A Creeky
murder
Mystery
An inviation
I burst into his room, “Now that’s an invitation Jonathan, fly to Italy and come and stay as long as long as you need to, on a private yacht, all expenses paid for of course and a case to solve". Jonathan looked up from his book and held my eyes for a second “Private yacht you say? OK I have nothing better to do I’ll go”, this response I had not expected at all, normally it takes hours of teasing him with hints or even threats to gain any kind of interest from him but clearly the lure of the Mediterranean in April swung his decision rather quickly, however, his answer implied that he was thinking of going alone. “Hey wait a minute you are not going out there alone, you need me to be there, as always, and I can reschedule my work for the next week or so” He gave me a stern look as if the matter was settled. “No I don’t think so, besides it’s probably only a small yacht not enough space for both of us.” The cheek I organize the invitation and he thinks he’s having it without me, I don’t think so. “ Small, you are joking it’s the Christiana O only the most infamous yacht it the Mediterranean previously owned by shipping tycoon Onassis and if it wasn’t for my connections you would not even have this invitation in the first place, I am coming or you are not going, that’s it you selfish get." And that was it, as usual, him attempting to blag me and me not having it and putting my foot down, nothing new there than.
During the flight I told Jonathan how Charlie one of my friends had contacted me about this case, how she had already persuaded her friend Josi that Jonathan and I would be able to resolve her fear that her mum could be convicted for a murder that she did not commit. About how much Josi’s mum and Mr Papanistori were looking forward to the dual wedding of them and their daughter next month. I told him about what had happened so far but most of all I rattled on about the Christina O. Charlie had been on board several times and I had picked her brain to find out as much as I could before our arrival and the more she told me the more exited I got about the prospect of staying on board. I told Jonathan that she originally was a Canadian River class frigate and how Aristotle Onassis purchased her for just $34,000. He spent $4 million to convert her into a luxurious yacht and renamed her Christina after his daughter but her current owner renamed her the Christina O to remind everybody that she was actually created by Onassis. During the years that Onassis owned her he invited anyone that was fabulously famous to stay with them, he loved to rub shoulders with the stars and powerful, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Eva Peron were just some of the stars and he had many romances, the best know and very raucous with Maria Callas. “And Jonathan this also makes me wonder, he later married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier or better known as Jackie Kennedy, what do you think was going on when on board between them?” Jonathan was not for commenting on this and seemed rather bored by this kind of intrigue, probably not enough fact based evidence, well his loss, I was delighted by all this jet set insider info so I carried on. “The current or I should say the now deceased owner was Mr Papanistori he often was on board as a little boy and was delighted when he could finally buy her from the Greek government in a ran down state, you now that Christina actually gave the yacht away when her dad died, what does that say about her relationship with her dad, it’s as if she really couldn’t stand him.”
I now think that Jonathan is not a great flyer, he remained very quit during the flight, the best part was the landing on Christopher Columbus airport at Genoa, since the runway is built on a narrow strip into the sea and it is only until the last moment that all you see is water on either side, it is very comforting to see the ground just as the wheels touch it and you notice that you hadn’t breathed for an unnaturally long time. When I looked at Jonathan his complexion was almost green and he was somewhat in a rush to leave the plane, honestly, I did feel for him. The chauffeur in immaculate uniform with the family crest in silver on his lapel greeted us on the runway and escorted us through the VIP exit to the Bentley Corniche, It didn’t take long to get out of the city and than we hit the Autostrada Azzura working its way through the Apennine mountains the green countryside of the Italian Mediterranean coast covered with Holm Oakes, Chestnut trees and of course Olive groves. The last part of the trip took us on the winding narrow coast road, on our left the bay with yacht’s and boats idling away under the lazy sun, the drive took about an hour and all through it I wanted to comment in phrases that would not constitute to much more than oooh isn’t this posh, or aah look at that, and isn’t that nice and doesn’t this make you feel like a celebrity but I managed to keep up some decorum if only for the chauffeur not to think that I was a total scrubber. Jonathan on the other hand seemed to be his usual under whelmed self, unimpressed with whatever comes his way, he was closely studying the build of the car, probably thinking about the regularity of the hand stitching of the leather or possibly picking up on small imperfections, whatever. How can you be so composed in such a situation, he just does not get impressed by the things normal people do, come on, top luxury. Paid for, for however long it may take in the April sun of the Mediterranean combined with the stimulation of your mind attempting to solve a mystery. I am so excited but at the same time frustrated that I can’t share this with anyone, not able to show my emotions or rather, not willing to show them. And then we arrive in Portofino the old fishing town on the end of the peninsula, the buildings in warm amber yellow, burnt stone and saffron red on the quay side, probably no more than fifty buildings all together but for obvious reasons world famous, not just some semi industrial site with some rusting vessels and a few wannebe pleasure crafts but right in the middle of the old town centre is the harbour, packed with shiny floating playgrounds for the rich, here I am, the restaurants and cafes filled with tourists from all over the world to visit this lap of luxury, the Bentley pulling up, the chauffeur opening my door, everyone watching us, shit I should have thought of this when I got dressed this morning, my god I look like a scrub, no think about it, I am a modern chick, yes I don’t need to show off, I’ve made it and I have arrived, shoulders back tits forward, yes you look at me cheap tourist, ha see me that’s where you want to be isn’t it, well I am, please keep looking I don’t often have this kind of opportunity.
And there she is the Christiana O, a lady of age now but still the most famous of them all, classy, traditional lines and design, more revered than any of the ‘cheap plastic crap’ that fills this harbour today. The ship’s captain (or at least that’s what I think he is with all these stars and nautical symbols on his shoulders) welcomes us on board, but as we get on board I am somehow disappointed, I want to linger on the quayside, show myself off, Jonathan knows me so well, glancing sideways all he says is “you sad git” the twat. The captain informs us, “The family is not in at the moment so let me introduce you to Maria, she will be your personal attendant during your stay and show you the yacht if you are interested, Maria will take your luggage and please feel free to ask her for anything you may need during your stay, if you like a drink some food any advise, anything, we are here for your service.” Maria is a charming tiny girl with dark culey hair and the deepest brown eyes, she almost curtsey’s to us offering us a Kir Royal, Buck’s Fizz or something else, "ill have them all” I say as I nervously attempt to make a joke, more to brake my own trepidation that has rapidly developed now I am actually on board than to humour anybody else and I fail on both levels, “Kir Royal please.” I demurely answer. Jonathan declines either. The Christiana O is scrumptious, all the original interior has been refurbished no expenses saved, to honour the shipping magnate it was build by to be the most exclusive yacht of the Mediterranean, Onassis clearly did not spare a penny to get it just as he wanted and the new owner has done just the same, Maria guides us to the bar aptly called Ari’s bar since that was Onassis’s nickname. The bar contains barrels and sea chests hinting of pirate treasure, whaling harpoons and an illustrated wall map of the world. The bar man serves my drink and tells us all about the bar “You see the circular bar was originally crafted from the timbers of a Spanish Galleon, wound with heavy sailing rope and the footrests and handholds are whales' teeth, did you know JFK first met Churchill in 1957 at this bar?” I am intrigued by the glass top of the bar in which a lighted relief of the sea features, it depicts the development of ships through history with tiny model ships that can be moved around by magnets. “The best part is the stools you are sat on” We hadn’t really taken any notice of them, now Jonathan stood up and gave them a close inspection he commented “They are made with a very soft, fine leather and I like the fact that the rope also covers the leg of the stool.” the bar man sniggered and tells us, “They are covered in whale foreskin” I must admit I had a strong urge to jump off it but just about managed to control myself. After a bit more sniggering on his part, he clearly delights in telling everyone this fact, he says. “Yes Onassis had a good sense of humour, one of his favourite jokes was to say “Excuse me madam, did you know you are sitting on the worlds largest dick”, he was an enthusiastic whale hunter.” I decided that I was not to sure about the character of Onassis but still had to admit he had created a wonderful ship, Maria returns to inform us that our luggage has been taken to our suites and that she will show us to there, as she walks us there she also tells us that not everybody is on board yet to attend our first interview but that we are free to use any facility on board and that she will inform us when all are in. I decide to loiter a while in my lovely room and to freshen up a bit thinking to myself that this life style could seriously sway me to stay here for a very long time, if I could only get over this nagging feeling that this is a bit too much for a girl like me and I may be showing this to the in crowd.
