‘What’s the matter?’ he asked as soon as she ended the call.
‘Remember that guy, Jem Colyer? The family was going home today and when they were boarding the ferry there was some kind of scuffle. I don’t know if anyone’s been hurt, but the police are there.’
‘You’re going down there?’ Ben didn’t really need to ask.
‘Yes. I don’t know how long I’ll be...’ She flashed him a querying look. Arianna didn’t need to ask either.
‘Is Andreas around?’
‘Yes, he can hold the fort here. He can look after Jonas too, if you want to come.’
Andreas appeared, greeting Jonas like an old friend. Ben waved to his son, telling him he’d be back soon, and then followed Arianna down to the ferry terminus.
They were both breathless when they arrived, and Arianna pushed through
the people who’d been taken off the ferry, stopping at the police tape to speak to a uniformed officer then turning to Ben to relay the gist of their conversation.
‘No one quite knows what caused it all. He was in the bar; apparently someone bumped into Kriss and spilled his drink on her and Eloise. Jem just snapped, and started throwing punches and then grabbed a knife from behind the bar.’
The officer spoke again in Greek and Arianna listened, nodding.
‘Someone pulled Kriss away and got her and Eloise out of there, but Jem’s still in the bar, threatening anyone that comes near him.’
‘He’s got nothing to lose now, has he?’ Kriss seemed to be the stabilising factor in Jem’s life, but now that the police were keeping them apart, he might do anything.
Arianna shook her head. ‘No, he hasn’t. The police are hoping that Kriss may be able to talk him down a bit, but there’s no way they’ll let her back in there while he has a knife. There aren’t too many good options left, Ben. Someone’s going to get hurt.’
‘We need to get in there. At least we have some idea of what’s driving him.’
Arianna nodded. ‘I agree. The police will escort me on, and I’ll—’
‘You’re not going to do anything. I’m coming with you.’
She seemed about to argue with him, but then she flashed him a tight smile. ‘I don’t know why I even bothered to think you might not.’
They were given vests to wear, and a young policewoman checked that they were fitted properly then led them up the gangway and onto the ferry. It looked as if every policeman on the island had congregated on deck, but that still might not be enough to contain Jem without hurting him, particularly if he was in an uncontrollable rage.
He saw Kriss, holding Eloise. They were out of Jem’s line of sight from the windows of the bar, sitting with a policewoman. The usual bustle and chatter of the ferry had given way to an almost eerie quiet. Arianna walked straight towards the officer in charge, talking to him briefly before coming back to Ben.
‘I told him that we’ve dealt with Kriss and Jem before. He seems to think that we might have a better chance of getting through to him, he may see us as being on his side a little more than the police.’
Ben nodded. That made sense, but there was one thing he definitely wouldn’t allow. ‘I’ll try to talk to him. I want you to stay back.’
Arianna flushed a little. ‘I don’t need to tell you that this is my practice, do I?’
‘No, you don’t. And I don’t need to tell you that if Jem loses it completely I’ve got a better chance of fending him off than you do.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t like it.’
‘No, I know you don’t. But if you could think of a reason why it shouldn’t be me, you would have told me by now.’ He didn’t give Arianna the chance to reply, because there was always the possibility that she might get creative and come up with something. ‘We should speak with Kriss first.’
She nodded, and Ben walked over to where Kriss was sitting. She was holding it together, no bewildered tears, just a grim look on her face.
‘Talk to me, Kriss.’ He sat down beside her.
‘There’s nothing you don’t know already. Jem doesn’t mean it. I told them that if they backed off and left him alone...’
‘They can’t, Kriss. He has a knife. The officer told us that it all started when someone spilled a drink.’