Monday 15 July 2013

Adventures in Cephalonia 8

Hello. My name is Kostas Economides and I am a lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of the South of England (USE for short). Well, actually that is not true really as the names of individuals and institutions in this blog have been changed to protect the innocent - and the guilty!

It was now Thursday evening and Gus and Heather said that they just wanted to get back to Lassi for a quiet night on their own. Rebecca wanted to cook a celebratory meal but Heather said maybe they could do that some time later in the week Just now she was tired and she wanted to get home for a good sleep. Knowing how much Rebecca liked to talk she feared that it would be another long night at the taverna if they didn't get away soon.

The policeman asked for details of where they were staying in Lassi, saying that someone would come round the next day to get a full statement from them. Rebecca insisted on getting food for Gus and Heather to take back with them saying that they probably wouldn't want to go out anywhere to eat and they wouldn't have much in as they had planned to be away from the apartment for a few days on their trip around the island.

So it was that Gus and Heather returned to Lassi with a veritable feast of bread, cheese, olives, spinach pie and a bottle of the local rose wine. This they consumed together before at last getting to bed and some much needed sleep.

At about midday the next day there was a knock at the door and they found a young policewoman standing outside. "Mr and Mrs Johns?" she asked. "May I come in and get your statement please?" "Yes, of course" said Gus. "Would you like some coffee or a cold drink? We can sit outside on the patio. It is quite cool and shaded at this time of the day."

After Gus and Heather had given and signed their statements Gus asked the policewoman if there had been any further developments. Had Maheras admitted what he had been doing? Did they know yet who had been helping him on the charter flight? Had the British policeman been killed on the flight?

The policewoman said that she had no information on any of these points but that her boss would be in touch with them about things. She warned them that at some point there would be a trial and the two of them would have to come back to Cephalonia to give evidence. Gus said that he had anticipated this. Did she have any idea about when this might be? Probably quite a while, was the answer. Almost certainly not for a number of months. The judicial system in Greece moves rather slowly.

Gus asked if it would be all right for them to take their planned tour around the island. If possible they would like to begin it the next day with a visit to Sami and then on to Fiskado. The policewoman said that would probably be OK but perhaps they should check first with her boss. She gave them his direct line telephone number at the police station. She told them to ask for Nikos Moraitis.

So after she had left and they had enjoyed a light lunch Gus called Moraitis at the police station. Moraitis said that it was quite OK for them to take the tour. There was nothing much more that he needed from them just at the moment but that he would need to see them before they left the island as they would have to make arrangements about coming back to Cephalonia to give evidence at the trial when it eventually took place. Gus asked when that might be. "Probably not until next year" said Moraitis. "If possible we would like to identify the charter plane contact so we can put it all together properly. Maheras won't tell us who it is but I think it is time to question all the crew again. Once they know we have Maheras in custody they might be a bit more nervous."

"By the way, Maheras is adamant that he had nothing to do with the death of the British policeman. In fact he says that he didn't even know that the policeman was coming to the island until after his death and with all the questioning of the passengers and crew after that. And the reason that he made contact with Rebecca was to try to find out if she knew anything about what was going on and how much the authorities knew about his activities. He thought you might be another investigator which is why he tried to frighten you off by kidnapping Heather."

The two of them talked a little while longer but with no new points being made the conversation came to a natural end. Gus put down the phone and he and Heather got round to planning their island tour.

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