An Aegean Prophecy: A Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis Mystery: Book 3

by Jeffrey Siger

‘Oh you sweet talker, you. If only—’ she jumped. ‘Whoa, baby’s really kicking, guess the little one wants out.’

  ‘Is it time?’ There was alarm in Andreas’ voice.

  ‘No, I’ve been getting soccer-style kicks for the last few days. The little bugger just wants to let us know there’s someone in there.’

  He kissed her on the forehead. ‘You’re going to make a great mother.’

  Lila smiled. ‘I’d also make a terrific wife.’

  Andreas froze. She’d never said it directly before, though she’d hinted at it many times. He didn’t know what to say so he let the moment pass. He knew she wouldn’t push it. Why should she? She could have any man in the world she wanted. Once the baby was born and Lila faced the reality of what her life would be like with him, she’d come to her senses and move on. It was just her maternal hormones talking now. Andreas was certain of that. How could it be otherwise?

  Lila rolled over and pressed the intercom. ‘Marietta, could you please pick up the tray? Thank you.’ She rolled back over and faced Andreas. ‘So, my man, what would you like to do today?’

  ‘This works just fine for me.’

  She patted his chest. ‘Not really.’ There was a knock on the door. ‘Come in.’

  The maid entered and started gathering up the plates and cups. ‘Mr Kaldis, your office would like you to call as soon as you have the opportunity.’

  ‘I guess that answers what you’ll be doing today.’

  ‘Not a chance. Today, I stay home.’ He picked up the phone, ‘I just have to call Maggie,’ and dialed. ‘Morning.’

  ‘Hello, next-to-last-paragraph star.’

  ‘Glad to see my glamorous life hasn’t affected your view of me.’

  ‘But you’re all over TV. Well, sort of. You’re getting promin ent mention under the code name “key personnel,” as in, “the minister was assisted in his operation by key personnel of the police and military.”’

  ‘What else is new?’

  ‘As a matter of fact, you have a call from that guy you met on Patmos.’

  ‘What guy?’

  ‘The ex-spook, Dimitri.’

  ‘What did he want?’

  ‘Wouldn’t say, but said it was very important, something some farmer wants you to have. He left me his number.’

  Andreas was tempted to say don’t bother. ‘What is it?’

  She said the number and hung up.

  He looked at Lila. ‘Just one more call.’

  ‘Sure.’ Her voice was flat.

  He dialed and waited. Then heard the unmistakable voice of a salesman. ‘Hello, Dimitri here.’

  ‘Hi, I understand you’re looking for me.’

  ‘Sorry to bother you, Chief, but I have something for you from that farmer you saved. Or rather your minister rescued.’ He laughed. ‘Bureaucrats are all the same.’

  Andreas was not about to discuss his boss on a public phone. ‘The farmer and his family have been more than kind. Thank them, please, but I really don’t need any more of their food.’

  ‘It’s not food. But something I’m pretty sure you’ll want to chew on. Is this line safe?’

  Jokes and drama, this guy knew how to sell, thought Andreas. ‘Yes, but is yours?’

  ‘Yep, I’m talking from an old friend’s office.’

  Then I’d better be real careful with what I say, Andreas thought.

  ‘In all that excitement the farmer’s hens got out and started laying eggs everywhere. After you left, the little girl was looking for the eggs and found something hidden under empty feedbags in the shed where the three men had been working. Her grandfather called me. He thought it might be something you’d be interested in seeing.’

  ‘How did he know to call you?’

  ‘Because I’d told him I was the one who sent you in the first place. You think I was going to let your minister take all the credit? Besides, it might get me a better price on eggs.’ He laughed.

  Andreas shook his head. Always an angle with this guy. ‘Well, just send it on to my office.’

  ‘Better yet, I’ll drop it off.’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Just got into Athens this morning. Spending today and Good Friday with my sister.’

  ‘No need to rush. I won’t be in today.’

  ‘Yes, you will.’

  ‘Don’t bet on it.’

  Dimitri laughed. ‘Let’s put it this way. I wouldn’t wager anything you really care about.’

  Andreas wanted this to end. It was old news. ‘Okay, what did the little girl find?’ He waved his hand in the air to Lila, as if to say, I want this guy to get off the phone already.

