“Miss me already, my love?”
“This is no time to be funny!”
Andreas held the phone away from his ear so Tassos could hear. “I agree completely, Minister.”
“I want to know why the Tinos matter that was supposed to be closed before your wedding is still listed as open. Just how much longer do you think it will be until foreign headlines start screaming that Greece has declared war on non-Greeks? We’re up to five dead in what is obviously a major tsigani clan war.”
“Are you including in that ‘ tsigani clan war’ the murdered Eastern European hit man in Syntagma and the Pakistani?”
“Of course. This mess has boiled over into tsigani battling foreign criminal elements no different than they are. Frankly, as long as Greeks aren’t involved I don’t give a damn. Let’s just call it the tribal warfare that it is, and keep the Greece-hating foreign press pricks off our backs!”
Andreas knew it would be a waste of time to argue. Spiros was hell bent on fitting a square peg into a round hole. “Sorry. The wedding had me busier than I anticipated and things just got backed up.”
“Allow me to repeat what the Prime Minister personally told me this morning, ‘There is nothing more important than closing this case.’ Nothing.”
Andreas held his hand over the phone and whispered to Tassos, “I sure hope he’s pushing this hard only because he really is scared shitless of the press stirring things up again.”
“Did you hear me, Andreas?”
“Loud and clear.”
“Then what are you doing about it?”
“I’ve already canceled my honeymoon.”
“You what?”
“Well, actually I postponed it. I knew you wanted the matter closed by the wedding and when it wasn’t I felt an obligation to stay and make certain it’s resolved ASAP.”
“Lila must be furious!”
Andreas winked at Tassos. He knew Lila’s potential anger at her new husband was not what alarmed Spiros. The distinguished minister was worried about himself. Lila’s position in Athens society far outranked his own, and incurring Lila’s wrath was not prudent for one who relied on ass-kissing and favors to move on up the social and political ladder.
“Well, she’s not exactly happy but I promised her I’d have it wrapped up by the end of Tis Panagias.”
“August 15th is this weekend,” said Spiros.
“I know, but I’m sure by the time the holiday is over you’ll no longer have to worry about closing the case.”
“Is that a promise?”
“Promise.”
“Good. And my best to Lila.” Spiros hung up.
Andreas stared at the phone. “Because from the way things look now, dear minister, you and I will be too busy looking for a new line of work.”
Tassos smiled and gave the thumbs-up sign. “Nicely handled. But what are Yianni and I going to do?”
“You, I’m not worried about. You’d find some way to keep your job even if the Turks took over. As for Yianni, he’ll probably follow the rest of his generation and take the advice of that American cowboy who said, ‘Go west, young man.’”
“It wasn’t a cowboy. It was a newspaper man named Greeley.”
“Whatever.” Andreas put the phone in his pocket. “But for now, I just want to go outside for some fresh air.”
They went out onto the starboard upper deck. The boat was about a mile or so from the harbor and close enough to shore that whether they looked right or left all they saw over a slice of bright blue water was land and Mount Tsiknias looming off to the northeast. It was Tinos’ highest mountain, but not its most famous. That title belonged to Xobourgo, a soaring granite height, faced with sheer cliffs on three sides, that sat due north of the port. From pre-historic times the island’s inhabitants flocked to Xobourgo for protection from all sorts of invaders, and when control over Tinos fell to Venice in 1204 it became the island’s fortified heart for five hundred years of Venetian rule.
“What’s that?” said Andreas. He pointed at a conical, dirt and stone brown mound laced with ancient looking stonewalls. The mound looked more than twice as high as the ferry and came up to the very edge of the water as if standing on the rocks. “It looks like an alien spaceship.”
A crewmember smoking a cigarette nearby said, “Everyone asks the same question. It’s the Vriokastro.”
“The what?” said Andreas.
“A prehistoric acropolis going back to Mycenaean times, maybe even earlier,” said Tassos.
“That’s almost four thousand years ago,” said the crewman.
“Give or take a thousand,” smiled Tassos.
“And before you ask,” said the crewman, “it’s two-hundred thirty feet high and covers twenty-two acres.”
“How come no one’s built on it? Looks to be prime real estate to me.” Andreas pointed to the right. “And they’re building next to it.”
“It’s a protected, national historic site,” said Tassos.
“As if that matters any more these days,” said the crewman. “Next week we’ll be selling it to the Chinese.” He flicked his cigarette into the sea. “Got to go, guys. We’re almost in port. Enjoy your time on Tinos, the island of miracles.”
From his mouth to God’s ears, thought Andreas.
Kouros got a lucky break. Or rather, Maggie earned it for him. She’d put the photographs from the surveillance tapes of the two Greek prostitutes who’d last been seen with the tsigani brothers out on Greece’s “Do you know this person” law enforcement hotline and came up bingo! One of them had just been arrested and was sitting in Kordydallos prison.
“What’s she doing in there?” said Kouros. “Isn’t Kordydallos a bit much for hookers?”
Maggie said, “She crossed the wrong customer when she pocketed his watch as a bonus for her services.”
