and headed toward Andreas' office.
Katerina walked up the stairs ahead of Andreas. At the top she turned and smiled at him. Tassos grabbed her arm again and pulled her toward the office muttering something about 'you'll never change.'
Tassos sat in 'his' chair, Andreas went behind his desk, and Katerina parked herself on top of it. 'So, what can I do for you?' Her voice was still lighthearted.
'Your old client, Manny Manoulis, wants to see you,' said Tassos.
Her voice was suddenly professional. 'About what?'
Andreas showed her the photograph. 'We showed him this picture and asked if he knew her. He refused to say anything more until he spoke to you.'
Katerina looked at the photograph, then stood and straightened her dress. 'Tassos, you didn't bring me here to talk about Manny doing his jerking-off routine in front of this girl. It has to be something a lot more serious than that.'
Tassos nodded. 'Always said you're smart. It is more serious. Way more serious. We have to know everything he knows about her.'
'Why?' She seemed unmoved.
Andreas spoke. 'Her life may be in danger. Anything he knows might help.'
Katerina stared at Andreas, then looked at Tassos. 'Why do I get the impression there's a lot you're not telling me?'
Tassos spoke. 'Because there is; and because there's no reason for you to know any of it. Just take it on faith that this is really serious; and if your client's involved there's nothing you can do to save him, but if he isn't, and you get him to tell us — or you tell us — what he knows, we'll be forever in your debt.'
'You're asking me to betray the confidence of a client?' She tried sounding shocked.
'No, I'm asking you to keep an innocent man from looking guilty — the bit about the police being in your debt is only incidental.' Tassos smirked.
'Asshole,' she said to Tassos. 'Let me talk to him and I'll let you know my decision after.' She winked at Andreas. 'Later, handsome. Don't worry, I'll see myself out. I know my way around here.' And she was gone.
'Wow,' said Andreas. 'I never felt like a boy toy before.'
'Believe me, if anyone knows how to play with toys, it's Katerina,' Tassos said with a smile. 'She's also as sharp and ruthless as they come. We've been doing business together for years. I can't tell you the number of judges she's had eating out of her… uhh… hand.'
Andreas smiled. 'I get the picture. Do you think she'll let him talk to us?'
'Only if he's not the killer and we agree that whatever he says won't be used against him.'
'What if Manny won't talk to us?'
'Oh, that's no problem. If she thinks it'll get him off, and we agree never to expose her as the source, she'll tell us anyway. She calls it 'part of my responsibility to save my foolish clients from themselves.'' Tassos emphasized her words by putting quotes in the air with his fingers.
Andreas shook his head and smiled again.
Twenty minutes later Katerina was back. 'Okay, fellas, are you ready for me?'
'I guess that means your boy's going to cooperate,' said Tassos.
She looked straight at him. 'He picked her up two nights ago just before sunrise at the taxi stand by the harbor, drove her to a beach, then watched her strip, walk naked into the sea, and frolic under the stars. After she finished her little moonlight interlude he drove her back to her hotel. I'll leave to your male imaginations whether he jerked off. But that's all that happened and if she said he did anything to her, she's lying.'
Andreas spoke. 'If that's what happened, he's got no problem with us. So, why did he call for you?'
'Possibly so we could meet.' She smiled. 'But apparently the last time you showed him a picture of a girl he recognized you followed up by threatening the shit out of him.'
Andreas smiled. You couldn't help but like her style, he thought. 'Fair enough. Can we talk with him?'
'What's all this about?' She stared straight at him.
'We're just trying to find a missing person, that's all,' said Andreas.
'Yeah, sure.' She rolled her eyes and pointed a finger at Tassos. 'Don't fuck with me, Tassos.'
'I promise you we're not.' His tone was solemn.
She looked at Tassos, then at Andreas. 'Okay, bring him in and I'll let him tell you what you want to know.'
Manny was calmer with Katerina in the room but still clearly nervous. Andreas offered him a cigarette. He took it and that seemed to relax him a bit more. Andreas asked him to 'please' tell them everything that happened between the very first and last moment he was with her. Manny said he saw her only that one time and began to tell what he swore was everything he remembered.
Manny said he'd driven her to 'the priest's beach.' Andreas struggled not to speak but lost the battle after Manny said her naked romp took place directly in front of Father Paul's house.
'Did anyone else see her there?'
Manny sounded surprised at the interruption. 'Uhh, no, not that I could tell.'
'What about the priest? Was he there?' Andreas' voice was pressing.
'His house was dark, I didn't see anyone. Honest.' Manny was getting more nervous, so Andreas backed off and let him finish. It took less than five minutes because according to Manny, after coming off the beach she got back into the taxi, told him to take her to the Hotel Adlantis, and that was it.
'You mean neither of you said a word to the other the entire way back to the hotel?' Andreas sounded agitated.
'Yes, sir, that's right, except — like I told you — 'Thank you.''
Andreas gave him a long, stern look, quickly glanced at Tassos and Katerina, then returned his focus to Manny. 'So, what the hell were you doing all that time up there alone in the front seat?' Andreas already knew the answer — a bit of silent self-awareness, no doubt — but wanted him to know he wasn't fooling anyone in the room.
Katerina spoke up. 'Now, now, Chief, you know that's not the kind of question you should be asking my client.' She smiled.
Andreas gave her a wink.
'Did you ever see her with anyone?' asked Tassos.
'No.'
'What about at the taxi stand when you picked her up?' Andreas was back to a calm, friendly tone.
'There was a long line. She was in it.'
'Did you see her talking to anyone?' asked Andreas.
'Only Tom.'
'Tom? Who's Tom?' asked Tassos.
'The American artist, Tom Daly. He hangs out at Panos' Place.'
Andreas and Tassos shot each other a look.
'He was standing with her in line and said good-night to her when she got in. I think they'd been together earlier.'
'What do you mean 'been together'?' Andreas heard the excitement in his own voice.
Manny shrugged. 'Like they knew each other, that's all.'
'How well do you know the artist?' Andreas tried to calm his tone.
'Pretty well. He was teasing me not to rip her off like a tourist when she got into my taxi. He was friends with my father. They used to sit around and swap old mining stories.'
'What do you mean by 'mining stories'?' asked Tassos, excitement evident in his voice.
'Before my father had his shop in town he used to work in the mines out there.' Manny pointed toward Ano Mera. 'And Tom's father was a coal miner in Wales before moving to the States.'
'Do you still see him?' Tassos was speaking with obviously forced restraint.
'Oh, sure. Every once in a while I stop by his house, but he doesn't seem to be there as much as when the old mine entrance was open.'
Andreas jumped in. 'What old mine entrance?'
'The one the church is built on. Tom rents from a farmer who wanted to build a church and thought it made