  ‘A laptop computer and a pile of disks. I didn’t look at them, but I have a hunch you’ll want to.’

  Andreas didn’t respond.

  ‘Hello, did you hear what I said?’

  This is old news. I don’t want to know what’s on Vassilis’ computer. ‘What time can you have them in my office?’

  Lila rolled over and got out of bed.

  Holy Thursday’s morning Ceremony of the Basin was a powerful moment in Zacharias’ monastery. The abbot played the part of Christ washing his disciples’ feet after the Last Supper, but the monks cast in those roles knew better than to view this as anything but a brief, ceremonial exercise by the autocrat who ruled within these walls.

  Zacharias had been through more than a decade of these ceremonies. He watched the abbot move along the row of bare feet. Amazing how much he’d aged. He was very lucky I came along when I did. He needed me. Someone had to organize this place and speak enough different languages to communicate with the world beyond these walls. Still, the abbot never would have taken me in if I’d not sworn to reject all my worldly possessions – and turn them over to his monastery. To Zacharias that just proved anyone could find a place in the world, assuming of course you had the price of admission, which in his case was a very expensive ticket.

  The abbot was about to wash Zacharias’ feet. How fitting he’s doing this, Zacharias thought. After all I’ve done for him without taking a bit of credit … or a euro or a dollar or a ruble. But then again, that’s our arrangement, the same as I have with all I’ve helped rise to power in our monasteries. I get them what they want without seeking anything for myself, except of course, their friendship and access to them whenever I want. What more do I need of money? I have all I’ll ever require in life safely away in Swiss bank accounts. The vast wealth of the Ecumenical Patriarch shall serve another purpose, for with it will come the earthly power to bring much needed order to the world, once he is on our Holy Mountain … and under my guidance.

  Zacharias smiled.

  The abbot noticed the smile and smiled back, as if reflecting on their past together.

  Oh, yes, Your Holiness, I remember our first ceremony together, thought Zacharias. I was the youngest, and that meant I played a special role. I was your Judas.

  Lila didn’t act upset when Andreas said he had to go to the office ‘just for an hour or so.’ She said she’d call her mother and they’d spend the afternoon doing ‘baby things.’ Still, somehow he felt he’d screwed up. Big time.

  Dimitri had dropped off the computer and disks as promised, together with a handwritten note:

  I have no idea what’s on this and don’t want to know. Promise. D.

  A likely story, thought Andreas. Maggie had left Dimitri’s note on his desk together with a typed one of her own:

  OUT FOR A BIT. THE COMPUTER GURU IS LOOKING AT EVERYTHING. WHEN YOU WANT HIM, CALL HIM. YIANNI CALLED TO CHECK IN. I TOLD HIM ABOUT THE COMPUTER AND THAT YOU SAID, ‘STAY ON HOLIDAY, THAT’S AN ORDER.’

  There was a tiny word at the very end of the note he couldn’t make out.

  Andreas shook his head and talked to himself as he rummaged through his middle desk drawer looking for a magnifying glass. ‘I didn’t tell her that, but yes, that’s what I would have said. Still, she can’t go around doing that sort of thing without checking with me first. I’ll have
to speak to her. I run this office, not Maggie. Great, now I’ll have the other woman in my life pissed at me.’ He found the glass and stared at Maggie’s note. The word was ‘Over.’ He read the other side of the note.

  HE DIDN’T BELIEVE ME. SAID YOU’D NEVER BE THAT CONSIDERATE AND YOU SHOULD CALL HIM IF YOU WANT HIM TO COME BACK.

  Andreas laughed. He picked up the phone, called the computer guru, and told him to come up and show him what he’d found so far. Then he hung up and laughed some more.

  He looked again at Dimitri’s note. A phrase caught his eye: ‘and don’t want to know.’ He ran the thought through his mind. Maybe he really meant that. Curiosity can be a curse, and there’s a certain comfort in ignorance of facts you do not need to know in order to live out your life in peace. Especially those facts almost impossible for you to change, like the number of people in the world who die each year in freak accidents. Or whatever can of worms might be on Vassilis’ computer.

