to get something from his locker and she showed the key to the owner. He nodded and led her to the locker area. The owner left them alone and went back to the main area of the gym. He had been giving a personal training session to a guy who obviously did not need it.
Katerina put the key in the lock and it fitted perfectly. She turned it and yanked open the door. She was amazed. She would never have thought her brother so tidy.
The locker was immaculate. It was not in a suitable condition to hide something in, but maybe she was wrong and the surprise at the order reigning inside would deter a potential thief. She chuckled to herself at that preposterous thought.
She checked the contents of the locker carefully without putting anything out of place. And, lo and behold, it was staring her in the face. She had almost missed it.
There, next to a tube of toothpaste was what looked like a small pipe, but which on closer inspection, when she picked it up, proved to be a parchment-like material. It was a scroll. She unrolled it carefully and was dazzled by the characters and diagrams on it.
Vasilis was speechless too. They both thought back to the plans and geological scans and Giorgos’ notes and realised the scroll’s significance. Vasilis was astonished.
‘So this must be what he so eagerly tried to tell me about. Damn. I wish I had known that night.’
‘Why? What would you have done?’
‘I would have stayed with him and I would have provided protection. I wouldn’t have let him out of my sight. I know. Don’t say it. I should have done it anyway. But I was in such a hurry to get back to my meeting that, as the immediate danger had passed, I stupidly and rashly assumed that there was nothing left to do there. Damn.’
‘Don’t blame yourself. You did a lot and you are doing more now with me. We are going to figure this out together, for Giorgos. And then we’ll try and find him. Although, now that I think of it, if we are successful and the Ruinands will surely find out if we are, my brother will have outlived his usefulness and you know what that would mean. We need to get in touch with Elli. She could help us locate him. Let’s get out of here.’
‘OK, let’s.’
In the car on their way to the castle with only half an hour to spare to closing time Katerina’s mobile started ringing.
‘Hello?’
‘Katerina?’ It was her mother and she had been crying. Her voice was hoarse and she was blowing her nose.
‘Mum, what is it?’
‘On the news…’ sniff, blowing of nose, tears… ‘… your brother…’
‘Mum, you are not making any sense.’ As she spoke she knew what her mother was going to tell her. ‘What about Giorgos?’
‘It’s just been on the news. They said they have information he’s disappeared.’
‘What? But how? How could they know that?’ She looked at Vasilis who was driving. They were almost at the castle. He glanced quickly in her direction and met her eyes and then brought his attention back to the road.
‘Darling, do you know anything about this?’
‘No, I don’t. Mum, is dad with you?’
‘Yes, he’s here. Do you want to speak to him?’
‘Yes, please.’ She waited while Anna put Andros on the phone.
‘Hi, love. I gathered you hadn’t heard.’
‘No. Dad, stay with mum. I can’t come right now. I am at this moment in the car with Vasilis at the other end of the city. We have to do something. I’ll call Elli Symitzis. She may be able to do something about tracking down Giorgos.’
‘That’s a good idea. You do that.’
And dad… I’ll try and get there earlier than planned tonight. OK?’
‘OK, love. Take care. See you later.’ He almost hung up when he remembered something and he, quickly, called into the mouthpiece, hoping that Katerina was still on the line. ‘Katerina?’
‘Yes?’
‘You don’t know what he’s been working on, do you?’
‘I do. But I can’t tell you about it now.’
‘So you are involved too… in this thing?’
‘Yes, and where we are going now has to do with that, but I can’t tell you more.’ She wanted to say that they were completing Giorgos’ work and that what they were doing could either save or most likely condemn Giorgos to his fate, but things were bad enough already and she didn’t want to pile more misery onto her parents.
‘I understand.’ He wanted to say to his daughter to be careful, but he saw there was no point. It was something important she had to do. He would not show that he was worried either. ‘Let me know if I can help.’
‘I will. And dad… be careful who you allow into the house, just in case. Are you alone with mum there?’
‘Yes.’
‘Don’t open the door unless you know who it is.’
Andros wanted to ask “is it that bad?” but again refrained from doing so.
‘Katerina, just do what you have to do. I can see you are in a hurry, so I’ll let you go. See you later.’
‘Thanks, dad. See you later.’
