The Silver Stain

husband.’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, eyebrows rising.

‘According to David Waggoner, Rudolf did take part in the massacre in Makrymari. A witness told him so.’

‘Waggoner!’ the widow scoffed. ‘You can’t believe anything that man says.’

‘If your husband didn’t shoot any civilians, why did he pay blackmail for all those years?’

Hildegard sighed and put down her cup. ‘Alex, you must understand. Coming to Crete to live in the Sixties was very difficult for us, but Rudi felt it was his duty to put back as much as he could into the local economy to make up for what happened during the war. As you can imagine, many people didn’t want us and they particularly didn’t want us to build the resort. Rudi eventually convinced the Cretans he was serious by funding village regeneration projects, by setting up scholarships for poor students and so on. But in order to get the permits to start building here, he had to be seen to be cleaner than clean.’

It struck Mavros that there were similarities between the appearance Kersten had to project and the appearances necessary to get funding in Hollywood that Rosie Yellenberg had described.

‘I still don’t understand why he felt he had to pay David Waggoner off.’

The widow looked beyond him towards the sea, which was a mid-afternoon pale-blue, only a few white horses whipped up by the breeze. ‘Alex, I can’t be sure what Rudi did at Makrymari. I’m not sure he knew himself, no matter what he wrote in his diary. He’d received a severe head wound. It may be that, deep down, he saw himself as a cold-blooded murderer of women, boys and old men.’

From what Mavros had seen of the soft-spoken Kersten with his life-worn eyes, that possibility couldn’t be ruled out. But he was sure there was more.

‘What about Kornaria?’ he asked, his tone hardening.

Hildegard regarded him cautiously. ‘The drugs village? What about it?’

Mavros slumped back. ‘If you want me to find out what happened to Rudi — and I know it was murder — you’ll have to help me. Were the Kornariates blackmailing him too?’

‘No, no,’ the old woman said, her eyes holding his. ‘Waggoner was earning enough for all of them.’

‘What do you mean?’

She looked down. ‘The Englishman wasn’t simply blackmailing us because of Rudi’s wartime deeds, whether he took part in the massacre or not. He was extracting protection money. On this island, especially back in the Sixties, you needed someone to look after your property. I don’t think Kornaria was producing many drugs back then. The mountain men watched over us when the resort was being built. They invested those earnings in marijuana cultivation sheds, from what I’ve heard.’

‘And Waggoner was their intermediary?’

‘That’s right. When Rudi told him we had no more money, he started asking about the coin collection. Rudi couldn’t countenance him getting that and said so.’

‘When?’

‘More than once, but the last time was only a few days ago — on Saturday.’ Hildegard went over to the desk and took some papers from one of the piles. ‘I found these when I was going through the drawers here.’ She handed them to Mavros.

He ran his eyes down the sheets. They were copies of emails that Rudolf Kersten had sent to Waggoner in the days before his death. In them, he threatened to expose the former SOE man as a blackmailer if he didn’t leave him alone. They could certainly be construed as a motive for murder.

‘My God,’ he said. ‘Why didn’t you tell me about these before?’

‘I only found them today.’ Hildegard looked at him gravely. ‘They mean he arranged for Rudi’s death, don’t they?’

‘It certainly looks that way. You have to give them to the police.’

She shook her head. ‘No. I told you, they are worthless. It wouldn’t surprise me if Inspector Margaritis was in the pay of Waggoner and the Kornariates — many of the local politicians and officials are.’

Mavros glanced around the room. ‘Where are the coins?’

‘In a safe place,’ the widow replied. ‘Not in the resort.’

‘Better you don’t tell me.’

‘Very well. What do you intend to do?’

‘Take down David Waggoner.’

‘Yes, but how?’

‘Better I don’t tell you that.’ He got to his feet. ‘Make sure you keep all the windows and doors locked. Short of putting up signs saying the coins are no longer here — which no one would believe — there isn’t anything to do apart from ensuring the security is as high as it can be. I’ll talk to Capaldi again.’

‘He’s a good man. Rudi trusted him and he’s never let us down.’

‘Apart from the night your grandson got in and took the thirty coins.’

Hildegard nodded. ‘True. I much appreciate what you’re doing, Alex. Rudi said you were an honourable man and a dogged investigator. He looked you up on the Internet.’

Mavros was strangely moved by that. ‘You shouldn’t stay here, you know. Even another room in the hotel would be better.’

‘This was our home. I’m not leaving, especially when Rudi is still not buried.’

‘I understand. Keep your phone close at all times and call me if anything worries you.’

They said their goodbyes and he left for the actress’s suite.

TWENTY

‘What happened?’ Cara Parks demanded. ‘Rosie told me that Maria was kidnapped.’

Mavros wondered how the producer knew that — had the police or paramedics blabbed to the local radio station, or was she in with the men who’d taken Maria?

He told the actress what had happened to Maria at Yiota Prevelaki’s house and about Mikis’s head wound. That reminded him to call the hospital. Doctor Stavrakakis told him that the driver was still unconscious and that there was swelling inside his cranium — if it continued to expand, he would have to operate.

‘Did you believe Rosie and her brother?’ he asked. ‘I mean, when they said they had nothing to do with their father’s drug trafficking?’

‘I don’t know what to believe. Thinking of them as brother and sister is hard enough. But dope-dealers?’

‘Hm.’ Mavros gave her a potted version of what he had learned from Maria’s cousin and from Hildegard Kersten.

‘Hold up,’ the actress said. ‘Where are you going with this? Are you suggesting Maria’s in the drug business as well?’

He shrugged. ‘I’m having trouble understanding why she’s been kidnapped twice. And why she refused to tell anyone — even you — about what happened to her after we got her back from Kornaria.’

‘She had a head injury,’ Cara said, but she wasn’t even convincing herself. ‘Jesus. This is the kind of shit that’ll fuck the movie up big time.’

Mavros wasn’t impressed. ‘Well, fuck Freedom or Death then. Do you know what really happened at Makrymari? The woman your character is based on didn’t get away while her fellow villagers bravely took the bullets for her. She was shot down like the rest of them. That’s what happens on this island, in case you haven’t noticed. People live and die violently.’ Suddenly he thought of the black youth Cara had driven into. ‘Like on Mulholland Drive.’

Cara’s head went down. ‘Old Mr Kersten didn’t commit suicide, did he?’ she said, in a small voice.

‘The authorities are saying he did, but I’m certain he was murdered. As well as looking for Maria, I’m trying to find his killer.’

The actress looked up. ‘I’ll help you.’