Target: Tinos

by Jeffrey Siger

  Andreas looked at Tassos. “Keep an eye on him,” and went outside.

  He was back in two minutes, walked over to the mantle, and picked up the photograph of Trelos’ parents.

  “Lovely looking people. Your mom and dad?”

  No answer.

  “You know, my own father died when I was very young. I never really got over it. But I did get on with my life. Why, I wonder, haven’t you?” Andreas smiled.

  No answer.

  “I just found out that it could have been a lot worse for you. Your sister was with them the night they died. She went with them to dinner in Pyrgos, but she didn’t come back with them. Said she wasn’t feeling well and stayed over at a relative’s house. My, weren’t you lucky? You almost lost your only sister and your parents in one night.”

  Trelos didn’t move.

  Andreas studied the photograph. “Interesting, looks like it was taken right around here.” He walked over to the window on the north wall and held the photo up to the light. “You know, the church in the background of the photo looks an awful lot like that one over there.” He pointed at the church in the distance. “Could that, by chance, be your family’s church? Perhaps where your parents are buried?”

  No answer.

  “Tassos, why don’t you and Yianni take a walk over to that church and check it out. And while you’re at it, take a look inside the other structures in the area.” He stared at Trelos. “Just in case his sister might have gotten lost in one of them.”

  Trelos hadn’t moved from where he’d stopped after coming out of the bathroom, but his eyes trailed after Tassos leaving the house.

  “You know, Pandeleis, all this talking to myself has given me a mighty thirst.” Andreas put the photograph down on the kitchen counter by the window. “I assume you won’t mind if I help myself to some water?” He reached for the refrigerator door handle.

  “Not at all, Chief Inspector Kaldis. But please, call me Trelos, everyone else does. By the way, your friends are wasting their time. They won’t find a thing.”

  Trelos walked across the room to where Andreas was standing, took off his earphones, and put them and the iPod down on the counter. He picked up the photograph of his parents, kissed it, and carried it back to the mantle.

  Trelos turned and smiled at Andreas. “No one will. Ever.”

  ***

  Andreas gripped the door handle for few seconds, opened the door, took out a bottle of water, closed the door, opened the cupboard, took out two glasses with one hand, shut the cupboard with the back of the same hand, turned, and set the glasses and bottle on the countertop across from Trelos.

  “Is this where the master-criminal divulges his secret plan to his noble adversary knowing that it cannot be stopped?”

  Trelos smiled. “Not at all. There is nothing left to stop. My plan is simple and underway. My only desire is to give choices to those who would like to change their lives for the better. Give them the chance at finding honest work they truly enjoy, an opportunity I never had. I support them financially until they are able to support themselves.”

  “So, you’re the Shepherd.”

  “I have taken an oath to tell only the truth or speak not at all.”

  “I’ll take that as an ‘I’m not going to tell you.’ And what happens to those who talk too much, death?”

  “I do not understand you. We are dedicated to bringing a better life to those desiring it, not death.”

  “‘Revenge or Death’ is a rather catchy slogan for an organization claiming such lofty goals.”

  “That is not our slogan. Yes, we are modeled on Filiki Eteria, for it too brought great change to Greece in very difficult times, and in no small measure because of the dedication and commitment of foreigners. But those words are the creation of one who does not understand our goals or purposes.”

  “And who would that person be?”

  “I have no idea. But surely not one we embrace in the brotherhood.”

  “Why all the secrecy?”

  “There are those who do not share our goals. Helping the foreign born and outcasts of society to attain better lives directly challenges many who would like to keep them down, akin to slaves.”

  “I can’t argue with you there.”

  “And then there are those who would simply like to rob us of the riches we use in place of empty promises and prayers to make the lives of others better.”

  “Where’s the money come from?”

  “It is my family’s. I spend only what is ours. I do not seek to raise funds.”

  “Or compete with the Foundation?”

  Trelos smiled.

  “And your sister, what about her and your brother? Are they also part of your ‘brotherhood.’”

  “No, Petros would not understand. He is of the sort that sees no value beyond the euro in non-Greeks. And she is far too fragile for the stress of working with the world’s most difficult souls. She just informs me of those who pass her way who are in need, and I do what I can to help them.”

  “You mean she tells you what she overhears in the bar?”

  “Not just in the bar. She, as I, is virtually invisible wherever we may go. It is as if we do not exist. In time you learn to accept that as a rare luxury.”

  “What about the others in your organization? Are they also ‘invisible.’”

  “I have sworn an oath never to reveal another member. But, believe me when I say they are good souls, who care only to do good.”

  “Like murdering five other souls?”

  Trelos reached for the bottle and filled his glass. “I know of three deaths here, not of five. But of those three, I know little more than I do of the other two. And what I do know is certainly far less than you.”

  “Did you know the Carausii brothers who died here?”

  “Yes, they came to us along with their tsigani clan.”

  “Did you know that they were planning to expose you to the Albanians?”

  “No, but I was prepared for that day to come. Everyone has a Judas. Don’t you find it strange that wherever you find good intentions massing, jackals come in packs to devour them?”