There is a gentle knock on the door and Maria announces that the family is back and will receive us in the Lapis Lounge. ”would you like me to take you there or will you be able to find it yourself.” “No thank you I’ll be ok but do you know were Jonathan is?” Since she was just on her way to inform him I walked along with her to his cabin, she knocked on his door and informed him I was there and that the family was awaiting us and left us to it. Jonathan, hopping towards me as he was getting a leg into his pants said “Now listen I want you to stay in the background and say nothing but eye them up, be conspicuous about it, stare, make them uncomfortable and try to gage their place in this situation.” ”Oh I can be your silent assistant, thank you I’m so excited.” He gave me a wry look and stated, “Oh stop wining you’ll be really good at pretending to be the smouldering silent type.” On entering the Lapiz Lounge we were greeted by Samantha the daughter of the late Mr Papanistori, she introduced her fiancée Quinlan, he was sat next to the lapis lazuli fireplace perhaps in the same chair Richard Burton once sat in, smoking and holding a glass of whiskey and seemed not to be in a great mood as he mumbled some form of hello to us, than there was Josi the daughter of Ms Dawson who, as she looked at us wild eyed with some sort of begging haunted but somehow hopeful look, said “I am so pleased you could come and hope that you can clear my mum.” Next Samantha introduced Josi’s brother, George, a short stubby kind of fellow with wildish curling to long hair, he seemed out of place possibly even shifty, he certainly did not want to be here and if you would be judging on first impressions he was as guilty as it gets, he shook our hands and stated “For my sister’s and my mum’s sake please do whatever you can.” Throughout the introductions Samantha had been a restrained aristocratic hostess, but now this was over she looked at Jonathan in anticipation of his remarks, Jonathan stared back or possibly not so much stared as looked into her mind, he did not say anything for just that little bit to long, It certainly was a strange moment, Samantha with all her aristocratic style (and she is a tall girl with long flowing golden hair and a beautiful poise, almost regal) seemed to become a twelve year old little girl ready to be reprimanded, or on the verge of crying, since someone had done something ‘so unfair daddy’ to the little girl, and then they snapped out of it, Samantha was the first, “so would you like to take a seat, something to drink perhaps?” I certainly was not going to repeat my previous joke and opted for a jus d orange Jonathan was having the same as he sat down Samantha pressed a button nearby and the next second a purser attended to take the order, I thought to myself how useful such a gadget would be at home.
“So what is the situation so far” Jonathan said to no one in particular. It was George with a rather bold statement whom responded first “my mum is in prison and she didn’t do anything” immediatetely followed by, “come on Josi don’t work yourself up so much, everything will be fine, you see Jonathan she is rather calm now but she has been extremely upset about this whole affair, first her father in law whom she greatly admirers gets murdered and than her mum gets arrested for this, I have only just come over from Madagascar two days ago after spending years studying birds (neatly providing an alibi for himself and explaining his out of place exterior), but Josi spent almost all her time with them and she is adamant that things are not as they seem.” “I see” says Jonathan holding George’s eye for a while as if anticipating further explanation but since none followed he continued “So how do they seem to be” again to no one specific, this time grumpy near the fireplace under a Renoir painting started quite aggressive “Josi is indeed hysterical and cannot comprehend that her lovely mummy has killed Samantha’s dad, she doesn’t seem to care a bit about Samantha’s feelings, who lost her dad and on top of that she is saddled with the emotional dilemma that the woman she has accepted as her future mother, which wasn’t easy in the first place, turns out to be a cool blooded murderer who bashed his head in because her dad wouldn’t be rushed into a marriage without a pre-nuptial agreement, and on top of this Josi here whom Samantha accepted as a sister has now gone out of her way by bringing her long lost brother and yourselves here to do whatever it takes to prevent justice to be done, that is as things seem to be at the moment.” “I see” Jonathan replied dryly, I could hardly prevent myself from sniggering, still being rather nervous in this environment, obviously caught in a family feud, and witnessing the disdain Jonathan was showing grumpy it was hard to contain myself but at this stage I felt I had to say something “So it seems that there is some disagreement about what actually happened then” I knew it was probably not the most helpful remark at the time and Jonathan’s glance said enough but at least I tried to diffuse the situation somewhat “Perhaps we should focus more on the facts.” Josi had at this time started uncontrollable sobbing, George focussed on comforting her and Quinlan lit another cigarette and was in no mood to be helpful so it was Samantha’s task to go through the motions which she did remarkably well considering the emotional distress she must be under as described by Quinlan. “Last week Friday Josi and I went out to Monaco for some shopping with some friends of mine, some of whom are also the appointed bridesmaids and afterwards we all came back here for a few drinks and to discuss the wedding, we came on board and went upstairs nipped into the Library to say hi to my dad and Ms Dawson who were both there and then took to the Show lounge, I wanted to order some drinks for all of us but realized that on Friday all the staff are usually on a day off, I got up to get the drinks myself but at that moment Quinlan waked up the stairs so I asked him to get us some champagne from the pantry, he went downstairs and a minute or so later there was shouting from the Library, we all ran to the Library and there she was in the patio doors, shouting “I told you you’re too old, you’re too old I told you” I looked out and saw my dad in the pool floating face down, we all ran downstairs to the pool, when we got there it was too late, I went back upstairs since Josi and Mrs Dawson were still in the library and saw the ashtray with blood on the floor in the corner and immediately rang the Caribineri, she killed him” and with a big sigh, not very sophisticated she sank into a chair. “Well thank you for that Samantha, does that help you Jonathan?" “Hum was the reply and after that the silence, interrupted only by July’s sobbing, became rather uncomfortable. The hum and silence of Jonathan was, of course, a neat little trick Jonathan employs to make people say more than they want to, by remaining silent most people will feel that they need to add more to the statement that has just been made, saying more than they actually intended at first, however, in this case nothing followed. I thought it would be a good idea to suggest to view the crime scene “Samantha can you please show us where all this happened” and so we took off, accompanied by Josi as if she was not going to let proceedings happen without her overseeing the process, we went up the delightful oval staircase with it’s onyx and silver handrail to the Show deck, once up there we headed towards the stern, on our left hand the Show lounge with its glass wall and doors leading off the landing, the room where all the girls had been, and the door of the library in front of us in full view of where all had sat that day. We entered the library, actually more like a state room, large and oval in shape, books on all walls and comfortable seating areas and two study tables with formal chairs, all in all more a comfortable large snug in which I could imagine an older couple would feel comfortable, secluded from the outside world enjoining each other’s company, it was located right at the back of this deck and the rear the library had patio doors leading to a little balcony. Jonathan was having a good look around the place awkwardly stopping at certain places staring at something, even getting down on his knees at times inspecting god knows what (I wonder sometimes if it is all a bit of a show, but I’m still not sure if he is actually seeing things normal mortals are ignorant off) and as he got to the balcony he said “Well this is strange.” This immediately made us jump to attention, what had he seen, Josi was there at a flash “Why does this not have any kind of balustrade?”. Samantha offered “this was one of a few structural changes my dad made after living here for a while, he loved this room, it was his retreat, and he loved swimming so he had made these doors and balcony so he could dive straight into the pool from here” “Which he religiously did in the afternoon” Josi volunteered “He was a big kid at hart and he loved to dive off this into his pool, dripping all over the place on his way back, much to the annoyance of the staff cleaning up after him, but they didn’t really mind, everybody loved him he was such a lovable kind of man, all the staff has been here forever you know, he always had time for anybody, cared and would help whenever he could, many times he listened to me, offering advice or help when I didn’t have a good spell at times but always he was there, my mum could have never done this, she was enthralled by him.” this was followed by more sobbing on her part, obviously she did love the man a lot. Samantha looked at her with compassion in her eyes, it seemed that regardless of her upset about the recent situation she did actually feel close to Josi. Seemingly oblivious to these emotional interactions Jonathan budded in “now how can you guarantee that nobody else entered this room at any time” and Samantha answered “Well we were all in the Show lounge at the time, and if we go back out off this only door that leads out of the library (as she guided us out) you can see, nobody can walk past the Show lounge without being seen, we were all here at the time, nobody could have entered the library after we had said hello to them." Jonathan surmised “So one room, one door, everybody being able to see this and no one entering the library at any time, Quinlan only came to the top of the stairs and you asked him to get some champagne, clearly only Ms Dawson could have done it, a bloody ashtray and only her and the late Mr Papanistori, the murder and the victim.” Josi had currently been reasonably composed but this was enough to bring her back into a sobbing state which caused Samantha to say that this “Obviously didn’t need to be stated so crudely.” Only to be ignored by Jonathan. “Yes well, can I just check the security arrangements?” Samantha replied, “There is a 24 hr rota and there is always at least one security officer on board” “Good can I see the officer that was on board when the murder happened?” Samantha pressed the service button three times in rapid succession.
