Murder in Mykonos ak-1

by Jeffrey Siger

  14

  Tassos was pacing in front of the arrivals entrance when Andreas pulled up beside him. He opened the cruiser's front door and dropped himself onto the seat. 'I can't believe this.'

  Andreas didn't respond, just drove out of the airport and past the police station.

  Tassos looked back at the station. 'Where are we going?'

  'There's nobody to question in there, so I thought we'd take a ride out to Ano Mera to check out Panos' little mushroom mine and then see if we can find that artist Daly. Besides, we can talk just as well in the car as in my office.' Andreas was in an even fouler mood than Tassos.

  'It looks like we fucked up big-time,' Tassos said, letting out a breath.

  'And it's probably going to cost another woman her life.' Andreas sounded angry at himself.

  'Any ideas?'

  'I'd like to pull the covers over my head and say "Go away, bad dream, go away."'

  'Now, there's an idea I can relate to.' Tassos grinned and gave a quick, hard left jab to Andreas' right shoulder. The car swerved into the path of a very panicked-looking couple coming at them on a rental motorbike.

  Andreas jerked the wheel clockwise with his left hand to pull the car back to his side of the road and put up his right to block any further punches. 'Hey, take it easy. I don't need more dead tourists.' He was smiling.

  'Like I said, any ideas?'

  Andreas glanced at Tassos' fists. 'Okay, okay, are we done with the shock treatments?'

  Tassos smiled back at him. 'For the time being.'

  'So, why did he go after the Vanden Haag woman a month after he killed Vandrew? It breaks the pattern of one a year.'

  Tassos sighed. 'I'm afraid it doesn't. One of the victims we think we just identified disappeared a month after we found the Scandinavian linked to the Irishman. Looks like he killed again — to replace the one we found. He must have put the Scandinavian where we'd be sure to find her once he thought our search might get to a church where some of his other victims were buried.'

  'And now he's replacing Vandrew.' Andreas' voice was rising.

  'Or one of the sixteen others.' Tassos said it without emotion.

  'My God, do you think he'll try to replace them all?'

  They were silent for a few moments, then Tassos said, 'Why do you think they're all blond, tall non-Greeks?'

  Andreas shook his head. 'I don't know, but he's obsessed with the look. Must tie in to someone from his past: a mother, sister, wife, relative, friend — maybe even a movie star or model.' He reached for a cigarette in his shirt pocket. 'One thing's for sure; he knows how the system works here because, except for this one, every victim he's chosen traveled alone, was a foreigner without local friends, and spoke no Greek.' He found a cigarette, and Tassos reached across and lit it for him.

  'Yeah, just the sort of invisible, transient tourist no one looks very hard to find on Mykonos.'

  Andreas drew in and let out a puff. 'He sure screwed up this time.'

  Tassos tried to sound a bit more upbeat. 'Maybe he didn't take her. It makes no sense for him — after twenty years — to change his choice of victims.'

  'Unless he didn't know who he was snatching.' Andreas was back in his foul mood.

  'You know what that means,' Tassos said flatly.

  'If he realizes his mistake she's probably dead on the spot. No church burial, just a toss in the sea.'

  Tassos nodded. 'How much time do you think we have?'

  'I wish I knew. There's a key here somewhere. Must be.' He turned left onto the road toward Panos' farm. Now that he knew the way, it took only five minutes to get there. This time he drove right up to the mine entrance.

  'Here we are,' said Andreas.

  'I suggest we bring a shotgun,' said Tassos.

  'Good idea. I'll get it out of the trunk.'

  Tassos walked to the entrance and shone his flashlight inside. 'Never liked mines.'

  'Think of it as a mushroom farm,' said Andreas, coming up behind him. 'Don't worry, I'm right behind you.' He gave Tassos a gentle prod in his backside with the butt of the shotgun.

  Tassos gave a quick, one-finger fuck-you response, then carefully stepped inside. About fifteen feet from the entrance, the tunnel made a sharp right into total darkness. Tassos aimed his flashlight up-ahead. Not only was it pitch-black, it was cramped and a mess.

