would pay to get the holy icon back?”
“I can assure you all of that has been considered and appropriate safeguards are in place.” Eleni sounded defensive.
“And in case you’re wrong?” said Andreas.
Eleni stared away. “There is also the Foundation’s art collection of icons, relics, paintings, sculpture…so many priceless things that I cannot possibly put a value on them.” She turned back to Andreas. “And, yes, places where the offerings and treasures are stored. Some are kept until they’re sold to help fund the Foundation’s purposes and others are saved for the true treasures they are.”
“In other words,” said Andreas, “the Foundation has a lot to steal.”
Eleni nodded.
“Can you think of any other potential targets on the island?” said Tassos.
“Many. There are some very wealthy families on Tinos.”
“Let’s just stick to the churches,” said Andreas.
“The Catholic Church’s presence here is more significant than almost anywhere else in Greece. Its Cathedral of Saint Nicholas sits down by the harbor, just below Panagia Evangelistria, and half of the more than one hundred- twenty formal churches on Tinos are Catholic, plus a third of the hundreds of others. There is also a Jesuit monastery.”
“But I assume none of those other churches, Catholic or Orthodox, has anywhere near your church’s wealth,” said Andreas.
Eleni nodded. “There are miracle-working icons in other churches, but none as sacred and revered as the Megalochari.”
“Have you noticed anyone or anything unusual recently?” said Tassos.
“Not that I can think of. But the island’s in the midst of preparing for the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin on August 15th. It’s Tinos’ busiest day of the year by far, all in honor of the Megalochari. There’s so much happening around this time that even the unusual seems usual.”
“Would that be a likely day for a robbery?” said Andreas.
Eleni gestured no. “I can’t imagine a worse one. Tinos is a madhouse on August 15th. The population swells to such unmanageable levels that Tinians have virtually ceded that celebration to visitors and treat July 23rd, the anniversary of Saint Pelagia’s third vision of the icon, as their time to celebrate the Megalochari. ”
“What happens on the 15th?” said Andreas.
“The holy icon is paraded from Panagia Evangelistria down Megalochari Avenue to a marble rotunda at the base of the hill where a service is conducted. Then it’s carried back up the hill to the church along the same route. It’s a procession filled with religious dignitaries, government officials, military, and police surrounding the holy icon. Frankly, if you’re looking for a festival on which to pull off a robbery, July 23rd would be a far better choice.” She smiled.
“Why July 23rd?” said Andreas.
“Both involve dignitaries and the same amount of police, but when the procession reaches the harbor on the 23rd it turns left and continues to the edge of town where the holy icon is transferred to nuns from Saint Pelagia’s convent. They take the Megalochari back to their convent in a taxi and keep it there until eight that evening when it’s walked back to Panagia Evangelistria in a two and a half hour procession.
“There would be a lot more chances to pull off a robbery then, but that festival day has come and gone and the Megalochari is still here.” Eleni forced a smile and looked at her watch. “Oh my, I’ve got to run. I’m late for a meeting with my boss.” She stood up.
Andreas stood and handed Eleni his card. “Thank you. You’ve been very helpful and I hope we’ll have the chance to talk again.”
As Tassos rose he said, “If you think of anything else, no matter how crazy or insignificant it may seem, please let me know.”
“I will, uncle.” Eleni kissed Tassos on both cheeks. She reached out to shake Andreas’ hand. “And, Chief Inspector, good luck.”
“Good luck? With what?”
“Your wedding. Have you forgotten?” She laughed. “That’s not a very good sign.”
Andreas shook Eleni’s hand. Ain’t that the truth.
Chapter Ten
It was far too early for lunch when Eleni left Tassos and Andreas sitting at the table, but her father and brother insisted they stay “a bit longer” and try what was “special on the menu for lunch,” amounting to enormous portions of sklavotyra — round cheese balls surrounded by fresh figs, sun dried tomatoes, and capers-deep fried meatball-shape keftedes made of tomatoes, and an omelet of local sausage and cheese.
Tassos said it would be rude not to accept. Andreas said it would just be fattening.
“So, what do you think of my niece?”
“I’m getting married.”
“I thought you were over that macho every-woman-can-be-mine Greek bullshit.”
“I am. I’m just not over busting your balls.” Andreas smacked Tassos lightly on the side of his arm. “She’s very impressive. Smart, but a bit anxious. I wonder if she’ll tell her boss about our conversation?”
Tassos gestured no. “Not a chance. She knows we’re trying to help. But I can’t blame her for being nervous. There’s a lot at risk. Just a few years ago the Foundation put sixteen million euros into renovations and a new museum addition. We’re talking big business here.”
“How in the world did the Tinians manage to keep the Foundation and all that wealth out of the hands of the Greek Church?”
“They’re very resourceful people. It’s the only island that successfully resisted Turkish rule. The Venetians were in charge during most of those Ottoman times, keeping Tinos a Christian oasis amid Turkish domination of the Aegean. When the Turks took over about a hundred years before our War of Independence it was in a negotiated way giving Tinians rare economic and religious privileges. Turkish fleets had to stay twelve miles away, Tinians could wear traditional dress and build and run their own schools and churches. Four elected Tinians governed the island and the only permanent Turkish residents there were the governor and the judge. Tinos was the economic center of the Cyclades and had its largest population. It was called ‘Little Paris.’ Things only fell apart for Tinos at the end when political infighting and corruption allowed the Turks to assert themselves in the final decade or so before the revolution.”
“And then came a nineteen-hundred year-old piece of wood to the rescue.” Andreas shook his head.
“Back then it was only seventeen-hundred years old, but if we’re talking rescue, I’ll take whatever help is out there to save Greece today,” said Tassos.
Andreas smiled. “Do you think the Megalochari is what they’re after?”
“Hard to say. Like you said, the holy icon is portable, making it relatively easy to steal. But all that church’s gold, jewels, paintings…” Tassos rolled his hand off into the air, “would be a lot less difficult to sell than one of the world’s most revered religious treasures. And then there is all that valuable stuff in churches all over Tinos that would be far easier to rob than Panagia Evangelistria.”
“Maybe the plan is to rob them all?” said Andreas.
Tassos gestured no. “Pirates tried that for centuries. Tinians are quite accomplished at hiding their treasures.”
“It just doesn’t makes sense to me why anyone would bring so many bad guys together on a relatively small island just to rob a single church, no matter how rich it is. There has to be more to it than that. And why is everything coming to a head so close to August 15th?”
“Maybe it’s just a coincidence? I have to agree with Eleni that it seems a lousy day to pick for a robbery.”
“Yeah, it’s ‘lousy’ if you’re going after the Megalochari. But what if the target is something else? Say, like everything else. With everyone focused on the procession it might be the perfect day for heisting the rest of the