30 seconds later a flustered, short chubby officer busted into the room. I could not help myself and a giggle escaped as I remembered Danny Davito in an episode of Friends, this was met by several disapproving looks and I attempted to melt into the carpet unsuccessfully. “Relax Jacques there is nothing wrong I just wanted to show Mr Jonathan here your efficiency.” Samantha assured him. “Yes very impressive (delivered with dry sarcasm by Jonathan) would you please tell me how you handled the situation that day?” Jacques replied that it was actually Shaun on duty that day so Jonathan asked him to provide what information he did have. “Well we do have a logbook noting our regular check’s and anything unusual, so the entry for that day describes with the exact times what happened and without reading it, but from memory, Shaun was alerted by the commotion at the pool and immediately proceeded there, he than saw Mr Papanistori face down in the pool with blood around him, he jumped in and rested him on the edge where he attempted resuscitation since all security officers are also certified to provide first aid but it was to late. He than rang the police and secured the area until they arrived.” Jonathan replied that he would need to see the log later and asked “I have not seen any camera’s or other security gadgets and that is highly unusual in this sort of environment so I suspect that they are hidden well but that you do have tapes stored showing the events.” Samantha interrupted “My father hated any form of security and it was only after a lot of persuasion of myself that he allowed the 24 hr security as long as they would be extremely discreet and he always ignored them which was very unusual for him but he treated them as invisible.” Jacques volunteered “We did also have installed one camera viewing the passarelle form which we do have the tapes and” Jonathan interrupted with a puzzled look on his face “passarelle?” A little smile on Jacques face. “Oh yes it is the nautical term, you would probably call it the gangplank or something like that.” This reply was skilfully crafted to not to openly be sarcastic but obviously was intended to be just that. Jonathan does not like it one little bit when his knowledge is not adequate in any situation and the implied sarcasm had made Jacques probably more unpopular than Quinlan at this time. “Well than one camera at the gangplank, as I would call it, anything else?” “Yes the passarelle is always raised securely and when lowered constantly monitored by staff, the ship also has an active infrared perimeter alarm so any movement within two meters around the ship will trigger an alarm and at the control room we can exactly see the sector that is triggered, there is no evidence of any disturbance at the time of the murder or since the last system check which is done weekly on Mondays. This all sounded rather watertight to me and Jonathan seemed satisfied in a dissatisfied way. “Great, so according to our highly trained security officer none of the High-Tec systems have detected any intrusions, thank you very much Jacques I am confident that all gathered here will be most satisfied with that since it now definitely all points to Ms Dawson.
Quinlan had sat quietly smoking and drinking in his corner with a wry smile on his face, he seemed to have read Jonathan’s character well during this brief interaction and I thought that we could probably use this somehow at a later time to stage some scenario to confuse him. I decided that it was time for Jonathan and I to seclude ourselves for a while “Yes Jonathan I think Samantha had a point no need to be so crude, please accept my apologies on his behalf.” And I started to shove him out of the room and marched him to the deck below. He started on me now “Well you did well on the quiet staring part didn’t you.” I for one was not going to take this attitude from him. “Oh don’t start why do you have to be such a thoughtless prick, can’t you see how much pain you cause with your thoughtless remarks?” “Well maybe I do maybe I don’t, I think that when people are really upset it doesn’t matter what you say to them, they only hear or see whatever they are preoccupied with at that time since nothing else can penetrate their preoccupied minds, but don’t you think Samantha is just a bit to composed to factual to non distressed about her dad’s death, no matter how well she is used to be composed and aristocratic, she, I would think, would struggle more with the situation and a prick like me, don’t you think?” I wandered if Jonathan’s seeming inability to grasp the finer nuances of human behaviour was in fact also a way of provoking responses that would show more than what was intended, or was he just to preoccupied with observing the small details and letting these gradually fall into place, often places that are to me a total surprise but a perfect fit never the less. At this time we stood at the pools edge under the ledge of the little balcony “you see she also never mentioned this side of the library, (pointing up) ok it is unassailable from here and even if it was someone would have seen this happen but she never even seems to have considered that an outsider could have used this, or did she examine this before and decided that it didn’t even need an explanation?” He did have a point. “Well thats interesting but not very helpful since it emphasizes that only Ms Dawson could have done it.” “Indeed, I’m hungry so let’s see what the family is up to and then go for some food, please remember we cannot patronise with them too much so we have to distance ourselves and not use their hospitably too much.” As always on board our p.a. was not far and as we signalled her she approached “Can I be of any assistance, something to drink perhaps?” I remember thinking to myself that in these circumstances I could get very drunk very soon so l resisted, Jonathan wanted to know where the family members were and what restaurant she could recommend. “ Well Ristorante Stella Di Gazzolo Luisa is very good, Samantha and Quinlan are in Ari’s bar and Josi and her brother are on the sun deck.” We took off to the Sun deck, Josi was sat flicking through a magazine and George was fiddling with his laptop “So George what do you think about the situation” George looked up a wild angry look on his face “Seven years in the jungle every day, sweating stinking being eat by mozzie’s lovely birds everywhere but nothing new, nothing to my name and now, right now I’m away from my study Wilson bloody Wilson the lazy good for nothing, a bloody new species to his name for fuck sake what do I think, I think nothing that’s your job all I know is that Josi cannot believe our mum did this and as a matter of fact I agree, she is a gentile woman not a widow maker, and you know if she did do it why now? They where to get married soon but now at this moment she would get nothing, there is no will. She is a nice person she never gave me a harsh word even when I decided to go off to Madagascar, bloody Wilson I can’t believe it I’m leaving, sorry Josi but you’ll be right now Jonathan is here, won’t you?” Josi off course would not be all right for quite a while but for George the naming of a bird was foremost on his mind he had done what he could and would be gone as soon as his flight was arranged. At this moment Jonathan did something that totally surprised me, and think I know him well, he sort of kneeled next to Josi and very gently wrapped his arm around her he looked at her with great big puppy eyes and almost whispered “Yes everything is going to be ok, I promise you this.” I stood there, perplex, Jonathan kind caring and understanding? Josi looked at him and the broadest smile erupted on her previously tense face, the transformation was profound, I actually thought, god she is gorgeous. Then he stood up and walked off the yacht in search for food me trailing behind him. “So what was that all about you creep you don’t do emotions do you realize the trauma you will cause if you don’t live up to your promise, she is not very stable right now so how can you make such a promise, or are you after something else? “Italian or French?” “You what?” “Italian I think, as he walked off turned left towards the restaurant and made himself comfortable at a little table on the terrace.
First impressions
“You see George is right, to start with there is nothing to gain from this for Ms Dawson and secondly looking at her daughter and listening to her son, whom also seems to have no interest in his death or for that matter anything but birds, I believe, for now, that she is a caring person not a killer, there semms to be no history of violence and anger and they seemed to have been very happy together” I had to agree to this, all we had seen so far indicated, happy wealthy people living in beautiful locations being close and comfortable with each other. “So it must have been an outsider than” the question never got answered that day, I remember eating a nice meal and several more Kir Royals as I soaked in the spa bath of my suite and thinking that I may be sleeping in the same bed as Marilyn Monroe or JFK and having strange dreams of whales doing things to my bottom but until the morning I was certainly not working the case.
