I was about to put the brakes on her, because it’s one thing to reassure the citizens we’re questioning, but it’s another to open their eyes to what we’re doing, when I heard Leventoyanni say quite simply: ‘Eight and a half million drachmas. Twenty-five thousand euros to the nearest round figure. Twenty-four thousand nine hundred and something to be exact.’
‘Are you sure you didn’t receive forty-five thousand euros?’
‘Why on earth would you say that?’ she asked surprised.
‘Don’t take it the wrong way, Mrs Leventoyanni, but were you the one who collected the amount?’ asked Koula very nicely. ‘Could your husband, for instance, have collected the amount, kept the twenty-five thousand you needed for the purchase of this house and put the rest in the bank?’
Leventoyanni looked at her very seriously this time and heaved a sigh: ‘The transaction was conducted by me and it was I who collected the amount. Both the house in Larymnis Street and this one are in my name. I take care of everything on my own because if I’d left it to my husband, he would have lost it all on the pools or the lottery or at the casino in Loutraki.’
‘Now, now,’ said Koula smiling. ‘Don’t forget that it was the football pools that enabled you to buy the flat.’
‘Do you think, dear girl, that one winning line makes up for everything my husband has lost all these years in gambling and betting?’ Then suddenly she remembered the important question. ‘But tell me, why are you asking me all this?’
Because the conversation was going well between them, I let Koula go on. She told her the whole story with the Russo-Pontian, Karyofyllis and the Iliakos Real Estate Agency. Leventoyanni listened to her calmly, but suddenly leapt to her feet.
‘Those bastards …’ she murmured. ‘Those crooks …’
‘What’s wrong?’ Koula asked, taking her hand to stop her going into a panic. ‘Sit down and tell us in your own time.’
‘I just recalled something that at the time I hadn’t attached any importance to. When we were at the notary’s office and he was filling out the contracts, he turned and asked the estate agent: “What sum shall we put?” The other one looked at him askance and said: “What are you asking me for? Don’t you know?” The conversation ended there and afterwards we signed the contracts. Obviously, the notary was asking whether he should put the actual sum on the contract or the sum I would receive.’
‘Was the estate agent around thirty-five with cropped hair?’
‘Yes, that’s him.’
After what Leventoyanni had told us, there was no longer the slightest doubt that the whole business had been set up with the participation of Karyofyllis. We had learned what we wanted and I was getting ready to get up and leave when Koula stopped me with another question.
‘May I ask you something else because otherwise I’ll be wondering,’ she said to Leventoyanni. ‘Didn’t the Russo-Pontian understand what was going on?’
‘What would the poor fellow understand, dear girl? In one hand he was clutching a folded plastic bag and with the other he was holding his wife’s hand and smiling contentedly. They were like two lovebirds buying a little place for themselves so that they could get married.’
‘Did you receive the money in cash?’
‘No, the notary had the cheque ready and handed it to me. “They always pay in cash and I don’t want to inconvenience you,” he said. Do you see what he did? He took forty-five thousand in cash from the Russo-Pontian and gave me a cheque for twenty-four thousand nine hundred and something … And he and the estate agent pocketed the rest.’ She leapt to her feet and began shouting: ‘I’ll sue them, I’ll drag them through the courts!’
She was so angry that she even forgot to say goodbye to us. In the distance, you could hear the sound of sporadic thunder. It must have been raining somewhere. As we were going towards the car, I reflected that Koula had a special talent for loosening the other person’s tongue. If and when she returned to the office, I’d have her give seminars on how to elicit answers to Vlassopoulos and Dermitzakis, who were still limited to shouting, force and intimidation.
‘So tell me, Koula,’ I said to her as we left Korae Street and turned into Epidavrou Street. ‘Where did you learn how to get people to open up like that? As far as I know, you only deal with paperwork in the office.’
‘From my father,’ she said laughing. ‘My father is unbelievably egoistical and opinionated. But if you’re willing to bear with him, he becomes putty in your hands.’
‘Yes, and you did exactly the same thing with my wife. In less than a week you became inseparable.’
‘Well, that was easy. After all, we have a common interest in cooking.’
I still had a question eating away at me and even though it was a little out of place, I had to ask it or I wouldn’t rest. ‘What I don’t understand, Koula, is why, since you’re such a sharp girl, you give an entirely different picture in the office.’
She turned and stared at me with a wry smile. ‘What picture exactly?’
‘How shall I put it … that you’re a more simple girl.’
She burst into laughter. ‘Simple, Inspector Haritos? A simpleton is what you’re trying to say!’
‘That’s going too far, but why are you like that? Is it Ghikas?’
She suddenly became serious. ‘It’s because I want to get married and have children, Inspector.’
‘What’s that got to do with it?’
‘A lot. In my circles, whether personal and professional ones, when men see a smart woman, they take to their heels. If I want to play the smart type, I’ll end up on the shelf. Men prefer the certainty of a simple girl so they can put their minds at rest.’ She paused and then continued. ‘You shouldn’t judge by your own daughter. She went to university, is doing a doctorate and has a doctor for a boyfriend. I have nothing of all that.’
‘How do you know about my daughter?’ I asked astonished.
‘Mrs Haritos told me the other day while we were making the baked aubergines.’
No doubt she also told her of her regret that Katerina didn’t know how to cook. ‘Don’t make it sound so tragic, there’s Aristopoulos,’ I said to tease her.
‘All Aristopoulos wants is to get me into bed,’ she said very calmly. ‘He’s desperate to make it as a company executive; he’s not about to get involved with a woman cop. If I say no to him a couple of times, he won’t call me a third time. And if I go with him a couple of times, he’ll disappear and the only way I’ll see him will be to arrest him.’ She smiled at me again. ‘There’s nothing you can say. I’ve looked at it from every angle.’
‘And are you going to spend the rest of your life playing the fool?’
‘Of course not!’ she said indignantly. ‘Once I’ve got a ring on my finger things will change!’
I turned and looked at her. I suddenly saw Adriani before me. At last I understood why the two of them got on so well together.
The heavens opened just as we were passing the old people’s home. We were in the underpass and above us we could hear a deafening noise. In less than two minutes from the start of the downpour, the roads in Athens had become jammed and the honking of horns began. We emerged from the underpass after about twenty minutes only to be attacked by a blast of rain that forced the Mirafiori to retreat. The windscreen wipers did their best but to no avail because the rain had created something like a blanket of mist and it was impossible to see further than three yards in front of you.
I decided to take Koula home first and then go to see Sotiropoulos because I couldn’t very well leave her to wait for the bus in all that rain. After all, Sotiropoulos would most likely arrive late too. On the way, I congratulated myself for not getting rid of the Mirafiori. It’s high off the ground like all the old cars and the water can’t touch it. The newer models are closer to the ground and are more like floating barges every time the roads of Athens turn into torrential rivers.
I dropped Koula off in Gyzi and went back up Kifissias Avenue to meet Sotiropoulos at the Flocafe. The rain continued to fall heavily but not with the same intensity. The parking lot behind the Flocafe was full. The attendant looked scornfully at the Mirafiori and obviously thought it an insult to have to find a place for it. He relented half- heartedly when I showed him my badge and told him I was on duty.
