Jetsam: The Artemesis Mysteries, #3

By Jill Castelo

Two years have passed but the circumstances surrounding the death of a sailor visiting the Greek port of Artemesis refuse to be laid to rest. The Port Policeman, Vassilis, finds his job on the line unless he can discover the truth behind the drowning. But the cost of re-opening the investigation may endanger his life and jeopardize his long friendship with the local doctor, Michaelis. Characters from the last two books are drawn back into the story and the shadow of the elusive stranger, Sergeii, is cast over them all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jill Castelo
• Release date: Jul 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223246510

Jill Castelo

Jill Castelo has spent the last 25 years living on water. She has lived on a narrowboat in the UK and more recently on a vintage motor sailer in Greece.  

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Dr. Michaelis Papadopolous closed the door of his surgery for the evening. He felt tired. Even the coolness of the evening breeze after the heat of the early Greek summer’s day didn’t bring him relief. His home was just behind the surgery and he was accustomed to taking a short walk to the seashore before going inside to see the children. He was ever thankful to local woman, Sophia Dimitriadis, for looking after them so competently. He trusted her completely. The evening stroll usually helped him shake off the stresses of the day before he changed roles from Doctor to father but not today.

The sun had just begun to set, erupting in a blaze of gold and rose behind the mountain. The faint outline of a new moon was just distinguishable as the light faded. Swallows darted back and forth over the water looking for a last snack before bed time. Michaelis sat down on his favourite rock deep in thought. Today was his late wife’s birthday and it seemed to have been hanging over him all day like a sea fret. She would have been 42 years old. He wondered how they would have chosen to celebrate it?  He always pictured her against the backdrop of their home in Athens where they had lived before her untimely death. It was only afterwards, while still in deep mourning, he had moved back to his family village with the children. His last memories of her would always be frozen at the age of 38, the year she had got the diagnosis. Breast cancer and there was he, a doctor, unable to do anything to protect her from her fate. He pictured the restaurant they would have chosen for the occasion, the friends they would have invited. His wife would have looked radiant in the olive green dress he had always loved as it set off her elegant figure, thick dark hair, and the smoothness of her skin. She was never conventionally pretty but cool and regal looking contradicted by her frequent earthy laugh. Many of their friends from this time had faded away rather than vanished. He lived a very different life here.

A one legged seagull squawked shrilly among the rocks nearby and the sight of it jerked him back into the present. Sophia would be waiting to serve the evening meal. He would eat it with the children then enjoy talking, playing and reading with them before showers and bed. He always loved his time with Theo and Antigone but they were growing fast, already 7 and 9 years old.  Their routine was precious and usually comforting but tonight it felt like a burden. A yearning for what might have been had filled him with an inexplicable restlessness.

He sighed and turned away from the sea towards his house. An old man, Spiros Makris, shouted a greeting as he peddled past on his bike with two bags of fish in blue plastic bags on his handlebars. Then he stopped and turned back abruptly handing one to the doctor. Michaelis knew better than to refuse. Offering his thanks he resumed the calm, friendly demeanor people associated him with and continued to maintain it as he entered his home.

CHAPTER 2

Vassilis sat in the restaurant among the debris of the family lunch. Several tables had been pushed together and his family chatted in a relaxed way their chairs pulled back so they could circulate. Children ran between the adults and mothers wandered after toddlers chasing scavenging cats scooping them up if they strayed too far. He watched his son absorbed on the phone playing some internet game with his friend and tried to suppress a flash of irritation. He would never understand this mania for staring at screens. Men who worked on fishing boats around the harbour greeted him as they passed. He knew it was more than mere friendliness, everyone wanted to stay on good terms with the port policeman. His wife, Katerina, walked over and asked if they should order ice creams as desserts for the kids. She loved these gatherings, their expanding family and the white haired grandparents mingling with the next generation, her husband sitting at the head of the table. She was proud of his status in the little port of Artemesis but she hadn’t married him for that. When they’d met he’d been in a secure but lowly position.

Vassilis sometimes had to blink himself to realize how far he’d come. He just wished his mother was still alive to see it. He consented to the ice creams as it felt like a