Chapter Fifty-nine

THE DOORS SLID open and, although it was only seven twenty in the morning, I stepped out into what appeared to be some sort of celebration. The manager, the receptionist, the bellhop and other hotel staff were gathered at the front desk and had been joined by several of the carpenters and other friends of the manager who had helped me with the mirrors.

The conversation – all in Turkish – was highly animated, and coffee and pastries were being handed around. Despite the hour, somebody had produced a bottle of raki, and I wondered if they had won the lottery or something.

The manager approached me, smiling even more widely than normal, waving a copy of that morning’s local newspaper. ‘We have news of the greatest happiness, ’ he said. ‘You recall the SpongeBob, the man of the biggest corruption, a curse on all citizens of goodness? ’

‘Yeah, I remember. Why? ’

‘He is dead. ’

‘Dead? ’ I said, faking surprise and taking the copy of the newspaper and looking at an exterior photograph of the marina warehouse with cops everywhere. ‘It’s hard to believe, ’ I said. ‘How? ’

‘Squashed – flat like the cake of a pan, ’ he explained.

‘Some man of idiot brain broke into a house belonging to a cop of the female. ’

‘Broke into a cop’s house? Yeah – what an idiot brain. ’

‘Probably a Greek people, ’ he said, absolutely serious.

‘When did this happen? ’ I asked, trying to act normal, just kicking it along. Everybody else was standing near the desk, and the manager and I were in our own private world.

‘Last of the evening, while you were having your relax with the dinner of the fine quality. Just before you walk in with your bloody …’

He paused as a thought occurred to him and, though he tried to haul the sentence back, he couldn’t.

‘They say the killer ran from the boat place with a trail of the blood injury, ’ he said. He stopped and looked at me.

Our eyes met and held – there was no doubt he knew who the killer was. I could have denied it, but I didn’t think it would have been convincing; or perhaps I could have issued some dark threat, but I was certain he wasn’t easily intimidated. I didn’t like it but I figured I had to trust my intuition and take a chance on him and his friendship.

‘No, no, ’ I said finally. ‘You’re of the wrongness quite substantial. My relax of the fine food wasn’t last night – that was the night before. ’

He looked at me in confusion, about to argue, thinking I was genuinely mistaken, but I kept talking so that he didn’t have a chance to blunder on.

‘Last night you and I were here – in the lounge, ’ I said. ‘You remember? It was quiet, there was nobody else around. ’

Suddenly his eyes sparked as understanding dawned. ‘Oh yes, ’ he said. ‘Of course, that’s right – the dinner was of the night previous. ’

‘Now you remember. Last night, you and I talked, you were explaining to me about the Greeks. It was a long conversation. ’

‘Oh yes, one of the longest. Those damn Greek peoples – nothing is simple with them. ’

‘True. You had a lot of things, a lot of history, you had to tell me. It was well past 10 p. m. when I went to bed. ’

‘Later, probably, 11 p. m. is more the time of my memory, ’ he said, with great enthusiasm.

‘Yes, I think you’re right, ’ I responded.

We looked at each other again and I knew my intuition about him had been right. The secret was safe.

He indicated the passport in my hand and dropped his voice. ‘Are you leaving in the hurry not to return? ’ he asked.

‘No, no, ’ I said. ‘If anybody asks, I’ve gone to Bulgaria – I spoke about finding an important witness. ’

I farewelled him and headed for the front door and my car. I opened the trunk, pulled out the rubber lining and found a way to access the right rear wheel arch. I removed the tracking transmitter held in place by strips of magnets and attached it low down on the pole of a parking sign.

With any luck, no pedestrian would see it and whoever was monitoring it at MIT would think my car was still parked at the kerb.

I got behind the wheel and drove for the border.