“What do they call keftedes?” asked Lila.
“Meatballs are meatballs everywhere,” smiled Andreas.
Ring, ring.
“Not my phone this time,” said Tassos.
“It’s mine,” said Andreas, pulling his phone from his pants pocket.
“Kaldis here.”
Pause.
“Hold on, Adoni. I want to put you on speakerphone.”
Andreas set his mobile on the dining table. “It’s our head tech wiz back in GADA with news. I’m here with Maggie and Tassos. What do you have for us?”
“I heard about Yianni. How’s he doing?”
“His hard head finally came in handy,” said Andreas. “He’s doing great. I’ll tell him you asked.”
“Thanks, Chief. Nikoletta Elia’s editor just left. We examined his phone and analyzed the voicemail left by her possible kidnapper. The caller used a state-of-the-art scrambler. No way we could unscramble it, not even to say whether the caller was a man or a woman.”
“Damn.”
“But there’s more.”
“More bad news?”
“Depends on what you’re expecting. We’d also examined the reporter’s mobile and came up with the number of the last call she’d received and answered on that phone. It came through at about the same time as she disappeared from her hotel.”
“Why didn’t you tell us that before?”
“I did, in a voicemail I left yesterday for Yianni, before I heard what happened to him.”
“Okay, go on.”
“As a result of our examination of the journalist’s phone, I have potentially significant news for you.”
“Why is every cop so dramatic?” said Maggie.
“Because we strive for recognition of our small victories amid an ever-losing battle with the dark side,” said Tassos.
“I like that,” said Adoni.
“Just make your point, please,” said Andreas.
“We came up with the same number as the caller who left the message on the editor’s phone.”
Silence.
“Dare I ask if you know whose number it is?” said Andreas.
“I have a name but no other information.”
“What’s the name?”
“Petros Zagorianos.”
“Never heard of him.” Andreas looked around the table and received a group shrug.
“It could be an alias. The phone was purchased at a shop on Naxos the day before Nikoletta disappeared.”
“Do you know anything else about this Petros character?”
“Not a thing.”
“Is that all you have on the phones?”
“Yeah. I hope it helps.”
“It’s a good start. Thanks.”
Andreas clicked off. “Any thoughts?”
“Yeah,” said Tassos. “Call Dimitri and see if he’s ever heard of this guy.”
Andreas dialed.
“Dimitri, it’s Andreas. You’re on speaker with my crew.”
“Small world, I was just about to call you.”
“I wanted to know if you ever heard of a Naxian named Petros Zagorianos?”
Pause.
“Dimitri, are you still there?”
“Did you say Petros Zagorianos?”
“Yes.”
“I was calling to tell you we have an ID on the tourist who took a header on the rocks the night the reporter disappeared. He was born on Naxos as Petros Zagorianos but emigrated to the U.S. as a child, and the name on his U.S. passport is Peter Zagori.”
Andreas leaned in toward the phone. “When did he last enter Greece?”
“According to Immigration, the day before the reporter disappeared. He arrived on Wednesday. She disappeared early Thursday morning.”
Andreas looked at Tassos. “The same day he bought the phone.”
“What phone?” asked Dimitri.
“The one used to call Nikoletta the night she disappeared and to call her editor yesterday to say she was okay.”
“But Zagori couldn’t have called her editor. He was dead for nearly two days by then.”
“I know,” said Andreas. “Which means if we find Peter Zagori’s phone, we likely find his killer.”
“And whoever has Nikoletta,” added Tassos.
“Any other info on Zagori?”
“Not yet, but based on your suggestion we ran him through Greek databases and he popped up with a Greek military record. He came back from the United States to serve his time in the army. That’s all we have on him over here, but we’ve put in a request with the United States for anything they might have. I’ll let you know as soon as we hear back.”
“Thanks. How’s Popi doing?”
“Stable is all we’re hearing. The infection seems to be under control. They may not have to remove her spleen.”
Andreas pumped his fist into the air. “Thank God. If you speak to her husband, please pass along our thoughts and prayers.”
“Will do. Bye,”
Andreas shut off his phone and looked at Tassos. “What do you think?”
“That we’ve got one hell of a mystery to solve.”
“And less than forty-eight hours in which to do it.”
“Back to the books, boys and girls,” said Maggie.
“Once we finish, let’s go to the beach,” said Lila.
“I can’t go. We really have a lot to do,” said Andreas.
“Sure you can. From what I’ve heard, until you meet with those folks tomorrow, all you have to do is think and toss around ideas. That can be done on a beach as well as in one of these chairs. Besides, a swim will clear your head and make all of us think better.”
Andreas raised his hands in a sign of surrender. “Fine. Off to the beach it is. But I get to pick which one.”
“Deal.”
Chapter Eleven
Though their deal had Andreas picking the beach, when he passed on nearby Plaka Beach for a beach at least twenty minutes south, there were grumblings among his crew. Lila argued that Plaka was a perfectly exquisite sandy beach offering organized services for those who wanted them, and since neither she nor Andreas had ever been to that other beach, why risk messing up what remained of their day by heading toward the unknown?
