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Miranda’s heart crashed.
‘What on earth is he doing back here so soon?’ Pandora said. ‘I hope nothing’s wrong!’
Alex was casually dressed in pale grey trousers and a dark pink shirt, but he looked pale, almost grim. He kissed his sister’s cheek. ‘Glad to see you looking so well, Pan.’ Then he shook hands with his brother-in-law. ‘How are you, Charles? I’ve just had half an hour with Milo, so I know business is good.’
‘We’re fully booked for the next fortnight. There isn’t a single room free.’ Charles was looking self-satisfied. His brother-in-law smiled at him.
‘I know. Well done.’
‘I’ll just pop Pan back into bed, then I’ll join you in the office,’ Charles said, but Alex shook his head.
‘Not yet. I’ll see you later. I need to talk to Miranda.’ He took her arm, his fingers incisive, and hurried her away, through the grounds to her bungalow.
She felt Pandora and Charles staring after them. ‘What is it?’ she asked Alex anxiously. ‘Has something happened?’
‘Yes,’ he said in that terse, harsh voice. ‘Where’s your key?’
He opened the front door of her bungalow and let them in, followed her inside and walked over to open the shutters which the maid always left shut after cleaning the room. Daylight flooded into the cool, shady room.
‘You’re going to need a cup of tea and I could certainly do with some strong coffee. Let’s put the kettle on.’
‘I’ll do it,’ she said, but he was already busy. She watched him move about finding cups, a teapot, the coffee and tea bags.
‘Alex, tell me what’s happened, before I scream!’
He looked round at her broodingly, that dark, Byzantine face shimmering gold in the afternoon sunlight. ‘They’ve found the body.’
The shock made her sit down, a hand to her mouth as if to keep down a scream. As soon as she could speak she whispered, ‘When?’
‘Yesterday.’
‘Where?’ She only seemed able to speak in monosyllables.
‘It came up in some fishermen’s nets and was taken to the nearest port in Ireland.’
‘Has it been identified?’
‘Yes, there’s no doubt it is the missing girl. And she was three months pregnant.’
‘Oh, poor girl!’ she breathed, biting her lower lip so that she didn’t cry.
He poured her tea, put it in front of her and sat down next to her with his own strong black cup of coffee.
‘That detective rang me – the sergeant who talked to me in London.’
‘Neil,’ she nodded.
Alex gave her a narrowed stare. ‘The one who was here. Yes. He says he’s coming again, quite soon, to see you, and he wanted me to tell you the body had been found and events were moving at last.’ He took a sip of coffee then flatly added, ‘And then I had a phone call from Terry Finnigan.’
She looked at him, her nerves jumping. ‘What did he want?’
‘Well, he said he was flying to Greece to see me about a new improvement in one of the navigational computers. He didn’t say a word about the police finding the body. I suppose he didn’t think I’d know.’ Alex’s mouth twisted cynically. ‘He’s arriving tomorrow. I had to come here to warn you. I’ll make sure you’re protected, don’t worry. Milo will move you back into the hotel. It will make it easier to keep an eye on you day and night.’
She was touched by his concern, but shook her head, frowning. ‘I love my bungalow, why can’t I just stay here? The grounds are patrolled by security men, aren’t they? Nobody could get at me. And I prefer the independence of living here rather than in the hotel.’
Alex looked impatiently at her. ‘There’s far less risk if you’re in the hotel. What if somebody does get through the security cordon? What if your bungalow is broken into? At least in the hotel there are plenty of other people around.’
‘You don’t honestly believe Terry would come here and try to kill me! Sean’s the killer, not his father. Have the police arrested Sean?’