  “You’re getting a little heavy on me, Trelos.”

  “Albanians are a unique force in our country. Whether or not Greeks wish to admit it, many trace their roots back to Albania, and Orthodox Albanians assimilate easily into our culture. At least those who want to do so. But for those ruthless few who persist in their historic criminal ways, one cannot reason with them. They will take by violence what you are willing to give in peace.

  “I could not risk allowing them into my house, for fear they would pillage and burn it to the ground.”

  “And the tsigani? Do you actually think you’re going to change their ways?”

  “It’s worth the effort. Tinos offers a unique opportunity at succeeding with tsigani for they revere the holy icon and are accustomed to behaving when on our island.

  “But Tinos is only our beginning. This island can handle a population five times its size, and Greece offers many more places where we can do our work. All Greeks know that past governments have banished those they labeled ‘undesirables’ to the islands. We only seek to modify that practice by offering the unwanted incentives for finding a better way of life. We wish to make them part of the solution and not treat them as the problem.”

  “Is that why you excluded Albanians? You were afraid they wouldn’t stay with the program.”

  “You could put it that way, but I realized in denying them what others were offered so freely would most certainly attract their attention. In time, one or another of them would likely attempt to do us harm.”

  “And just what do you plan on doing when that time comes?”

  “It’s already been done. We’ve built an army of metanastes who have found a better, honest life. They will not allow the exploiters to take it away from them.”

  “That might work. The Albanians wouldn’t want to go to war with the rest of Eastern Europe
, unless there’s a mighty big profit in it. But what’s going to prevent someone from some day putting a bullet in your head, or a hit and run driver taking you out on one of your daily jaunts.”

  “I do not fear death. But nor do I wish to hasten it. That is why I keep my role in all of this secret. And why I am telling you all of this.”

  “Not sure I get that last part.”

  “You would not stop until you found me. I could see that. And in so doing would undoubtedly reveal my identity to the world. I judged it better that I confide in you my secret, show to you that I am not the ‘master-criminal’ you seek, but only one who seeks to better the lives of the unloved and anonymous. This could change the world.”

  “Great, but now that I know, what’s to keep me from telling the world who you are?”

  “Nothing, but what have I done to justify your betraying my confidence? Not turn over my sister to you? How could I do that? The stress you would bring into her life would surely cause her to try and take it again. Besides, it’s hardly worth the trade to you. Exposing me to the wrath of the Albanians will only return all those we are helping back to a life of crime.”

  Trelos smiled. “Lastly, who’s going to believe you when you say, ‘Trelos the madman is behind it all’?”

  Andreas pulled a silver-color digital recorder out of his pocket. “Surprise.”

  Trelos shrugged. “It’s been scrambled since you came into the house. Like I said, ‘I do not wish to hasten’ my demise.”

  Andreas checked the recorder and put it back into his pocket. “You do realize this is not going to end here.”

  “I should hope not. The killers of those poor people must be found.”

  “There’s more involved.”

  “Are you talking about the Foundation and the ‘robbery of a church’ that’s supposed to happen here this week?” He accented his words with finger quotes.

  “How do you know about that?”

  “As I said, we are invisible. Many people talk. We listen. But don’t worry, I can assure you that will not happen.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  Trelos picked up his iPod and earphones. “Because it’s already happened.” He put on his earphones. “I have no more to say.” And began to dance as Kouros and Tassos came through the front door.

  “We didn’t find a thing, Chief.”

  Trelos did a quick pirouette, ending with a wink that only Andreas could see.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  “That’s one smart son-of-a-bitch. He made sure to put you in a ‘your word against his’ situation over a supposed conversation between you and a notorious whackjob who never talks,” said Tassos.

  “And how the hell do you scramble a recorder?” said Kouros from the backseat of the cruiser heading toward town.

  “You’re asking me?” said Andreas. “I’m still trying to remember what he said.”

  “You remembered enough for me to have a chat with my niece. Unless one of us talked where we shouldn’t have, Eleni’s the only other person who knew about the robbery.”

  “And what was all that about the robbery having ‘already happened’?” said Kouros.

  “Another question for Eleni,” said Andreas.

  Kouros shook his head. “What I don’t get is why does everybody in the sister’s family think she needs protection? She’s the one going face-to-face every night in that bar with the hard-ass customers her brother is trying to save. And from the way she got away from us last night, she just might have the biggest balls in her family.”

  “I think Trelos has a pretty good size pair,” said Andreas. “Let’s not forget he’s been playing chicken with the Albanians.”

  “I’d say leaving dead bodies all over Greece qualifies as more than a game of chicken,” said Kouros.

  “But who’s doing it, and why?” said Andreas.

  “Isn’t Trelos the obvious ‘who’?” said Tassos. “I can’t see him personally doing that sort of heavy-lifting dirty work, but for sure there’s a hell of a lot of guys in his brotherhood who could. Like he said, that’s why the Albanians don’t want to mess with his ‘army.’”

  “Great, so what’s the ‘why’ answer?” said Andreas.

  “He’s sending a simple message. ‘This is what happens to anyone who tries to fuck with me,’” said Kouros.