I awoke surprisingly fresh, the Mediterranean sun shining through the porthole accompanied by the fresh sweet smell off lavender brought down from the mountainside by the gentile breeze into the harbour. I could live this kind of life I thought to myself as I got ready and than made my way upstairs for breakfast. Jonathan was already there and seemed pensive, I greeted him. “Well good morning to you, isn’t this nice, I certainly hope you will take your time on this one since I definitely do not want to go home yet” “Yes well good for you but as it is you will have your time since I don’t know what this is all about, I am starting to get the feel of the situation, but I can’t quite follow it yet” With this hanging in the air Jonathan decided to launch into his cheese ham croissant with espresso leaving me to ask “So yesterday, you told Josi that everything would be ok, does that mean that it wasn’t Ms Dawson, was it the stranger hiding in a l cupboard or was it an insider job by a member of the crew perhaps working on instructions? Talk to me what your feeling or knowledge is so far?” “Well first we will have to talk to Ms Dawson she was there after all and after that speak to the inspector, we know he has already ruled an outsider out otherwise he would not have arrested Ms Dawson so when your ready” I was and as soon as we got up little Maria was there “Are you going out? I do have to inform you that tomorrow we are having the annual Christiana O anniversary and many guests will be attending, this was a tradition with the Onassis falmily and it has been honoured by the current family, it has become somewhat of a tradition and even with the current situation the family has decided to go ahead with this, please could you wait for a few minutes as I get the Morgan for you it is parked just around the corner.”
As she returned she handed us the keys and told us she had taken the top down so we could enjoy the countryside on our way. Driving about in this kind of environment with the top down, exposing ourselves to the stares of the ‘normal’ tourists, taking in the sights smells and the sounds of the road itself, roaring through tunnels, birds, goats anything encountered during the drive sounds or smells so much more intense when driving with the top down, I love this, why do I live in England on a mediocre wage when obviously it can somehow be done this way? About ten minutes later we arrived at Santa Margherita Ligure station, inspector Carlo Berlusci’s office was on the first floor third on the right, door open and awaiting us. “Ahhh Mr Jonathan and young lady, please take a seat would you like a coffee?” Jonathan declined and I said “No thank you but it is very kind of you to offer Carlo, oh sorry is it ok if I call you Carlo?” He was bloody gorgeous I just couldn’t help myself, tall, muscular but not to broad, lightly tanned, dark hair, sparkling eyes, oozing masculine determination and a booming smile, ooooh. It was a good thing there was a chair nearby to flop into and what else could I have answered to his question, I could hardly have come out asking him what he was doing tonight, but at least it was fine to call him Carlo, this was a start and eager to keep the momentum going and completely ignoring Jonathan I posed the question “So Carlo could you please tell me about the events of last Friday” “Yes, we were rang at 15.13 by a girl called the Monica (ha, the Monica, so cute the Italian accent) she says that Mr Papanistori is dead in the pool of the Christina O, we arrive eleven minutes later, I have five officers with me and let no one off the yacht. We find Mr Papanistori on the edge of the pool, two of my men seal off the area and I search the Library to find nothing but a bloody ashtray. After this I personally interviewed all the girls who are gathered together with Ms Dawson and Quinlan in the Show lounge. The story is consistent, they had all come on board around 15.00hrs slightly later Quinlan arrived and went downstairs to get some champagne, they could all see the library door at all times, there was no staff exept one security guard on board and Samantha had used her remote control to lower and when they were all on board raised the passarelle again. After that I interviewed Quinlan separately, he told me that Samantha had rang her to inform him that she would be on board at three with some friends, and future bridesmaids to discuss the wedding, he had agreed to come over and did arrive just after three. He also had made sure the passarelle was raised after he boarded the yacht and he’d not seen anybody else on board. As he got to the Show lounge Samantha had asked him to get some champagne from the pantry near the galley, as he was on the lower deck he had heard the screams of the girls near the pool and made his way straight there. This is where I saw him when we got on board. The only immediate conclusion I could make was that Ms Dawson was highly suspect and I must say that it was not an easy decision to arrest such an outstanding member of our small society, however, based on the evidence I had to. We had searched the whole boat, dusted for prints everything that could be involved but we have found nothing but the ashtray. Ms Dawson confirmed to me that she was in the library at the time and that Samantha and Jonathan hade come in to say hi, after that she felt a bit tiered and had dozed off, she woke with a stir and got up to the balcony only to se Mr Papanistori in the pool dead. I told her that she was the only possible suspect and regretfully I had to take her in”.
Since I definitely seemed to have his attention and at the same time he was addressing the information we needed I felt that Jonathan should take the backseat and I would do all the talking and keep the attention firmly focussed on myself Obviously I had been keeping my best pose and with my most attractive voice (at least that’s what I think) asked “So if you think that Ms Dawson did it than how and why?” “Well you see the ashtray does have three sets of prints one of a staff member, probably the one whom put it in the room but he is still on leave the other of Quinlan and than Ms Dawson’s so considering that and the statements taken from the others on board she seems to be the only one that could have been capable of doing this, but I do not understand why, so that young lady, is your and of course Jonathan’s problem.” Jonathan hadn’t said much, obviously I hadn’t given him a chance but now it was his turn. “Ok so Quinlan says he went to the pantry, can we be certain that he went there and not somewhere else?” Carlo answered the question but kept his eyes on me. “No we can’t he could have been anywhere without any one seeing him.” “Has a post mortem been made and what does this reveal.” “Yes it is done, blow to the head and many other medical conditions, if you need to know more of these speak to Mrs Tattiana Tornino she was his personal nurse and she can tell you all about his health.” Jonathan mulled this over for a bit while Carlo and I exchanged polite smiles. “Now there is something else I need to ask you, I want you to release Ms Dawson with no further charge.” Carlo with his head tilted slightly to one side spoke no word but gave Jonathan a questioning look. Jonathan explained. “You see I believe Ms Dawson did not do this but I can’t explain this yet, now tomorrow is the big anniversary party and it would be a nice gesture from the Caribineri to release her, furthermore, if someone has set all this up to make her the only suspect it will be interesting to see the reaction when she is released, if I’m wrong there is no reason why you can’t re arrest her. I would like to ring you tomorrow when everyone I want to see on board is there and than if you could please bring Ms Dawson to the Christiana O we will make a little bit of a show of it and keep your eyes open for any signs.” Carlo agreed to this and interesting as his plan was I was getting rather annoyed with Jonathan for stealing my thunder, or rather the small spark I was attempting to turn into a blazing fire, obviously I had rather lost my focus on the case and was just pondering my next move as Jonathan budded in again. “Are you on duty this evening?” Carlo answered that he wasn’t. “Well in that case do you think you could show my charming assistant the local scenery perhaps?” Blood rushed to my face, in my minds eye I could see my blushing face but heard Carlo say, “that would be my great pleasure can I pick you up at seven from the Christiana O? “Umm yes that would be lovely” was all that I could utter. As we got outside I started, “I can’t believe you, you can not just go and ask that, why did you think I would actually want him to take me out, what were you thinking” I was having a strop as we were walking back to the car, not at all caring about other pedestrians who probably; looked at us as they would have done about any other couple on their unhappy holiday. “Yes well enjoy yourself tonight I am going to try and get hold of Mrs Tornino. We didn’t speak much on the drive back but secretly I did appreciate his bluntness immensely.
The evening started of great, Carlo was wearing a suit that fitted him perfectly showing off his broad shoulders on long legs very nicely complimented by casual suede loafers and no tie, a look only an Italian can get away with and look absolutely suave. “Ah you look gorgeous” He greeted me with his sexy accent. His car was a classic Peugeot 306 convertible in gold brown, incidentally one of my favourite classics so that set off the conversation nicely as we toured through the countryside on our way to Uscio a little town in the mountains. Forty minutes later we arrived at a charming little restaurant, Carlo was a true gentleman getting in front of me up the steps pointing me towards a corner of the little terrace where the vistas are best over the valley towards the sea, pulling out my chair and introducing me to his friend Sandro the waiter and even the chef came out to greet us, I must admit I haven’t felt that special for a long time. As we sat there chatting, sipping our wine and nibbling our food it turned into an evening when time seems to have stopped, a dreamlike feeling, the Buzzards overhead circling up on the thermals to eventually take off to somewhere across the Med, the ambiance perfect and the atmosphere filled with exiting possibilities. Eventually the conversation got back to the Christiana O and I told him how interested I was, not as much with the case but the intriguing history of the yacht and all the people that had stayed on board and the affairs that may have gone on board so I asked him to give me all the gossip that he must obviously know being the chief inspector in Portofino. Disappointingly he responded as a professional policeman and said “Well there have been a few calls and visits to her over the last few years but I can not possibly tell what that was about since this is confidential” “Aah but you can tell me rumours” I replied with my most girly prying intonation “Just tell me about Onassis and Jacky” Carlo laughed at me as he said “How old do you think I am, that was far before my time” “No I can see you’re not that old otherwise you would be extremely well conserved” and a bit of flirting later he leaned towards my ear and whispered “I could tell you what my dad told me when I was a boy.” I clapped my hands in a little girl gesture of excitement “please do.”
