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her medication and she focused
on what tomorrow held in store, while applying face cream. As she switched off
the light, a thought occurred. Even if some of her colleagues did see her as a
'stubborn old coot', a cruise ship full of octogenarians would see her as a
mere spring chicken.
     
     
    Chapter 6
    Her documents obviously marked her as an official to
be respected, so her passage through Heraklion's airport was effortless. In the
Arrivals area, she spotted a good-looking young man in shirtsleeves and chinos
waiting beside a uniformed officer who held a sign saying STUBS. Beatrice
raised a hand and offered a smile. The detective came towards her.
    "Pleased to meet you, Detective Inspector Stubbs. How
do you do?"
    She shook his hand. "Very well, thank you. You must be
Inspector Stephanakis."
    "Correct. Welcome to Greece. How was your flight?"
He relieved her of her bag, which he passed to the driver.
    "Lovely. From London to Athens, I had the good fortune
to sit next to the most fascinating lady. A sculptress who has lived there for
over ten years. She gave me some very helpful cultural advice. For the first time
I can recall, a flight went almost too quickly."
    They followed the driver to the exit, where a police car was
parked outside the door. The heat surprised her. London, when she left, had
been a shivery five degrees.
    Stephanakis opened the rear door. After checking she was
comfortable, he went round the other side and joined her in the back. He shot
some instructions at the driver in Greek and glanced at his phone. His
chivalrous manner and clean-shaven face appealed to Beatrice. Very proper. He
fixed his attention on her with a nervous smile.
    "DI Stubbs, I am very pleased to meet you. I just got
promoted to the role of inspector, and it is very exciting for me to work with
someone with such a track record. But I must apologise in advance. This is my
first investigation and although it is not really complex, my boss thought my
enquiries would benefit from an experienced officer, so..." He looked down
at his phone once more.
    Beatrice smiled, well used to preparing speeches before
joining a new team.
    "... I will need your patience. I know this area and
police procedure very well and I hope I can contribute much."
    "Don’t worry, Inspector. I understand this is your
first case. But they wouldn’t have promoted you if you weren’t competent. I
trust you entirely to lead this case to its conclusion, and I want to stress,
I’m assisting you. You're the boss."
    He nodded, his uncertain smile and restless eyes expressing
both gratitude and trepidation.
    Beatrice smiled back and looked out of the window. This
would be just the tonic she needed. A mini-break disguised as work, with
sunshine, delightful scenery and an open-and-shut case. She'd think about
Matthew when she got back.
    The driver dropped her at the hotel to settle in and
Stephanakis promised to return in time to take her to lunch. She dumped her
bags and as always on arriving at a hotel room, checked the bathroom for
cleanliness. Perfectly satisfactory. Even the end of the toilet paper had been
folded into a neat triangle. She bounced on the bed, explored the mini-bar and
took a bottle of water out onto the balcony. A sense of foreignness overcame
her and gave her a sudden thrill of anticipation. The building opposite was
cracked and crumbling, large chunks of plaster revealing the bricks beneath.
Faded green shutters framed the windows and a cluster of mopeds were strewn
rather than parked under the shade of a palm tree. Electric cables hung above
the narrow street like necklaces in a costume jewellery store and a blue sign
announced the name of the street in Greek. In a gap between dusty apartment
blocks, beyond decorative balconies with plants in terracotta pots, past roof
terraces with rattan furniture and pergolas, lay the sea.
    Beatrice beamed and took a deep breath. Yes, in amongst the
scent of petrol rising from the street and stale chemicals