Petros Markaris - Deadline in Athens

"What do you mean?"

"I got a copy of the family's accounts from the banks."

"So soon?" I said, surprised.

"I convinced the public prosecutor that it was urgent. He gave me permission and the legal council will take care of it afterwards. But there are no big amounts anywhere. The largest is 300,000 drachmas."

And he laid the photocopies of the bank statements on my desk. I picked them up and looked at the deposits. It was true that there were no large amounts. The most activity occurred in the accounts belonging to Hourdakis and his son. I saw regular deposits of 250,000 and 300,000, but no more than that.

"How old is his son?"

"I don't know precisely, but he's grown up. He works in computers. A programmer, I think."

No doubt the son earned more than his father. But if Hourdakis had a second income from somewhere, that would explain the amounts. The accounts belonging to his wife and to his mother-in-law also showed deposits of 200,000 and 300,000, though less frequently.

"You're right. At first sight, there's nothing untoward here."

Sotiris shook his head in despair. "That's what I meant. Dourou is our last hope."

I looked again at the Hourdakis accounts, one after the other. I felt sure that I was missing something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was seven o'clock already, and I decided to pack up and go home. I had to get some money from the bank for Adriani. I also wanted to see the Christmas present she had bought for Katerina.

All the way home, I couldn't get my mind off the Hourdakis accounts. It was while waiting to turn left onto Spyrou Merkouri Street at the traffic lights on Vassileos Konstantinou Avenue that I suddenly realized what I'd been missing. I made a U-turn and went back down Vassilissis Sophias Avenue.

By the time I reached the office, all my people had gone. I spread out the accounts, one beside the other. First, Hourdakis's account at the National Bank, then his wife's in the Commercial Bank, his son's at Citibank, and, last, his mother-in-law's account at the Credit Bank. The largest amounts fell into two categories. Every month, Hourdakis deposited either 150,000 or 200,000 drachmas. Obviously, his fortnightly salary. But there was a second category of deposits with an odd regularity in all four accounts. Hourdakis had deposited 200,000 in his account on June 25,1991. Two days later, his wife had deposited 300,000. Three days later, his son, too, had deposited 300,000. Last of all, his mother-in-law had deposited 200,000 six days after Hourdakis. The amounts differed each time. Sometimes it was Hourdakis who deposited the most, sometimes his wife, sometimes his son, and sometimes his mother-in-law. But the total amount was always the same: one million drachmas.

I unlocked my drawer and took out Karayoryi's file. I found the list with the Transpilar refrigerator trucks and compared the dates. The refrigerator truck run of June 20, 1991, recorded by Karayoryi, corresponded to the deposit made by Hourdakis on June 25, 1991, and subsequently by the rest of his family. Likewise on August 25, 1991. This time, Hourdakis's wife had deposited 200,000 on August 30, 1991, followed by the rest of the family, with the last deposit having been made by Hourdakis Jr. There was a series of deposits each time corresponding to the dates recorded by Karayoryi. There were also other deposits, along the same lines, that couldn't be linked to one of the recorded refrigerator trucks. Evidently, Karayoryi had discovered some of them but not all. The consignments were much more frequent, and I was certain that if we looked into it, we'd find that they continued with some other customs officer.

So that was the game, then. Hourdakis had got a one-milliondrachma backhander for each refrigerator truck. He received it in cash, but channeled it into four different accounts. Anyone looking at each account separately wouldn't have been able to see any amount worthy of note. It was only the combination of the four accounts that provided the true picture.

I left a note for Sotiris telling him that I wanted Hourdakis brought in for questioning the next day, and I left to go home via the bank.

The following morning I took Adriani to Larissa Railway Station, together with three suitcases that were hardly liftable. On the previous night, when I'd got home, I had found her in front of three open suitcases that she'd placed on the bed, struggling to get her entire wardrobe inside them. She took her clothes out of one and put them in another, reorganizing everything, pushing shoes wrapped in plastic bags into the corners… In the end, I tired of watching, I took out my dictionary and made myself comfortable in the living room. By the time she'd finished, it was after midnight. I thought we'd make love, given that we wouldn't see each other for two weeks, but I had too much on my mind and Adriani was dead beat. She didn't have the energy to groan and fake an orgasm.

By the time I'd got the cases into the compartment, I was bent double. "Give my love to Katerina."

"So there's no possibility of your coming, then? Even for the weekend?" She knew the answer already, but she was having one last try, to not go down without a fight.

"Are you kidding? We're just beginning to get somewhere with the investigation, and there's no knowing yet where it's going to lead."

I kissed her on her right cheek, she gave me one on my left cheek, and I got off the train. She was leaning out of the window, but I had no intention of waving her off. I was in a hurry to get to the office.

"Call me tonight to let me know you've arrived safely."

The Mirafiori was waiting for me, squeezed into a little space on Philadelphia Street. It was already ten by the time I finally arrived at the station. Before going into my office, I called in on Sotiris.

"What did you do about Hourdakis?"

"We delayed and we lost him. He's gone away on a trip."

I was dumbfounded. "Trip? Where to?"

"To Macedonia and Thrace. So his wife said."

"By car?"

"No, by train or bus, she doesn't know exactly."

"Have his wife brought in." He looked at me in surprise. "Don't stand there gaping. Off with you. I want her in my office in an hour, together with her son. And find Hourdakis. Send a message to the Greek-Albanian border posts. He might be on his way to get rid of evidence that we don't know about."

A thought flashed through my mind, transfixing me. How come Hourdakis had vanished like that? Was it a coincidence? Like the murder of the Albanian before we'd been able to question him further? Hourdakis hadn't known we were on to him, so someone had tipped him off. Who? Someone from the bank? I'd have believed that if the business with the Albanian hadn't come before. The previous night, I'd left Sotiris a note to bring him in for questioning. Today he was gone.

I decided to tell Ghikas about it in order to be on the safe side. I was the one who'd asked him to delay the official investigation. I didn't want to pick up the pieces of some bombshell.

I was on my way out of my office when I found two men blocking the doorway. I recognized the first of them immediately. It was Demos Sovatzis. He was wearing a gray suit, made of English cashmere, a dark blue shirt, and a light-colored tie. His hair was swept back, like in the photograph. I wondered whether he combed it with brilliantine every morning or whether he had stuck it down to his head with fishglue, once and for all. The other man was fat and balding, older, also impeccably dressed. Thanassis was standing behind them.

I tried to guess the purpose of Sovatzis's visit. Up until now, we hadn't been anywhere near either him or Pylarinos. So he couldn't have known that we were after him. Could someone have told him that we'd picked up Dourou? Who? The one who was distributing information all around? The same one who had tipped off Hourdakis? And then again, why would he come out in full view instead of lying low and pretending indifference? I would have been glad of an answer to all of those questions, the better to know how to handle him, but I didn't have one.