The last resort, p.17
The Last Resort, page 17
The sound of Mel’s desperate exhalations is deafening. Quinn thinks of her recent pleas to Andreas to visit the sweat lodge.
After a while, Mel sits back on her heels, wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and spits onto the dusty ground. ‘He’s gone.’
‘No.’ Quinn, shocked into action by the finality of Mel’s words, lays her hands on Andreas’ chest. She pictures violet-coloured energy pouring through her palms and entering his heart. She visualises his heart jumping into action again, beating hard beneath her hands.
She is shaking. No, Mel is shaking her.
‘Quinn,’ Mel says. ‘It’s over. He’s gone.’
Quinn folds over. Presses her forehead against the earth.
‘We should get out of here,’ Mel says. ‘We’ve disturbed the scene enough already.’
‘What scene?’ Quinn already knows what happened. Andreas must have woken up earlier, still drunk and confused. Full of remorse for his behaviour at the restaurant, he decided to get sober again and came to the sweat lodge to detox. Either he passed out on the stones and died of shock or had a heart attack and fell onto the stones after that. ‘I should burn some sage to help Andreas’ soul find its way to the next world.’
‘Quinn.’ Mel grabs her arm. ‘We need to call the police.’
Quinn allows Mel to lead her back to the house. Aphrodite follows behind, gathering other cats to her as they cross the courtyard. Quinn has a sudden urge to jump into the pool and cleanse herself of the stench of burnt flesh.
Dmitri and Sofia are waiting for them by the door. Sofia in transparent white pyjamas, a shimmering gold pashmina wrapped around her shoulders.
‘We’ve found him,’ Mel says.
Sofia brushes her hair back from her face. ‘That’s a relief.’
‘He’s dead,’ Quinn says.
As Mel explains what they discovered in the sweat lodge, Sofia, her face expressionless, pulls her pashmina tighter around her.
Dmitri sighs. ‘This is sad news.’
‘We have to call the police,’ Mel says.
Sofia and Dmitri exchange glances.
‘That’s what you do in the case of a sudden death,’ Mel says, an ominous tension radiating from her.
Sudden death. Quinn can’t process those words.
‘Don’t you want to consult the others first?’ Sofia asks.
‘This is non-negotiable,’ Mel says.
‘Fine.’ Sofia glances at Dmitri. ‘We’ll sort it.’
Mel shakes her head. ‘I’ll go to the office, and I’ll call them.’
Sofia shrugs. ‘Be my guest.’
‘Last time I checked,’ Mel says, ‘you were the guest.’
44
Insight Investigators: Background Report
Melanie Harris (Mel): Mel passed out of police training school as the top student in her intake, and it didn’t take her long to rise through the ranks. She always wanted to specialise in Serious and Organised Crime (SOCU) and that’s where she ended up, dealing with the most serious criminals and helping to take them off the streets. Making her bosses happy and disrupting London’s criminal networks.
Until she resigned from the force in September 2017. Official reason – post-traumatic stress disorder. Thanks to my contacts, I’ve been able to dig deeper into the unofficial reasons and, trust me, I was surprised by what I found.
45
QUINN
2018
Andreas is dead. Quinn still can’t believe it. Half an hour ago, a police car arrived, shortly followed by an ambulance. Now two policemen and a team of paramedics are down at the sweat lodge, doing whatever it is they do. Mel wanted to accompany them to ensure they were following correct procedures but the officer in charge, Detective Louca, told her to stay at the house.
Quinn recognised the tall, sombre-looking detective immediately. He came to Pure Heart ten years ago, on the day Eva died. She recalls him handling the traumatic event calmly and efficiently.
Now the community members are in the kitchen, waiting for the police to report back to them. Quinn sits at the head of the long table, Aphrodite on her lap. Joe, Holly, Zoe and Carl are at the table too, sipping on flat whites and cappuccinos. The coffee machine hisses in the background, a constant presence. Quinn, a mug of mountain tea in front of her, swallows down a violent craving for an espresso.