As soon as she hung up she turned on the radio. The news update was coming up.
“We have unconfirmed reports that Giorgos Markantaskis, the well known archaeologist, and son of the businessman Andros Markantaskis, recently the head of an archaeological expedition in Cappadocia in Turkey, is missing. It is believed that he was taken from his home sometime during the night.
“We have no information as to the reasons of his disappearance. Sources in the local police tell us that an inspection of his house and forensic evidence taken from the scene could indicate that he may have been forcibly taken after having put up a fight. We will bring you more on this story as it develops during our bulletins every fifteen minutes.”
Katerina could not believe what she just heard. ‘That’s quite a lot of accurate information. How could they have known all that? I wonder who’s feeding them the information. We’ve just found out. How could the police have been involved already?’
‘It’s a set up. A trap.’
‘But with so much attention on this now, won’t it make it more difficult for them and easier for Giorgos to be found?’ She answered her own question. ‘No, of course not. It’s deliberate. It must be. They are counting on stirring as much fuss about this as they can. You are absolutely right. The publicity is for our benefit.
‘They want us to know that they have him. They want to show us how powerful they are and that we could have the same fate. And they must be confident that Giorgos is in such a safe place that there is not even the slightest chance of finding him unless they want us to do so.
‘They want us to stew in our inability to do anything about it or even force our hand to act rashly by concentrating on finding him and being distracted from our main quest. Then again perhaps they want us to act rashly and reveal what we have found out regarding the quest. Vasilis, we have to continue as planned, but be extra careful.’
They had just parked outside the castle and were getting out of the car when Katerina’s mobile went off. She took it out of her bag. She could not tell the identity of the caller, but it was clear that it was from abroad.
‘Hello?’
A small and faint female voice barely came out through the other end of the line. ‘Is that Katerina Markantaskis?’
‘Yes, who’s that speaking, please?’
‘You are Giorgos’ sister?’ Katerina tightened her grip on the mobile expecting the worse, blackmail perhaps or news of her brother’s death. She could not decide which was worse. She could not begin to contemplate what she would do upon receiving the bad news.
‘Yes.’ She made it sound like a question, but she meant for the caller to continue.
‘I am sorry to trouble you. I tried to contact Giorgos, but there was no reply. Could you please tell me how to contact him?’
Katerina felt guilty relief wash over her, but it would prove to be short-lived. She wondered whether to tell the caller about her brother’s disappearance. It was on the news already and it was only a matter of time before this woman found out, if she didn’t know already. ‘My brother is missing.’
‘Missing? What do you mean missing?’
‘I’ve just found out myself. It was on the news. Excuse me, but you haven’t told me your name.’
‘I’m sorry. It’s been a very difficult few hours. My name’s Naomi. I am the sister of James Calvell, the deputy director of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. James was your brother’s best friend. They were at university together.’
‘Yes, I know.’ Katerina paused. There was something the other woman said that triggered the concern part of her brain and then she picked up on it. ‘Did you say “was"?’
‘My brother was found dead this morning in his office. I believe it was murder, even though whoever killed him went to great lengths to make it appear like a suicide. That would be preposterous. He’s never in his life shown the slightest sign of wanting to end his life. On the contrary, he’s never been depressed.
‘Furthermore, he was the most optimistic person I knew. And when I spoke to him earlier this morning he seemed absolutely normal, his usual cheerful, determined and efficient self. There was nothing in his voice to ring alarm bells, not in the least. I’ve told the police all this. But they refuse to treat it as anything else but a suicide.
‘The detective in charge of the investigation is an idiot who is clearly in a rush to wrap the whole thing up, close the file and bury it in a storehouse somewhere, or wherever it is they put their closed files or files of cold cases, which in itself is strange as you would think that he would welcome the publicity of such a case, the benefits to his career, fast-track promotions and rise to the top, running for political office and all that. That’s how things often work here in the States.
‘We are talking about the death of the deputy director of one of the world’s greatest museums after all. And there is another thing. John Halland, a restorer at the museum specialising in Byzantine icons is missing too.’ She paused.