“One day the Christiana O set off without any guests on board, only Ari, and that was highly unusual, the same day a private plane from the US landed at Genoa and a lady wearing a hat and sunglasses drove to the nearby harbour and took off in a small launch. The skipper of the launch later told everyone he did drop her at the Christiana O, he also told everyone that it definitely was Jacky Kennedy and that he would be picking her up in three days time, however, two days later a storm hit the area and he was told to come and collect her. He never returned, the storm really wasn’t that bad it would not have upset anyone aboard a yacht the size of the Christiana O or be able to sink the launch with an experienced skipper as he was. Fisherman that were in the sea at the time confirmed this and reported having seen a Greek destroyer, this is not unusual on the South East coast but not near Portofino. This started an official investigation, no wreckage was ever found, the Greek authorities denied any movements there at that time, the company that had charted the plane was based in The Netherlands and had acted on anonymous instructions, their payment had come from an account in Lichtenstein. The plane’s flight plan showed that it had taken off from Washington Dulles airport to Genoa and that it should have left three days later on a return flight but it had changed its flight plan a day later and had set off to Lefkada airport in Greece. Now this is a small airport used by NATO and the Hellenic Air force, it is also near a harbour and that was all the investigation did ever reveal. The Italian navy would not cooperate with the police investigation and of course the Greece authorities could not be questioned, the plane had the highest US security clearance so there was no way that anyone could find out who really was on board. And that is the best rumour about Jacky an Ari there has ever been. I think the skipper of the launch talked too much and tried to sell the story but nobody will ever now for sure. But if you want a good conspiracy theory here’s one.” I was still mulling over the fact that a skipper could have been murdered just because he spread a rumour with the knowledge or cooperation of at least three governments but Carlo had become rather exited.
“Think about all the international bombings and 9/11 and Al Quida and their supposed motives for a minute.” “OK that is quite a different subject” I replied. “So what do you want me to say about that?” “Well think about it as if it is a murder case and you do not yet know the killer, you would try to trace him as we are doing with the Christiana O case by following the leads that are available.” “Yes that is normally the way to do it but we know that it is Al Quida that is behind these terror acts.” Carlo waived his index finger at me. “No that is what we are told by the same governments we were talking about just a minute ago.” He was getting a bit agitated but perhaps he had a point and If only to humour him I said “Right, so what happens if we would approach this like any other case?” “Well we follow the leads and if there are too few or even too many we need to focus on the most likely, do you have on telly a program called Numb3rs?” “Yes we have, so it is also on Italian TV?” “Yes and you know the mathematician that applies these equations to all the information available and certain similarities of the targets and than the means start to present themselves, now he’s a cleaver guy, and what do you think happens if we look at the terror attacks in that way?” Frankly I was loosing interest but I replied. “So you think that looking at the attacks as if we do not know the perpetrator does tell us what exactly?” “Well you can see that almost all the countries that have been bombed could have one common enemy and other countries that have never been attacked did not have that enemy and there are a few that class nether way but they can be decoys to prevent us to see clearly whom the real enemy is.” I was trying to follow his line of thought and discern the real enemy and at the same time wondering why this terrorist crisis had invaded our pleasant evening and frankly I was not too impressed with this. “Well I don’t know I think it’s all a bit to wide open to come to any sort of conclusion.” For Carlo it was all too clear. “Come on it is simple The USA and England to name the obvious have been attacked but countries like Holland, Japan, France and Germany have had nothing.” Sandro appeared with a fresh bottle of wine but by now I had come down from my adrenaline rush and the wine started to have it’s effect on me but Carlo persuaded me to just have another glass since this was Sandro’s best wine and the bottle now open “OK than just one but I still don’t see your logic, by naming these countries I do not see any common enemy.” Carlo sighed, “I have been teasing you a little, you must look in history to see it, the USA and England where Nazi Germany’s biggest enemy, Japan an ally, Hitler never liked Mussolini so the bombs in Italy can be a decoy and so were the Spain attacks since Franco never did anything to help Germany, Indonesia did try to keep the Japanese out so you see following logic reasoning it clearly shows the Nazi’s are behind it all.” By now I was starting to loose confidence in Carlo’s logical capabilities but he went on. “You see the Nazi’s did not just change into harmless people after the war and loose their believes, they had looted billons and build up networks all over the globe, built up companies and investments and their children grew up learning their parents ways and now the third and fourth generation live in a world with immigrants from all over the world, festering in their cities and they see drugs and weak genetic humans multiplying, making the human race weaker all the time, no it is not Al Quida, they are just the soldiers.” By now the wonderful evening feeling had evaporated and the conversation turned into a weird world conspiracy. “I really think you are taking things a bit too far.” “Too far” agitation clearly in his voice now. “Too far can’t you see the world population is completely distorted, ever since Israel was established Arabs have been disillusioned, all you need to do is find the fanatics provide them with money and a plan, make sure nobody can trace you which is easy with all the networks that have been build up over 70 years, and don’t ever let the fanatics know your real agenda. And now after 9/11 and all the other attacks the Nazi’s old enemies are fighting a war they can never win their soldiers are dying and their economy's destabilised. The white population completely distrusts all coloured people and racism is rife. If I was a stinking rich third generation Nazi this is the way I would want to fight my war and I think if you look around you they are doing a great job.” I now realized the situation had turned sinister, all other guests had left by now, Sandro stood grinning near the edge of the patio I was drunk and Carlo had turned out to be an agitated racist if not Nazi. “Right you have to take me back now, I don’t feel well.” Despite his excitement and the fact that he also had drunk too much he behaved like a true gentleman again “Of course, Sandro will drive us home now.” I fell asleep during the drive and must admit now that towards the latter stage of our evening I too was not the perfect companion on our first date.
Party time
The next morning there was a serious buzz on board, the complete staff team was on board, several catering vans had turned up on the que side unloading there delicatessen, at the same time more garden (or in this case, deck furniture) was brought in and all this had to be taken up the only access to the yacht, the passarelle, all of these people working their way up and down this narrow entrance was a great view, akin to ants following a narrow trail. Now the entertainers started to arrive carrying their instruments and props and causing more congestion. It took me quite a while to actually realize that all these people were walking through an area that had previously not been there, the pool was no longer there, the pool had actually become floor with an accurate copy of a mosaic at the Palace of Knossos in Crete depicting a bull tossing an athlete up in the air performing acrobatic tricks, a custom from the bronze ages. This yacht was so amazing its opulence and heritage, I think it could take me several month to get used to but somehow I felt this would not quite be the way things would pan out. By midday rows of tables with exotic food and drinks had been set up and the entertainment was in place, all ready to take in the anticipated guests who started to arrive wearing their best glam rags. Some I recognized from a few days ago others unmistakable such as Lord Mendelson or Katie Melua, all these glamorous people aboard one yacht and I was there as well, I really really do not want to go home soon. The staff were immaculate and attentative to each individual guest better service than in any hotel I have ever been, the family all (bar two) there and greeting the most recognized or close guests personally, Samantha doing what se seems to do best, floating about with a presence that was unmistakable that of the princess of the ball, I should really look after my own posture better since it is clear what difference it makes looking at her. Quinlan as always smoking but today compared to last time a charming competent and entertaining host, he sat chatting with a few guys eying up some of the girls walking about and from where I stood (if I would not have seen him before) he looked like a very approachable and pleasant kind of guy. The two of them did not seem to be grieving for a loving dad lost but perhaps they were just keeping up appearance at this occasion, after all the anniversary of the Christiana O was a long standing event and the social high light for many of the guests gathered here today.