Mel paces around the kitchen, shooting dark glances at Grigor who is leaning against one of the worktops, arms folded across his chest. Sofia has retired to her room. According to Dmitri, who has disappeared somewhere, she is overcome with emotion and needs to gather herself.
‘What a horrible way to die.’ Zoe clutches the gaping folds of her kimono. ‘I can’t get the image of it out of my head.’
‘Dial down the melodrama,’ Mel says. ‘You didn’t even see him.’
‘Well,’ says Carl, ‘thanks to your thorough description of the scene, we’ve all got a pretty good idea.’
Quinn, who sees Andreas’ burnt, disfigured face every time she closes her eyes, thinks they have no idea. No idea at all.
‘Do you think he had another heart attack?’ Holly asks.
‘Wouldn’t be surprised.’ Joe rubs the space between his wife’s shoulder blades. ‘Or he maybe passed out drunk on the stones.’
‘It was a terrible accident,’ Grigor says.
Mel stops pacing and glares at him. ‘It would be easy for someone to make it look like an accident.’
‘Mel,’ Quinn says. ‘Please.’
Mel keeps her eyes on Grigor. ‘Someone could easily have overpowered him and smothered him.’
‘No,’ Quinn says. ‘That’s not possible.’
‘What about your surveillance cameras?’ Mel asks Grigor. ‘Have you checked the footage to see who was up and about last night?’
Grigor shakes his head. ‘Last night, the cameras failed.’
A short, bitter laugh from Mel. ‘That’s convenient.’
‘The Wi-Fi cable was cut,’ Grigor says. ‘Everything affected. Cameras. The alarm. Andreas must have done this.’
‘Obviously,’ Mel says. ‘I mean, last night he looked totally capable of carrying out sabotage.’
‘It’s my fault,’ Quinn says.
‘No.’ Holly’s reassurance is emphatic. ‘No.’
‘Of course not,’ says Zoe, less convincingly.
Quinn rubs her eyes. ‘I practically ordered him to use the sweat lodge.’
A bleeping sound from Grigor. He checks his phone and leaves the room immediately.
‘Where’s he going?’ asks Mel. ‘And where’s Dmitri? I bet he’s with that Louca now, offering a nice cash payment in return for not asking difficult questions.’
‘Stop being so cynical,’ Carl says.
‘Stuff like that happens all the time. Trust me.’ Mel joins them at the table, slipping into the seat beside Quinn. ‘We need to tell the police everything.’
‘What do you mean by everything?’ Joe says.
‘All of it.’ Mel leans back in her chair. ‘Sofia’s offer.’
‘We can’t do that,’ Zoe says. ‘We’d sound crazy.’
‘This whole business has gone far enough,’ Mel says. ‘Don’t you agree, Quinn?’
Quinn presses her fingers to her temples. Hard to think clearly. Hard to get Andreas and his melted lips out of her head.
‘We’re making breakthroughs with Sofia,’ Zoe says. ‘I can see changes in her already.’
‘Me too,’ Holly agrees. ‘This news about Andreas is bound to remind her of the day we found Eva. I’m worried it could be a setback for her.’
‘What if it wasn’t an accident?’ Mel says.
‘No one here would kill Andreas,’ Quinn replies. She doesn’t like the picture Mel is painting of this community. Pure Heart is a family. They love one another.
‘Maybe not.’ Mel lowers her voice. ‘But what about Sofia? She could easily have made one of the bodyguards do it to stop Andreas speaking to the police.’
‘Mel.’ Quinn looks directly into her cool blue eyes. ‘I’m so disappointed to hear you talking like this. After all the work we’ve done together. I really thought you’d left this negative way of looking at humanity behind.’
The blotches of shame that appear on Mel’s cheeks almost match her burgundy T-shirt. ‘I have… I’m… I’m different now.’
‘Maybe you killed him, if it’s so easy,’ Carl says.
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Mel snaps.
‘I agree, it’s a ridiculous theory,’ Carl says, ‘but so are yours.’
‘You have to trust us,’ Zoe says. ‘This is how Pure Heart works. All of us believing. All of us aligned towards a common goal.’
Quinn is comforted by the words of her community. The people she loves. The people who love her.