Katerina could tell she was rolling something in her mind and decided not to interrupt her train of thought. When Naomi’s voice next came down the line, the unmistakable signs of fear came down the line with it. ‘Do you think my brother’s death could be connected with your brother’s disappearance? Do you think the restorer was involved in my brother’s death in some way and has fled? Or perhaps he has been kidnapped? Were our brothers, and maybe that restorer as well, working on something together?’
‘It could be. Did they find anything, any clue on the scene? Was there anything missing?’
‘Forensics haven’t found anything, but yes, some items may be missing. The secret door in his office that led to a secret tunnel and his safe was ajar. Someone had been inside. The only sign that items may be missing comes from the fact that there were marks left on one of the shelves to indicate that something had been there recently.
‘We cannot tell whether whatever items were there were taken by the intruder and murderer or whether the items had been removed before then for some reason, be it for restoration, research, an exhibition or something else, perhaps. Has your brother told you of any items that might have been there? Items they had found and were studying? Something of significance?’
Katerina thought hard, racked her brains for a memory. And then she remembered the icon and the ring found inside it. They had been kept at the Metropolitan where they were supposed to have been safe.
She decided not to divulge the information to this woman she didn’t know whether she was James’ sister or not. She could be an enemy or rival or a journalist fishing for information for all she knew.
When she answered Naomi’s question she didn’t hesitate. It was a strong confident voice travelling down the line to Naomi in New York. ‘No, I cannot think of anything. I’m sorry.’
‘It’s alright. I hoped… Could you please tell your brother when you see him?’
‘I will, of course. Naomi, I’m very sorry for your loss. Please let me know if there is anything we can do for you.’
‘Thank you. Please, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.’
Katerina had to hang up, but she had to end this conversation as gently as she could, without appearing insensitive and abrupt. Getting on with the mission was now more urgent than ever. She assumed an apologetic tone. ‘Naomi, look, I’m sorry, but I really have to go.’
‘Yes… yes, of course. I understand. I know, you are busy. I’m keeping you from something. I’m sorry again for troubling you. Thanks for listening. Good-bye.’
‘Goodbye, Naomi.’
Katerina hung up and looked at Vasilis. He got her drift. ‘The plot thickens.’
‘Giorgos will be devastated. He and James were very close while at university and they have stayed so since leaving university. They used to go on climbing and other extreme expeditions together.’ She paused. ‘And now there’s the icon and the ring to find as well. The Ruinands are definitely behind this. Do you realise that they now not only have the ring, but both Likureian icons and possibly the third one that was stolen from the auction, as well?’
Vasilis shook his head and a series of expletives stayed in his throat unsaid. ‘Damn, my mother will be furious.’
Vasilis’ boiling anger sharply contrasted with Katerina’s calmness. It was she who now spoke, giving Vasilis some time to recover his composure and reenergise his brain and put it back to good use.
‘Thankfully the media haven’t yet connected the death and the raft of disappearances and kidnappings, but it can’t be a coincidence. Too many coincidences make a truth. It is starting to look like a pattern. Wait till the Cypriot media get wind of the New York events. They are bound to see a connection. They’ll have a field day.
‘Vasilis, we’ll have to make it quick. I can’t afford to be trapped inside the castle after it closes, especially tonight. On any other night I wouldn’t mind. I cannot miss dinner at my parents’ tonight, especially with the news about Giorgos. Let’s have a quick look at the spot shown on the plan and get out of here.’
Vasilis nodded his assent. ‘OK. I understand. We can come back tomorrow. But we cannot postpone it for longer than that. Time is just too critical here and we need to stay ahead of the Ruinands and anyone else, a gravedigger or whatever, that may be after this tomb. You remember that huge publicity blitz only a few weeks ago after the charity auction?
‘It died down, because it just seemed to people too extraordinary to be true. But not everybody felt the same. Some people are still looking; archaeologists, journalists, quick rich opportunists are scouring the width and breadth of this world for information, for clues.’
Across town Elli had seen the news too. She suspected that it was a matter of time before they publicised Aristo’s disappearance as well. She knew it was the Ruinands and the Madame Marcquesa behind this.
They wanted to show her what they could do, how many places they had infiltrated and had access to and possibly control of. She also then remembered the not so small matter of the traitor in her family and organisation. She had to find his identity. She had to flash him out soon.