“No.” Dede put her arms around Tatiana. “I’m sorry about your father. But this lock-up isn’t about your father. It’s Ida Churchill. Do you remember her?”
Tatiana stiffened and stepped back. “The old lady who lives with her sister. Yes, I remember.”
“She died last night. Or, more accurately, she was murdered.”
“Like my father.”
Dede bit her bottom lip, then responded. “You think your father was murdered?”
“I know so. He tells me he fears for his life.”
“Why? Why would he say that?” I stepped in front of Dede. If Tatiana thought her father had been murdered, I wanted to know what she knew and why. “Doctor Johansson thought it was a heart attack—”
“Doctor Johansson?” The disdain in Tatiana’s voice was palatable. “My father tells me about this doctor. And my father says if anything ever happens to him, I must not believe what this doctor says.”
“Your father told you that?” My eyes went from Tatiana to Marco.
“More than once.” Tatiana’s voice was firm. “My father was a strong man. Very fit. He is never sick. I know Athena. I spend many summers here. My father doesn’t have a heart attack and fall over the railing. He was pushed. It is why I am here. And why I want to talk to Dede.”
Finn looked anxiously at me and handed Tatiana a bottle of water.
“Please,” I pointed to the couch. “Tell me everything your father told you.”
Tatiana’s eyes darted from me to Dede. “Who is this woman?”
“A friend,” Dede said. “She’s a reporter, and she’s here because I have asked her. You can trust her.”
“Maybe I decide that.” Tatiana opened the water bottle and took a sip. “Tell me what you know about this doctor.”
I began slowly. “I know the doctor is part of a group of people—”
“We call them the Gang of Eight.” Marco handed me a water bottle and stepped back to the cart.
“Yes, My father tells me something about these people. I don’t know all the names, but I know the Professor and Inspector Garnier are dangerous. My father says they are thieves. That they smuggle stolen art. The types of things you see in museums. Very valuable. He has seen some of their hoard. Greek and Roman antiquities worth hundreds of thousands of Euros. Jewelry, clay pots, gold coins, and what he says is their biggest haul yet, a life-size bronze statue.”
Marco and I exchanged a look. Up until now, I had thought the Gang’s haul was small items, the type of thing one could easily hide inside a backpack or a bag like that Greta had made for Dede and be carried on and off Athena without notice.
Marco interrupted. “Did your father say what the statue looked like?”
Tatiana looked down at her hands. “He said it was a naked bearded warrior and that this man Antonio bragged he found it in these waters almost thirty years ago.”
“The Riace Warriors. That has to be what she’s talking about.” Marco took a water bottle from the cart and sat down. “They were believed to have been cast around 460 to 450 BC and found in the ocean off Calabria in 1972. Buried in the silt beneath the ocean waters. Can you imagine it? Pulling two life-sized bronze statues from the sea? Initially, reports said there were three statues, but the third disappeared after excavating the first two. Many thought the ocean had reclaimed the third. It’s never been found, but if Antonio had known of the excavation…maybe even worked it…he could have hidden the third statue. Stashed it in some watery grave until the time was right to transport the bronze across the Mediterranean to potential buyers in the Middle East.”
“Did your father say how he learned about all this?”
“My father enjoyed history. He and the Professor were friends. At least, he thought they were. They talked about their travels, and the Professor had shown him some of his collection. Weapons. Pottery. Jewelry. Things from the ancient world the Professor used for his seminars and when he travels to lecture at university. But always, when he returns, my father notices the Professor never brings these things back. Once, my father tells me the Professor has shown him a gold chalice. It is thousands of years old, intricately carved, and the Professor tells him it is one of the few remaining from its time. But now my father says it is gone.”
“And how did he learn about this warrior statue, the Raice Bronze?”
“My father tells me, one night, he is in the gym, in the submersion tank. He liked to go there often. But this night, he says the top is open, and he is about to get out when he hears Camile and Carlo talking. They don’t know he is there, and they are talking about a golden statue Antonio has snuck aboard. The Professor has told the group they have a buyer in Alexandria, and Camile and Carlo they are very excited. After the Golden Warrior is unloaded, they will have enough money for Camile to leave her husband. Later, my father tells the Professor and Inspector Garnier he knows about the warrior statue and wants in.” Tatiana paused and took a sip of her water. “My father is not a perfect man. He makes them an offer and tells me he will be very rich. I begged him not to get involved, and after that, he didn’t talk about it again. But I knew something was wrong. And when Neil called and told me my father has died, I knew then that these people had murdered him.”
I recapped my water bottle. “Did you try to tell Neil you thought your father had been murdered when you saw him in Sorrento?”
“Ugh! Neil.” Tatiana crushed her water bottle in her hand. “I don’t trust him. And what could I say? This man Antonio is with him. Instead, I tell Neil I want to visit my father’s cabin on Athena and that I not be disturbed. I don’t tell him I believe I will find evidence to prove my father has been murdered. But that is why I am here.”
“So, you’ve been locked in your father’s cabin since you came on board?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t hear Dede come aboard after we left Sorrento or know that Ida had been murdered.”
“I told you, I was in the cabin alone. It is only after I call Dede and say I want to talk that Finn comes to my door.”
“Did you find anything suspicious in your father’s cabin?”
“I find some ledgers. I’ll need to spend some time with them.”
“It’s probably nothing,” Finn picked up Tatiana’s crushed water bottle and handed her another. “Oleg kept the books. He managed condo sales, leases, and association dues.”
“If you like, I could take a look.” Marco scratched his head. “If anything is going on, I’ll find it. I’m good with numbers.”
“Do you hear that?” Dede stood up and went to the balcony. Outside, I could hear the sounds of a motorboat. “Come, you have to see this.”
Tatiana and I joined Dede on the deck. Finn and Marco followed. Moving closer to Athena was a small motorboat.
“Look,” Dede pointed to the boat, “it’s Neil, and Antonio’s with him.”
I stepped away from the deck and considered what Antonio’s return might mean. Neither Neil nor Antonio had been on board when Ida was murdered. Both had gotten off in Sorrento with Oleg’s body and as far as I knew, only Neil was due back on board today. We were to have lunch with Dede before I returned to the States. But now, with Ida dead and Dede and I locked away in Dede’s stateroom with Marco, what chance did I have of leaving? I didn’t know if anyone on board, besides those who had followed Sully to the gym, knew anything of Ida’s death or if Captain Byard had notified the coastal authorities. For all I knew, Byard had been replaced by Captain Rob, and the Gang of Eight was now in charge and had no intention of reporting her death. I had anticipated with Ida’s murder that Athena would be held until the harbor security had cleared us to depart, but I hadn’t expected to see Antonio again. And the fact that he was returning sent chills down my back. I knew I wouldn’t be going home anytime soon, if at all.
