I told him my name as a formality but he was absorbed in Datsun’s new model and paid no attention to me.
Ghikas had the air conditioning on full and I felt a shiver run through me as I entered. He lifted his gaze from the Police News that he was browsing through and looked at me.
‘Good to see you. Have a seat.’ He pointed to my usual chair that had been occupied by Yanoutsos during my last visit.
‘Do you want to start or shall I?’
‘Why, have you found out anything?’ he asked hopefully and his eyes shone.
‘Yes, though I don’t know whether it has any direct connection with Favieros’s suicide.’
I began with Favieros’s biography, continued with the offshore company and ended with the real-estate agencies and the scam that was going on. He listened carefully to me and when I had finished shook his head resignedly.
‘We’re going to have our hands full with this business, mark my words.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Because of what the papers are saying and that you’ve just partially confirmed. Everyone is afraid that there’s some scandal behind it all, but no one can come up with it. The government is panicking and is desperately trying to find a solution. This morning the Secretary General phoned me from the Ministry and asked me to recommend a trustworthy police officer to carry out an informal investigation in the hope of coming up with a lead.’
The pleasant sense of anticipation created in me following Ghikas’s phone call was slowly turning into a wonderful dream. I saw myself going back to my old office and Yanoutsos packing up his things and leaving for unknown destinations.
Ghikas picked up a piece of paper lying on his desk and handed it to me. ‘That’s Petroulakis’s mobile phone number. Do you know him?’
The name meant nothing to me. Ghikas understood and undertook to give me a profile of him. ‘Petroulakis is one of the Prime Minister’s advisers. More, he’s his right hand. Phone him and arrange to meet with him. The Secretary General is of the opinion that if the investigation is carried out off-duty, the reporters are less likely to find out about it. That’s why we came up with this plan. Officially, you’re still on sick leave and Petroulakis has no connection with the Ministry of Public Order. So we’re more or less safe.’
‘Does that mean that I’ll still be investigating under cover?’ I had been expecting a different turn of events and I felt deflated.
‘Yes, but now you are fully covered by me and you can call me and ask for my help at any time. Koula will continue to assist you. If you want another assistant, it won’t be so easy for me to find someone equally trustworthy, but I’ll do my best.’
‘Koula is fine for the time being. How much of what I’ve found out about Favieros shall I tell Petroulakis?’
‘Everything. If a scandal is about to break, as I’m very much afraid, it’s better for them to know what they’re getting into from the start. If anything else turns up later that you think you shouldn’t reveal to him, call me and we’ll discuss it.’
‘And am I to follow Petroulakis’s instructions?’
‘Come on now! What instructions can Petroulakis give you? What does he know about police business and investigations? If he gets smart with you, just say “yes” and then get on with it as you think best.’
There was nothing else I wanted to ask him and I got up to leave. As I was going towards the door, I heard him say: ‘And give my best to Koula.’
‘And I’ll tell her how much you miss her. I saw the state of her desk as I was coming in.’
‘Don’t tell her this, but it’s another reason why I want this matter cleared up as soon as possible.’
I imagined that this was the most generous compliment that Ghikas had ever made. Meanwhile, the hulk at the desk had proceeded from the Datsuns to the Hondas.
While in the lift, I suddenly got the urge to go down to the cafeteria for a coffee and croissant just as I did when I used to come to work. I was about to press the button but I thought twice about it and went straight down to the garage. If I was spotted, I would have to lie about why I was there and I preferred to avoid it.
At home, I found Adriani sitting in front of the TV. The scene with Stefanakos’s suicide had just faded from the screen.
‘You’re late and you’ve missed the special news bulletin,’ Adriani said.
‘What, not another suicide?’ I asked in alarm.
‘No, but those nationalists have claimed responsibility for the politician too.’
I didn’t have to ask what they had said, because I could imagine it word for word. They had claimed that they had forced Favieros to commit suicide because he was employing foreign workers, even more so Stefanakos, who wanted to introduce their languages into Greek schools. Nevertheless, I impatiently waited for the regular news bulletin. Even if all this was just claptrap and the Philip of Macedon organisation had its finger in someone else’s pie, it was quite likely that the announcement would confuse the situation even more and have us turning from scandals to terrorist activities.
In the meantime, I called Petroulakis on his mobile phone. ‘It’s better if we meet at my place rather than at the office,’ he said. ‘My address is 21 Dafnomili Street, in Lycabettus. Come along tomorrow at nine, but don’t be late because I have a meeting at ten.’
Just as I expected, the announcement was the main news story. Its format and logo were exactly the same as the previous one and, at first sight, the text appeared to have been written by the same person.
It began:
The Philip of Macedon National Greek Front had issued warnings both in words and in deed…
and went on:
Unfortunately, those who should have listened to us turned a deaf ear. So, after Jason Favieros, we were also obliged to force the traitor, Loukas Stefanakos, to take his own life. Stefanakos was the biggest rat among all the anti-Greeks. It wasn’t enough for him that all the scum from the Balkans has settled in Greece, he also wanted to pollute the Greek schools with their languages and spread the infection that would destroy us as a nation. Of all the politicians who, today, are betraying our national interests, he was the one leading the round of underbidding. Loukas Stefanakos received the punishment he deserved. We hope, this time, that all the other zealots and champions of the Balkan rabble will get the message. We will continue with our executions till the stables of Augeias are finally cleansed and the Greek Nation is resurrected.
I thought of Petroulakis’s face the following morning after this announcement and I felt like calling in ill and cancelling the appointment.
21
I found a parking spot by the French Institute and said a prayer of thanks. Number 21 Dafnomili Street was a renovated two-storey house from the time when Neapoli was still a petit-bourgeois district in the shadow of the neighbouring high-class Kolonaki. Now, Dafnomili Street and Doxopatri Street, parallel to it, were inhabited by artists, university professors, government officials and all those who couldn’t find a place or were unable to afford the Lycabettus ring road, but who wanted to be able to say that they lived in Lycabettus. Rather like the backside of the Hilton, an area ever growing in size.
The wooden door was painted crimson with a golden handle and golden letter box, which testified to the fact that the house dated back to the middle of the previous century. I rang the bell and the door was opened not as in the past by some village girl adopted by the household, but by a Thai girl. She neither greeted me nor asked my name, but turned her back to me and began leading the way. When we reached a door, she stood to one side and allowed me to pass, like a hotel groom showing you into a room in a luxury hotel.
The living room extended through two adjoining rooms separated by an open white door with glass panels. The furniture wasn’t from the same period as the house, but nor was it what you would call modern. It was Louis-style furniture, as Adriani would say; the kind that as a child you see in others’ houses and hope one day you’ll have in yours, even if it’s no longer hand-carved but is factory-made. On the table in front of the sofa, I saw the morning newspaper. I picked it up to have a quick look, but I was interrupted by a hasty and commanding voice behind me.