Lori Wilde - Lie With Me / Destiny's Hand - Lie With Me

“I don’t recall reading that,” Roman said.

“The first time, they were snatched from a museum in Belgium. Ferrante had loaned them out as part of an exhibition of medieval jewelry. Six months later, they were miraculously and anonymously returned to him by the thief. Ferrante returned the small fortune he’d collected from the insurance company.”

“Any idea of how Delos tracked the jewels to Corfu?”

For the first time since he’d seated himself at our table, the inspector smiled. “I’m hoping you can find out, Mr. Oliver. I couldn’t get Mr. Ferrante to take my call. But he might take a call from Gianni Stassis. Perhaps, you might be able to expedite matters on that front?”

“What’s in it for me?”

I stared at Roman. My contacts with him had all been social—either at my family’s restaurant or at our fishing cabin. For the first time, I was catching a glimpse of the cool, ruthless businessman I’d heard Kit brag so often about.

The blunt question didn’t bother the inspector at all. In fact, his smile grew wider. “For starters, I won’t mention to Mrs. Kostas that you’re not Ms. Angelis’s brother. I agree with you that she shouldn’t be alone until this matter is cleared up.” Then his expression sobered. “And the sooner we find out who shot Antony Delos, the safer Ms. Angelis will be.”

I was getting a little tired of being left out of the conversation, but before I could say anything, two men in uniform strode onto the terrace and came directly to our table.

“Someone searched Mr. Delos’s room before we got there,” the taller one said.

The other one wore gloves and lifted the rifle he was carrying. “We found this in Mr. Kostas’s room.”

Ionescu rose and moved to the table where Alexi was still seated in front of the other two policemen.

“Alexi, you’ll have to come down to the station with me.”

Miranda rushed over to her son, and I sprang from my chair to join her.

“You can’t think that he shot Mr. Delos,” I said to the inspector. “The man with the rifle was high up on the cliff face, close to the Castello. I can testify to that.”

The inspector ignored my outburst and I stood staring, horrified as the two uniformed men assisted my cousin to his feet and escorted him off the terrace. All of the breakfast conversation had stopped. Everyone was watching as Inspector Ionescu followed Alexi out of sight. Miranda started to weep softly, and I didn’t know what to say, what to do. It was Roman who went to her and simply folded her into his arms.

I felt my heart take a little tumble and that alarm sounded in the back of my mind again.

IT WAS NEARLY an hour later that Roman finished making calls. I inferred from eavesdropping on his side of the conversation that he’d asked Stassis to recommend a local attorney to represent Alexi. When I’d passed on that information to Miranda, it had done a great deal to settle her. Roman had even thought to call Kit and ask him to do research on Carlo Ferrante and both thefts of his family’s jewels. The man thought of everything.

In the meantime, the only thing I’d done was to hold my cousin Miranda’s hand and try to reassure her that Alexi would be home soon. Something that I was not at all sure of myself. Ever since he’d been escorted out of the Villa Prospero, questions had been spinning through my mind. What had he been doing with that gun? Why hadn’t he returned home until this morning?

I turned to Miranda and asked the question that only she could answer. “Why did you lie to Inspector Ionescu yesterday? You knew from my descriptions that I’d seen Alexi and Mr. Delos arguing on the beach.”

She slipped her hand from mine and clasped hers together. “I was so worried about Alexi. He hasn’t been himself since Caliban went missing. He loves those cats so much. They were a gift from his father shortly before he died.” She turned to me and met my eyes. “Alexi’s all I have left.” Then she lifted her chin. “But he wouldn’t shoot anyone. He doesn’t even have a gun.”

What she said made sense to me. The young man I’d seen on the beach had acted impulsively out of anger. And from what I’d learned since then, with good reason. But whoever had shot Antony Delos had chosen a spot on the cliff side and taken careful aim.

Unless… Questions erupted in my mind again. What if Alexi’s absences from the Villa Prospero hadn’t had anything to do with the missing Caliban? What if he’d been involved in something else altogether? Guilt flooded through me. I hadn’t even formally met Alexi and I was suspecting him of somehow being involved in a major jewelry theft.

Seeing that Roman had finally repocketed his cell, I asked, “How long will it be before you hear back from Stassis?”

Roman shrugged. “Hard to tell. I asked for a private meeting with Carlo Ferrante.”

My eyes widened.

“Might as well ask for the moon. Ionescu wants to know why Delos came here the day after the robbery. I’d like to know that, too.” He shifted his gaze to Miranda. “What can you tell me about Antony Delos? What kind of a guest was he?”

A line appeared on Miranda’s forehead as she considered. “I thought of him as an ideal one. Quiet, kept to himself. He ate breakfast early, always requested a packed lunch, and he’d be gone for the whole day, exploring the island. When Caliban disappeared, Alexi asked him to keep an eye out for him. Mr. Delos agreed. I don’t understand why anyone would want to shoot him.”

“Did he ever mention why he came here? Why he chose the Villa Prospero?”

Miranda shook her head.

Roman looked at me. I noted that he hadn’t mentioned anything about the jewel theft to Miranda. But why do that if it wasn’t necessary? It would only make her worry more. Roman might be ruthless in his business dealings, but there was an innate kindness about him that had my admiration for him rising even higher.

“Ferrante might very well have some information about what brought Delos to the Villa Prospero,” Roman said. “But Stassis is going to have to call in some favors. Apparently, Ferrante’s eccentric and a bit of a recluse. It may take a while, and in the meantime, we wait.”

“Alexi is going to be so worried about the cats,” Miranda said. “He’s so sure that Caliban is still alive, that he’s trapped somehow in one of the caves beneath the Castello.”

“He is alive,” I said. “But his leg is injured. He can’t move, but Ariel has been bringing him food, and there’s water.”

Miranda blinked and stared at me. “How do you know?”

“Philly has a psychic gift with animals,” Roman explained. “She can communicate with them.”

“You talk to them?”

“Something like that,” I said. Miranda’s tone was skeptical, but I was used to that kind of reaction.

Then she frowned and pressed her fingers against her temples. “Oh, yes. Yes, of course. Your father and Helena told me how special powers ran in your mother’s family. He told me about your ability. But I’d forgotten all of this…”

When she dropped her hands to the table, I covered one of them with mine. Then I filled Miranda in on everything else that I’d learned from Ariel.

Miranda nodded when I’d finished. “Alexi says that she disappears through the gates of the Castello or over the wall. Some of the caves are reputed to have two entrances—one on the cliff side and another farther up the hill. He’s so frustrated that Mr. Magellan won’t let him onto the estate to look for the second entrance. And Mr. Magellan is furious with him.”

I recalled the scene I’d eavesdropped on when I’d first arrived at the Villa Prospero.

“He’s filed several complaints against Alexi,” Miranda continued. “He has all the caves posted with No Trespassing signs. They’re dangerous because when the tide comes in many of them fill with water and escape becomes impossible.”