He looked at me. 'Sit down,' he said.
He'd only just spotted that I was being cold and formal with him. He leaned forward and put on a friendly expression, even intimate, as if we were old childhood buddies.
'Listen, Costas, you're a good officer. You've got brains and you're eager. But you have one fault. You're unbending. You don't know how to be flexible. You jump in headfirst, come up against a wall, and bang your head on it. When you're dealing with people like De lopoulos or Pylarinos, you have to be as slippery as an eel, or they'll wrap you up in a sheet of paper and throw you in the wastepaper basket.'
I kept quiet because I knew he was right. I was unbending, and whenever I got something into my head, I was unable to let it go, no matter where it led me.
'I said that I was personally taking charge of the investigation to take the pressure off you and to protect you. Last night, after Delopoulos left, I told the minister that you were the only one who could solve the case. You just have to be a bit more discreet and keep me posted so that I can watch your back.'
Was he telling me all this because he believed it or because he wanted to demonstrate to me how to be as slippery as an eel? After having me up for suspension, now he was playing my guardian angel. As soon as he realized he was going to get involved with Pylarinos, he'd turned tail and was trying to get himself out of it.
'So, tell me then, what do you intend to do?'
'I'll send a written request to customs to find out what the refrigerator trucks that Karayoryi refers to were carrying. I'll ask at the airport to find out if there are passenger lists for the groups and the charter flights.'
'And if there aren't?'
'I won't do anything for the time being. I don't want to have to ask for them from Pylarinos's company because it'll create suspicion, and we don't want that. I'll send the film to be developed so that we can see what's on it. And I'll question the Greeks who went to Prague, Warsaw, and Budapest. I want to know why they went.'
'But how are we going to get close to Pylarinos without stirring up a hornets' nest?'
'I know someone who can give us information. He's not one of us. He's a personal friend of mine and I can't reveal who he is. But he's a reliable source.'
He looked at me and smiled. 'Okay. What's going to happen with Petratos?'
'I will wait for the report on the handwriting and the lab report on the wire. But, just between us, I'm not too optimistic. The wire's the common variety-you can find it at any hardware shop. As for the letters, I no longer believe that they were written by Petratos. No, they were written by whoever wanted the file from Karayoryi. It's not out of the question that the two cases are unconnected, as you said, and that Petratos is the murderer. But it requires further investigation.' I remained silent and looked at him. 'There's something else. Good news.'
I told him about Kolakoglou. He listened to me and his face lit up. 'Why didn't you tell me before?' he said enthusiastically.
He grabbed the telephone and told Koula to get Delopoulos on the line. I gazed at him, amazed. He noticed and smiled.
'You're wondering what I'm doing, right?' he said. 'Now you'll see what it means to be flexible.'
When Delopoulos came on the line, he told him everything, apart from the name and address of the bar. He put the phone down, obviously pleased with himself. 'Delopoulos is over the moon. From now on, he'll call me. He'll leave you alone to get on with your work. And something else. I want those two reports, yours and the other one on Kolakoglou, to send to the minister. You have to know how to keep mouths shut.'
His gaze turned to the other file, the blue one. He opened it and skimmed through it quickly. Slowly he raised his head. 'You understand that I'm obliged to order an immediate internal inquiry,' he said.
'I understand, but I would prefer you to delay it.'
Why.
'First of all, Karayoryi's dead and she's not going to steal any more reports from us. But whoever was providing her with them may have some deeper involvement. Now he's not worried, because he thinks that no one's on to him. If you order an internal inquiry, you'll alert him. Let's proceed with the investigation and see what other evidence comes up.'
'All right,' he said after reflecting for a moment. 'I'll inform the minister orally and tell him that I'll delay it.' He collected the file and handed it to me. 'Lock it in your drawer. It would be better if no one else knew of its existence.'
I was so eager to get going that I didn't have the patience to wait for the elevator. I went down the stairs two at a time. When I turned into the hall, I saw the familiar throng at my door.
'To Superintendent Ghikas for any statements. As you know, he's taken charge of the case'
They knew and didn't press me. They began moving toward the elevator. Sotiropoulos pretended to follow them but stayed behind.
'Can we have a word?'
'They have me gagged. Don't put me in a difficult position.'
He smiled, he quite understood, and he gave me a friendly pat on the back. 'A passing storm,' he said in a soothing tone.
I took a sheet of paper and copied first the arrivals of the refrigerator trucks and then the arrivals of the groups and the charters. On another sheet, I copied the five names from Karayoryi's second list. I summoned Sotiris in.
'Ask customs what these refrigerator trucks were carrying. They most likely belong to Transpilar, Pylarinos's company. And ask at the airport if they have the passenger lists for these groups and charters. They were probably met by some tourist agency also owned by Pylarinos. And I want you to question these five in person. I want to know why they were traveling.'
He took the two pieces of paper, but he didn't leave. Pylarinos's name had aroused his curiosity and he wanted to know more.
'Stop dawdling. I'll tell you eventually. And send Thanassis in.'
While waiting for Thanassis, I started to put the finishing touches to my report, but I didn't have time. In less than a minute, he was in my office.
'They called from the lab,' he said. 'The wire is the same as that used to kill Kostarakou, but they can't say whether or not it's the wire actually used in the murder. If we'd found the wire used by the murderer, they might have been able to tell whether it had been cut from the same piece. At any rate, they're certain that the wire wasn't cut using scissors or pliers, but broken by hand.'
That was something. If Petratos had seen the wire by chance and the idea had suddenly come to him to use it, he would have cut it by hand in his rush. Of course, anyone wanting a piece of wire who couldn't be bothered to go and get a pair of pliers would have done the same.
'Petratos drives a black Renegade. I want you to comb the area where Kostarakou lived and find out if anyone saw it around the time of the murder. It's unlikely that they'll have remembered the license number, but make a note of it anyway. It's XRA 4318. And give this film to the lab to be developed.'
I got rid of Thanassis and settled down to the report. In less than a quarter of an hour, it was done. Before handing it in, I phoned Politou, the examiner who'd undertaken the Albanian's case, and informed her of the new evidence that had come to light.
'How strong is the likelihood that we're dealing with a trade in babies?' she asked me.
'Too early to say. But it's not unlikely that the Albanian murdered the couple for the reasons that Karayoryi suspected and not for those he claims in his confession.'
I see. I'll let you know as soon as I call him for the inquest,' she said and hung up.
I submitted the two reports to Koula and then went down to the basement, where the records are kept.
The officer in charge was surprised to see me. 'It's not often we see you, Inspector Haritos.'
He was around forty and always had a smile on his face. He'd had the misfortune, a couple of years back, to have a run-in with a minister's son, who'd had a row in a bar and had seriously injured one of the customers. The minister had exerted pressure to get his son off on a plea of self-defense, but Yannis was irritated by the boy's arrogance and wouldn't give way. In the end, the boy got a six-month suspended sentence and Yannis ended up in records.
'Yannis, I need a personal favor from you.'
'If I can be of help, of course.'