  'You'd think the guy would clean up some of this shit,' said Tassos. 'Just so he wouldn't trip over it.'

  'I don't think cleanliness is one of his virtues,' said Andreas, shining his light along the base of the wall. 'Well, here are his mushrooms.'

  'I'm not sure I'd want any of those in my salad,' said Tassos, directing his own light along the wall. 'They look like the "let's take a trip back to the sixties" kind.'

  'Doesn't surprise me.'

  They walked another twenty feet or so, to a point where the tunnel turned left. Andreas' shotgun went around the corner first. Just in case.

  'My oh my,' said Tassos. 'What do we have here?'

  'Looks like our buddy likes to play with chemistry sets,' said Andreas.

  'A crystal-meth lab. Son of a bitch.'

  They did a quick search of the rest of the tunnel. It ended about thirty feet from the lab at a cave-in. 'Dead end,' said Tassos.

  'But we have a possible source for the meth in the bodies.'

  Tassos nodded. 'Yes, but even if it was meth from this place, it doesn't mean Panos killed them — or even gave it to them. We've always known he was into this shit. It's no surprise.'

  'Christ, you're a downer. Fine, maybe it's not enough to get him on the murders, but we've got him nailed on the drugs.'

  Tassos shrugged. 'You know, now that you mention it, I don't see any roofies here.'

  Andreas nodded. Roofies, the date-rape crowd's street name for the prescription drug Rohypnol, would be a much more damning find. They continued to look everywhere but found nothing more than methamphetamine.

  'I don't understand this,' said Andreas. 'You said he uses Rohypnol on women at his bar, so why the meth?'

  'Meth's the drug of choice for a cheap way to a long-lasting sexual rush. He probably supplies it in return for a bit of the action. Doubt he uses the stuff himself, though. Once the excitement's passed you crash into an intensely deep sleep. He's too busy during the tourist season to sleep that much.'

  'But why meth in the victims' bodies?'

  'I don't know, maybe the killer wants to keep them deeply asleep or sexually aroused.'

  'Hard to imagine how he'd get a terrorized girl to do the meth or — even if he could — how it'd get her aroused.'

  'If she was out on Rohypnol — like our friend here uses — he could shoot her up with meth while she was under and have her right where he wanted her.'

  Andreas looked disgusted. 'Bastard sure knows his drugs. That would explain why the only traces found in the victims were methamphetamine. The Rohypnol wouldn't show up — it passes through the victim's system too fast.'

  Tassos moved his light along the base of the wall. 'Who knows, maybe he adds a bit of mushrooms, too.'

  Andreas waved toward the entrance. 'Let's get back to the car and call for someone to watch this shit-hole until forensics gets here.' Andreas made his call and began driving back to the main road. 'Do you still want to look for the artist?' asked Tassos.

  'It beats banging my head against my desk trying to figure out what all this means.'

  Andreas made a left onto the main road and turned left again just beyond the gas station in Ano Mera. It was another narrow dirt-and-gravel road winding north through old, scratched-out farms. He lit another cigarette.

  'They all were found in the same four churches. That must mean something,' said Tassos.

  'But what do they have in common? All four were kept up by Father Paul, but he took care of four others with no bodies.' Andreas looked for the road Panos had described. 'And the bodies were found in churches named after male as well as female saints.'

  Tassos said
, 'What do Saints Kiriake, Marina, Fanourios, and Calliope have in common that makes them so different for our killer from Saints Barbara, Nicholas, Phillipos, and Spyridon?' He shook his head. 'I think we need a priest.'

  'Right now I'm looking for an artist.' Andreas tossed his cigarette out the window and turned right onto a dirt road leading to a two-story, white house with blue trim that sat just below a hillside church with a blue roof.

  'Must be to Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors,' said Tassos. 'They're the only churches with blue roofs.'

  Andreas parked next to an SUV by the front of the house. They walked to the door and knocked. No one answered. They called out again, but still no answer. Andreas tried the door. It was unlocked. He pushed it open and called out again, 'Hello, anybody home? Hello.'

