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concerned as she handed it to me, but my emotion upon
receiving it was a sort of spiteful satisfaction.   You see, Geoffrey had just warned me off.
                Now
I'm not a particularly reckless person.   My imagination is too vivid and my confidence in fate too tenuous to be
an enthusiastic risk-taker.   But
this situation was different.   Geoffrey had convinced me that someone had tried to kill me.   No one could expect me to walk away
from that.
                No
one, that is, except Geoffrey.
                "What
do you mean, I'm to stay out of it?" I demanded during our taxi ride back
to the Hotel Kerkyra.   "First,
you go out of your way to prove to me that someone tried to murder me.   Then you turn around and advise me not
to bother my little head about it."
                "You
weren't the intended victim," Geoffrey said, his voice thick with
exasperation.   "You were
simply incidental -- someone in the wrong place at the wrong time."
                "Why,
thank you.   That makes me feel so much better."
                The
muscles in his cheek twitched.   "What
I'm trying to explain to you is that if you keep out of the way, you'll be
safe.   Whoever did this has no
quarrel with you --"
                "And
what makes you so certain Michael was the target?   Perhaps someone is after me, and Michael was the one in the
wrong place at the wrong time."
                His
eyebrows flew up in disbelief.   "I suppose you're going to tell me you're being chased by a jealous
lover?"
                "It's
possible," I said airily, irritated by his tone.   "Maybe I should ask Spiro if I can hide out in that
villa of his."
                As
I knew it would, the mention of Spiro sent Geoffrey's temper flaring.   " Ithaki belongs to
Michael," he snapped.   "And if after all I've shown you today, you could be such a fool as
to --"
                "My
point is," I interrupted, "regardless of whether I was attacked on
purpose or just as an afterthought, I'm not about to ignore the fact.   I think we should go to the
police."
                "I've
already been,” he said heavily.   “I
went first thing this morning, and was directed to a Lieutenant Mavros.   He listened very politely to my story,
then dismissed me, saying that while he thought I possessed an excellent
imagination, he would prefer it if, in future, I kept the exercise of it to
myself."
                "In
that case, what are we going to do?" I demanded.
                " We are not going to do anything.   You are going to finish up your holiday and then go home and forget any of this
ever happened."
                I
didn't reply.   There was nothing to
say.   I wasn't about to forget
being nearly squashed by a large piece of Byzantine rock, but arguing with him
was getting me nowhere.   If the
police weren't going to help, then I had to do some serious thinking about what
to do next.
                When
we arrived at the Hotel Kerkyra, Geoffrey walked around to open my door.   "So you'll stay out of it,
Christine?" he asked as he took my arm and helped me out of the car.   His hand slid down to grip my own.   "You'll stay away from Ithaki and all its occupants?"
                "If
you were so anxious for me to bow out and disappear, why did you drag me back
to the Old Fort in the first place?   I believed what happened was an accident.   I wasn't planning to make waves."
                "I
had my reasons."
                "Which
were?"
                He
hesitated for a moment and then said quietly, "You seemed interested in
Spiro.   I thought you ought to know
how dangerous that interest might be."
                I
stared at him.   "You think Spiro is the one who attacked us?"
                "I
believe it’s a distinct