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Beside her, Nancy gripped Janine’s hand hard, sensing something very wrong.
In English, Vio explained what Arturo had just learned on the phone.
“We’ve tracked down your friend, the Greek man.”
Nancy sniffed with shock. “Is he all right?”
“It depends on the definition of ‘all right,’ I suppose. He’s in custody in Florence,” Vio said.
“What!” Alyssa and Maggie cried out.
Vio nodded. “The story is he came into a bar outside of Florence, drank himself to drunkenness, and began to rave and scream like a madman. He was very angry.” Vio swallowed nervously. “The police in Florence say they have the map and the blueprints you’re talking about. The Greek man had them when he was arrested.”
“Oh my gosh,” Nancy whispered. Janine could just feel the sinking of her mother’s heart, coming to terms with the criminality of the man she’d fallen for.
“The police in Florence know about the villa,” Vio went on. “The one from the map. The one in the blueprints.”
“They do?” Alyssa asked, leaning forward, hungry for knowledge.
“It was destroyed two years ago,” Vio went on. “It was filled with black mold. Nobody could go inside.”
Immediately, Alyssa’s face fell. Even Janine felt heavy with this news, as though all the air had been sucked out of the room.
“In any case, it seems that the Greek man drove to where the villa was supposed to be, went crazy looking through what’s left of it, and even dug for a while before he retreated to this bar, dirty and out of his mind, got himself very drunk, and was then arrested,” Vio went on. “I’m very sorry to tell you this.” He paused for a moment, glancing at Arturo. “Would you like to file a police report?”
“We need to be sure Kostos won’t come back here,” Janine said simply.
“We’ll have the Florence officers warn him about that,” Vio said. “It’s all we can do at this stage.”
“Could you learn more about who this man actually is?” Janine breathed. “He seems to have stalked my mother back in Martha’s Vineyard to get close to us.”
“We can look into that, ma’am. I imagine his name isn’t what he says it is,” Vio said.
After Vio and Arturo left, and Nico admitted he had to head to the museum, Janine, Alyssa, Maggie, and Nancy sat listlessly in the shadows of the living room, Nancy with Kleenex wadded up in her fist, sniffing every few minutes. The grandfather clock was especially loud, ticking them forward through time.
“I’m so, so sorry, girls,” Nancy muttered. “I can’t believe I endangered you. I brought that horrible man into this house.”
Janine wrapped her arms around her mother. “The only word I keep thinking is ‘relief.’ He didn’t hurt us. He didn’t demand the map. We found it the first night he was here, which probably saved us.” Janine eyed Alyssa from across the room to add, “You saved us, Alyssa. You and your quick wits.”
But Alyssa was devastated and disappointed. Although she didn’t say it aloud, Janine knew she’d hung her hopes on whatever was in that villa. But whatever it was, it had been destroyed.
There was nothing else to be done, nothing to be said. Without knowing it, they’d gotten themselves involved in a real-life thriller. And now, they had to pick up the pieces and head home without the “treasure” they’d sought.
ChapterSixteen
It did not take the Florence police force long to figure out who Kostos really was. In fact, by the following afternoon, Vio and Arturo were back in Teresa’s villa, explaining to Janine and Nancy what they’d learned.
Apparently, Kostos went by many names— all of them Greek-sounding, all of them mystical and alluring. He’d operated as a con artist for many years, normally preying on women of a certain age, getting close to them to get to their money. It was probable that he’d learned of Teresa’s money and will through the grapevine, as rumors about her “scavenger hunt” had circulated even before her death. Probably, her lawyer had told someone, who’d told someone else, who’d told someone else. Outside of the secret society, Italians were terrible at keeping secrets.
“The fact that he went to Martha’s Vineyard to find you means that he really thought this particular ‘treasure’ was something special,” Vio explained.
“You should have seen the house he rented,” Nancy breathed. “It was extraordinary.”
“He’s made a killing on these other scams,” Vio said. “I imagine he could afford that.”
After Vio and Arturo again apologized, leaving Janine and Nancy alone in the living room, Nancy dropped back against the cushion of the couch and stared at the ceiling. “I still feel like a fool,” she breathed.
“But you shouldn’t.”
