have found themselves starring in films they never intended to make. Andreas wondered how many of Athens' rich and powerful were in Giorgio's pocket because of their, or more likely their children's, performances.
A small security room, more accurately a closet, stood next to the bar. It was furnished with a table filled with video equipment and two chairs facing a wall of monitors. Andreas stood over Giorgio, watching him copy the tapes. There would be no accidental erasures. Kouros stood outside the room, his back to the door and his eyes on the five giants. It took about a half-hour to make the copies, and not one man said a single unnecessary word the entire time, as if doing so might send the delicate equilibrium they'd achieved into irreversible chaos.
Andreas was anxious to see the tapes, but knew better than to do it here. He'd wait until they were back in friendlier surroundings. For now, he just verified the timelines to make sure they were getting what he wanted. He didn't want to come back a second time. Giorgio only could be pushed so far, as he made clear in his through-the- teeth-smiling goodbye to Andreas:
'Come back soon. We'll be expecting you.' Andreas sat behind his desk staring out the window. There was nothing to see, but, then again, he wasn't looking. He wondered how long before Kouros and the lab guys came up with something on the tapes. They'd been at it for over an hour. The preliminary autopsy report confirmed what Andreas suspected. Someone went to a lot of trouble and torture to make it seem like the kid got what he was looking for. And not just to the press; to the police, too. This was made to look like the kind of case cops don't care if they ever close: one that simply fades away as an ignored, unattended file. And that bothered Andreas big time.
How did anyone, even a Linardos, think they could murder the son of one of Greece's richest and most visible men without the police getting a shit load of pressure to solve it? Then again, he hadn't received a single pressuring call from anyone, including the boy's parents. Perhaps they're still in shock and hadn't gotten around to the angry, let'sget-the-bastards stage. He shook his head.
On the other hand, it would take a fool of a cop, or one blithely unconcerned with his future, to press ahead with a case this explosive when no one was pushing him to do a thing. He thought of the boy's father and what must be going through that man's mind. Then he thought of his own father and the question Andreas asked himself over and over since he was eight: how different might my life have been if dad had lived, if he'd stood up to that now-dead bastard who set him up to look corrupt?
Andreas buzzed Maggie on the intercom. 'Have you set up that appointment with Sarantis Linardos?'
'Still waiting to hear back from his secretary. It won't be for today, though. He's in London, and she's not sure when he'd be back in Athens. Said she'd call me as soon as she knows when he's available.'
'Yeah, like she doesn't already know. Keep on her.'
He hung up just as Kouros burst into his office. 'Got her, Chief, and the two guys, too. Perfect shots of all of them.' He put a half-dozen photos on Andreas' desk.
'Any more?'
'It's all we've been able to find so far. Uhh, there is a problem, though.'
'What is it?'
'The camera covering the rear parking lot — its lens was painted over. From the recording timeline, it happened just before Sotiris left the club with the girl. We've got nothing after that on that camera.'
'Not surprised. This was a professional job. It also explains why one of Sotiris' friends recalled one of the bouncers disappearing before Sotiris left the club with the girl. He must have had some painting to do.'
'And it gives Giorgio a convenient alibi for why there's no tape of the assault.'
Andreas picked up one of the photos showing the girl in full frontal form. 'Wow, she is hot.'
'Tell me about it, I threatened to break the technician's head if he made an extra copy for himself.'
'I gotta admit, if she hit on me as hard as she did on that kid, I'd probably be the one in the dumpster.'
Kouros grinned. 'Might still be worth the risk.'
Andreas looked at the rest of the pictures, paying particular attention to the two men. 'You recognize them?'
Kouros gestured no with his head. 'I didn't see them at the club today.'
'Me either.' Andreas drummed his fingers on the desk. 'It's a bit sloppy wouldn't you say?'
'What do you mean?'
'All this care at setting the kid up to look like he bought it in a rough sex gone bad deal, but not caring how simple it is for us to get a picture of the girl and the two guys who probably killed him?'
'Maybe they never thought we'd get the pictures from the club, or they didn't know about the cameras?'
Andreas shook his head no. 'And paint over the one in the parking lot? Maybe they just didn't care if we got them? After all, what we have doesn't show them doing anything to anyone. Besides, who knows where the hell they are by now.'
'Do you think the girl's dead?'
'Don't know. Guess we'll have to find out.'
'How?'
'Ask Giorgio.' Andreas smiled. 'I mean, you ask Giorgio.'
Kouros shrugged. 'Okay.'
Just then Maggie buzzed him. 'What is it?'
'Uh, sorry, Chief, just wanted to know if you're taking calls.'
'Not unless it's something urgent. I've got to catch up on everything else going on in this office.'
'Thanks. Bye, Chief.'
Andreas stood up and walked around the desk to where Kouros was standing. He patted him on the shoulder. 'Be careful, Yianni. Take along a blue-and-white for backup.' He paused. 'Make that two blue-and-whites.'
'Will do, Chief,' and he left.
Andreas held his breath for a moment, and slowly let it out. There was another potential explanation for why whoever was behind this didn't care who found out about the girl and the two muscle guys: they had friends in high places prepared to protect them. That was not an unheard of scenario in Greece, or elsewhere for that matter. Just the thought of that possibility pissed Andreas off. Really pissed him off. 'Uh, Chief?' It was Maggie's voice over the intercom. It was the first time she'd disturbed him since just before Yianni left his office.
'Yes?'
'It's Yianni.'
'Thanks, put him through.'
She clicked off and the call came through.
'Chief?'
'Yes, what's up?'
'We have an ID on the girl.'
The first good news in a long time, thought Andreas. 'Great, who is she?'
'Name's Anna Panitz, lives over by the university near Filis Street.'
'That's hookerville.'
'Yeah, Giorgio says she's a semi-pro; works a couple of legit jobs and turns tricks when pressed for money.'
Andreas had never understood the concept of a semi-pro prostitute but, what the hell, they had an ID. 'And the two guys with her, the ones wearing Angel Club tee shirts?'
'He didn't know them. Said they didn't work for him and anyone could get a tee shirt. They sold them at the bar for thirty euros.'
That didn't surprise Andreas. He expected as much, or at least that Giorgio would say it. 'Why do you think that prick is suddenly so cooperative?'
There was a very long silence on Kouros' side of the phone.
'Yianni!'
The reply was sharp and quick. 'I guess because of television.'
'What are you talking about?' Andreas asked, though his gut already gave him the answer.
'The story's everywhere. It broke before we got to the club.'
It was pounding headache time.
'Giorgio said he had nothing to do with what happened to the kid and would tell us anything we wanted to know. His exact words were, 'I'm not fucking stupid enough to get caught up in the middle of this shit storm. It
