Hot on the Trail (8 page)

The Australian police offered the help of one of their men to Dimitris, but he refused, his pride getting in the way. By the end of the day he realized what a mistake he’d made considering the number of hotels there were in Perth, but by this time it was too late.

Stavros, his assistant, had had an easier day of it as he had waited outside Joanna’s room at the Hyatt Regency, but, as they expected, she didn’t turn up.

Dimitris felt at a loss as to where to go from here. Perth was a big city. How would he be able to find one woman here? He wished he had never come. He would be a laughing stock when he got back to Crete. He would have let Joanna Neonakis escape from his clutches, not once, but twice. Yes, the whole police force would think he was a joke.

Eve woke up once during the night convinced that two strangers were coming towards her brandishing knives. She sat up in bed and felt herself shaking and perspiring. Eve knew she was being selfish, but she felt afraid and had to wake up David. Once he had reassured her that there was nothing to be scared of, she realized that she still felt very thirsty. While he got her another drink of water, she became aware that the awful pain in her head had disappeared. Eve was relieved; hoping that perhaps she was getting over whatever this was she was suffering from.

“How are you feeling now, darling?” David asked when she had drunk the water. He was very concerned and wished now that he had ignored her when she said she didn’t want to go to the hospital.  .

“Better, thanks and a bit hungry!”

“There are some crisps in the mini bar if you want them.”

‘No, I’ll wait until breakfast. I still feel very tired and just want to go back to sleep.”

David kissed Eve and she immediately went to sleep afterwards. However, she woke up quite early, as did David, and they were down having their breakfast at around eight. Eve felt much better and her appetite had almost fully recovered.

As they were finishing breakfast, Eve’s mobile rang. She looked at the caller ID.

“Matt Connors. I wonder what he wants.”

“Hello, Mr. Connors. Is there a problem?” she asked.  

“I’m afraid I have some bad news. Somebody burnt down that big shed in your garden last night.”

“What? You say someone did it? So it was deliberate?”

Eve could hardly believe what she was hearing.

“The police think it was arson. You’re very lucky that’s all they set fire to.”

“God, why would someone want to do this?”

“I have no idea. It was probably kids. It often is. Anyway, you have your next door neighbor, Vera Ryan, to thank. She saw the flames and called the fire brigade.”

“She did? Well I will thank her as soon as I see her. I think we’d better get over to the house this morning.”

After closing the call, Eve turned to David.

“Somebody burnt my shed down,” she said, almost in tears. “Do you think that person doesn’t want me to have the house?”

“Hey, don’t cry, darling,” David said, moving his chair closer to hers and putting his arm around her. “Who wouldn’t want you to have the house? Andrea’s parents are dead and you haven’t any other relatives here. It was probably teenagers having their ‘so-called’ fun.”

“Can we go over to the house and see what damage has been done?” Eve asked.

“Of course we can,” David replied, both surprised and impressed that Eve had actually asked him this time.

They immediately went up to their room to finish getting ready and then called a taxi. .

* * *

It wasn’t long before Eve and David arrived at the house. They rushed in and then out through the back door into the garden where they saw the charred ruins of the shed.

“Well it’s a total write-off and so will all the tools be that were in it, I expect” Eve said, sounding a little despondent.

“Was there much in there?” David asked.

“Well there were lots of gardening equipment and other bits and pieces like a drill and chainsaw. The fire must really have taken hold by the time Vera saw it. I should take back all the awful thoughts I’ve had about her; she’s been very helpful after all. Oh well, I suppose I’ll have to put in an insurance claim, presuming it is insured. I’ll need to speak to Matt about that.”

Vera suddenly popped her head over the wall.  

“I’ m so sorry about your shed. I wish I’d seen it earlier, but I wasn’t aware of it until I was about to go to bed and thought I smelt smoke. I looked out of the window and saw the flames so I called the fire station straight away.”

“Vera, don’t apologies for anything. I really am grateful for what you did. Thank you.’

Another head popped over the wall.

    “Oh, this is Trevor, my son. He arrived this morning with his wife, Pam, and their two kids. They’re staying for a week.”