  They looked at each other and walked inside. They'd explain later. The front room was neatly furnished and clean. Everything seemed to be right in its place. They walked into the kitchen and found it just as neat. They went upstairs and Andreas once more said, 'Hello, anybody home?'

  There were two rooms and a bathroom upstairs. They looked in the rear bedroom first. Not a thing out of place. A photograph in a silver frame sat on the nightstand next to the bed. It was of two blond and smiling children, a boy and a girl. The other room faced south and was bathed in light. It had to be his studio. What looked like finished paintings stood lined up against the wall closest to the door. Unfinished paintings were everywhere else, all neatly arranged according to their relative stages of completion.

  'Looks pretty normal to me,' said Tassos.

  'Me, too,' said Andreas. 'And I recognize his stuff. He is famous.'

  Tassos walked over to the line of finished paintings and began looking through them.

  Andreas was standing in the middle of the room looking at all the unfinished works. 'Tassos, do you notice something about his paintings? Something every piece seems to have.' His voice was excited.

  Tassos kept looking through the finished ones. 'No, what?'

  'Turn around. I'll show you.'

  Tassos turned and watched as Andreas pointed to every visible canvas. 'Look there, there, there and there. They all have the same thing.'

  Andreas walked over to the finished paintings and Tassos moved aside so he could get to them. Andreas scanned them quickly, then looked up and stared in disbelief at Tassos. 'My God, there's at least one in each of his paintings — a tall, blond, naked nymph.' As if crazed, Andreas had them search every drawer, every corner, every inch of the house. They found absolutely nothing incriminating. Not even a pornographic magazine or drug harsher than Advil.

  Dejected, Andreas and Tassos were sitting on the wall outside the house smoking when the call came through from the station. Manny had shown up, and Kouros wanted to know what to do with him.

  'Hold him!' Andreas shouted, then calmed his voice. 'Until I get there.'

  He looked at Tassos. 'I thought we had our killer.'

  'Yeah, but when you think about it, the only thing that made it seem that way was his paintings.'

  'You mean the only thing so far.' Andreas was ornery.

  Tassos shrugged. 'So, let's find him and talk to him.'

  Andreas picked up a stone. 'Yeah, but we can't fuck around with him. He's a famous American artist. All we can do is talk.' He threw the stone and stared after it. 'For now.'

  Tassos nodded.

  'It seems too much of a coincidence that all the victims are tall blonds and all his paintings have tall blonds,' Andreas said.

  'Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way,' said Tassos. 'What if the killer knows this guy's work? After all, he's been painting on Mykonos longer than the killer's been doing his thing here — and that's why he's going after tall blonds?'

  Andreas picked up on Tassos' thought. 'Yeah, maybe he's a fan of the artist or someone inspired by his paintings, or maybe it's somebody who hates the artist and is trying to assassinate his nymphs.' He was seriously caught up in his thoughts.

  Tassos rolled his eyes. 'I get your point, but do me a favor, don't tell anybody else we're looking for a nymph assassin.'

  Andreas let out a quick laugh and looked back at Tassos. 'I guess he's not coming back.'

  'Probably at the beach, like every other self-respecting tourist. Let's take a look in the church.' Tassos stood up.

  They walked up the hill to the church. It was relatively new as churches went and, like the house, was neat and well maintained from the outside. The front door was locked and the side windows were shuttered and latched from the inside. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. Rather than breaking into the church, they decided to head back to the station and talk to Manny the taxi driver.

  It seemed the right decision at the time. The first thing Andreas did when he returned to the station was check to see if the deputy minister had called. He hadn't and Andreas wasn't going to call him. He was prepared to put his head in the guillotine by telling all, but he wasn't about to chase down his executioner. Until the blade fell, Andreas intended to do exactly as the deputy minister's office said — find his missing niece 'right away.' Spiros Renatis loved his sister. He also loved his niece. What he didn't love — but had learned to live with — were the bureaucracy and favor traders plaguing his ministry. Although telling a local police chief to drop everything to find his niece didn't approach the sort of abuse of power that bothered him, asking this particular police chief that favor was about the last thing in the world he wanted to do. He knew all about Andreas' unwanted 'promotion' to Mykonos for pushing an investigation too close to the powers that be — and Andreas' rumored anger at being booted out of Athens for being too good at his job. He also knew the police legend about what happened to the deputy minister who assassinated his father's reputation. Regardless of how much any of that was true, he didn't want to do anything that might draw him into a potential mess — such as speak with Andreas. That's why he had his secretary make the call.

