Page 3 of Murder on an Italian Island (Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mysteries #12)
Oscar emerged from the water and shook himself vigorously before padding across to the new arrival and her dog.
She was sorting out the things in the boat – among which I could see wetsuits and oxygen cylinders.
They had evidently been diving. I had done a diving course some years back while on holiday in Tenerife and had enjoyed it immensely.
To be honest, I would really have preferred to be doing that tomorrow rather than a windsurfing course, but it hadn’t been my decision.
I felt sure that poking around underwater in what I knew to be the protected waters of a marine national park was likely to be fascinating.
Still, I told myself, maybe the windsurfing would work out okay…
As I approached the dinghy, I could see that the dachshund was no longer in the full flush of youth and it turned towards Oscar with an expression on its face that I recognised.
It was the look to which my mother used to subject me if I had the audacity to disturb her while she was listening to her beloved Archers on the radio.
I kept a close eye on Oscar, but he behaved like a real gentleman, slowing down and approaching cautiously and respectfully, his tail wagging slowly.
The two dogs touched noses and I was relieved to see the little dog’s tail also begin to wag.
It would appear that peace had broken out.
‘What a beautiful Labrador. What’s his name?
’ The woman produced a little smile. She was probably in her early to mid-thirties and she looked fit, with a no-nonsense, short hairstyle.
The detective in me noted that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring but, of course, that meant nothing and, besides, hadn’t I just taken a vow to stop noticing that sort of thing?
She made no attempt to address me in Italian, and her English was very fluent with maybe a hint of a German accent. I smiled back and replied in English.
‘This is Oscar. What’s your dog’s name?’
‘Her name is Edith and she’s an old lady now.’ She shot an affectionate glance down at the dog, who was unsuccessfully trying to stretch high enough to sniff Oscar’s butt. ‘She’s fourteen.’
I indicated the gear in the boat. ‘Can I give you a hand?’
She shook her head. ‘Thanks, but it’ll be fine. We leave the diving gear in the boat. It’s a private beach and very secure.’ I saw her eyes flick up to the clifftop, but her companion had already disappeared from sight. ‘If Martin wants anything, he’ll come and get it.’
I left her to what she was doing and headed back to where Anna and the others were busy setting up camp. Virgilio, always well prepared, reached into a cool box and handed me a bottle of cold beer. ‘Fancy a drink?’
‘Definitely, thanks.’ I screwed off the top and took a long, satisfying draught before turning my attention to Oscar, who was waiting patiently at my feet.
I pulled out his bowl from my backpack along with a bottle of water, filled it and handed it down to him.
Sipping my beer, I sat down beside Anna on a towel looking out to sea while Oscar slurped happily on the other side of me.
As we were on the east coast of the island, I could just make out the shape of the mainland of Tuscany through the heat haze across the water.
The late-afternoon sun was coming from behind us and Lina and Virgilio had wisely chosen a spot in the shade of the cliff so that we didn’t overheat.
‘Dan, are you and Anna really going to do a windsurfing course?’ Lina sounded sceptical – and I knew how she felt. ‘Have you done it before?’
I was just starting to shake my head when I got a considerable surprise.
Anna, it appeared, wasn’t a novice like me after all, but this was the first I was hearing of it.
‘When I lived in England, my ex-husband was keen on windsurfing and I used to do a bit. I haven’t touched a board since the divorce years ago, so I’ve probably forgotten everything. ’
I gave her an accusing look. ‘And there I was thinking that we would both be beginners together. I’m sure you’ll run rings round me.’
She reached over and patted my arm. ‘You’ll pick it up in no time, I’m sure.’
I decided not to dignify that with a response and just gave Lina a helpless look.
‘What can I do? When Anna says jump, I jump. She’s a terrible bully, you know.
’ I softened my words with a smile and a wink towards Anna and turned the question back on Lina.
‘And what are you two going to do while I’m trying not to drown? ’
Virgilio answered for both of them. ‘As little as possible: swimming, sunbathing, a few gentle walks and a whole lot of eating. The restaurant here has a very good reputation and we can investigate some of the other restaurants in the area as well.’
I gave a resigned sigh. ‘That’s my kind of holiday…’
Footsteps behind us made me turn my head and I saw two men come down the path to the beach carrying towels.
They dumped these on a handy rock and headed straight for the water.
As they passed us, I gave them a smile and a nod of the head but received nothing in return.
Neither even acknowledged my presence. I was struck by the similarity between them, but I don’t mean that they looked alike.
Very much the opposite, in fact. One had deep-olive-coloured skin and a shaved head.
The other had even paler skin than mine, and his close-cropped hair was a bright carrot colour.
But the similarity was in their build and their uncommunicative expressions.
Both were tall and muscular, but not with cosmetically sculpted muscles as a result of long hours in the gym.
These two were just big, strong men, maybe in their thirties, and as well as looking fit, they looked decidedly dodgy.
‘Dodgy’ was a term the officers around me at the Met had often used to describe people who looked suspicious.
I might have been doing these two a terrible injustice, but my initial impression of them wasn’t favourable.
What, I wondered, were a couple of hard nuts like this doing here in a luxury boutique hotel?
As I’d tried many times to explain to Anna, being a detective isn’t something I can just switch on and off.
In spite of my vow to take a break from sleuthing, I couldn’t help wondering whether these two dodgy-looking guys and the worried man running up the path from the beach might be connected in some way – and, if so, whether this might impact our happy holiday.
Anna has often reminded me that crime – and even murder – seems to follow me around wherever I go. Surely not here in this idyllic place.
As they dived into the water and swam strongly out to sea, Virgilio and I exchanged glances and he commented first, his brain no doubt working along the same lines as my own.
‘Do you think there’s something in the air here? First, that guy comes charging up the path with a face like thunder, and now these two characters show up. I’ve seen happier-looking corpses.’
I nodded in agreement. ‘Mind you, I wouldn’t want to pick a fight with either of them, but you’re right, they don’t seem to have embraced the holiday spirit.’ I caught his eye and grinned. ‘Maybe the food here at the hotel isn’t as good as you think.’
He adopted a horrified expression. ‘Don’t say that. Please don’t let it be that.’