Outside the jail, I took a deep breath of fresh air and walked at a casual pace to the end of the street trying my very hardest not to hurry. A sign displayed the name Dikeosinis and I smiled to myself as a silly pun formed in my tired mind… it was all Greek to me! From then on I turned right into the Platia El Venizuelou, through Platia Kelergon, until I reached Parko El Greco. I sat on the grass in the park for a while considering how I could make contact with the British Consul to ask for assistance. I knew that as soon as he made enquiries, the Cretan authorities would identify me as a wanted criminal… a man responsible for three murders! And they had the murder weapon to prove it! I would be handed over to the police as a formality. I would not find sanctuary with the British Consul! On the contrary… all hell would break loose! I sat there feeling sorry for myself for the best part of ten minutes when I heard footsteps approaching quickly. I looked up to see Penny Smith walking towards me dressed in a brown uniform similar to that worn by Commander Spring.
‘Kali mera!’ she called out brightly. ‘Ti kanete!’
I nodded my head, considering I now knew the true answer. ‘Well you certainly fooled me,’ I admitted candidly. ‘You were one of them all the time.’
‘I don’t think you should assume anything until you know what’s going on,’ she countered sharply with a disposition I didn’t recognise in her. ‘If you do, the odds are that you’ll arrive at the wrong answers and all the wrong conclusions.’
‘I’m sure I would,’ I answered dryly, deciding to prove she wasn’t half as clever as she thought. ‘There was one phrase which gave you away or… as they say… blew your cover. When I was searching for documents in Chedda’s cabin after the crash, you told me that you could see a man coming towards us at eleven hundred hours. It was a dead giveaway. The only people who use such terms are those trained in the military.’
‘Come!’ she returned with a certain element of urgency, ignoring my remark. ‘I have a car to take you to safety.’
‘To safety, eh. What does that mean in your organisation. You and Primar have already made me face death and arrest by the police. What have you got in store for me this time?’
‘You don’t think you escaped from prison by pure luck, do you? The police will soon start a murder hunt for the killer who got away right under their noses. They have three dead bodies on their hands. Someone’s got to answer for such a terrible crime. I’m afraid you’re very much in demand.’
It was paradoxical that having committed the murders herself she was offering to protect me from being punished for them. I struggled to my feet and walked with her to the park exit. Before we reached the road, however, a police car sounding its siren screamed to a halt a short distance away. All the doors opened and four policemen emerged. I was convinced they hadn’t seen me but I was in such a panic that I started to run from the scene. Fortunately, Penny had a stronger will with greater intuition in this kind of situation and she held my arm tightly to prevent me from being recaptured. She walked over to a refuse bin, withdrew a large black plastic bag and motioned to me to climb into it. It was partly filled with litter left by visitors to the park and it smelled vile. Penny pressed her thumbs through the sides of the bag to provide two small holes to allow me to breathe After I had climbed inside, she advised me to fall on my knees and crouch down. Then she took a ribbon which was tied to the back of her hair to secure the top of the bag, making it appear that it was ready for collection. She walked off to avoid drawing attention to the spot while I remained perfectly still, holding my breath for long periods to reduce inhaling the nauseous stench of the rubbish in which I was kneeling. To my dismay, the police took their time to interrogate the few people in the park and to look behind every tree and bush before deciding to look for me elsewhere. When Penny returned to undo the bow at the top of the bag it was a great relief. I struggled up from my aching knees and climbed out of the bin shaking my head slowly.
‘Someone had better make sense of all this,’ I muttered angrily. ‘It’s starting to get on my nerves!’
She laughed and took me by my arm back to the Volkswagen. This time she sat at the wheel. ‘I’m taking you to a neutral place. A safe house… just as a precaution. There are some crossed wires that need to be unravelled, but they’ll be sorted out soon enough.’
She started the motor and drove off. It was all I could do to resist the temptation of inundating her with questions. Shortly, we arrived at a small house on Kalonadon Street where she ushered me inside. It was sparsely furnished and I sat down in a small chair, snorting to rid myself of the persistent stench which still clung to my clothes. Penny poured two drinks from a bottle and handed one to me.
‘You’ll have gathered by now I was planted as your secretary nearly five years ago,’ she explained. ‘Shortly, before that I joined the 21st Century Crusaders. You were particularly high in the pecking order in the company but my superiors recognised your potential.’
‘Before you go on,’ I broke in, before slowly sipping my drink, ‘there are two questions I have to ask. Firstly, I’d like to know the reason why I’ve been chosen by your organisation. I’ve never supported or belonged to any cause in my life. Secondly, I’m sick at the thoughts that our intimate relationship was just flim-flam to you… a way of doing your job for the cause. I thought you felt real affection for me. Did you make love with me solely for the benefit of the cause.’
She smiled at me as a mother would to a child. ‘With regard to the second question I’ll bounce it back to you. Do you think I was faking love for you over the past year? Over the whole year? If you don’t know the answer to that one you know nothing about women!’
I shrugged my shoulders indifferently. ‘I never had any doubts yesterday.’
‘Then don’t have any today,’ she replied calmly. ‘I didn’t need to have an affair with you. I didn’t need to make love to you. I could have served the cause just as well without becoming emotionally involved. But, putting our personal relationship aside for the moment, I’ll tell you something about the 21st Century Crusaders. For the last hundred years the political doctrines in the world of extreme right-wing and left-wing attitudes have been translated broadly in terms of Communism and Fascism. Somewhere in between lies Democracy except that few people really knows what it stands for any more. As a result, there is always friction which culminates into terrorism and war as well as changes of political control in different parts of the world. There are two major issues which cause war, terrorism, death and suffering… politics and religion. Everyone has opinions on how to tackle the political problem. They’re all scared of the religious one. For example, Vietnam was a political confrontation. Thousands of soldiers on both sides and innocent women and children were slaughtered. Such misery can never be expressed in its reality to the rest of the world. Politicians of major powers have a lot to answer for. Although religious war isn’t new, it’s important to note that it has escalated in recent years… especially in terms of terrorism… changing the emphasis to include additional extremist ideals. Certain religious factions have forced their way into power as an advanced guard to start in the battle of security to safeguard millions of people. There will be the resurgence of Holy Wars… one which will dwarf the old-time challenge of the Crusades. We shall face a structured oligarchy of Ayatollahs, Mullahs and the like who will suddenly disappear when oil runs out in the Middle East in fifty years time. We’re not talking about people with whom we can reason or whom we can talk to logically. The leaders… the Sheiks and wealthy people will vanish with all their funds. The people left behind will be without any money to live on and they will end up as fanatics, martyrs, suicide terrorists, willing to die in their thousands against Western democracy. They’ll regard the rest of the world as heathen, rich and the enemy. Logic and reason through diplomatic channels will have no effect. You’ll never be able to get through to such people to help them. Therefore, alternative action is necessary. If we ignored the situation, we would face a repeat of the element of history recorded as the Crusaders against the armies of Islam. However, I would point out that the wider spread of Islam and the use of modern weapons will heighten the danger. This time it’ll be nuclear weapons.’