‘Evening, ladies. I found Morning Glory all closed up, so I assumed you’d be down in one of the restaurants. And since most people have the ghost town as number one on their itinerary in Kayaköy, I reckoned here was a good place to start.’
‘And you won a coconut first time,’ said Jude.
‘Exactly.’ He waved a friendly hand to the restaurant owner. ‘Hi, Ahmet. A large Efes, please.’ But there was something different in his manner. He was presenting his ‘hail fellow, well met’ Barney Willingdon persona, but it didn’t sound as convincing as usual. He was sweating more than the warm evening justified, he kept scratching nervously at his beard, and his eyes seemed to be darting around on the lookout for someone or something. Was he worried about another attack from Kemal, or another of the enemies his business practices had made? Or did his unease have something to do with the death of Nita Davies?
‘Are you eating too?’ asked Carole, not sure that she wanted their tête-à-tête interrupted, but at the same time aware that to make any progress in their investigation they must, at some point, talk to Barney.
‘No, had a late lunch. I’ll maybe grab something back at the villa. Anyway, how did you ladies spend your first full day in Kayaköy?’
‘We went our separate ways,’ said Jude. ‘Or, rather, I didn’t go any way at all. I just stayed and lounged by the pool until we came out here at dusk to have a look at the ghost town.’
Jude’s brown eyes were flashing messages to Carole while she said this, and they were immediately understood. No mention of the second trip to Pinara. No mention indeed of the discovery made on the first trip to Pinara. With regard to Nita, they would wait until Barney volunteered something.
‘And what about you, Carole?’
‘I did a bit of sightseeing.’
‘Good. In the car?’
‘Yes.’
‘Didn’t give you any problems, I hope?’
‘Worked beautifully, thank you.’
‘Good. So where did you go?’
Carole eyed him shrewdly, watchful for any reaction when she said the word, ‘Pinara.’
There was none. ‘Lovely spot,’ he said. ‘I’ve spent some very happy times there.’
‘Yes.’ And then Carole dared to add, ‘Nita recommended it to me.’
‘As I said, she knows the area like the back of her hand.’
‘Yes, she gave us lots of good ideas yesterday of places to go,’ said Jude.
‘She would.’
‘But we haven’t seen her today,’ Jude continued casually.
‘No.’ Barney looked very uncomfortable. ‘And you won’t see her for a while.’
Carole and Jude both managed very effectively to hide their shock at his words.
‘Oh, why’s that?’ asked Carole.
‘She’s had to fly back to England,’ said Barney. ‘Her mother’s ill.’
‘We were right not to ask him any more,’ said Carole.
They were sitting on the upstairs balcony of Morning Glory, which was accessible from both their bedrooms. Carole’s doors were wide open; Jude had closed hers so that the air conditioning could take some effect before she went to bed. Carole had a glass of water; Jude more white wine from the fridge.
‘Hm?’ Jude said.
‘If Barney did know about Nita’s death and was just lying to us, then we didn’t want him to know we were suspicious of him. If he didn’t know, then equally we didn’t want to raise his suspicions.’
‘And are we suspicious of him?’
‘I think we have to be. Clearly, there’s been something going on between him and Nita.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Oh, come on, Jude. Last night at that barbecue place she was clearly offering herself to him, and he was equally clearly declining the offer. You don’t have conversations like that unless there’s something going on.’
Jude nodded. Sometimes Carole could be very perceptive. And Jude recognized that there was something within her that didn’t want to admit the relationship between Barney and Nita might still be carrying on. Though the feeling couldn’t be defined as strongly as jealousy, it still niggled at her.
A silence lingered between them. Both sipped their drinks. Then Carole said pensively, ‘It’s so strange. What happened this morning was almost like a dream … you know, finding Nita’s body out in the wilds of Pinara … which, incidentally, certainly did happen.’ Her tone became defensive on the last few words.
‘I’ve never doubted it happened,’ said Jude soothingly. ‘You’re the least likely person I know to be subject to hysterical delusions.’
Carole wasn’t quite sure whether that was a compliment or not, but she hadn’t got time to question it. ‘But as a coincidence it’s a pretty huge one, isn’t it? I mean, that I should be in Pinara …’
‘Who knew you were going to go there?’
‘Well, nobody knew for certain because, in fact, I only made up my mind this morning. But I did mention the possibility of going at that barbecue place last night.’
‘So Nita knew.’
‘Yes, but I don’t think she set up her own murder specifically so that I could discover her body,’ said Carole with an edge of sarcasm.
‘No, but I was thinking she might have told someone else that you might be going to Pinara.’
‘Like who?’
‘Her husband? And then, of course, that was just before Kemal came on to the scene. He might have overheard you talking about Pinara.’
Carole sniffed. ‘Possible, I suppose, but unlikely.’ There was a silence before she continued, ‘And then, of course, there’s Barney.’
‘Yes.’ Jude sighed. ‘And then, of course, there’s Barney …’
They went to bed soon after that. Carole waited until she thought Jude might be asleep and not hear before she closed all her bedroom windows and switched on the air conditioning. She didn’t want to sleep as badly as she had the previous night.
SEVENTEEN
The air conditioning did the trick, and Carole slept much better. When she woke at seven she almost felt too cold, but she was fully prepared to forget for the next fortnight her mother’s diktat that she ‘should never go to sleep without at least one window open’. Now she was awake, though, she switched off the air conditioning and opened up everything. Heat soon replaced the chill, and the long net curtains swayed in a light breeze. Curling round the window frames, she saw the delicate blue of the Morning Glory.
Carole moved out on to the balcony. The sky was unbroken blue with the promise of another perfect day. As she looked down over the pool she thought she saw a sudden movement in the trees that edged the track down to the village, but it wasn’t repeated. Just a bird, probably. Or a local cat. Or the latter chasing the former.
There was no sound from Jude’s room, and Carole had the daring thought that she might put on her costume and try the delights of the pool. Why not? She was on holiday. So she took off her nightdress and slipped on the Marks & Spencer dark-blue number, careful all the while not to see any reflections of her body in the bedroom’s generous mirrors. Then she anointed every uncovered bit of skin with the Factor Fifty before, stepping into her flip-flops and picking up a bright bathing towel, she made her way downstairs.
Carole Seddon couldn’t begin to remember how long it was since she had last swum. There were hardy residents who regularly braved the cement-coloured waters of Fethering Beach, but she had never been of their number. She had paddled around in the shallows when she’d spent a week with her granddaughter Lily at nearby Smalting, but when had she last undergone total immersion? No, the memory had gone (though the memory remained of shivering round the municipal pool for school swimming lessons with the overpowering smell of chlorine in her nose).