Jeffrey Siger - An Aegean Prophecy

The captain shrugged. ‘Sorry, no offense intended, Your Holiness. But let’s be frank, your truly wonderful eulogy left out a few things. Like the fact Kalogeros Vassilis was murdered in the middle of our town square after ranting like a wild man for weeks about Russians trying to destroy the church.’

The abbot’s face tightened. ‘How I chose to memorialize one of my monks is absolutely none of your concern.’

The captain nodded. ‘True, but it makes me wonder if there might not be a few things you do know that could help with the investigation of his murder. And if you do, and Kaldis finds out you’ve been withholding them, I don’t want to be pushed up any higher on his shit list because of you.’ This time he made no effort to choose a gentler word.

The abbot stared at him. ‘I am more concerned with how I am recorded in God’s book. If I have erred, my mistake will be judged by the Lord, not you.’

The captain leaned over the desk. ‘I mean no disrespect, but if something goes wrong, don’t come to me this time looking for backup. If God is your judge, get his army to bail you out, not mine. If you’re hiding something, you’re not getting any further help from me. I stonewalled that cop once because you asked me to help keep the monastery from being drawn into a mess unnecessarily. Well, whatever mess is percolating out there is certainly not of my making, and if it’s yours or you’re making it yours for God knows what reason, good luck. Last chance, are you going to tell me what you’re hiding or not?’

The abbot stood up. ‘ Kalo Paska, my son.’

The captain stood up. ‘Then so be it. And Good Easter to you too, Your Holiness.’

When Andreas walked into his office Kouros was sitting on the couch next to the window, reading.

‘Maggie finished the transcript. Interesting stuff. There’s a note-’

‘Can’t wait to see what’s on this.’ He held up the flash drive. ‘I found it inside that cheap cross Vassilis bought the day before his murder.’

‘Amazing. What’s on it?’

‘Don’t know. Didn’t dare do anything with it until one of our computer guys tells me if it’s booby-trapped to delete something if the wrong person tries accessing it. Maggie!’ He didn’t bother with the intercom.

The door swung open before he’d reached the other side of his desk.

‘You rang?’

‘Get one of our computer geniuses up here. I need to know what’s on this flash drive, and tell him it might be tricky. Could be booby-trapped. And make sure it’s somebody with a top-level security clearance who can keep his mouth shut.’

She nodded. ‘Right away. I assume that means your morning helicopter jaunt to Patmos was successful?’

He nodded yes.

‘I’m glad to hear that. Anything else you need from me?’

‘Maggie, please, I’m in no mood to chit-chat. Just get that computer guru up here now. Please.’

She didn’t seem the least bit offended at his brusqueness, just smiled and winked at Kouros as she closed the door behind her.

Kouros burst out laughing.

‘What so funny? Doesn’t she get how important this is?’

Kouros laughed again. ‘Oh, I’m sure she gets it, Chief, and — may I speak freely?’

Andreas waved him to continue.

‘She’s got your number, too.’

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

Kouros leaned forward and slid a piece of paper across the desk toward Andreas. ‘This was clipped to the transcript.’ It was in Maggie’s handwriting:

In case you’re interested, I know who the mystery man is on the tape. Just ask. I don’t dare put it in writing.

Andreas stared at Kouros. ‘Why didn’t you tell me about this before?’

He smiled. ‘I tried, but you cut me off, then launched into Maggie before either of us could tell you.’

‘Bastard, both of you are bastards. Maggie, get in here.’

Five seconds later, ‘You rang again, master?’

‘Okay, okay, so shoot me. I apologize. I’m just wound up about that flash drive.’

Maggie nodded. ‘I spoke to our resident computer whiz. He’s like a modern doctor, won’t make house calls. Said you’ll know if there’s a potential problem when access requires a password. Otherwise, just use it. If it’s password protected, you’ll have to bring the drive down to him because that’s where the equipment is that he needs to get around it.’

Andreas let out a deep breath. ‘Thank you, Maggie, that was very efficient of you, as always.’

‘Keep going, I love it when you kiss my butt.’

Kouros laughed again. Andreas shot him a glare, and Kouros laughed some more.

Andreas put up his hands. ‘Enough already. I give up. Now, please, tell me who’s the other guy on the tape?’

‘Fine, just be patient, okay?’

Andreas nodded. ‘Okay, promise.’

She looked out the window. ‘I just pray he’s not a bad guy.’ She turned back to Andreas. ‘You know how interested I am in our church’s history.’

Andreas nodded.

‘I don’t think I’ve missed a lecture in Athens on the subject in years, unless I’ve heard it before or know the speaker will bore me to death.’ She let out a deep breath.

‘One speaker in particular fascinated me. I never missed one of his lectures, even went to Thessaloniki twice to hear him. He didn’t speak very often, possibly once a year, at most. But he was mesmerizing.’ She nodded. ‘Yes, he’s your man.’

‘What’s his name?’

‘The name isn’t important, you won’t recognize it. It’s who he is that’s… mind-blowing.’ She paused. ‘The twenty principal monasteries on Mount Athos are ranked in a hierarchical order that cannot be changed. He’s from one of the five most senior monasteries. He must have been well liked and respected by his monastery because I remember at one lecture he was introduced as his monastery’s representative to the Holy Community.’

‘What’s that?’ asked Kouros.

‘Mount Athos is a self-governing monastic state within Greece, made up of twenty self-governing territories, each with a ruling monastery and each with a representative to the Holy Community, the governing body of Mount Athos. They’re monks who must be at least thirty years old, but usually much older, and well versed in church law and doctrine. They move from their monasteries to Karyas, Mount Athos’ capital, where they meet in the tenth-century Church of the Protaton, the oldest church on the Holy Mountain, and from what I hear, enjoy modern communications with the outside world and a pretty fancy lifestyle. At least for monks.’

That explained the Italian suit, thought Andreas.

‘Anyway, he didn’t seem to be lecturing anywhere, and I was worried he might be ill or, God forbid, passed away.’ She crossed herself. ‘So, I went to a lecture by another representative and asked him if he knew what had happened to the other monk. You’d have thought I’d asked him to commit blasphemy. I thought it was because I was a woman, and that really pissed me off.’

Pity the poor monk who did that, thought Andreas.

‘I called the head of police in Karyas and asked him to find out what happened to the monk. I couldn’t believe it. He knew, but wouldn’t tell me, either. I reminded him who I worked for and that unless he wanted to be reassigned to duty on a bread-and-water prison barge off the coast of Turkey in August, he’d better start talking.’

‘I didn’t know we had that sort of place,’ said Kouros.

She smiled. ‘We don’t, but he got my point and told me what I wanted to know. The monk was alive and well, but in a position many on Mount Athos preferred playing down. A group of four monks, called the Holy Administration, serves as the executive committee of the Holy Community. One member of the group must come from one of the five senior monasteries, the other three from the remaining fifteen. He was one of the four overseers.’