‘You all heard Andreas in the restaurant last night,’ Mel says. ‘He was warning us how easy it is to give in to temptation. He was being honest about his darkest impulses.’
‘It was the drink talking,’ Quinn says. ‘He’d never have hurt me.’
Mel’s face twists with frustration. ‘I’m not so sure.’
‘He was projecting his troubled conscience onto everyone else,’ Quinn says.
‘Exactly,’ agrees Zoe. ‘He was judging us by his own standards.’
Mel groans. ‘You don’t know that for sure.’
‘I loved Andreas,’ Holly says.
‘Aye,’ says Joe, ‘me too. Loved the guy.’
‘We all did,’ Carl says, ‘but he betrayed Quinn and he took money from Sofia.’
Tears shine in Zoe’s eyes. ‘Maybe he wasn’t who we thought he was. Maybe we never really knew him.’
Quinn refuses to believe such things of Andreas. He was one of them. ‘We can’t mention any of this to the police. I won’t have his name tarnished.’
‘Look,’ Mel says, ‘I really think—’
‘No.’ Quinn raises both palms as if to ward Mel off. ‘You’re not to speak of it. Any of you.’
The kitchen door opens. Detective Louca steps into the room. Despite the early hour, the underarms of his pale blue shirt are stained with sweat. He looks shaken, thinks Quinn. Understandably so, considering what he’s just seen in the sweat lodge.
Dmitri follows the detective into the room. The two men exchange a look.
‘Well?’ Quinn says.
Louca turns to her, a stern expression on his face. ‘The paramedics and my colleague are still at the scene. We will know more soon.’
‘Do you know how the accident happened?’ Zoe asks.
‘The accident?’ The inspector’s dark eyes assess each of them in turn. ‘I must ask you some questions now.’
‘Of course,’ Joe says. ‘Can I offer you a coffee?’
The inspector’s appraising gaze falls on the gleaming coffee machine. Quinn is embarrassed by the obscene size and obvious expense of it.
‘No,’ Louca says. ‘Thank you.’
Quinn glances at Mel. Is she going to say something about Sofia’s offer, or will she follow the will of the community?
The detective seats himself at the other end of the table to Quinn. ‘This first.’ From his shirt pocket he pulls a plastic evidence bag containing a handful of charred olive leaves. ‘He was burning these.’
‘Olive leaves,’ Holly says.
Of course, Quinn thinks. The smell she picked up in the sweat lodge but couldn’t identify.
‘Correct, olive leaves,’ the inspector says. ‘You know why we burn these here?’
‘For the evil eye,’ Quinn says.
‘Yes, for the mati.’ The policeman looks at them. ‘You burn the leaves in the bowl, pass them—’
‘Three times around your head in a clockwise direction,’ Quinn says. ‘It keeps away negative energy.’
‘Why would he do this?’ the inspector asks. ‘What was he trying to protect himself from? What energy was he trying to keep away?’
‘Maybe his own,’ Mel says. ‘Maybe he was frightened of his own darkness.’
Louca turns his level gaze on Mel. ‘Tell me about this darkness.’
‘Andreas had been drinking recently,’ Quinn says. ‘Heavily.’
‘He tried to quit a few times in the past,’ Carl says. ‘Never managed it.’
Louca nods. ‘We knew Andreas at the station. Many times he is sleeping in a cell with us after we find him in the streets of Kakopetria.’
‘It’s my fault,’ Quinn says. ‘I said he should spend some time in the sweat lodge. To get the alcohol out of his system.’
‘Not when he was drunk,’ Zoe says. ‘You didn’t mean for him to do that.’ As she turns towards the inspector, her loose kimono reveals the dip of her cleavage. ‘Quinn was trying to help him.’
‘She’s an amazing healer,’ Holly says. ‘The best.’
Quinn gives them both a grateful smile.
‘What was happening in Andreas’ life?’ the inspector asks. ‘Did he have problems? Money or maybe health? Any stressful events?’
Before anyone can speak, the kitchen door opens again and Sofia sweeps in, dressed in a plain black T-shirt and black leggings. As if already in mourning.