  He knew he'd made the right decision when his secretary told him Andreas insisted he call back at once on a critically important matter too personal to describe to her. He was certain it tied in to Andreas' efforts to get back to Athens. My God, he thought, who knows what information he intends to tell me that I don't want to know? He left instructions with his secretary that she was only to take messages from Chief Kaldis and never — under any circumstances — put him through. With Tassos in the room Manny was even calmer and more cooperative than before. He acted as if in the company of a beloved uncle — until Andreas showed him Annika's photograph. 'Ever see her before?'

  Manny's eyes seemed to double in size. He said nothing.

  'Manny, do you recognize her?' asked Tassos.

  Still silence.

  Tassos tried again. 'Manny, what's wrong? Do you recognize her? Tell us, it's important.'

  'I want to see Katerina.'

  Katerina was Mykonos' number one criminal defense lawyer. Andreas was caught off-guard and looked at Tassos. His face looked just as surprised. Andreas spoke softly. 'Manny, this is serious, but if you want us to help you you'll have to help us.'

  No answer.

  Tassos spoke affectionately, in a fatherly tone. 'Manny, we've been through a lot together, and I've always been straight with you. You have to trust me now and tell me what you know about her before whatever trouble you're in gets worse.'

  Manny looked at Tassos with tears in his eyes. 'I want to speak to Katerina.'

  Andreas wanted to hit him but knew Tassos wouldn't let him. 'Put him in a cell and get Katerina over here now,' he barked to Kouros.

  'She might be in Syros. It's a court day. What do I tell her?' asked Kouros.

  Tassos answered. 'If she's in Syros, I'll get her back here by helicopter. If she's in Athens, I'll get her back by air force jet. If she's in one of her boyfriends' beds, I'll drag her here myself. Just find her and tell her that I — and the Chief — want her ass in here now! Or else!'

  Andreas presumed she'd know what 'or
else' meant, coming from Tassos.

  The instant Kouros left the office Tassos banged his fist on Andreas' desk. 'Damn, I'd have sworn on my mother's soul Manny wasn't our killer. I just don't understand this.' He banged his fist again.

  Andreas shook his head. 'It doesn't make much sense to me either. I don't see a killer with the balls to walk in here on his own — after snatching, maybe even killing, another one — falling apart when he's shown her photograph. For sure he knows her, but if he's our guy…' His voice trailed off.

  Tassos dropped into his chair. 'That means someone else has her. Any word on the others?'

  'Kouros, get in here!' Andreas yelled.

  Thirty seconds later, Kouros appeared. 'Sorry, Chief, I was on the phone with Katerina. She's on the fast boat from Syros. Gets in at five. She'll be here as soon as she's off the boat.'

  Andreas looked at his watch. Five was only twenty minutes from now. 'Good. Any news on that other cabdriver, the one who picked up Vandrew at the taxi stand?'

  Kouros pulled a notebook out of his back pocket. 'According to his log he picked her and three other passengers up at 1:55 in the morning at the taxi stand, dropped her off at the square in Ano Mera at 2:10, and the other three at 2:20 at the Mykonian Regal Hotel on Elia Beach. He said he remembered her because she sat in the front seat and was very tall and pretty. He wanted to talk to her but she was on her cell phone when she got into his taxi and didn't get off until just before she got out.'

  Andreas interrupted him. 'Did he have any idea who she was talking to?'

  Kouros nodded no. 'She was speaking English and he doesn't understand it very well, but from the way she was talking he's pretty sure she was agreeing to meet a man.'

  'Meet where?' Tassos asked.