  Andreas gestured no. “No, not ‘fuck with me.’ That can’t be the message. As far as we can tell the only threat the victims posed to Trelos was to expose him as the Shepherd.”

  “Sounds like a difference without a distinction to me,” said Tassos. “Once he’s exposed, the Albanians would do the fucking.”

  Andreas nodded. “Which is precisely why it makes no sense that, if he’s responsible for eliminating those he thought posed a threat to exposing him, he simply out of the blue decided to announce to me who he was.”

  “Like he said, he thought you’d find out sooner or later, so he’s trying to con you with misdirection,” said Kouros.

  “Bullshit. If he was behind the intricate planning that went into arranging the murders of those five men, plus getting that package to me, and his reason for doing all that was to keep his identity a secret, I can’t imagine that less than an hour of my busting his balls would break him. He knew that even if I suspected who he was there was no way I could prove it. All he had to do was keep playing dumb and wait for the chance to take me out.

  “No, we’re definitely still missing the ‘why.’”

  “Aren’t you forgetting the ‘robbery’? He could have said what he did to distract you from discovering what he’s planned?” said Kouros.

  “Only if the robbery hasn’t already happened. For if it has, even the murders make no sense.”

  “Which is precisely why we’re seeing my niece.”

  Andreas pulled into the lot behind the Foundation’s offices. “Who gets to play bad cop this time?”

  “She’s my niece, my turn.”

  ***

  “What do you mean you have good news and bad news to tell me, uncle?”

  “The good news is, we understand from a reliable source that your church won’t be robbed. At least not this week.”

  “That is good news, but I never really thought anything like that was possible.”

  “The bad news is, you’ve already been robbed.”

  “What? That cannot be. Who told you that?”

  “No, the question is, ‘Whom did you talk to about a possible robbery?’”

  “No one.”

  “You’re the only one on the island other than the three of us who knew.”

  “Honest, I didn’t tell anyone at the Foundation. I kept my word.”

  Andreas raised his hand. “Excuse me, but possibly you mentioned something in passing about it to a girlfriend, a boyfriend or—”

  “I’m not a gossip.” Her tone was sharp.

  “Enough already with that dismissive tone of voice of yours. I don’t like it and it’s not working. I want to know who you told and I want to know now.” Tassos was shouting.

  “Stop, uncle, you’re making a scene.”

  “Not nearly as big a one as I’ll make if you don’t tell me what I want to know.”

  “Okay, okay. After we met at the taverna, Dad called to ask why the private meeting. I think he was hurt that you hadn’t included him. I told him it was ‘police business.’ That made him worry I was in some sort of trouble, so I told him it wasn’t about me, but the possibility of someone planning to rob a church on Tinos. But I swore him to secrecy before telling him.”

  Tassos smacked his hands on his thighs. “Swearing your father to secrecy is about as good as telling a hungry kid not to touch the cookies. God knows how many he told.”

  “And considering the source of the information, it wouldn’t take much guesswork to figure out the church was the Foundation’s,” said Kouros.

  “Well, at least we have our answer to that part of the puzzle. Now on to the grand prize question,” said An
dreas. “When was the last time the Foundation was robbed?”

  “And we’re not interested in one-hundred-seventy-year-old stories,” said Tassos.

  “We’ve never been robbed.”

  “Is that your final answer?” said Andreas.

  “Yes.”

  “Good, where’s your boss’ office?”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “Of course not. It’s just obvious you’re not included in the Foundation’s ‘we’ve-been-robbed’ loop. There’s no doubt in my mind that over the last one-hundred-seventy-years the Foundation’s been robbed. The only question is when and how much was taken.”

  “My boss will not see you.”

  “Yes he will. I’m Chief Inspector of Special Crimes for GADA, and I’ve reason to believe a robbery has occurred at the Foundation, an institution under the direct supervision of two government ministries. If your boss refuses to see me I’ll be duty bound to present a full report to the appropriate ministers. And by the way, if that’s not enough to convince your boss to see me, suggest that he begin preparing to accommodate all the media that will be joining the pilgrims and tsigani camped out around the Foundation. In my experience, government ministers have a harder time keeping juicy secrets from the press than daughters do from fathers.”

  Eleni swallowed hard. “I’ll be right back.”

  As soon as she left the room Tassos said, “I thought I was supposed to be the bad cop.”

  “Sorry, force of habit.”

  “What do we do now?” said Kouros.

  “Wait,” said Tassos.

  Andreas looked at a photograph on a bookshelf behind Eleni’s desk. It was of Eleni with her father and probably her mother. “Yianni, did that cop you talked to about the accident that killed Trelos’ parents remember anything squirrelly about it?”

  “No, he said it was straightforward. The father fell asleep at the wheel.”

  “Did they check the brakes?”

  “Yes, and all the other systems. Everything was in working order.”

  “What about toxicology?”

  “Only tested for blood-alcohol levels. Nothing out of line there either.”

  “Why are you asking?” said Tassos. “Do you think the kiddies did away with mommy and daddy for the family fortune?”