Petros Markaris - Che Committed Suicide

‘Do any of those reasons fit your husband’s case?’

‘No. Loukas had everything he wanted and he was a person full of life.’

‘So?’

‘He went mad,’ she replied abruptly. ‘It happens sometimes that people suddenly go mad for no good reason. That’s what happened to Loukas. He went mad. It’s the only explanation.’

‘Do you think it was madness that drove him to commit suicide in public?’

‘If you’d met him, you’d know that Loukas liked grandiose gestures. He wanted to be in the limelight, he wanted his every word and action to create an impression. That in combination with madness can lead to extreme situations.’

If Stefanakos’s had been the only suicide, I might have believed it. But three people don’t go mad in quick succession, nor does anyone foresee that they’ll go mad and write their biographies. On the other hand, Greece is a country in which everything is explained away as madness. I turned to Mrs Favieros in the hope that she might have a different answer.

‘What about you, Mrs Favieros? Do you have any explanation?’

Panic-stricken, she looked first at Stathatos, then at me, at the same time crossing and uncrossing her legs.

‘What can I say? I don’t know. All I know is that I was living with a man who was in his office from morning to night, even at weekends; who arranged to go to the cinema with you and then called you at the last minute to say that something had come up and he couldn’t make it, or who, while you were ready and dressed up to go out for dinner, told you that someone had phoned and he had to go to meet him.’ And suddenly, without any warning, she erupted: ‘Leave me alone, I don’t even want to think about it!’ she cried hysterically. ‘Jason’s dead! Why he killed himself, what got into him, I don’t know! All I know is that he’s left me with his businesses, the inheritance, the houses and yachts to sort out and with two children that are in a world of their own and are going on as though their father were still alive!’

She covered her face with her hands and started sobbing. Stathatos rushed over to her and took hold of her by the shoulders. ‘It’s all right, dear,’ she said reassuringly. ‘It’s all right. I know what you’re going through, but be brave. It’s a bad time, it’ll pass, you’ll see.’ She lifted her head and looked at Koula. ‘Tell the secretary outside to give you a glass of water,’ she said to her commandingly as though talking to an office girl.

Koula put down her notepad and went out of the office. Stathatos then turned her gaze to me.

‘You see where all this pointless questioning leads, Inspector? You’re upsetting us unnecessarily and only making things harder, while we’re trying to put it all behind us and get on with our lives.’

I tried to keep my temper because it was not in my best interests to get into an argument. ‘I’m sorry for causing you any upset, Mrs Stathatos. However, we find it difficult to believe that three people suddenly went mad and committed suicide. And even if we were to accept that, there’s the question of the biographies that followed, all written by the same author and all written before the suicides.’

‘What are you saying exactly? I’m trying to understand.’

‘That there’s something behind the suicides, something that as yet we are unaware of. If our hypothesis is correct, then there may very well be more suicides. I’m sure you understand what that means, particularly when it concerns well-known figures.’

The glass of water brought by Koula saved Stathatos from having to reply because she took it from Koula and turned all her attention to Mrs Favieros. I waited for Favieros to empty the glass and for Stathatos to give her a pat of encouragement and sit down before I went on.

‘I won’t keep you much longer. I’ll try to be brief. Had you noticed any change in your husband’s behaviour in the period just prior to his suicide?’

A faint smile appeared on Stathatos’s lips. ‘Loukas and I both had very busy schedules and we rarely saw each other, Inspector. He spent all day rushing between his office and Parliament, while I was tied up with my businesses. In the evening, each of us had our own obligations: his were political, mine business. The only time that we saw each other was in the morning over coffee and even then we barely had time to discuss the essentials. Stella can tell you better than I can if there was any change in his behaviour.’

‘Who’s Stella?’

‘His secretary.’

If anyone had asked Adriani about me, she would have been able to tell them even when the rhythm of my blinking changed. I turned back to Mrs Favieros. I didn’t ask her anything so as not to oblige her to answer if she didn’t feel well. But she understood my questioning look.

‘Yes, I did notice a change in Jason,’ she said. ‘But there was a reason for it.’

‘Can you tell me what it was?’

She reflected as to whether she should tell me or not. Eventually, she took the decision and said very tensely: ‘He was very concerned about a serious problem that our son has.’

The way that she said it left me in no doubt as to the nature of the problem their son had, but it was still unclear to me whether it was his son or something else that so overcame Favieros as to lead him to suicide. Most probably it was one thing on top of the other.

‘Do you know whether your husband was acquainted with Apostolos Vakirtzis, Mrs Stathatos?’

She laughed. ‘What a naive question, Inspector. Is there any politician or would-be politician, or even town counsellor for that matter, who doesn’t know Apostolos Vakirtzis?’

‘Do you know whether he was on friendly terms with him?’

‘Another naive question. You couldn’t be on anything but friendly terms with Apostolos Vakirtzis. You had to appear on his show, give him interviews whenever he wanted, always supply him with the information he asked for. Otherwise, he would declare war on you and, sooner or later, he would succeed in eliminating you.’

‘And what about your husband, Mrs Favieros?’

She shrugged to stress that she had no idea. ‘Jason knew so many people, from politicians to businessmen, that it was impossible among all that crowd to distinguish Vakirtzis or anyone else.’

There was no point in my going on. Even if he had known Vakirtzis, Favieros certainly wouldn’t have told his wife. My next question was a difficult one because I didn’t know whether I should ask it and also because I didn’t know what answer I might get.

‘Could your husbands’ suicides be connected at all with your own business activities?’

‘I don’t see what possible connection there could be…’ Favieros began, but Stathatos cut her short.

‘None whatsoever,’ she said abruptly. ‘The partnership was between Sotiria and myself. Jason and Loukas had no involvement at all and, what’s more, I have no intention of discussing my business activities with you, Inspector.’

‘And I have no intention of asking you about your business activities, Mrs Stathatos. They’re of no concern to me. Though what you just said, that Loukas Stathatos and Jason Favieros had no involvement in your businesses, is not exactly true. If I recall correctly, you had, together with Jason Favieros, an offshore company that dealt in hotel enterprises in the Balkans.’

She wasn’t expecting me to know that detail and so I caught her off guard, but she quickly recovered.

‘Ah yes, Balkan Inns,’ she said complacently, as though she had forgotten about it. ‘But I was never personally involved in that. It was run by Jason and Coralia Yannelis.’

I began to think of Coralia Yannelis as a sort of Minister for Balkan Affairs in the group of companies. I would have to try my luck with her once more. I found her far more likeable than Stathatos, even though she hadn’t really told me anything despite all her smiles and friendliness.