The old Armenian paused before replying. “I think a man like Lefèvre would work where money is to be found. But sometimes in these places there are too many secrets, also, and so there is no trust. A negotiation is not easy. I am sorry for his children.”
“His children?” Yashim found it hard to imagine a Lefèvre with children. But then, what would he know? “Do you have children, Malakian efendi?”
The old man nodded solemnly. “Five,” he said.
“God’s blessing upon them,” Yashim said politely. “Malakian efendi, do you still have that coin for Dr. Millingen? The English collector?”
It was Malakian who looked surprised. “Of course. He does not come here every day.”
“I will be in Pera this afternoon,” Yashim said. “I could take him the coin, if you liked.”
Malakian turned his head to look at Yashim. “You want to meet Dr. Millingen?”
“Yes,” Yashim said.
35
“MY French is—indifferent, I’m afraid,” said Millingen. He laughed pleasantly and held out a hand. Yashim took it: the doctor had a firm grip. Scarcely older than Yashim, he looked in good shape: the grizzled hair, the lean, brown face, the tall, erect posture. He was neatly dressed in a black cutaway coat and a brilliant white shirt; his cravat was loose at the neck.
“Most kind of you to come. Aram’s been throwing out hints these past few weeks, and my collector’s instinct tells me what you’ve brought. You aren’t an addict, too?”
Yashim smiled. “I do not collect coins, doctor.”
“Good for you! I caught the bug in Greece—time on my hands. It’s nothing much, but I’ve been making a collection of late Byzantine coinage. All those states and little kingdoms which grew up after the crusaders sacked the city in 1204. Silver obloids minted by the Morean despots, for instance. This, I suspect, may be the one I’m missing.”
Dr. Millingen slid the coin from its pouch onto his leather-topped desk and prodded it with his finger. “I knew it. An angelus. Damn, but Malakian is clever. I’ll wager he had this coin the whole time.” He looked up and pulled a face. “A collector is a very weak man, wouldn’t you say? Six months ago I would not have given five piastres for this coin. Now it arrives to close a gap, and Aram Malakian will have me paying through the nose.”
“Well, I suppose if Malakian always supplies you with your coins, he can’t help knowing what you are looking for,” Yashim pointed out.
“Ah, no.” Millingen wagged his finger. “That’s part of the game—when I remember to play it properly. I don’t rely on Aram, you see. There are other dealers, though I admit he’s the best. Sometimes I think they operate a ring, pool their information. So I have to lean on friends outside the bazaar, too. You’d be surprised. There’s a monk in Filibe who helps me, and an old friend in Athens. A doctor, like me. But Malakian! He’ll ruin me!”
Yashim smiled. “I’m afraid he only asked me to bring it over. He didn’t mention money.”
“Not a word!” Dr. Millingen laughed again, and ran his hands through his curls. “The old fox! He knows I’ve been sitting here with my tongue hanging out. And in a moment I’ll put this angelus with the others and complete the set. And then how could I ever let it go again? Oh, Yashim efendi, I’m afraid our old friend has quite deceived you. You have just sold your first angelus.”
Yashim smiled. “I am afraid, Dr. Millingen, that it is I who have perhaps deceived you. I was glad to bring you this coin, but really it is some information that I want.”
Millingen waved his hand. “Fire away,” he said affably.
Yashim found himself hesitating. “At the palace, they will speak for me.”
Dr. Millingen leaned forward slightly. “Yes, Yashim efendi. I believe I know you.”
Yashim felt encouraged. “I knew the unfortunate Monsieur Lefèvre, as well. The man who was killed.”
“Ah, yes. Bad business, that.”
“He told me you had met once.”
Millingen looked surprised. “It’s quite possible. Who knows? I’m afraid he was rather beyond recognition this morning.”
“You examined the body.”
“An autopsy. It means to have a look for oneself—from the ancient Greek. I never liked the postmortem stuff, to be honest. I’m a doctor, not a pathologist: it’s my job to save lives.”
“Lives may be saved if we can find out who did this.”
Millingen looked dubious. “A dark alley, in the middle of the night? You can rule out witnesses. Those dogs make enough noise to wake the dead. Anyway, this is Pera, not Stamboul.”
“Efendi?”
“It would take more than murder to get the Perotes out of their own houses on a dark night. Haven’t you noticed—the people here are colder than a Scotch welcome?”
“But the cause of death—and the time. You reached a judgment?”
Millingen frowned. “Yes, I did. It was somewhat spectacular—the trunk was hacked open, from stomach to sternum. But he was actually killed, I suspect, with a blackjack: a powerful blow to the base of the neck. He was almost certainly unconscious when they cut him open. Spatchcocked, you might say, like a widgeon or a teal.”
“But why?”
“Purest speculation: whoever killed him wanted to attract the dogs. Quite decent plan—although it’s the dogs, ironically, which help me suggest a time of death.”
“How’s that, Dr. Millingen?”
“The teeth marks. Some are older, which caused a loss of blood when the body was still fresh. Then an overlapping set of marks, sometimes a parallel set. The dogs tend to feed by night, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Last night the body was pulled apart. And of course there are other indications, like the state of decomposition, desiccation of the eyeballs, and such. He couldn’t have been killed much later than the night before last; possibly, I suppose, a little earlier. I’ll be suggesting a time of death between noon Monday and, say, six o’clock on the Tuesday morning.”
Not good, Yashim thought: that put him and Lefèvre together, alone, at a time when he could have been killed.
“How soon can you make your report, Dr. Millingen?” He hoped it sounded casual.
Millingen smiled. “Between you and me, it could be tomorrow. But the ambassador’s given me a week.” He glanced down at the coin on his desk. “I wish you luck, Yashim efendi. These sort of crimes are the hardest to resolve.”
Yashim nodded. He liked Millingen’s air of detachment: it was a professional air. The manner of a man trained to notice things. “Dr. Millingen, you’ve been among the Greeks. You have some experience of their—ambitions.”
Millingen frowned. “I know many Greeks, of course. But their ambitions? I’m afraid I don’t quite—”
“No, forgive me,” Yashim said. “There’s a society, a secret society, I’ve learned a bit about recently. The Hetira. I wondered if you’d heard of it?”
“Umm.” Millingen reached forward and picked up the Morean coin. “Secret societies.” He shook his head and chuckled. “The Greeks are a very charming people. But…I got to know many of them years ago, in the Morea. They were all involved in the struggle for Greek independence, of course—I went to Missilonghi with Lord Byron.
“What was it that Lord Byron used to say? The Greeks don’t know a problem from a poker. The truth is, they’d intrigue over a potato—and when I say they were involved in the struggle, I don’t mean they went out to win it. Most of the time they fought each other. Very disappointing. Byron wanted them to be like classical Greeks, full of the Platonic virtues; and they aren’t. Nobody is. They’re a good people, but they’re like children. A Greek can laugh, cry, forget, and want to kill his best friend all in the space of an afternoon!” He leaned back and smiled. “When I was a boy, we used to make ourselves dens in the bushes. We’d have Bonaparte marching through the garden, and we’d be ready to take him on—and his army. That’s the Greeks all through. They make themselves secret worlds. It’s politics, if you like—but it’s play, too.”