“G’day,” Trevor said.

Eve and David greeted him.

“Want any help clearing the mess?” Trevor continued.

“No, we’ll be fine,” David said. “Thanks anyway.”

Vera and Trevor then disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.

“Sorry, Eve,” David whispered. “I don’t think I could have faced working with him. I don’t know why, but I imagine he’ll pry like his mother.”

“Don’t apologies. I’m right with you there, but it is a big mess and you might feel sorry you turned him down.”

David just shrugged his shoulders before going to the local shop to get some plastic bin bags to put the rubbish in. Eve turned to go into the house, but before she did, her eyes drifted upwards to the house on the other side. For a brief moment she saw Marion looking down at her and then she disappeared.

You are a weird one, Marion. Perhaps it was you who set the fire. I have no idea why; it’s just a gut feeling. Perhaps you’ve just taken an instant dislike to me and don’t want me to be your neighbor, even if I’ll only be here for short periods of time.   

* * *

The first thing Eve and David did when they got back to the hotel was have long hot baths. They felt grimy and they knew they smelt of smoke. They then decided that they would go to the Botanical Gardens and find somewhere to have lunch. It was another lovely day and they hoped they could sit outside.

Eve had her bath first and went down a bit earlier than David as she wanted to buy postcards from the hotel shop.

The doors of the lift were about to shut when Eve came dashing towards it and just managed to get in before they closed. There was another woman in the lift, a blonde who stared at Eve for longer than was polite. Eve however, was too absorbed in getting her breath back and smoothing her clothes to take much notice of her lift companion. The blonde managed to regain her composure before Eve did turn and glance at her, but as Eve rarely bothered to engage strangers in trivial conversation, nothing was said. Eve thought that the woman looked familiar, but she couldn’t think from where.

And her hair’s a terrible bleached shade of blonde. She must have done it herself.........Now where have I seen her before?

The lift reached the ground floor and Eve still couldn’t remember who the other woman was. Then the blonde glanced at Eve as she walked out of the lift. It was only for a second, but Eve could see that the woman recognized her. Why couldn’t she remember where she had seen her and why didn’t the other woman speak to her as she obviously knew her or at the very least, had seen her somewhere? Then as the blonde walked away from the lift, it hit Eve like a thunderbolt.

I’d know that walk anywhere. I reckon she thought she could lure any man with that seductive gait of hers.

 
Eve knew she had no time to lose. The woman had also recognized her and Eve guessed she probably wouldn’t ever be coming back to the hotel. There was no point ringing Dimitris Kastrinakis because Joanna would be long gone by the time he got there. Eve decided that her only option would be to take action right now. She dashed out of the lift and ran after Joanna as fast as she could, catching up with her before she reached the front door of the hotel. She grabbed Joanna’s arm and twisted her round.

“Joanna, I knew it was you.”

“Joanna? My name’s Adele, Adele Costello.”

“Don’t give me that. Just because you’ve changed your hair color doesn’t mean that I’m unable to recognize you.”

“Well, it took you long enough,” Joanna said venomously. I don’t think you knew it was me, not until I walked out of the lift, did you?”

Eve refused to answer, embarrassed that she hadn’t been as sharp as usual.

“But I reckon you also saw me at some other time in the last few days, didn’t you? That’s why the detective from Crete is here. You’ve caused me so many problems, Eve Masters; and not only here in Australia. You constantly ruined my plans on Crete, but why you had to turn up here as well to torment me, I honestly, don’t know. I thought I was home and dry so it gave me a bit of a shock when I saw Dimitris Kastrinakis at the reception desk of the hotel I was staying at previously. I had to leave immediately and leave all my clothes as well.

“I’m sure you can afford new ones,” Eve said.

Joanna glared at her

“Did you actually know I had come here to Australia, Eve?”

“No, not at all. How would I have known that? A cousin of mine, who lived here, died and left me her house. It was just a pleasant coincidence that you were here as well.  Now you’ll get your just rewards.”

“I don’t think so,” Joanna hissed, suddenly hurling her large and very heavy handbag at Eve’s head. Eve lost her grip on Joanna’s arm and fell on the floor at which point Joanna rushed out of the door.

