Pelop’s rival was entangled in the reins and dragged to his death. Pelops drove on to
victory.”
“That’s terrible,” Catherine said. “What did they do to him?”
“That’s really the disgraceful part of the story,” the Count replied. “By now the whole
populace was aware of what Pelops had done. It made him such a big hero that a huge
pediment was raised in his honor at Olympia’s Temple of Zeus. It is still there.” He smiled
wryly. “I’m afraid that our villain prospered and lived happily ever after. As a matter of
fact,” he added, “the whole region south of Corinth is called the Peloponnesus after him.”
“Who said crime doesn’t pay?” marveled Catherine.
Whenever Larry was free, he and Catherine would explore the city together. They
found wonderful shops where they would spend hours haggling over prices, and out-of-
the-way little restaurants that they made their own. Larry was a gay and charming
companion, and Catherine was grateful that she had given up her job in the States to be
with her husband.
Larry Douglas had never been happier in his life. The job with Demiris was the
dream of a lifetime.
The money was good, but Larry was not interested in that. He was interested only in
the magnificent machines he flew. It took him exactly one hour to learn to fly the Hawker
Siddeley and five more flights to master it. Most of the time Larry flew with Paul
Metaxas, Demiris’ happy-go-lucky little Greek copilot. Metaxas had been surprised by the
sudden departure of Ian Whitestone, and he had been apprehensive about Whitestone’s
replacement. He had heard stories about Larry Douglas, and he was not sure he liked what
he heard. Douglas, however, seemed genuinely enthusiastic about his new job and the first
time Metaxas flew with him, he knew that Douglas was a superb pilot.
Little by little Metaxas relaxed his guard and the two men became friends.
Whenever he was not flying, Larry spent time learning every idiosyncrasy of
Demiris’ fleet of planes. Before he was through, he was able to fly them all better than
anyone had ever flown them before.
The variety in his job fascinated Larry. He would fly members of Demiris’ staff on
business trips to Brindisi and Corfu and Rome, or pick up guests and fly them to Demiris’
island for a party or to his chalet in Switzerland for skiing. He became used to flying
people whose photographs he was constantly seeing on the front pages of newspapers and
magazines, and he would regale Catherine with stories about them. He flew the president
of a Balkan country, a British prime minister, an Arabian oil chieftain and his entire
harem. He flew opera singers and a ballet company and the cast of a Broadway play that
was staging a single performance in London for Demiris’ birthday. He piloted Justices of
the Supreme Court, a congressman and a former President of the United States. During the
flights Larry spent most of the time in the cockpit, but from time to time he would wander
back to the cabin to make sure the passengers were comfortable. Sometimes he would hear