“I’ve given it a great deal of thought, and I think I should go to Athens right away,” Miu said, peeling some fruit. “I’d probably get nowhere over the phone, so it’d be better if I went straight to the embassy and talked with them face to face. Maybe someone from the embassy will be willing to come back with me, or I might wait for Sumire’s parents to arrive in Athens and come back with them. At any rate, I’d like you to stay here as long as you can. The police might get in touch, and there’s always the possibility that Sumire will come back. Would you do that for me?”
Of course, I replied.
“I’m going to go to the police station again to check on the investigation, then charter a boat to take me to Rhodes. A
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return trip to Athens takes time, so most likely I’ll get a hotel room and stay a couple of days.”
I nodded.
Miu finished peeling the orange and wiped it carefully with a napkin. “Have you ever met Sumire’s parents?”
I never have, I said.
Miu gave a sigh like the wind at the edge of the world. “I wonder how I’m going to explain it to them.”
I could understand her confusion. How can you explain the inexplicable?
Miu and I walked down to the harbour. She had a small bag with a change of clothes, wore leather high-heeled shoes, and carried a Mila Sch[umlaut]on shoulder bag. We stopped by the police station. We told them I was a relative of Miu’s who happened to be travelling nearby. They still didn’t have a single clue. “But it’s all right,” they said cheerily. “Not to worry. Look around you. This is a peaceful island. We have some crime, of course—lovers’ quarrels, drunks, political fights. We’re dealing with people, after all, and everywhere you go it’s the same. But those are domestic squabbles. In the last 15 years there’s never once been a foreigner who’s been the victim of a crime on this island.”
That might very well be true. But when it came to explaining Sumire’s disappearance, they had nothing to say.
“There’s a large limestone cave on the north shore of the island,” the police ventured. “If she wandered in there, maybe she couldn’t find her way out. It’s like a maze inside. But it’s very, very far away. A girl like that couldn’t have walked that far.”
Could she have drowned? I asked.
The policemen shook their heads. There’s no strong current
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around here, they said. And the weather this past week has been mild, the sea calm. Lots of fishermen go out to fish every day, and if the girl had drowned, one of them would have come across her body.
“What about wells?” I asked. “Couldn’t she have fallen in a deep well somewhere while she was out for a walk?”
The chief of police shook his head. “There aren’t any wells on the island. We have a lot of natural springs so there’s no need to dig any. Besides, the bedrock is hard and digging a well would be a major undertaking.”
After we left the police station I told Miu I wanted to walk to the beach she and Sumire had frequented, if possible in the morning. She bought a simple map of the island at a kiosk and showed me the road; it takes 45 minutes one way, she cautioned, so be sure to wear some sturdy shoes. She went to the harbour and, in a mixture of French and English, quickly concluded negotiations with the pilot of a small taxi boat to take her to Rhodes.
“If only we had a happy ending,” Miu said as she left. But her eyes told another story. She knew that things didn’t work out that simply. And so did I. The boat’s engine started up, and she held down her hat with her left hand and waved to me with her right. When her boat disappeared offshore, I felt like my insides were missing a couple of parts. I wandered around the harbour for a while and bought some dark sunglasses at a souvenir shop. Then I climbed the steep stairs back to the cottage.
*
As the sun rose higher it grew fiercely hot. I put a short-sleeve cotton shirt on over my trunks, put on my sunglasses and jogging shoes, and set off over the steep mountain road to the
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beach. I soon regretted not bringing a hat, but decided to forge on. I soon got thirsty walking uphill. I stopped and took a drink and rubbed the sunscreen Miu had lent me over my face and arms. The path was white with dust, which swirled into the air whenever the wind blew. Occasionally I’d pass villagers leading donkeys. They’d greet me in a loud voice:
I’d say the same thing back to them. I supposed it was the thing to do.