Andreas did not relent. He drove back to Vivlos, turned right onto the main road, and followed it to its end before turning right onto a narrower paved road running between cedar-dotted sand dunes. Parked cars sat off on both the sides of the road. He turned left at what seemed more of a sandy path than a road, and followed it to where it opened up into an impromptu parking area separated from the beach by a line of cedars.
“Here we are, folks. Welcome to Alyko Beach.”
Lila and Maggie hurried down to the beach, carrying bags filled with what they deemed essential for a day by the sea. Andreas and Tassos followed, carrying snacks, water, bamboo beach mats, and two beach umbrellas to shield them from the sun.
“Wherever you ladies pick is fine with us,” said Andreas, glancing at a nodding Tassos.
“This place is gorgeous,” said Lila looking south. “The beach must go on for half a kilometer with not a structure in sight.”
“If you look south,” said Maggie. “But up on that rise beyond the cedars to the north there’s a church and what looks to be the skeleton of some sort of abandoned concrete and stone construction.”
“But it’s a small church,” said Lila, “and the other structure looks to be only a story tall and is hardly noticeable up there off among all those cedars.”
“I wonder what it is?” said Maggie.
Tassos looked at Andreas but said nothing.
“Frankly, I don’t care. I’m just happy to be on a lovely white beach with crystal clear water that’s utterly devoid of music, chair
s, tavernas, and anything else man-made.” Lila put her beach bag down ten meters from the edge of the water and, with a flourish suggestive of a conqueror claiming territory, said, “How’s this?”
“Perfect,” said Maggie.
Andreas gathered up rocks as Tassos scooped out a hole in the sand. They planted one umbrella in the hole, secured it in place from the wind with the rocks, and repeated the process for the second umbrella.
After they’d set up and spread out their things, Lila turned to Andreas. “How did you know about this place?”
“Tassos told me.”
Tassos grinned.
“When were you here?” asked Maggie.
“Long before I met you, my love. I was but a young man of twenty serving my country.” He nodded toward the structure on the hill north of them. “I was here when that was being built. As you guessed, it’s a long-abandoned project. A hotel project, to be precise.”
Maggie nodded. “So, that’s where you met that grandfather from Siphones.”
“Yes. He was around forty then.”
“And the beaches surrounding it sounded so idyllic I thought you’d like to see them,” said Andreas.
Lila rolled her eyes. “I wondered why you agreed so quickly to come to the beach in the middle of a case that has you stressed out. It’s not like you to risk relaxing, especially with Yianni in the hospital.”
“I’m not stressed out,” he barked.
“Yeah, sure. But at least admit that you brought us here so that you could check out that place.” She pointed north.
Andreas shrugged. “Sure, we’re here, so why not? Besides, it could be interesting for other reasons. I hear artists have done some extraordinary things with it.”
Lila stood. “I’m going swimming. If you can bear to wait until I return before gallivanting off on your little expedition, I might join you.”
Andreas lay back on his towel, staring straight up at the sky through a space between the umbrellas. “Lord spare me from doing good deeds unappreciated by mere mortals.”
Lila kicked sand on his legs. “Like I said, wise guy, wait for me.” She turned and ran toward the sea without waiting for a reply.
“I think the tag line to that exit was, ‘or else,’” said Tassos.
“Don’t I know it.”
“Good,” said Maggie smiling. “We’ve obviously trained each of you well.”
* * *
Lila swam for twenty minutes, dried in the sun for ten more, changed into a one-piece bathing suit, and said to her husband, “So, are you ready for our hike?”
Andreas got up from his towel, grabbed a T-shirt, and slipped into a pair of sandals. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Are you guys coming?” Lila asked Maggie and Tassos.
“Nope, you two are old enough to go off exploring on your own,” said Tassos, stretched out on a towel under an umbrella.
Andreas took Lila’s hand and led her up toward the SUV.
“Why don’t we just walk along the shore over toward the church?”
“While you were swimming, I noticed a pickup parked over by the church drive out to where we parked. It’ll be a lot easier following that road than struggling past rocks and brush in bathing suits.”
Their walk along the road to the church took five minutes, the last minute alongside a half dozen or so decrepit concrete shacks across the road from the church.
“What are those buildings?” Lila asked.
“My guess is they’re part of the old hotel project, but from the shutters and doors, I’d say that at least some of them were used after the project was abandoned. For what purpose or by whom, I’ve not a clue.”
They continued their walk, passing more faded structures and rows of unfinished stone and concrete walls. Andreas stopped at a still-serviceable concrete pier jutting out into the sea. “It’s right where Tassos said it would be.”
“Why didn’t he come with us if he knows so much about the place?”
“He said it’s been too many years for him to remember where that Siphones grandfather dug his suspicious holes.”
“That doesn’t sound like Tassos.”
“I know,” said Andreas. He shrugged.
