"Apollo's Gold" by Antoinette Moses. Chapter 5

The man called Takis

The men were still shouting. I stood up very quietly. I wanted to find out who they were. I was right. One of them was Nikos, the policeman. And I knew the other man, too. He was one of the men on the yacht that first morning. The man they called Takis, who told me to go away. I didn't like the good-looking man. What was he doing here? Why was he talking to Nikos?

I sat down again and waited until they left. I wanted to speak to Stavros again, but I didn't want to talk in the taverna. Someone could hear me. But there wasn't another bus that day. So I started to walk. It was an hour to Apollonia and I was very tired when I got there.

I phoned Stavros. He wasn't in his office, but I found him at home.

'Liz?' he asked. 'What is it? Are you OK?'

I told Stavros about Nikos and the man called Takis. 'Nikos said that someone killed Yiannis.'

'That's terrible,' said Stavros. 'But why?'

'Because Yiannis was fishing near Aghios Sostis. The man said that they didn't want him near Aghios Sostis. But I don't know who "they" are. Do you think that they've found gold, in the old mines?'

'Apollo's gold! That old story. No, I don't think so. Lots and lots of people have looked in those mines, Liz. There's no gold there now.'

'But why kill Yiannis? It's terrible. And I can't go to the police because Nikos is a policeman.'

'Did you say that the other man, Takis, was on a yacht?' asked Stavros.

'Yes,' I answered. 'The yacht was in Kamares when I arrived. It was the biggest motor yacht I've ever seen.'

'How many men were on the yacht?' Stavros asked.

'There were three on the deck. One of them spoke to me. They called him Mike. One of them was sitting down. He was wearing a lot of gold,' I said. 'And the third man was the one called Takis. He's the man I saw this afternoon with Nikos.'

'A big yacht and men wearing gold,' said Stavros. He was thinking. 'Did you see any diving things on the yacht?' he asked.

'No,' I said. 'But that doesn't mean there isn't any. It was a very big yacht.'

I knew what Stavros was thinking. Stealing. Diving into the sea and finding pots or other valuable things. And selling them. You can buy lots of gold jewellery if you sell even one small Greek pot.

'Do you think that the men on the yacht have found something in the sea near Aghios Sostis?' I asked Stavros. 'Perhaps they've found a statue.'

There's a famous Greek statue which was found in the sea not very far from Sifnos. It was found near Milos, which is the next island to Sifnos. You can see Milos from Sifnos. The statue is in the Louvre Museum in Paris. It's called the Venus de Milo.

'Perhaps they've found another Venus de Milo,' I said. 'What do you think?' I asked Stavros.

'I don't know,' said Stavros. 'But I'll talk to some people here. The police in Athens may know something about them. But these men are dangerous, Liz.'

'Yes,' I said.

'So don't do anything yourself,' said Stavros. 'Don't go near these men. Stay in Poulati.'

'Will you be here tomorrow?' I asked Stavros.

'No,' he said. 'There isn't a boat tomorrow. I'm coming on Tuesday. And don't go to Kamares without me. I know you, Liz. You always want to find out everything. You don't like waiting.'

'I won't do anything stupid,' I said.

'Good,' said Stavros. 'Because these men are dangerous. Remember that. They've already killed a man.'

'I'll remember,' I said.

But as I came out of the telephone office I saw Mike from the yacht. He was sitting in a café drinking coffee. He waved to me.

'Hello, beautiful,' he said. 'Are you coming to see us?'

'I don't know,' I said. 'Maybe.'

'Come and have lunch with us tomorrow,' he said. 'We'll go out in the yacht. I'll show you the island.'

'Perhaps they have found a pot or statue or something under the sea,' I thought. 'It's only lunch. I'll just have a look round the yacht. And then I can tell Stavros when he comes.'

'That sounds very nice,' I said. 'But I can't stay long.'

'That's OK,' he said. He was smiling.

*     *     *

The next day I took the bus to Kamares and walked along the road to the yacht. As I stepped onto the boat, Takis came up the stairs from inside.

'What are you doing here?' he asked. 'Go away. We don't want you here.' He was angry.

But Mike was behind him.

'I asked her to come on the yacht for lunch, Takis,' he said. 'Is there a problem?'

'Yes,' said Takis. 'We don't want her here and we don't have time to stop for lunch, Mike.'

'Don't listen to Takis,' said Mike. 'He works too hard.' Mike put his arm around my shoulders. 'We're going to have fun, you and I. I know it.'