Page 16 of Murder in Portofino

Two boats meeting in the dark and people transferring heavy boxes sounded very suspicious to me too. I had a feeling that young Ms Greensleeves had got in with some questionable company but, by the sound of it, there didn’t appear to be a connection with Van der Groot’s murder. ‘Where are you now? Are you sure Mario isn’t listening?’

‘No, we landed here in Portofino a bit earlier this evening and had a meal down by the harbour. Now that he’s met up with the other two guys, he said he needed to have a private word with them, so I told him I’d go for a little walk. I’m at a public phone and there’s nobody close by, so I’m sure it’s okay.’

‘Who are these other two guys you’ve met up with?’

‘I don’t know. I think one’s called Abdel or something like that, and I’m pretty sure they were speaking to each other in Arabic, but they’re scary guys and I didn’t like the way the bigger one was looking at me. The meeting was clearly pre-planned and Mario said they’re going to be coming sailing with us for a few days, but I’m really frightened now and I don’t know what to do. That’s why I called Diana.’ Although I knew her to be a grown woman of twenty-three, she sounded more like a scared child and I felt instant sympathy for her.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll help you. Where’s Mario planning on sailing off to?’

‘That’s the thing, he wouldn’t say. He just said we were going to go south and not to worry, but I’m terrified at the thought of going off God knows where with these two scary guys, and I still don’t know what’s in those boxes.’

I felt sure that the first imperative was to get her away from these dubious characters as soon as possible. ‘Right, Heather, I think we’ve got to get you out of there. As it happens, I’m only just across the bay from you in Rapallo and it’s probably only a half-hour drive from here to Portofino. I think the best thing is for me to drive over and pick you up. Once I know you’re safe, you can tell me the whole story and we’ll see what our next step has to be.’

‘That would be amazing, thank you so much.’ I could hear the relief in her voice. ‘But what about my stuff…?’

‘Have you got your passport, your wallet?’

‘Yes, they’re here with me in my handbag.’

‘That’s all you need for now. Just leave everything else.’

I did a bit of quick thinking. Although the harbour area of Portofino is pedestrians only, I had seen cars parked further up towards the Carabinieri barracks, so presumably I would be able to get access that far.

‘Listen, it’s going to take me about half an hour but I’ll need another ten or fifteen minutes first to go back and get the van.’ I looked at my watch. ‘It’s just gone nine now so, realistically, I would hope to be with you about nine forty-five. I want you to stay clear of Mario and his friends for the next forty-five minutes and I’ll pick you up from the main piazza. It’s just before you get to the Carabinieri station and you’ll see lots of parked cars there.’ I tried to think of a suitable landmark to help her. ‘It’s about a hundred metres further on uphill from the Alexander McQueen shop. Have you seen that?’

‘I’m very close to it now. In fact, I’ve been looking in the windows.’

‘Right, well, carry on up the hill to the square with all the parked cars and I’ll meet you there around a quarter to ten. I’m driving a dark-blue VW minivan. Okay?’

‘Thank you so very much. By the way, I’ve got long, blonde hair and I’m wearing a white top and a grey skirt.’

I stuck the phone back in my pocket and reached for my wallet, but before I could say anything, Anna leant across the table and tapped the back of my hand. ‘Don’t worry, you go and get that girl. I’ll look after the bill and I’ll take care of Oscar.’

‘Are you sure? You didn’t hear what she said, but it didn’t sound good.’

‘That’s the impression I got from listening to your end of the conversation. Just go. I understand, really. Oscar and I’ll meet you back at the hotel and I’ll have a word with them to see if they can find somewhere for her to spend the night. If not, she can share with me and you’ll have to make do on the floor with Oscar or on the couch downstairs.’

I got to my feet and leant across to kiss her. ‘I love you to bits, Anna. You know that, don’t you?’

‘Just go, you idiot. Tell me all about it later.’ She gave me a warm smile in return. ‘And I love you too. Now go.’

I phoned Heather’s sister in the UK while I hurried back to the hotel and told her what I’d learnt and what we were going to do. She sounded very relieved and grateful. I collected the van and set off, but it took me until ten to ten to get to Portofino. The little town is at the far end of a promontory sticking out westwards from the Ligurian coast and, although the narrow road that winds its way around the coast is only about ten or twelve kilometres long, I had to contend with a near constant stream of traffic coming the other way and even a huge truck that blocked the road for about five minutes. When I finally nosed my way into the square amid all the parked cars, I slowed to a crawl and looked around carefully, trying to spot Heather. In fact, she saw me first, because a figure in a short skirt emerged from the shadows and stepped towards the van as I inched my way down the hill. I opened the window and looked out. ‘Heather? I’m Dan. Hop in.’

A broad, beaming smile spread across her face and she hurried around to the passenger side. She climbed into the van, slammed the door, and then surprised me by reaching across and giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. ‘Am I pleased to see you! I’ve been skulking here in the shadows feeling absolutely terrified.’

‘Well, you’re safe now. What I suggest we do now is I’ll see if I can find a parking space where we can sit, and you can tell me exactly what’s been happening. The more I think about it, the more I think we may well end up calling in on the local Carabinieri. They’re just up the road from here.’ Seeing an expression of concern on her face, I did my best to reassure her. ‘It’s all right, they’re good guys. I met several of them earlier today.’

‘You’ve been talking to the Carabinieri? About me?’

‘No, about a completely separate matter. I’ll tell you all about it later. First things first, let’s find somewhere to park and you can tell me the full story. Okay?’

I had to do two circuits of the car park until, just as I was beginning to think there was no hope, a very swish-looking Mercedes pulled out of a space and I made sure I drove straight in before anybody else could take it. I switched off the engine and turned towards Heather. She suddenly seemed very vulnerable and I did my best to sound reassuring.

‘My girlfriend is checking with the hotel where we’re staying to see if they can find a bed for you for tonight so, don’t worry, you aren’t going to be left out on the street. Now, go through the whole thing again, starting with how you met Mario until you phoned your sister.’

She repeated her story, and I learnt that she had first met Mario at a disco in Pisa only a couple of weeks earlier. I had a feeling her mother would probably have taken a very dim view of the fact that she had been prepared to go off alone with him on a yacht only five or six days after meeting him, but that was up to her. Maybe this most recent experience might give her the scare she needed to make her start behaving a bit more responsibly but, again, that was her affair, not mine.

Mario’s boat sounded as if it was a reasonable-sized motor yacht, but nothing like on the scale of the one being used by the TV people. She and Mario had been sailing up and down the coast and had spent a couple of days at the Isola del Giglio before coming here. I recognised the name of that island from the catastrophic shipwreck of a huge cruise liner just off the island ten years earlier. Mario had chosen to drop anchor almost a kilometre outside Portofino bay the previous night, telling her that all of the closer moorings had been taken, but more probably it had been a pre-arranged rendezvous point with the mysterious other vessel.

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