  The intercom buzzed. ‘Hi, I’m back. Ilias is here.’

  ‘Who’s Ilias?’

  Maggie whispered, ‘The computer guru.’

  He paused for an instant. ‘Send him in.’ I’m too damn curious for my own good.

  Ilias said there was a lot of information on Vassilis’ computer, even more on the disks stolen from the monk’s room, but without knowing exactly what Andreas was interested in, it was ‘needle in a haystack time.’ Still, he’d narrowed things down, or at least hoped he had by focusing on what Vassilis was working on in the thirty days before his death. ‘I’m not sure if what I’ve come up with helps, since I don’t know what you’re looking for.’

  ‘Any luck on finding sources for the images used to doctor the photograph we took off the USB drive?’

  ‘All but one.’

  ‘Which one?’

  ‘The carpet. The faces were lifted from group photographs stored on the computer’s hard drive, the painting was a recent download from a museum site on the Internet, so was the photo used for the empty chairs, but the carpet …’ He shook his head. ‘I found the image of the carpet on the hard drive, but no idea of its source. It could be buried on one of the disks or lifted from something online. Can you give me some help?’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Keywords. I can use them to search the files.’

  ‘Revelation.’

  Ilias keyed it in. ‘Looks like a zillion hits.’

  Of course, thought Andreas. He’s a scholar monk living on Patmos. ‘Can you limit it just to file names?’

  ‘Sure,’ and with a few keystrokes Ilias brought up a hundred entries.

  Andreas read the list. Nothing recent, and nothing interesting. ‘Try Russia, but only recent entries.’

  That brought up a lot of newspaper articles, but nothing earth-shattering. He told him to try Mount Athos. That got him what he expected, more newspaper articles but nothing more than what everyone already knew.

  Andreas kept suggesting keywords, but none led to anything helpful. ‘Okay, I’ve about had it.’ He paused. ‘Try Zacharias.’

  Ilias typed in the word. ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Nothing? How can there be nothing? Try searching for more than just file names.’

  ‘I did, there’s no “Zacharias” anywhere in the computer.’

  Ilias paused. ‘But it’s a biblical name. Someone would have had to intentionally purge every mention of it.’

  Like some do 666, thought Andreas. ‘Let’s check out the disks.’

  There were about fifty. Not a hit anywhere.

  ‘It’s almost like someone’s trying to call attention to the name by its absence,’ said Ilias.

  Andreas had been leaning over Ilias’ back reading off the screen. He patted him on the shoulder. ‘Sure does.’ He walked over to the window and stared up at the sky. Neither man said a word for about a minute. ‘Try “time is at hand” as a file name.’ Andreas spoke without taking his eyes off the sky.

  A few seconds later Ilias said, ‘Nothing.’

  Andreas shook his head. ‘Damn, I was sure there’d be something.’ He turned away from the window. ‘I have another idea, but for luck I’ll type it in myself.’ He walked over to the laptop, typed four words, and hit ENTER.

  The computer came up with a single hit, a file titled, ‘Thief in the night.’

  ‘Bingo,’ Andreas shouted and slapped Ilias on the back so hard the whiz kid almost fell off his chair. ‘Sorry, I’m used to slapping my partner.’

  ‘Lucky him,’ said Ilias, rubbing away at his back.

  ‘So, what do we have?’

  Ilias opened the file. It was a folder containing a dozen different documents, including three lists. One was a list of monks at Zacharias’ monastery, but Zacharias’ name wasn’t on it. Another was a list of newspaper articles, arranged by journalist, accusing the Russians of a hand in the scandal at Mount Athos, and the third listed TV journalists known for sharing those same views on the Mount Athos scandal. Of the remaining documents, all but one were newspaper articles published more than a decade ago, and not in Greek. The last document was a photograph of a monk in his cell, probably from a magazine.

  ‘Maggie, come in here.’

  The door swung open. ‘I wondered when you’d invite me.’

  Andreas pointed to the two lists of journalists on the screen. ‘What do these names mean to you?’ She read the lists and smiled. ‘Officially or unofficially?’

  ‘Maggie!’

  ‘Okay, they’re the best money can buy. If you want a story and are willing to pay for it, you get it. Facts are secondary to these guys.’

