blame, but he wouldn't accept it. He said that I was the one who was incapable. In the end, he made up his mind to divorce me. He was about to leave on a long voyage, one lasting a year and a half. He'd signed up initially to get the money together to buy this flat. Afterward, he told me that he'd put the divorce in the hands of his lawyer and would leave, so that he wouldn't be around and we could separate without any fuss. I almost went crazy. Vassos was my whole life. I'd loved him from being a young girl. If we had separated, I would have committed suicide. Then one day, Yanna came around and told me she was pregnant. You've no idea what I felt when I heard that. I was getting divorced because we couldn't have children, and she was pregnant and going to get rid of it. I screamed like a shrew, I slapped her. She waited for me to calm down and then told me to tell Vassos that I was expecting a child. I didn't realize where she was leading. She had to explain it to me. Vassos wouldn't be here for the birth. She would have the child and give it to me'
She laughed and cried together. 'It was all so simple,' she said. 'She went into the maternity clinic under my name. And when little Anna was born, we registered her as my child. Vassos was overjoyed. He worships his daughter. There's nothing he wouldn't do for her. He's coming home on New Year's Eve so we can be together.'
'Who else knows that the child is Yanna's?'
'No one! Her plan was so perfect that no one ever found out anything. But you can't count on everything and to think we were seen by that pederast!'
'Who is the real father?'
'I don't know. Yanna would never tell me.'
She suddenly jumped up from her seat. She came and sat next to me on the sofa and took hold of my hands and clutched them. 'I beg you, don't say a word of this to anyone,' she said, weeping again. 'Anna and Vassos will find out. You have a home and a family. You understand what it will mean. It will be the ruin of us all.'
I didn't know where this would lead and I felt a tightening in my heart. 'Listen. If the baby has nothing to do with your sister's murder, you have my word that no one will ever learn anything about it from me. If there is some connection, then I promise to discuss it with you before proceeding any further.'
Which is more important? To find a murderer or keep a family together? Both, and neither, and this was the problem. You're jinxed, Haritos, I said to myself. You're always getting into the deepest water.
'Tell me. Do you have any mementos of your sister?'
'What kind of mementos?'
'Photographs ... letters ..:'
'I don't have any letters. Just a few photographs.'
'I'd like to see them.'
She got up and went out of the living room. Presently, she returned with a box of photographs. I looked through them one by one, but came across nothing of interest. Most of them were photographs of Yanna and Mina from their childhood; others were of Anna as a baby, with Yanna holding her in her arms. Some were from the trip that the three of them had taken together. And there was one photograph of Yanna wearing earphones and speaking-obviously taken during one of her radio programs.
'Are these all of them?'
'There's one more. One that Yanna had given to Anna, and she has it in her room'
'I'd like to see that one too.'
She took me to Anna's room. It was a simple, pleasant room, with flowery curtains, a desk, a bookcase, and a single bed with a bedside table. On the bedside table was a photograph in a wooden frame, turned toward the bed.
'That's the one,' Antonakaki said to me. 'She told Anna to keep it close to her always, because it was one she was very fond of.'
I looked at the photograph. It was of a group of young boys and girls in the country, in a clearing somewhere. I recognized Yanna in the center of the group. She was lying on the ground and had her head resting in the lap of one of the boys. Yanna was smiling at the camera. The boy's face was familiar to me. I leaned closer to get a better look and my gaze froze.
'Do you know when this photograph was taken?' I asked Antonakaki.
'No, but Yanna must have been about twenty.'
That wily Karayoryi. She was still springing surprises on me even after her death. She'd given the picture to Anna so that every night before going to sleep, she would be able to look at her father.
CHAPTER 44
Before leaving Antonakaki's house, I phoned Hellas Channel and asked to speak to the backstreet marine, the one who had been on duty the night that Karayoryi was murdered. They told me he started work at four.
It was still only twelve-thirty, but I was in no mood to go to the office. The two aspirins had had no effect and my head was still heavy. I was angry with myself for having chosen the previous day of all days to get smashed, and now, when I needed a clear head, I didn't have one. I decided to go home and lie down. I had to put my thoughts into some order.
Sovatzis was off the hook for good. Now that it had been verified that he hadn't killed the two girls, nor had he hired anyone to do them in, we had nothing on him. Dourou would simply be charged with buying and selling children. There was no longer any question of her being an accessory to the murders. And given that we were dealing with Albanian and not Greek children, a good lawyer would get her off with a light sentence. The two drivers and Hourdakis would end up bearing the brunt.
If I hadn't come across the file with all the material on Pylarinos, I might have found the murderer more easily. It was the file that had led me astray. The file and the fact that I had let Kolakoglou walk away. Though I had won laurels for my competence by Ghikas and for my compassion by Zissis. What I really deserved was a slap across the face. Okay, getting led astray did have its advantages. I'd broken up the gang. At least, in part. The big boys had got away, but even so, I'd get a few points out of it. Yet I wasn't happy. I thought of what was in store for me, and my heart sank.
By the time I arrived at Hellas Channel, it was four-thirty. The backstreet marine was at his post. He recognized me at once and stood up. I told him we should go somewhere quiet to talk. He took me to the security guards' room, which was empty.
'I want to go over a few details,' I said when we were sitting down. 'You told me that on the night Karayoryi was murdered, she arrived at the studios at eleven-fifteen. Correct?'
'Yes.'
'And was she alone?'
'All alone.
'Are you sure about that?'
'Sure I'm sure. I have a computer memory, I told you.'
'Fine. And since you have a computer memory, you will have no difficulty in remembering how many times you left your post after Karayoryi had arrived.'
'I told you. Only once for two minutes, when one of the other guards came and told me that she had been found murdered.'
'I'm talking about before she was found murdered. How many times did you leave your post?'
'Not at all,' he said quickly.
'Cut the crap, sonny. Don't try pulling the wool over my eyes, because I know you left your post. Are you going to tell me yourself or am I going to have to take you in and give you the business? If you make it difficult for me, that's also fine, because I'll go as far as having you fired.'
His muscles relaxed and he sagged. 'There was a basketball game on that night. Just before the end, I nipped along to find out the score.
'What time was that?'
'I don't remember exactly.' His computer had gone down.
'And how long were you gone?'
'Five minutes at the most.'
'Shall we say ten?'
He heaved a sigh. 'Let's say ten,' he agreed.