Jonathan was nowhere to be seen, which I found rather annoying since I had so much to check out with him since last night. Josi seemed to be the only person on board whom was detached from all the festivities, she was there speaking to a few of people but no smiles or any sort of sparkle, I really wished that I could just go over there and tell her that her mum would be here soon but that would spoil Jonathan’s plan. At this moment I spotted him stepping on to the makeshift podium, wearing a lovely new Italian design suit, most uncharacteristic, stepping up to the mike, “Dear guests, on the anniversary of this great ship, the Christiana O, we gather to carry on the tradition started by the great Onassis, in honour of his memory and to celebrate his creation of this beautiful yacht I would like to ask the family to gather here with me to welcome our guest of honour.” It took a little while for them to arrange themselves around the podium but spot on time Carlo arrived in the Morgan (nice touch not a swat car). There was a cheer and clapping from the guests as Ms Dawson stepped out of the car and was escorted on board as if she was the queen herself (which, I think, on board she actually was at this time). I saw Josi’s face as it lit up seeing her mother free and approaching her, and she ran to fling herself into her arms. Quinlan’s face did not show much but his smoking definitely intensified. Samantha walked up to Josi and her mum and wrapped her arm around them. And that was it for the great entrance, Ms Dawson took to her room to change into her party attire, Jonathan and Carlo had a conversation near the podium and I was wondering what (if anything) they had made from the reactions of the guests. I went over to Josi whom was obviously delighted by the return of her mum and said to me “Jonathan promised me it would be fine and I trusted him, but what happens now? If it wasn’t my mum who did it, we still need to find the person that killed my dad in law.” The only thing I could say to her was “Have confidence he is very good at this kind of thing, I don’t know yet but I am sure he will take this to a conclusion that is a relieve to you, but I am so happy for you now, please party have a good time, all is going to be all right.” Josi gave me a smile. “Yes I think now I can relax perhaps have a drink and dance but first I am going up to see her and just be close and talk with her.” As she walked off I wandered if Jonathan knew how dangerous his game was, did he realize the strong emotions he was evoking in Josi about her mum being all right, what if she would be rearrested after his attempt to reassure her, I walked up to him “Cool suit Mr nice guy, do you have a clue about what is happening yet?” “Ah come and walk with me for a bit and I’ll tell you all about it” I didn’t want to come and walk with him, I wanted to know what was happening and just stay right here, Carlo was standing right next to us, beaming masculinity, I had considered last evening and concluded that I was drunk, he had remained a gentleman, and even if his opinions were not great his body was. And bloody Jonathan wanted to walk with me! I quickly tapped Carlo on his arm. “Hi Carlo nice to see you, I think I have to go now but hope to see you soon.” I felt like a teenager having to go off with daddy whilst wanting to stay out “I will be here for a bit, see you later.” He reassured me as I turned to follow Jonathan the scene changed dramatically.
Jonathan had reached the middle of the crowd and just than started jumping up and down stomping his feet as he landed shouting “the floor the floor it’s the floor” jumping up and down actually landing right on the head of the bull ironically as if he was trying to re in act the ancient acrobatics. The guest formed a circle around him, bemused, was this part of the entertainment, who was this unknown master of ceremonies and was this the next part of his act? I did also notice Samantha staring at him from a position well back from the crowd, shocked, her jaw almost but not quite dropped, not very glamorous at all, I wondered if this was more than sheer amazement about his behaviour. Jonathan noticed me and shouted, “Come on I’ll show you” as he started to run off towards the library. Leaving guests and family bemused behind. I caught up with him upstairs and a second later Carlo arrived, he stood in the patio doors looking down “Right I’ve got it see it’s so simple now, the floor you see (I think both of us had some inkling about the fact that it had something to do with the floor at this time) I have been thinking since the beginning that the ash tray could have been easily planted as a decoy just after the fact, just before you (pointing at Carlo) arrived on the scene but that left the question what is the murder weapon?” at this stage he started running out of the library down the staircase (which had been secured by some Caribineri to keep the crowd that wanted to follow the action out) to the cabin deck, above us the party was still in full swing, music drifting down the stairs, people unaware of the seriousness of the moment When we reached the galley Carlo asked. “If the ash tray was planted who had the opportunity to do so, and how did his blood get on it? “Oh that is simple but beside the point at this moment, come here look” we were looking, at what we had no idea. In the corridor on the wall was a control panel, electrical, hydraulically and other nautical dials and switches, shippy things that really did not make any sense to me “look at this one here it says, floor up, down, the gage next to it was in the up position, “when I first came down here this didn’t mean anything to me, the problem about the real weapon did at that time seem totally unrelated to this switch board but than, someone who knows Mr Papanistori habits about wanting to dive off his balcony at the same time every day and knew how this pool works would only need to flick this here switch to raise the floor, stop it just under the top level so it still looks like the normal pool but give him a seriously hard landing, the only thing to do after that would be to lower the floor without anyone noticing, now it seems that only Quinlan would have been able to do this as he was getting the champers from that fridge.” after this he relaxed, put, took a deep breath and said “ I an going for a drive to clear my head” He left us to catch up with the conclusions he had made and it left Carlo and me looking at each other with smiles on our faces as the realisation sank in how lucky we were that it was the anniversary of Christiana O since otherwise we would have never known about the floor, perhaps it was the ship’s last favour to her master.
So finally I was alone with Carlo, in the bowels of the ship and I was hoping that last night’s positive moments had left Carlo with the same desire to share more time together. However, Carlo now had his professional cap on. “I have to go upstairs now and I have no option but to arrest our new suspect Mr. Quinlan so if you don’t mind lets go” we went upstairs and Carlo instructed the Caribineri that had kept the crowd from coming downstairs to escort Quinlan off board but to be as discreet as possible. This due to the number of people on board would not be easy and this problem was exacerbated by Quinlan’s own response to their request. “What me to the station, are you mad? First you realise the killer, there just look at her (she had come back from her room and had joined the guests) prancing around like she bloody owns the place, and now you are taking me in, I don’t effing think so.” He managed to get free from the Caribineri’s hold and launched towards Ms Dawson “you bloodsucker I’ll see to it that you get what you deserve.” He nearly made it if it wasn’t for Carlo whom with one foul swoop knocked Quinlan off his feet and cuffed him, my own true hero. After this the party was declared over, Ms Dawson and Josi were obviously very distressed and Samantha who had been remarkably absent during the altercation requested all to leave.