“That still doesn’t seem to qualify her for Kordydallos time.”
“It was a five-hundred thousand euro Patek Philippe,” said Maggie. “And yes, I said the same thing, ‘ five-hundred thousand euros for a watch! ’”
“I guess I don’t have to ask whether the victim was connected enough to have her put away there.”
“The customer was a very rich Saudi.”
“Then she’s lucky she ended up in jail. It usually ends a lot worse for hookers who screw around with those guys. So to speak.”
Maggie handed Kouros an envelope. “Here’s her file, mister comedian. I’ve told Kordydallos to hold her no matter who shows up to get her out. But you better get right over there, just in case.”
Kouros smiled. “On my way, chief.”
Kordydallos Prison Complex wasn’t very pretty to look at: a walled, multiple square-city-block, gray amalgam of not more than four-story warehouse-like structures crowded around a tiny central patch of green. Although an uneasy place at best, it was most well known to the public for two separate, recent great escapes in a rented helicopter-each time by the same notorious kidnapper/bank robber.
Women were housed separately from the rest of the general inmate population. But that didn’t make life any easier inside for a woman as attractive as Maria Fioropoulou, and from her file she wasn’t one used to the sort of violence she’d find there. Her record was strictly busts for high-end prostitution, starting five years ago when she was sixteen.
Kouros was leaning against a virtually colorless wall in a second floor interrogation room. Maria was standing in front of a square metal table anchored to the floor. She was wearing handcuffs and staring at the floor. Kouros motioned for the officer who’d brought her into the room to remove them.
“I don’t think they’ll be necessary.” Kouros studied her. There were bruises and scratch marks on her face, arms, and legs. “Do you?”
She nodded “no” without lifting her eyes from the floor.
As the handcuffs were removed Kouros walked to a chair across the table from where she stood. He pointed to an empty chair next to her. “Please.”
She
sat down. Her eyes looked everywhere but at Kouros. “Where’s my lawyer?”
Kouros waited until the officer left the room before sitting down. “You won’t need him, this is an unofficial meeting.”
“Nothing with police is ‘unofficial.’”
Kouros nodded. “A wise way to look at things. But just listen to what I have to say. There’s no reason for you to talk if you don’t want to.” He stared at her, but she still wouldn’t make eye contact.
“You’ve made a very powerful enemy. But, of course, I don’t have to tell you that. I’m sure you already know it. Isn’t fate a bummer? Bet you didn’t even know how valuable that watch was when you lifted it. Had it only been a Rolex your boyfriend might not even have missed it.”
She didn’t say a word.
“Yeah, you’re just having one hell of a run of bad luck. I mean you never should have ended up in Kordydallos for just turning tricks. But you did. And if you hadn’t I might never have found you.”
She glanced at his face.
He was smiling. “Like they say, some days you eat the bear and other days the bear eats you. Guess today is just my lucky day.”
“What are you talking about?” She was looking at the tabletop.
“Maria, I know you think you’re in trouble now. But you have no idea the trouble you’re really in.” He paused. “Or, perhaps you do?”
“Like you said, I have ‘no idea’ what you’re talking about.”
“You and a friend of yours are about to stand trial for murder.”
“ What? ” she shrieked, and looked straight at Kouros.
“The two Carausii brothers. You remember them don’t you, from Tinos.”
She looked puzzled. “What about them?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know what happened to them? That would make you the only person in Greece who doesn’t.”
“I don’t read much. Or watch television.”
“Did you hear about the two tsigani incinerated on Tinos?”
“I don’t pay much attention to that sort of thing. It seems to happen all the time.”
“Not really.”
“Are you trying to tie me to two murdered men?”
“Not trying, my love. I have you on tape.” He picked up an envelope from the table, took out a photograph and handed it to her. “It doesn’t really do you justice.”
She stared at the photograph.
“How did you meet them?”
“I want a lawyer.”
“Sure, but I can assure you that with the charges we’ll be filing once your lawyer gets involved, you’ll have plenty of time to make a lot more new friends in here. On the other hand, if you cooperate I can promise to put you somewhere a lot less…how do I say it…exciting.”
Maria stood up. Kouros jumped to his feet, but she held up her hands. “I think better on my feet.” She turned and walked toward the door, shook her head, and turned around to face Kouros.
“My girlfriend got a call from a friend. The friend said she and another girl had a sweet deal lined up involving two tsigani on Tinos and they wanted us to do it instead of them.”
“What sort of deal?”
“To entertain the tsigani for a couple of days.”
“How much did the deal pay?”
“Four thousand euros for each girl. Two thousand up front, two thousand after.”
“That’s a lot of money for just ‘entertaining’ two guys. There had to be something special involved.”
“The job required them to leave immediately for Tinos and the tsigani weren’t expecting them. They’d have to be seduced. But that wouldn’t be a problem. Even if they were gay we could have worked something out.”
Kouros scratched his cheek. “Like I said, ‘there had to be something special involved.’”
Maria walked back to her chair. “The final payment depended on us getting the tsigani hooked on gas.”
“Didn’t that seem kinky to you?”
