Jeffrey Siger - Sons of Sparta

Andreas shook his head. “No, we’re looking for someone younger. In his forties. With a line of white hair down the middle of his head.”

As they spoke a tourist couple moved in front of Andreas. “We’ll take the senior special,” said the woman, pointing for the man with her to get something out of his belly bag. “My husband has proof of our age.” She spoke English with a heavy German accent.

The man in the hat smiled. “That won’t be necessary. I believe you.” He handed them two tickets, the couple paid, and went inside.

“Sorry about that, gentlemen.”

“No problem,” said Andreas.

“So, you’re looking for a man with a silver streak in his hair?”

“White. Like a skunk,” said Kouros.

The man nodded. “I see. You mean like this?” and he pulled off his hat. “You’re late, gentlemen.”

Andreas hoped he didn’t look as startled as he felt. “That was you in the motorcycle helmet?”

“Yes, officer. It’s the law to wear a helmet, and I obey the law.”

“It’s Chief Inspector Kaldis, and this is Detective Kouros.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said Niko extending his right hand.

Neither man took it.

“You know that whatever you say will be used against you?” said Kouros.

“Of course, but I have nothing to hide. Though I do think we should move into the office for this discussion rather than having it in front of the tourists. Some of them may understand Greek.”

Kouros went behind the desk, opened the door, and looked inside. He nodded to Andreas.

Andreas gestured for Niko to get up.

Niko stood as tall as Andreas, but much slimmer in a sinewy, not lanky, way. Andreas followed Niko inside the office and closed the door behind them, never taking his eyes off Niko for a second.

Kouros pulled up a metal folding chair. “Sit.”

Niko did. Andreas and Kouros did not.

“We’re here to arrest you in connection with the murder of two men and the attempted murder of two others.”

“Including me,” said Kouros.

“I assumed that’s why you were looking for me. But for the life of me I can’t figure out why. So, I asked one of my cousins to allow me to take his place here as a volunteer this morning. I wanted the chance for us to talk. To show you that everything I’ve done was an attempt at preventing harm from coming to anyone. ”

“You have a strange way of doing that,” said Kouros.

“Not sure what you mean.”

“You and your buddies talked your family’s old friend Babis into killing himself,” said Kouros.

“Oh yes, poor, Babis. I tried my best to convince him not to take his own life, but he was so wracked with guilt at what he’d done to your poor uncle that I just couldn’t talk him out of it. And, yes, perhaps the fact that he’d also betrayed my father made him feel doubly guilty. But I was there simply to end any further bloodshed in the Mani.”

“Yeah, right. Too bad your buddy we arrested tells a different story. He has you pissed at Babis for screwing up my uncle’s murder and leaving you exposed as his accomplice.”

“I don’t know what he told you, but his Greek isn’t very good and he must have misheard. I went there to tell Babis he was crazy to have killed your uncle. That it would never get him back in the good graces of my family. Yes, I did for a moment lose my temper with him, but that was when he said he’d tried to make it look like part of an old family vendetta. I called him a ‘fuck-up’ because the idiot was threatening to get my wife’s family involved in his crazy twisted thinking. And, yes, I might have said I’d see that he died far more painfully than he could ever imagine if he got my wife’s family involved in his craziness. But I certainly wasn’t suggesting he take his own life.”

“Nice try,” said Kouros, “but how would you know Babis murdered my uncle if you weren’t involved? Only the chief and I had any evidence of that.”

“I’m afraid I do have the advantage on you, Detective. You see, I knew long before it happened that someone wanted Babis to kill your uncle. So when he turned up dead I knew who must have done it.”

For a second time in minutes Niko had Andreas struggling not to seem startled. He could see that Kouros felt the same. “And you did nothing to stop it?”

Niko shrugged. “What could I do? Someone came to me and asked if I thought I could get Babis to do a job. When I asked what kind of ‘job’ and was told it was to kill your uncle, I passed. The plan was well thought-out but required Babis to think all would be forgiven by my family if he took revenge on the man who’d set my father up to die in prison. I tried discouraging the idea by saying I doubted that would get Babis to turn on your uncle. After all, your uncle had been protecting him for all these years, so what reason would Babis possibly have for betraying him now? Besides, Babis didn’t need my family’s forgiveness as long as he had your uncle’s protection.”

Niko ran his fingers through his hair and stretched. “That’s when I was shown a photograph of your uncle and Babis’ girlfriend coming out of a hotel room together. Whoever planned this knew how to push Babis’ buttons. But I certainly wasn’t going to be the one to do the pushing.”

“An even better story than before,” said Kouros. “But why did they come to you and not go to Babis directly?”

“At first I thought because Babis would insist on direct assurances from my family that we wouldn’t come after him once his protector was dead. But then I realized my family’s guarantee didn’t really matter, because if the kill went off as planned, he’d still not lose the protection of your uncle’s family. What really mattered was that Babis never learn who was behind the hit. I thought that if I refused to act as middleman the plan could not possibly go forward. Obviously, I was wrong.”

“Okay, I’ll bite,” said Andreas. “Who was your mysterious visitor with the plan and photograph?”

Niko stared into Andreas’ eyes. “His cousin.” He switched his stare to Kouros. “Your uncle’s daughter, Calliope.”

“You lying shit,” said Kouros moving toward Niko.

Andreas raised his hand. “Easy, Yianni.”

Niko raised both hands in a gesture of innocence. “I understand how you feel, Detective. But please, answer this question for me. How would I possibly know about that photograph if someone hadn’t given it to me? And if you want to know who that someone was, ask the photographer.”

“Do you have a name for this photographer?” said Andreas.

“No.”

“I didn’t think you would,” said Kouros.

“But I have a description. Your cousin told me it was a legitimate photo taken by an old friend of hers. A priest. And if you can’t trust a priest, who can you trust?” Niko crossed himself.

“Do you have anything else to say?” said Andreas.

“I’ve told you all that I know, freely and with a clear conscience. And I wanted you here,” he said to Kouros, “so that you could share with your family all that I’ve told you. After all, I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings on the part of your family that could have them thinking I had anything to do with their terrible tragedy. We all know how violent your family can be if they feel dishonored.”

Andreas looked at Kouros. “Did you get the message?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Now cuff the bastard and let’s get him out of here.”

***

After briefing Tassos on their conversation with Niko, Andreas and Kouros hauled Niko up to Sparta and deposited him with the local police. They agreed to meet back in Gytheio in about four hours. Tassos said not to worry. He’d hang out with his friend who’d brought him there from Syros.