Baffoon
An hour or so later Jonathan returned, I was in the bar keeping the whale warm, he rumbled in “what has happened here” he exclaimed. I explained what had happened and watched his face gradually turn from pink to purple. “No no no the idiot, how could he do this it’s all wrong the buffoon.” I was amazed “what are you going on about”. “Can’t you see, this is much to simple, we finally find out that someone has gone through extreme lengths with inside information, to set Ms Dawson up as the murderer and the baffoon goes and arrest the most likely suspect, how stupid is that, do you really think that he would go to all this set up to than just nip downstairs to flick a switch, seen to be going there by everyone, and why, what’s his motive?” I started to get his point but still it could only have been Quinlan there were just no other options “Perhaps he just hates the woman, he certainly wants Josi gone and he made his feeling towards Ms Dawson perfectly clear today and by the way don’t start slating Carlo, he has done a good job, calling him a baffoon and idiot I don’t think so.” He ignored my jive at him “Why is the question, if Quinlan is that stupid it still remains what is his motif, just don’t like her is not enough there has to be something to be gained somehow after all that pre meditation there has to be something in it for him.” I was thinking hard but in the end could only come up with money but Jonathan gave me a condescending look. “how, he is nothing but a boyfriend he stands to get nothing” I took a minute to think this through and could see it work “Well perhaps that is good enough he would be Samantha’s strength and companion to comfort her through this painful time strengthening his bond and his chances to become her husband, also this is the perfect timing for him since now Samantha was still the only heir, to kill her dad and get rid of Ms Dawson before the wedding was his master plan to plenty of money when they would marry”. With sarcasm in his voice he replied. “Yes, indeed Samantha is an innocent girl she really needs his strength and she would have never come to the conclusion that he killed her beloved dad, I don’t think so, get married first and than come up with a plan that kills them both that would have been his safe option. I do not know how she did it but Samantha is the one we need to focus on, however, as the situation is now it has actually panned out quite nicely, Quinlan can cool off a bit. I didn’t like him anyway, and Samantha thinks that everything is working out fine, her plan to put the blame on Ms Dawson is exposed now I understand how this floor was the weapon but she does not think I am on to her, since she is under the impression that Quinlan is now the suspect, a perfect back up plan for her by design or sheer good luck, note how upset and sad she will look next time you see her about his betrayal, with a smug smile in her eyes.” I can’t believe how Jonathan’s mind works, anything that seems perfectly clear to me or even a professional Caribineri can be the opposite to him, could Carlo be a baffoon after all? If so still a very nice one. “I need to speak to Josi, do you know where she has gone” I knew she had gone up to the Onassis Suite so I took him upstairs to the top deck, like a penthouse, it actually consists of three rooms of ultimate luxury with panoramic views, custom made furniture from Milan and Onassis' original Baccarat crystal wall lights. “good evening Ms Dawson, Josi, I will get straight to the point, we are not in the clear yet since Quinlan will be released, he is not the killer and at this moment in time we can not arrest the real killer due to lack of evidence”. Josi’s face immediately took on the tense look we hadn’t seen for a while and Ms Dawson gave him a puzzled look. “Don’t worry I am 90% certain about who it is and will soon be able to get it all together, but I still need to work out how it was done, what I do need of you is not what you want to hear right now but I have to ask you. Ms Dawson, please co operate with Carlo when he comes to drop off Quinlan, he is also a victim instead of a killer, but Carlo will need to re arrest you to give our real murderer the impression he’s in the clear and therefore perhaps will make mistakes that will give him away.” Ms Dawson let out a cry of disbelieve. “No please listen this will not happen as it sounds I will make sure that he will take you somewhere of your own choice all you need to do is stay out off the picture for a few days, and for Josi to pretend that you are truly in jail again, so can we do this to totally clear your name and get the justice Mr Papanistori deserves.” Everybody agreed that this, as annoying as it would be, was what needed to be done, again as so often I do not understand what it is that Jonathan has, here he is, a total stranger hardly known by these people and he did not need to do anything more than provide a meagre explanation with lots of ifs and butts in it, ask them to go trough uncomfortable motions and without any argument they just agree, is it his demeanour his under whelming power of persuasion, I don’t know and probably will never understand. As we left her suite Maria was ‘indecently’ just hovering near the staircase “Aah just the person.” Jonathan beamed at her. “Yes sir what can I do for you today?” was the reply. “Well I need the captain to know that tomorrow I need to do some investigation of the ship and I need to let an expert on board but nobody is to know this, can you convey this message or do you need to take me to him?” Maria replied that this should not be a problem and just as she turned away to go and sort this out he said “Oh and please make sure security is aware of this as well.” I thought to myself, does he think he is bloody Colombo or something? But who knows there may be a reason for this as well. Jonathan also asked me to convey the news to Carlo and use my ‘connection’ with him to make this plan work so I took off to his office and when I raised this with Carlo he immediately agreed as if he had worked with Jonathan for years and he knew that anything he does always pays off in the end, ok, I have never seen any failure but Carlo does not know him from Adam. I was also wondering how long he would leave Quinlan to be in the slammer just out of spite.
Fishing
The next morning Jonathan stood leaning against the railings looking at the fisherman on the end of the quay, or perhaps just toying with his thoughts “Hello Jonathan how are you this morning and have you decided on your plan to lure Samantha in yet?” “Ah you’re back, did you manage to get him to agree to my scheme?” “Yes all is in place he will be here half an hour after we give him a call.” Jonathan’s face lit up. “Come on than, lets provide them with a surprise, Samantha is actually just having her breakfast and could probably not miss the oncoming events so tell him to arrive sooner rather than later.” Shortly after this Carlo turned up, Quinlan stropped on board gave us a look that said a lot and none of it was in any way pleasant as he went to see Samantha straight away, sadly we could not get anywhere near this conversation since I think this would have been rather interesting. Ms Dawson was escorted off the yacht and I caught a glimpse of Samantha and Quinlan looking out of one of Ari’s bars windows, at least this part of the new plan was working. Jonathan said “It is a difficult case, we know exactly when, where, most of the how and I am adamant about the who, but how did she get the floor down in time being in the show lounge, witnessed by all her friends at the time?” I don’t like it when people answer a question with a question so I did the same back to him. “Well I am sorry but I do not know how to help you with this, why don’t you try to talk to her, find out a bit more, she may give away more than you expect“ Finally he looked up from his ponderings “You must be joking, the most logical person to talk to is Quinlan, I could apply some pressure, implying that he is going to be put away for murder if he can not lead me to another more likely suspect. But I also know that he knows as little as anyone else because I think that if he knew it was Samantha he would not hesitate one minute to spill the beans to get himself out of trouble. Josi or any of the other girls know nothing, you know you have to give Carlo some credit for his interviewing technique involving all on board at the time, not just a few most likely suspects. That does leave Ms Dawson whom I know would have volunteered anything at all by this stage if she only knew anything else bar what she has already stated. So than, do you seriously think that Samantha, of whom I now have absolutely no doubt that she is the killer, although I must admit this is based on futile reasoning and a strange unconscious knowing, will, after all her planning setting up Ms Dawson as the main subject and having a back up involving her own fiancée, ruthless and composed will really say anything to me at any time that will somehow give away even the slightest of a clue, I think that in this case there is no reason to talk to anyone, I need to get my head around this not by eliminating but by adding options in the way a floor can be lowered, if I find the way it was done and confront Samantha with this she will collapse with no excuse since this is the core of her deception and she will not have a backup for that since she thinks her plan is to ingenious for anyone to perceive it, since I had not had any breakfast yet I left Jonathan looking out over the little harbour with the fisherman standing on the quay side reeling in the fish they caught, in a thought full mood.
At 11 o clock a van turned up, signs on the side declaring that it belonged to a Nautical Engineering Co. and Jonathan almost ran off board, only to be stopped by the raise passarelle, impatiently he waited for it to be lowered, than had a heated conversation with it’s driver whom quickly drove off after this. When I caught up with him I asked. “Excuse me but what was that about?” Still agitated he replied. “You know I give them specific instructions to be inconspicuous about this so what do they do, it f’ing turns up in front of the boat, we are very lucky no one has spotted this, now this guy will turn up in a minute and we need to get him and all his tools down to the pantry without anyone noticing, so the sooner we can do this the better and for the next few hours we will spent our time investigating the control panel and the rest of the mechanical aspects of this floor. As soon as he got on board it was stripped down to its constituent parts, the wires that lead out of it followed through the yaughts bowels, we lifted floor boards and had to strip panels from walls and put these back as if we had never been there, when we got really down into places no one had been for years I started to get the feel of this ship, the smell of old oil and rusting metal, rather decrepit compared to the glamour of the upstairs party areas I started to understand the age of the ship, it was a smell that I think will stay with me forever. At times it became my job to be on the lookout and I was almost disappointed when nobody showed any interest whatsoever in our activities, the final result of all this was that nothing was found, the floor raised or lowered by flicking the switch in the pantry, no remote devices were found and no evidence could be shown that any device was attached at any time. Despite this Jonathan was in a great mood, it seemed that now his final attempt of solving the murder, even with calling in a technical expert (which he obviously hates as it should be him to suss the delicates of the situation) had failed he still had another option open to explore. Perhaps it had made him feel better that even the expert could not come up with an explanation. “Come on lets go fishing” and he briskly made his way down the gangplank and onto the queside towards one of the many small fishing boats moored after their early morning fishing in the centre of the harbour.
