‘That is what I understood. Thursday is market day in Thalassia, is it not? And when you were in Thalassia, did you visit the market, Mr Wyndham?’
I look sidelong at my husband, who is blinking rapidly.
‘Yes.’
‘Since Mr Pearson died we have been trying to locate his watch. It is a Rolex Sea-Dweller made of stainless steel and gold. Very distinctive. Very expensive. If you bought one new it would set you back twenty thousand euros. We have been making extensive enquiries on both Pelagia and Thalassia and, as luck would have it, we received a call from one of the market stallholders last night to say he had a watch in his possession that matched the description. One of my officers paid him a visit first thing this morning. The watch was indeed Mr Pearson’s missing Rolex.’
‘How can you be sure?’ I ask.
‘Every Rolex watch has a unique serial number, which we were able to confirm with the jewellers in Hatton Garden he bought it from. It was a fiftieth birthday present to himself, I understand.’
Typical Felix. Though I still don’t see what relevance the watch has to us.
‘The stallholder also had a pair of earrings which were of interest to us,’ Demetriou continued. ‘Pearl and diamond drop earrings. Very pretty. Also very expensive. Tiffany earrings.’
‘Simone lost a pair of Tiffany earrings,’ I exclaim, the cogs in my brain starting to whirr. ‘Amber’s necklace went missing, too.’
‘Miss Miller’s necklace has already been recovered,’ the detective says gravely. ‘As for the watch and the earrings, they were sold to the stallholder by a British tourist. On Thursday.’
He sits back in his chair, waiting for the penny to drop. But I’m ahead of him. I stare at Barney, my mouth open.
‘You took them, didn’t you? You took Felix’s Rolex and Simone’s Tiffany earrings and you flogged them to some bloke on a market stall!’
‘I needed the money!’ Barney cries. ‘Felix kept going on about how tight I was, never putting my hand in my pocket, like I was some kind of cheap freeloader. I’d had enough. The bastard deserved it. He deserved everything he got!’
‘Barney!’ I screech, my gaze swivelling to Demetriou in horror. I wouldn’t blame the detective for leaping out of his chair, slapping handcuffs on Barney and arresting him for murder on the spot. But he simply sits and watches, his expression steady, his manner infuriatingly calm.
‘If you’re about to admit stealing the watch and earrings I will have to place you under arrest.’ Demetriou’s voice is blandly official. ‘You’ll be informed of the reason for your arrest and your rights, including the right to remain silent and to speak to a lawyer.’
Barney slumps in his seat, defeated. ‘OK, you win. I stole the Rolex and the earrings, and I sold them to a man on a Greek market stall. For a pittance, I might add.’ He shoots Demetriou a bitter look, as if it’s his fault the trader didn’t give him market price. ‘I’m also guilty of hating Felix’s guts. The man was a total prick. But I didn’t kill him.’
59
AMBER
I don’t want to play the game anymore. I just want to go home. Home to my shabby room in rainy London, where I can lock the door and pull the curtains and hide away from the world.
Instead, I’m back in Felix’s sun-bleached office, facing another round of questions from Detective Lieutenant Demetriou. My stomach has once again tied itself in knots and my voice is scratchy, like I haven’t used it in a while, but I arrange my features into a polite smile and wait for his opening gambit.
He leans forwards, his elbows on the desk. His cuffs are frayed. Does he live alone, or is there a dark-haired, sloe-eyed Mrs Demetriou waiting for him at home? ‘Miss Miller!’ he says, as if he’s delighted to see me. ‘How are you this morning? Well, I hope?’
Honestly, the man’s such an old-fashioned gent it would be a crying shame if he were single.
‘I’m… OK.’
‘Good, good.’ He straightens the notebook on the desk in front of him, suddenly brusque, and my heart misses a beat. ‘There have been some developments in the investigation I wanted to make you aware of.’
‘What developments?’
‘We have made an arrest.’
My mouth drops open. ‘For Felix’s murder?’
‘Not the murder. Not yet. But we have arrested someone for the theft of his watch and Mrs Pearson’s diamond and pearl earrings.’
‘Who?’
‘It would be unprofessional of me to share that information with you. What Icansay is that we recovered both items from a stallholder at Thalassia market this morning.’ He tilts his head to one side. ‘You were at the market on Thursday, I think?’