  Andreas let out a long breath. Just like the ones who brought down my father, he thought. He pointed to the newspaper articles. ‘Any idea what these are about?’

  Maggie looked and gestured no. ‘They’re foreign, not my area of expertise.’

  ‘Uh, Chief.’

  ‘Yes.’

  Ilias pointed to one. ‘This one’s in German, the others I believe are in Serbian.’

  ‘Can you read them?’

  ‘Not the Serbian, but I think I can make out the German.’ He studied the article for a couple of minutes. ‘It’s German, but from a Swiss paper. It’s about an escaped war criminal who burned to death in a car crash in Switzerland.’

  ‘How was the body identified?’

  ‘From documents on the scene.’

  How convenient they didn’t burn, Andreas thought. ‘Anything else?’

  ‘You’ll need a professional translation for details. My German isn’t that good, and my Serbian is practically nonexistent. But,’ Ilias pointed to the articles in Serbian, ‘one thing I can make out is that all the newspapers mention the guy who died in Switzerland.’

  Andreas nodded. ‘What about the photograph of the monk in his cell?’

  ‘I have an idea.’ Ilias tore through the disks until he found a particular one and popped it into the laptop. It was from a CD collection giving a virtual tour of Mount Athos monasteries. ‘Here.’ He pointed to a photograph. It was the one of the monk in his cell. ‘I thought I saw it before. It’s from that monastery you’re interested in.’

  ‘Damn, you’re good.’

  Ilias jerked forward as if anticipating another congratulatory whack.

  Andreas laughed and high-fived him as they bent to the screen.

  ‘Wait a minute,’ said Andreas. ‘What’s that over there?’ He pointed to a photograph next to the one of the monk’s cell.

  ‘It’s of the library in the same monastery,’ said Ilias.

  ‘Can you make this part bigger?’ Andreas pointed to an area of the floor, and watched the photograph grow.

  ‘My God,’ said Ilias. ‘It’s the carpet.’

  Andreas gave no back slaps, no high-fives, no shouts; he just stared at the screen in silence. When he spoke, he first cleared his throat. ‘Thanks, Ilias, good job. Please print out copies of everything. I sincerely appreciate your help.’

  Ilias nodded and left with the computer. Maggie w
as right behind him. ‘Maggie, please stay.’

  ‘I was afraid you’d say that.’

  Andreas didn’t speak immediately. ‘Are you sure we can trust him?’

  ‘Trust who?’

  ‘Ilias.’

  Maggie smiled. ‘I’m sure. His mother used to work here and always complained to me about her “ungrateful son” who knew “all these secret things” but never gave her any gossip.’

  Andreas nodded. ‘So, we have a list of corruptible journalists accusing the Russians of nastiness around Mount Athos, old newspaper stories about a war criminal apparently incinerated in Switzerland – where Zacharias’ passport was issued – a photograph of a monk in a cell in Zacharias’ monastery, and the mysterious Satan-bearing carpet from the doctored photograph on Vassilis’ flash drive turning up in the same monastery. What do you think Vassilis was trying to tell us?’

  She shrugged.

  ‘Like, “Hello, if you want to know where to find Satan, take a look at this.”’

  ‘That’s somewhat flippant, don’t you think?’

  ‘Frankly, I think the proper way to describe it is “goddamn frightening.”’

  She sighed. ‘Should I call Yianni?’

  ‘No reason to, at least not yet. Let me speak to the Protos first. I want to hear what he has to say about all this.’

  ‘He may be hard to reach. After all, it’s Holy Thursday.’

  ‘Even to learn the whereabouts of Satan?’

  Maggie’s face was serious. ‘Especially so.’ She picked up and waved Dimitri’s note. ‘Sometimes, not knowing is better.’

  15

  For a little less than three more days Zacharias must remain a faceless monk, locked away among more of the same, droning on in endless prayer within the walls of an undistinguished monastery. It would seem the perfect place to lurk unnoticed by the world. But this wasn’t Zacharias’ style. He hated being one of a flock. His preferred form of anonymity involved standing in the shadows of power, silently appreciated by everyone who mattered for his behind-the-scenes contributions to their successes.