As I cough up to him he said “do you like fishing?” “Hum well I don’t really mind it but it would not be my kind of pastime.” “Good I think you may find this a great way of solving the final part but I want you to apply your own mind to it, I am not telling you anything.” “Well that’s so kind of you.” Jumping on board of one of these he boomed “Bonjorno Fredo can we join you on a little fishing trip this afternoon?” Fredo an old small stooped man with a face of weathered leather mumbled something incomprehensible that seemed to delight Jonathan greatly as he replied si si and slapped the old man firmly on his back, considering the force and his perceived fragility he remained remarkably solid on his feet probably due to a lifetime of fishing in a rickety fishing boat in all weather conditions. After we had made our way into the bay and had reached the spot Fredo deemed suitable for this afternoon and I hade become used to the smell of dead fish that permeated the wood of the boat it turned out that Fredo spoke very acceptable English and liked to watch cricket and his favourite Italian soap show on telly, had three children and was paying for two of them to go through University by carrying on his fishing job although he would rather be retired and never see another fish again but start a little vineyard in the country somewhere. Isn’t it strange how appearances deceive, just because he is a small Italian man living from his fishing in this lovely location I would have never imagined that his aspirations could be so close to my own. He showed me haw to use the rods put bait on and reel the line in in case I would get a bite and although I never caught a fish it was a very pleasant waste of a few hours. Jonathan on the other hand had gone quiet he sat at the stern rolling fishing line between his fingers or stretching a length between his hands and tugging it as hard as he could without cutting it into his flesh. I asked him what he had been referring to earlier when he said that this would help the final part of the puzzle but al he said was that I should use my own imagination, not very helpful than I thought, and decided to finally share Carlo’s weird Nazi theory with him, I waffled on for a while about how I could not understand his historical links to current events only to get interrupted by him. “Well I think he’s got some interesting but undeveloped ideas there.” That was it, he went on with his wire pulling and I was left with bemusement, the baffoon had come up with what to me seemed like total nonsense and Jonathan thought he had interesting ideas? Eventually we got back to the harbour and moored the little boat, I told Fredo how much of a good time I’d had and wished him success with his future vineyard. Jonathan got a hefty slap on his back and a tatty old carrier bag from him as he made his goodbyes. “What’s in the bag?” “I’m not telling.” “Oh come on.” “No, but I do need you to organize a flight home tomorrow and Carlo is to bring the whole family together tomorrow at 11 o clock, they are all to gather in Ari’s bar and not to wander about, also all staff needs to be off board and a security officer needs to be present as well, I an now going to have a nice scenic drive in the wonderful countryside and enjoy it now my mind is clear.” Having said this he was off leaving me with his instructions and my baffled mind. I did not see him for the rest of the day and was getting more and more frustrated about him, leaving me with so many questions, I had been with him almost every step of the way and still did not have a clue, I did start to understand the stupid grin he had on his face several times over the last two days and he probably just been wasting time going fishing and lapping up the sun, the clever sod.
Confrontation
That morning a thick atmosphere of anticipation hung in the air as one by one the family gathered. Carlo had arrived with Mrs Dawson, Josi was as usual delighted to see her and it was a great to see them both acting as if mamma had just been released from custody. Samantha had been in the bar before anyone else and Quinlan arrived fashionably late, smoking as usual. Once everyone had arrived Carlo instructed all to go to the show lounge and several Caribineri assured nobody could stray, it made me, and I am certain also several others feel as if any of us was suspect. On entering the lounge Jonathan greeted us by requesting us to stay to the right near the entrance, with we dutifully did. Josi looking bemused Quinlan already starting to look aggravated and Samantha regal as ever. Jonathan started, “Thank you for all being here, there are several points I shall address and I also have a few requests, if you can all follow these accurately that would save all of us a lot of time.” He walked towards the head of the table and sat down. “I will sit here since this seat was empty on the day, Samantha please come sit to my right.” She looked surprised as she took her place. “Now Josi please sit where you sat at the time.” Josi took her place. “Now since you are the only two who were actually at the table when the murder took place we shall need Ms Dawson and some Caribineri to make up the numbers, Samantha can you tell them where to sit to pretend to be your remaining friends.” When this was arranged he asked both Josi and Samantha to confirm that this was the accurate seating arrangement as it was last Friday, which they confirmed. I was searching my mind to find when we had ever considered this and could not understand how he had known that his seat would have been empty and that Samantha had sat where se now sat. He proceeded to produce a small black bag and put this on the table in front of him.
“So Mr Papanistori and Mrs Dawson are in the library next door we can all clearly see the only entrance from here.” As he spoke he opened the bag and took out an ashtray. “This is the murder weapon the blood analyzed is that of Mr Papanistori and Mrs Dawson’s prints amongst others are found on it, it has now been given an unique laser mark to identify it as evidence.” Quinlan annoyed that he was still standing in the corner like a naughty schoolboy could no longer contain himself. “Yes yes we know all this, we’ve known all this since before you turned up and messed us about, that is exactly why only Mrs Dawson could have done it, Carlo please just arrest her Jonathan here obviously has nothing useful to add, what a waste of time.” He started to make his way to the table, two Caribineri moved in but Jonathan intervened. “Quinlan please sit down, I would have liked you to move in later to properly re in act the day but I suppose it is non consequential, it will all be clear enough soon.” Quinlan, his revolt disempowered sat down. The look on Jonathan’s face made it clear to me that he was no yet finished with him though. “Fist of all this is not the murder weapon, most friends and definitely the family know that Mr Papanistori had a private nurse and that she regularly took blood from him to be analyze by the hospital, some people will have also known that this was often stored in the pantry fridge before it was taken there, anyone with this knowledge could easily have prepared the ashtray but only one person could have planted it in the library at the time of confusion.” Quinlan not having had a smoke or a whiskey for over 20 minutes now burst out again. “Could have done, could have been prepared, it doesn’t say anything she (pointing viciously at Mrs Dawson) simply used it to bang his head in.” Josi started to cry Mrs Dawson just looked at him her eyes clearly telling him that he would be far far away from the Christiana O by the time this was all over. Jonathan raised his voice. “Shut up Quinlan you’re getting tedious, we all know you came upstairs last, it was simple enough for you to flick the switch to raise the pool floor, you knew that Mr Papanistori was a creature of habit, punctually diving from his balcony a three pm, you knew that could kill him, all you needed to do was wait for the commotion to flick the switch back to down” I realized that he was winding him up, since if this was all true Jonathan would have not objected to his earlier custody, and I got the feeling Quinlan suspected the same as he remained remarkably calm, “furthermore your motif, you knew that when the wedding would go through Samantha would no longer be the only heir and by killing Mr Papanistori you conveniently advanced your position in the queue, but It wasn’t you, you were merely the backup victim of someone who knows how to exploit peoples habits craft fully, In case Mrs Dawson would be cleared the suspicion would immediately fall on you as it duly did when Carlo arrested you, I feel that you would have had a hell of a time to dispel all this if it were not for me seeing through it and I compliment you on your gentlemanly behaviour and support for Ms Dawson through this difficult time and am sure the appreciation you will receive from the family will reflect this." He paused for a while to let this settle in.
"So this is how it works, arrange a meeting under the pretext that details of the dual wedding need to be discussed with the bridesmaids and the groom, arrange a convenient time and incidently do this on the day that all staff is off, pile a load of paperwork on my chair and in front of the seat that needs to be free, that is how to position yourself in time and space.” The focus had now clearly shifted to Samantha the impossible suspect, had Jonathan finally lost it? I had noticed that through the altercation with Quinlan she had lost her regal posture and her complexion had become rather pale. He now asked the security officer to turn on the flat screen on the far wall and the swimming pool came on screen. “Can I ask anyone here if you noticed anything unusual about the pool when you walked past it today?” We looked at each other and shook our heads. “The camera from the passarelle (so he’d accepted it) is currently facing the pool giving us a life feed, the floor of the pool has been raised to just under the top level, due to the shallow water still above it is virtually impossible to see this.” He now turned to face Samantha. “All the arguments I used against Quinlan earlier also apply to you, however, after the wedding not only would you have to share with Mrs Dawson but also with Quinlan your charming fiancée, I get the feeling that you don’t really love him but that is beside the point, I also suspect that after your dad’s death you could have become very depressed and not able to go ahead with the wedding, but that is for you and Quinlan to sort out I suppose, ”Quinlan was extremely calm, a look of steel on his face as he stared at her, she stared at Jonathan alike an animal trapped in a corner. “As all of you know I knew it was the floor the day of the party, I just needed to understand how. It came to me after I had a close look at the switchboard downstairs a tiny bit of wood dust on the floor and a small hole in the skirting board under the switch made it all clear, you see the switch goes down to lower the floor and up for up, that means that to bring the floor down remotely by means of for example a virtually invisible wire such as fishing line, you would need to loop it through a hook at the bottom if the wire came from above, which it has to since the pantry is on the lowest deck, the hook and the wire could of course be quickly and easily removed and this made me look at the ceiling where I found another tiny hole” Samantha gently, carefully, attempting not to be seen to do so but still noticed by Jonathan and others looked down to her left and let out a sigh in defeat. Jonathan looked at her understandingly. “You may as well do the honours sine it was, after all, a very cleaver set up.” Samantha pulled the wire running behind the table leg and on screen the floor clearly started to lower.