‘We have found a clue!’ Emir shouts at him. ‘Another clue!’
Before he can explain, we’re interrupted by the roar of a speedboat approaching, but it doesn’t look like a police vessel. As it gets nearer, I see a shock of red hair billowing in the wind next to Jackson, who looks like a James Bond figure, all charisma, style and aplomb. My heart leaps at the sight of his brown wavy hair flapping, his tanned forearms gripping the steering wheel and his cool aviator sunglasses reminiscent ofTop Gun. He’s oozing sophistication.
Get. A. Grip.
I watch from the railing as they clamber on board, a deck below us. Before I even think it through, I’m yelling down at them in panic. ‘The Chicken family. They’re going to complain to head office. Aboutme!’ I pause for breath. ‘About the whole trip!’
Erika laughs as she looks up at me. ‘I wouldn’t expect anything less, princess.’
Jackson gives me a quizzical look, before they disappear from view. Within seconds we hear footsteps on the staircase. Jackson approaches and pulls a small recording device from his LoveIt Holidays satchel. ‘Hi.’
‘Hi,’ I reply, my stomach beginning to flutter.
‘Nice to see you again, Maddie. I hear it’s been a messy one,’ Erika booms, making her way over. ‘I should have known. I had you pegged from the start. Didn’t I say, Jackson? Too wild. Too unpredictable. Way too fabulous for this job.’ She cackles and brings me in for a hug. ‘Never change, princess. Never change.’
Wild? Unpredictable? Fabulous?
‘Thank you, Erika. That is literally the second nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.’ I flit my gaze to Jackson, wondering if he remembers telling me that I had the most exciting brain he’d ever come across. ‘Erika. It wasn’t me,’ I say. ‘It wasn’t me who pushed him in.’
She lifts her eyebrows. ‘Youknow that.Weknow that. But try telling the Turkish police that. We’ve been there since five this morning trying to convince them. But unless he turns up by tomorrow morning, they’ll declare him missing. They got nothing from that chef cousin of his, so they are keeping him in to buy us some time just in case he’s part of it. And they think Shaun simply isn’t intelligent enough.’
Oh, God. I’m still not entirely off the hook. ‘Now that I think about it. That chef was in the kitchen every time Emir and I discussed our plans. He was there when I took the Mallet Method out of the bin to say I was checking the accounts.’ I slap my forehead. ‘And I told them I was hiding it in my room along with all the jewellery and cash. He was there when Emir told me his family motto. He obviously understands more English than he lets on, and he will have warned Garry. No wonder he wanted to do a runner.’
‘You cross one, you cross them all,’ Emir supplies helpfully. ‘Why do you have that?’ He points to Jackson’s hand.
Jackson holds up the small silver Dictaphone. ‘It’s to formally record the staff interviews today.’
Emir claps his hands feverishly. ‘I’ll help you.’
‘But why do you have it in the first place?’ I can’t help enquiring. ‘Does this sort of thing happen all the time at LoveIt Holidays?’
‘More than you’d think.’ He stuffs it in his pocket, takes out his notebook and frowns questioningly at the wig in my hand.
‘It wasn’t Erika,’ I tell him, holding the wig up. ‘It wasn’t Erika meeting with Garry in Selimiye Bay. It was someone else, wearing this wig.’
‘Don’t forget the suitcase,’ chips in Emir. ‘Garry gave the lady a suitcase.’
‘Thank you, Emir,’ says Jackson, noting it down in his little flip book like a professional detective. ‘That’s very useful information.’
‘I was in Turgutries that day, and I have all of my team to prove it. We were rehearsing for our cabaret show, then I took them all out for pizza,’ Erika states. ‘It can’t have been me.’
Jackson screws his eyes. ‘Didn’t Banu pass on the messages?’
‘What messages?’
‘When I couldn’t get hold of you the day before yesterday, I left a message with Banu to ask if you’d been to Selimiye Bay.’
‘I didn’t get it. Funny… because she’s had plenty of opportunities to tell me. She must have forgot.’
‘I said it was urgent.’
Erika looks flummoxed. ‘She’s usually spot on with that kind of thing.’
‘Unless she’s implicated somehow,’ I suggest. ‘She warned me to be careful around Garry. She even said he wasn’t a nice man.’
Jackson wheels round to face the captain. ‘Take us to Marmaris as quickly as possible. Double speed if you can.’
29