“Laughing gas? Kinky? If you think that, you have no idea what kinky means.” She sat down.
Kouros hoped he hadn’t blushed. “How’d you get them to do the gas?”
“It wasn’t hard. We told them it gives you better sex than drugs.”
“Where did you get the gas?”
“It was already inside the place the girls told us to stay.”
“That was it? You got high with them and walked away? And for that each of you got four thousand euros? Don’t try hustling me unless you’re in a hurry to get back upstairs.”
Maria bit at her lip. “On the last night we only faked taking gas. We held our breath. Got them to keep doing it until they passed out.”
“Why did you do that?”
“The other girls told us to. They said the instructions were that if we didn’t we wouldn’t get paid.”
“What were you to do after they passed out?”
“Nothing. Just make sure they were out cold and leave them there.”
“Where?”
“At the house where we found the gas. The girls said the place came with the deal.”
“Where was it?”
“No idea. It was some white house out in the middle of nowhere. I had an address for it written on a piece of paper and gave it to a taxi driver in the port. He took us there.”
“How’d you get around?”
“Another taxi driver took us to the bar where we picked up the brothers. I had the address for the bar on the same piece of paper. After that, the brothers took us everywhere on their motorbikes.”
“Got a name for any of the taxi drivers?”
“No.”
“Where’s your girl friend now?”
“No idea.”
Liar, thought Kouros. “Where did you go after the brothers passed out?”
“We took their motorbikes and went to the port. We had tickets on the first boat in the morning to Athens.”
“Why did you take both of the bikes unless you knew the brothers wouldn’t be needing one to get out of ‘the middle of nowhere’?”
“The instructions were to take them both if we wanted to get paid.”
And remove evidence linking the victims to the house. “How did you get the rest of the money?”
“It was left in an envelope at the purser’s office on the boat. We just had to give him the name on the envelope.”
“What was the name?”
“Alexander Ypsilantis.”
Kouros didn’t have to ask who that was. “How did you get the upfront payment?”
“We didn’t. The other girls kept it. The deal was we got to keep the back end money.”
“Which brings up the obvious question, Maria. Why did the other girls decide to pass on the opportunity of making another two thousand euros each?”
“They had a better deal. Some Arabs were taking them on a Mediterranean cruise for a week, all expenses paid. Those guys pay really big.”
“When was that?”
“The day we left for Tinos.”
“Where are they now?”
“Don’t know, haven’t heard from them.”
“That just might make you the lucky one. All you got was arrested.”
Maria shrugged.
“Got a name on who hired your girlfriends for the Tinos job?”
She gestured no.
“Was it a male or a female?”
“No idea.”
“Did whoever hired them know you’d be going instead of them?”
“No, the girls told us the deal would be off if that got out.”
“Why?”
“The person who hired them did not want Greek girls involved.”
“Your friends weren’t Greek?”
She gestured no. “Ukrainian.”
“Names please.”
She gave them.
“Anything else?”
She swallowed hard. “Yes, you promised not to send me back upstairs.”
Kouros nodded. “A deal is a deal. I’ll get
you transferred.”
Maria’s eyes welled up with tears. “Thank you.”
Chapter Nineteen
“I tell you, Chief, if she wasn’t telling the truth she deserves an Academy Award. I don’t think she had a clue about what was going on, or even who Ypsilantis was.”
“At least it explains why Greeks suddenly ended up in the middle of this mess. The hookers who took the Carausii brothers away from the Polish girls were supposed be metanastes,” said Andreas. “And it’s making Lila’s theory on Filiki Eteria look pretty good. Either that, or someone has a freaky, coincidental sense of humor.”
Alexander Ypsilantis was the leader of Filiki Eteria at the start of Greece’s War of Independence in 1821.
“It also means another dead end,” said Kouros.
“Maybe. But get over here on the next boat. I want you running down those taxi drivers. Maybe you’ll get lucky again.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“And tell Maggie to see what she can come up with on the two Ukrainian hookers who were supposed to be on Tinos instead of the Greeks. See you this afternoon. Bye.”
Andreas put his cell phone down on the table and picked up his coffee. “Did you hear?”
Tassos nodded. “I wouldn’t bet on finding those two Ukrainian girls before August 15th. If they’re still breathing its probably under a lot of different guys. You’d think they’d know better than to go off on a ship with strange johns. Foreign ones no less.”
They were sitting in a taverna at the foot of Megalochari Avenue, across from where pilgrims began their long crawl up the hill to the Church of Panagia Evangelistria.
“Any luck with your local cop buddies finding those two Polish women I spoke to in the metanastes bar?” said Andreas.
“No word yet. They know where the girls live, but if they’re not at home it’s anyone’s guess where they are. We might have to try catching up with them at the bar.”
Andreas pushed back from the table. “Let’s take a walk up the hill. Maybe we’ll find some inspiration there.”
“I haven’t spoken to Eleni about your card.”
“We can do it now,” said Andreas.
“I thought you might be thinking that.”
“Such a good detective. Let’s go.”
Target: Tinos ak-4 Page 17