Page 58 of Deep Blue Lies
“And when it does, is it normal to leave the baby alive?”
“I think I would agree that it’s less typical, but not unknown.”
“Was there anything else about the crime that struck you as unusual?” Maria asks now. “I know there was a note, but it wasn’t handwritten? It was written on a computer, and then printed out – which anyone could have done?”
“Now you’re really going back.” He seems to think again, but finally replies. “Yes, I seem to remember that was the case.”
“Did that strike you as unusual at the time?”
Papadakis doesn’t answer this, instead he makes himself more comfortable in his chair and draws in a deep breath.
“Maria, you didn’t quite explain why it is you’re asking these questions?”
She looks at him, her brown eyes unblinking.
“OK.”
Then she leans forward. “I’ve already explained to Sophia and Ava here. I was the one who found the bodies – I know you’ll remember. But perhaps you never knew that IknewJason Wright. Not that well, but I knew him. And it always seemed ratherconvenient how quickly it was declared that he murdered poor Mandy and then killed himself. He was a capable, bright man. He’d only been here for a few years, but he’d learned the language. He seemed to be looking to start a life here. I even spoke to him, after the baby was born, and he was excited. Tired? Yes, and under pressure, because it was a big responsibility running that place. But suddenly he does this terrible thing? I never quite understood it. Perhaps I never quite believed it.”
Papadakis strokes his chin, watching her.
“I remember you were delivering vegetables to the resort. When you found them.”
“Yes.”
“Are you still working, by the way?”
“I am.”
“You haven’t thought of retirement?”
“I’ve thought of it. But what would I do?”
“Perhaps you could open a detective agency?” He smiles at his own joke, then glances at Sophia. “Certainly not breed puppies I would hope.” He nods now, tapping a finger against his lips.
“It is true, what you say. There was little to say for certain that itwasa murder-suicide and not something else. But the important counterpoint is this: there was also nothing to suggest anyotherexplanation. We searched into Jason’s background, and no one seemed to wish him harm.”
“What about the drugs?”
“What about them? Jason may have used them, but infrequently, a way to wind down. He was certainly not a dealer. There’s no obvious connection.”
Maria frowns at this, like she can’t beat the logic.
“You didn’t find anything else?”
He opens his hands, palm up. “I don’t recall.”
“What about Andreas Kyriakos?”
Papadakis’s easy smile seems to waver at the name. I’ve no idea who he is.
“What about him?”
“Kyriakos is the Mayor of Alythos,” Maria explains to me. “Or was – the current mayor is his son.” She turns back to Papadakis. “The rumour is that the family are doing very nicely out of the decision to rebuild the site of the hotel?”
“I don’t doubt that for a moment, Maria, but what’s your point? Surely you’re not suggesting Mayor Kyriakos murdered Jason Wright and Mandy Paul in order for his son to receive a backhander over twenty years later?”
“No, I’m asking how well you were able to investigate? Whether Kyriakos put pressure on you to close the investigation quickly, or if you were allowed to do your job properly?”
