Mountains of Dawn

"Malcolm? I'm in France. Cannes." She briefly told him about Edda, but soon discovered that Malcolm already knew of the accident.

"Is Charles with you?"

"No. I think he might be dead."

"Dead?" Malcolm asked. "Did you see him die?"

"No, but when I asked Edda if he was dead, I think she nodded. How is she? Is she going to be all right?"

"Edda is in critical condition. She was shot at close range. Now-" Malcolm paused. "Tell me what happened. Start at the beginning, and leave nothing out."

Tanya sighed, certain Malcolm would be angry. "I was bored and lonely. I packed up my things, and went to the beach around five o'clock. I swam until close to seven, then came back." She waited for Malcolm's reaction.

"The beach! Alone… Never mind, it saved your life. Continue."

Tanya told of finding Edda, and then again of leaving for Cannes. "And that's where I am. Now it's your turn. Tell me what's happening. I want to know why Edda was hurt, and why you said the swim may have saved my life."

Malcolm was silent for a moment. "Tanya, please excuse me. I'm somewhat confused. No one can find Charles, dead or alive. The Italian police received a fax from your house from Charles, saying there were serious problems at the mansion and he was going to fetch you from the villa and leave town. The message seemed incomplete." Malcolm paused. "You never saw Charles? He didn't come to get you?"

"No, haven't seen him since around noon."

"Anything unusual around the villa or the mansion? No strangers in the area?"

"No, nothing. Wait." Tanya paused, thoughtful. "A man came to the villa, earlier. He said he was from the air conditioner's, and wanted to check on the repairs, but the repairman was in last week. The system worked just fine ever since. This was someone different, not the same man who came to do the repairs."

"Had the company been called? Was there another problem?"

"No, not that I know of. Marta's been gone for most of the day, and she never said anything about expecting a repairman."

Malcolm drew a deep breath. "Okay, here's what's happened, according to the local authorities. Your easel was connected to an electrical source. Pressing any one of the keys on the panel would have electrocuted the person who operated it. The police found a transformer with a remote control. It was programmed to trigger the flow of high current from 5:00 pm on, the time you were known to prefer for painting." Again, Malcolm paused and took a deep breath. "Today, for whatever reason, you decided to go swimming. That saved your life. Your guardian angel was pretty busy, it seems to me." He laughed, a laugh that sounded more like a cough, then cleared his throat. "You were lucky to be on the beach. Incredibly lucky."