LITMIR.BIZ

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      As if on cue, the young man from the beach suddenly stepped out of the woods and began to cut a diagonal path toward the villa. The white cat—Ariel—followed him. She was still very worried. And tired.

      She seemed to sense my presence and glanced up at me. I calmed my mind, and once again the image of the white cat lying in the dark place filled it.

      Caliban? I asked her.

      Yes.

      Then she disappeared from my sight beneath the balcony.

      I sensed Roman’s presence even before he touched my shoulder and ran his hand down my arm to link it with mine. I tried very hard not to let the casual intimacy of the gesture soften something deep inside of me.

      “Your cousin returns,” he murmured.

      “Looks like.”

      Alexi—if it was him—looked tired and even younger than he’d appeared to be through my camera lens. He was wearing a T-shirt and what seemed to be the same shorts he’d worn on the beach the day before. He’d covered half the distance to the hotel when Miranda rushed across the lawn to meet him.

      “You can’t come in.” Her tone was hushed, urgent.

      Roman drew me back from the edge of the balcony so that we were out of sight, but we continued to eavesdrop.

      “Why not?” Alexi asked.

      “Inspector Ionescu is here looking for you. I told him you hadn’t returned. His men are searching your room right now. And Mr. Delos’s room. It was just luck that I saw you from the kitchen window. Go.”

      Alexi ran a hand through his hair. “Has Magellan filed another complaint that I’ve been hanging around his precious castello and poking around his caves? Delos was hanging out in those caves more than I was. And Magellan can’t press charges against me for trespassing on his precious estate. I haven’t been able to get past the gate. Only Ariel slips through. She’s trying to lead me to Caliban. I know it. But the guards won’t let me in.”

      “This doesn’t have anything to do with Mr. Magellan. It’s about the man you were arguing with on the beach yesterday.”

      “Delos?”

      “Then it was you?” Miranda began to wring her hands. “I knew it.”

      “So I argued with Delos. That’s not a crime.”

      “He was shot. Killed. That’s why the police are searching his room.”

      Alexi seemed stunned into silence—but only for a moment. “Well, I didn’t shoot him.”

      “You were there. Your cousin Philly Angelis saw you through the lens of her camera. She says you shoved him, knocked him down. And you didn’t come home last night.”

      “I spent the night looking for Caliban.”

      “Inspector Ionescu must suspect you had something to do with Mr. Delos’s death.” Miranda sounded panicked.

      “Mom, I didn’t shoot Mr. Delos.” Alexi’s tone had gentled and he placed his hands on his mother’s shoulders. “Sure, I argued with him. He told me he’d seen Caliban in one of those caves beneath the Castello, but he wouldn’t show me which one. He said he had to get back here and make a call because his cell wouldn’t work. I was angry. Furious. But I didn’t shoot him. C’mon, we’ll go inside and I’ll talk to the inspector. It’s going to be all right.”

      The moment I heard the door to the villa close, I turned to Roman. “Miranda knew who the dead man was all along.”

      “Yes.” Roman’s tone was thoughtful. “But she’s worried about her son and perhaps a bit overprotective now that he’s all she has left of her family. And Alexi evidently has a temper.”

      Whatever else Roman might have said was interrupted when Ariel suddenly appeared on our balcony railing. Again I calmed my mind and opened it. At first, I felt only her emotions. Frustration and anxiety were foremost.

      Help.

       Caliban is injured?

      The image flashed into my mind of the barrel of a gun smashing down on a white cat’s leg. “I think her brother’s leg is broken. That’s why he’s lying so still and he can’t get home,” I murmured to Roman.

      Ariel sat very still on the balcony watching us both.

      “She told you that?” Roman asked softly.

      “Not in words. I saw him getting hit by the barrel of a gun. Whoever did it must have left him in one of the caves. And you heard Alexi say that Delos had seen him there—and just left him.” I felt a wave of empathy for my cousin and a wave of anger at the indifference of Delos. “No wonder Alexi shoved Delos to the ground. I might have done the same myself.”

      Ariel was sending more images now. In some of them the light was better. It seemed to be coming from above. Once again I saw the white cat lying very still in dappled sunlight. In most of them Ariel was sitting beside him. In one she had a small animal in her mouth. As far as I could make out they were on some kind of ledge.

      “She’s bringing him food, and there’s water there,” I said softly to Roman. “He doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger.”

      Help.

      “But she’s worried.”

      A knock sounded at the door. Releasing my hand, Roman went to open it. “Good morning, Demetria.”

      Over my shoulder, I saw Demetria beam a smile at him. “Mr. Angelis, Mrs. Kostas said to fetch you. Inspector Ionescu is here. He wants to talk with you.”

      “We’ll be right there.”

      I turned back to Ariel. I can’t come right now. I felt her frustration and disappointment so strongly that I nearly took a step back.

      I tried to reassure her. I’ll come as soon as I can. I’ll look for you on the beach where we were yesterday. I pictured the crescent-shaped stretch of sand as clearly as I could in my mind. I hoped that she understood as she leaped to the branches of a nearby cypress tree and then disappeared.

      AS IT TURNED OUT, Roman and I had to wait our turn to talk to Inspector Ionescu. When Demetria led us out onto the terrace, he was seated at the same table he’d used yesterday. It was located at the far end, isolated from the other tables. This time Alexi sat across from him. There were two men in uniform standing behind my cousin.

      I didn’t think that looked good and said as much to Roman once Demetria had served us coffee.

      “I agree,” Roman said. “Alexi is most likely the last person to have seen Delos alive. Add to that the fact that you saw him shove the victim to the ground moments before he was shot, and that elevates your cousin to the prime suspect.”

      My stomach twisted and I set down my coffee without tasting it. “He didn’t have a gun.”

      “Not that you saw. But he was carrying a backpack.”

      I frowned at him. “You sound like you’re building a case against him.”

      “I’m just trying to think the way a policeman would.”

      I glanced over at Alexi. The table was far enough away that it was impossible to overhear anything. The inspector seemed to be doing most of the talking.

      “Ionescu’s a smart man,” Roman continued. “He has to know that Miranda recognized the description you gave of the younger man on the beach. He probably suspects that she recognized the description of Delos also. Policemen get annoyed when they’re lied to. He’s not going to be happy with us, either.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “I imagine you were right on the money and he Googled Kit Angelis the moment he got back to

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