‘Sorry to keep you waiting,’ she says, although Quinn wasn’t aware they were waiting for her. ‘I needed time to pull myself together.’ She dabs her eyes with a black lace handkerchief. ‘Poor Andreas. I still can’t believe it.’
‘None of us can,’ Zoe says.
The inspector gets up and offers Sofia his seat, even though there are others vacant at the table. She folds her limber body into it with a dramatic sigh.
‘Thank you,’ she says.
He takes the seat beside her. ‘You don’t remember me?’
‘Sorry,’ Sofia says, ‘I don’t—’
‘You were so young then.’ Louca leans back in his chair and appraises her. ‘You are very like your mother,’ he says. ‘Such a sad day.’
Sofia’s dark eyes fill with tears. Quinn glimpses for a moment the traumatised child who found her dead mother in the monastery.
‘I am sorry,’ Louca says. ‘I do not wish to upset you.’
‘It’s fine.’ Sofia dabs her eyes again. ‘I remember you now. You were very kind to me that day. Thank you.’
‘And now you are back here?’ he says.
‘I wanted to visit the place I grew up in. To see the people who cared so much for me and my mother.’
‘This tragedy today,’ Louca says, ‘I hope it does not bring back bad memories?’
‘Such a sad way for Andreas to die,’ Sofia says. ‘A silly accident.’
The detective nods. ‘Two tragedies here. Very sad.’
‘I’d like to tell his mother myself,’ Sofia says. ‘I’m close to her and I’d like her to hear it from me.’
‘That can be arranged,’ Louca says.
‘And of course, I’ll continue to help her in any way I can,’ Sofia adds. ‘Andreas was always loyal to me, and I like to reward loyalty.’
Louca hesitates. ‘That’s very decent of you.’
‘I think everyone here knows that.’ Sofia’s bright, white smile fails to reach her dark, shifting eyes. ‘I always stick to my promises. When I make an offer, I never, ever go back on my word.’
46
HOLLY
2019
Some of the media reports about the events at Pure Heart also discussed Andreas. Once journalists discovered there’d been a death in our community only a few weeks before our night of bloodshed, they did some digging.
They didn’t find the scandal or intrigue they were hoping for. Only a police report confirming Andreas had died of natural causes – a heart attack – and that his death was not being treated as suspicious.
Not that I needed the police to tell me his death was accidental. None of us had a motive for killing him. Our certainty about this united us as we tried, in those first terrible days after his death, to come to terms with what had happened. We knew Andreas would never have spoken to the police. Doing so might have made Sofia look bad, and Andreas wouldn’t do that to Eva’s daughter. In retrospect, we could see he was still obsessed with Eva. Still consumed by grief for her loss and guilt at his perceived part in it. We hoped, without his obsession fuelling hers, Sofia might finally let go of the past.
There’s no doubt that for Sofia, the incident brought back painful memories of her mother’s death. She never expressed regret for asking Andreas to speak out against Quinn, but I’m sure she felt it. I hoped his death would be a turning point for her. True to her promise, she broke the news of Andreas’ death to his mother. Nikoleta’s dementia prevented her from fully registering the loss of her son. A blessing I suppose.
The following week passed in a grief-stricken blur. Dmitri organised for engineers to come and repair the Wi-Fi connection and fix the alarm system. As soon as the police verdict on the death was confirmed, we dismantled the sweat lodge. None of us wanted to sit inside it ever again.
Ten days after his death, Andreas was buried in a Greek Orthodox cemetery in Kakopetria by his maternal aunt and several of his cousins. We’ve always opposed organised religion, so instead of attending the burial we held our own memorial for him. We planted an olive tree on the site of the banished sweat lodge and, sitting in a circle around it, shared our memories of him.
Doing this gave us some kind of closure. Quinn said we’d see him again in another lifetime when our soul family was reunited.
After the memorial, Sofia announced she would extend her stay at Pure Heart for a month. To give us more time to consider her offer, she said. We knew that was just bravado. Deep down she wasn’t ready to leave us. Deep down, she knew Pure Heart was where she belonged.