“Maybe he doesn’t want to be in a place that reminds him of his time in service to the Junta?”
“No, he came to grips with that long ago. My guess would be it’s something far simpler. Like he’s afraid to take the walk. Maggie said he’s watching his weight but is reluctant to do more than minimal exercise.”
“If I’d known that, I’d have insisted he come with us.”
“I know; that’s why I didn’t tell you.”
Lila went to smack him, but before she could, Andreas bolted toward a dirt path leading up to a wide promontory overlooking the sea.
“Ha ha, too fast for you.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Lila charging after him. “You’re in sandals and I’m in sneakers.”
“Yeah, but I’m more afraid of you than you are of me,” Andreas yelled, not turning or slowing down.
As they neared the top, the scope of the project they’d seen only part of from the beach came into view. One- and two-story stone skeletons tracked along the rim of the cape in an architectural theme reminiscent of the Roman Coliseum’s penchant for archways.
They stopped.
“This is amazing,” said Lila.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Andreas turned to face the sea and swept his hand across the horizon. “I’d bet this view is what attracted the hotel project here in the first place.”
“Why do we Greeks insist on selling our very souls?” Lila sighed. “But having said that, I must admit that compared to many of the modern-day hotel projects plaguing us, this one actually looks to have tried fitting in with its setting.”
“Don’t be so sure about that. It wasn’t finished. Who knows what it would have looked like then.”
“Sadly, you’re right. But with any luck we’ll never know.” She took his hand. “Come, let’s look around.”
They left the shrubbery-lined path to walk between the perimeter buildings into a broad, open space covered in concrete. Unkempt gorse and other hardy greenery competed for random patches of available dirt.
“This must have been the intended main entrance and parking area,” said Andreas. “Be careful where you step; parts of the concrete have collapsed. This entire area must be hollow below.” He pointed to a hole just in front of them.
Lila poked Andreas on the arm. “Do you see what I see?” She swung around in a circle. “They’re beautiful, they’re stunning, and they’re all around us.”
Huge, colorful murals of mythical creatures—faces, birds, and omens—leaped out at them from almost every vertical surface. Long-abandoned concrete walls had been turned into gigantic canvases, one more challenging to the senses than the next.
“I’ve heard of this place, even seen photographs of some of the art, but I never imagined how overwhelming it is to see them here, in the surroundings that inspired their creation.” She swung around again. “They were painted a few years back by a Balian street artist who lives in Athens.” She pointed to a doorway leading into a skeletal maze of unfinished rooms and hallways. “There are more inside.” She headed toward the doorway.
Andreas yelled, “Remember, be careful where you step.” He watched her disappear inside. “I feel like I’m talking to Tassaki,” he muttered. But at least with him I have a shot at being listened to.
He stood alone on the concrete, staring first one way and then another. He had no idea what he was looking for here that might tie into Nikoletta’s disappearance, nor even a hint of where he should start to look for inspiration. He decided to take his mind off the investigation and just tag along with Lila. He followed the path she’d taken inside through an a
rchway now doubling as the gaping, wide-open mouth of a sea monster. Perhaps that’s what happened to Nikoletta—she was swallowed up by some mysterious creature.
So much for putting the investigation out of his mind.
He wandered from room to room, taking care not to step too close to the many holes, some of which promised to the inattentive a fall of a story or two. With all the tourists this artwork must draw, he was surprised no efforts had been made to repair or at least cover over the holes. But, then again, with the entire country still in the midst of financial crisis, there wasn’t enough money available for far more pressing crumbling infrastructure projects directly affecting the daily lives of everyday Greek voters.
He stopped to look at a small mural obviously painted by a different artist trying to pass himself off as the original. An awkward impersonation, to say the least.
Impersonation…? Andreas stared straight ahead. What if whoever attacked Yianni and Popi was trying to impersonate Nikoletta’s mystery man?
That could mean the telephone calls to Nikoletta and her editor were made by the man Nikoletta interviewed, and everything he told the editor was legitimate. The hacker is keeping her safe from impersonators trying to harm her.
Andreas felt he was onto something but needed more than instinct before pushing his theory. If his hunch was correct, then Nikoletta faced no danger from her “captor,” but if wrong, she could die. Or already be dead.
Maybe the answer will come from what the Americans have to say about Peter Zagori. Given the calls from Zagori’s phone, Andreas had no doubt he’d been killed by the hacker. But why? Certainly not for his mobile.
He nodded to the mural that had sparked his possible epiphany. “Thanks for the inspiration whoever you are. Keep up the good work.”
* * *
After another half hour of wandering through the ruins, Lila agreed it was time to rejoin Maggie and Tassos on the beach. They walked along the path past the church, every so often catching a glimpse of the beach below through a break in the cedars.
“I could use another swim,” she said.
“I’m in need of one too. It’s a warmer day than I thought.” Andreas turned his head to glance at the beach and came to an abrupt stop.
A Deadly Twist Page 13