Eve got up as quickly as she could. Her head hurt terribly, but she had to go after Joanna. She couldn’t let her leave without some idea of where she was heading. Dimitris would think she had interfered too much, but she hadn’t. It had been a fluke that they had ended up in the same lift and because Joanna had seen and spoken to her, she would think it unsafe to stay on in the hotel. She would expect Eve to tell Dimitris Kastrinakis so she would leave the hotel for good, thinking it unsafe to stay. Eve had no choice; she had to do something.

Eve rushed out of the front door of the hotel and looked left and right. She saw Joanna hail a cab and went dashing after it. Unfortunately, unlike the time before, there weren’t any more taxis around so she knew she wouldn’t be able to follow her. The taxi, however, was stuck in a small jam so Eve walked quickly towards it. The jam seemed to be sorting itself out, but before it went out of sight, she managed to take down the number plate.

There may be a chance that Dimitris will be able to find out from the taxi driver where he dropped off Joanna.”

Eve looked around again for another taxi, but there weren’t any. She would have done anything to follow Joanna, but it wouldn’t have gone down too well with David or Dimitris so perhaps things were better this way. However, she felt deflated as she walked back to the hotel. She would have felt so proud if she had managed to capture Joanna all by herself.

Entering the Duxton, she saw David sitting in the lobby.

“Where’ve you been, darling?”

“Chasing Joanna.” Eve said simply.

“What?” David exclaimed. “I can’t believe you haven’t learnt you lesson yet.”

“Please don’t shout at me. She hit me over the head with her heavy handbag and I have a splitting headache again. I think I’ll go up to the room to get some tablets. I had to confront her, David. She saw me and she’s probably left this hotel for good.”

Eve went upstairs feeling upset by David’s words. David meanwhile was feeling guilty. He knew Eve was right, but he was fed up of the whole affair. He wanted it settled once and for all. For the first time since their lunch and afternoon together, he thought of Sophie and what a wonderful time they had spent.

She’s uncomplicated and we have so much in common. We had such a pleasant time the other day. Perhaps I should give her a call after all.

While David was reminiscing about Sophie, Eve was lying on the bed in their room after taking her tablets. She felt very low.

I’ve been hit on the head and David doesn’t care. He’s just cross. And Joanna’s got away......What am I thinking; I must get on the phone to Dimitris straight away.”

Eve picked up the phone and dialed his number. He picked up after a few rings.

“Detective Chief Inspector. It’s Eve Masters. I’ve seen Joanna, but she’s got away,” Eve blurted out.

Eve didn’t know how to tell him the news without him getting angry with her as well.

“Don’t tell me you confronted her. I told you not to get involved,” Dimitris said angrily.

“I had to. She’s staying at the same hotel as me, the Duxton, and she saw me which meant she wouldn’t come back here. I tried to stop her, but she hit me over the head with her handbag. I don’t know what was in it, but I have a bad headache now. It really was heavy.”

“Yes, I think she carries everything she needs to escape with in that bag. Are you alright now, Miss Masters?”

“Yes, I’ll survive. She has blonde hair now by the way and it’s in a different style, a shorter bob. She does look very different. I followed her outside the hotel and she got into a cab. There wasn’t another taxi around so I couldn’t follow her any further. I did get the number of the cab though. I don’t know if that will help?”

“Yes, we can possibly find out where the taxi driver dropped her off, but she may have taken another cab afterwards. Now, Miss Masters, no more of this chasing of Mrs. Neonakis.”

“I have no idea where she’s gone so how can I chase her?” Eve spoke indignantly, a little fed-up of being told what not to do.

After giving Dimitris the license number plate of the taxi, Eve touched up her make-up and went down to see David.

“I’m sorry,” David said immediately. “I was just worried about you.”

“That’s alright. I know how you hate me getting involved in these crimes. Let’s go for lunch.”

Eve smiled and they held hands as they walked out of the hotel, but both of their minds were busily occupied. Eve was still a little annoyed with David for shouting at her without listening to the facts and David was once again feeling guilty for thinking about Sophie when he should have been concerned about Eve.