"Who the hell is that?" he bellowed.
One of Stavros' men came up to him apprehensively. "I believe somebody said he was here to wash the windows."
"You believe!" Stavros yelled loudly. He looked and saw my pail on the balcony beside me and the rubber-edged tool in my hand. "You! Get in here!" he ordered.
If Stavros was annoyed enough and decided he wanted to dispose of me, no one would question his judgment. I walked casually into the room. "Yes?"
He turned from me without answering. "Who let him in here?"
Hammer, standing in a corner, strode like a panther to the center of the room. "He's all right. We checked him out."
Stavros turned and glared hard at his gunman for a long moment while a black silence filled the room. When Stavros spoke, it was in a low voice. "Am I surrounded by idiots?"
Hammer gave him a sour look. Then he turned to me. "Okay, window washing is over for today."
"But I have just begin! Mr. Minourkos always want all windows washed. He say…"
"Goddamn it, leave!" Hammer screamed.
I shrugged. "My pail…"
"Forget it."
I walked quietly past Stavros, and he watched me all the way. On the way down to the street in the elevator, I made mental notes of the soundproofing, the communication lines, and the locks that secured the doors of the small lift. I wondered whether I had aroused Adrian Stavros' suspicions. My visit had certainly been worthwhile. I had not only gotten a good look at the man I hoped to kill, but I had also noted the physical layout of his fortress. The elevator was the only way of gaining entrance, and I knew what to expect when we got inside.
When I arrived back at the hotel, Erika and Minourkos were waiting for me in my room. As soon as I walked in the door and Erika saw that I was all right, she thrust a newspaper at me. I read the bold headline.
OFFICIAL ALLEGES KOTSIKAS CONSPIRACY
Minourkos clucked his tongue.
"Some cabinet member, a little known figure named Aliki Vianola, says he has evidence that Kotsikas plans a sell-out to the Communists and that the lives of other junta leaders are in danger."
I scanned the first column of print. "So it appears that the general's guess was right," I said. "Stavros throws a shovel of dirt at Kotsikas to confuse the issue just before the meeting in which he plans to murder him and his colleagues."
"And note how careful he is to keep my name out of it," Minourkos said heavily.
Erika put her arm through mine. "The police are looking into the charges, but by the time they are found to be groundless, the three colonels will be dead."
"Not if the general comes through for us," I said. "Has he called?"
"Not yet," Minourkos said. "Did you get into my place?"
"Yes, I made it," I answered. I told them of the bits of conversation I had overheard and of actually seeing Stavros.
"I wished you'd had a gun," Erika said bitterly.
"If I had had one I wouldn't have gotten in," I reminded her. "They searched me well. No, we'll have to go back. I wish we still had Zach."
Erika looked up at me. "He was very good at his job."
"Yes," I said. "Well, if we have to, I may be able to get help from my people. There's an AXE agent in this area, I think. I'll find out for sure." I turned to Minourkos. "Have you been able to get through to the camp commanders?"
"I reached both of them," he said. "I told them just what you said. Both men advised me that they would not make another move until they heard from me personally. I also advised them not to contact the penthouse and to disregard any contrary orders from my so-called secretary."
"You did very well, Mr. Minourkos," I said. "Now if we can find out…"
I was interrupted by the telephone.
Erika answered it, and the caller identified himself. She nodded and handed the phone to Minourkos. He took it and cradled the receiver to his ear. There was little dialogue from his end. "Yes, Vassilis. Yes. Ah, yes. Yes, go on. I see. Yes. Ah, excellent." When he was finished and had replaced the receiver he looked up at us with a sly smile.
"Well?" Erika asked impatiently.
"Vassilis called the penthouse and Tzanni refused to see him either today or tomorrow on the excuse of being too busy. He suggested Vassilis call next week. There was an argument and an exchange of hot words, but Tzanni remained adamant. He also refused to discuss the colonels on the phone."
"So what did he do to make you smile?" I asked.
"Remember Despo Adelfia? The man who replaced Rasion on the committee of colonels? Stavros' own man?"
"Yes," Erika nodded.
"Vassilis went to this man. He suspected that Adelfia would be the one to engineer a meeting, and he was right. Adelfia knows the entire plan. Vassilis ranted about the three colonels and won Adelfia's confidence. Adelfia told him the time and place of the meeting. Kotsikas, Plotarchou, and Glavani have already agreed to meet with me at the residence of Kotsikas. He has a country estate north of the city in a rather remote area. Adelfia will be there, too."
"When?" I asked.
"This afternoon," Minourkos replied. "In just a few hours."
"How are the colonels to be assassinated?" I inquired.
Minourkos hunched his heavy shoulders. "Adelfia would not tell that part when he found that Vassilis did not know. We will have to wait and see, it seems."
"That could be extremely dangerous," I said. I glanced at the watch on my wrist. "Erika, call a cab. We're going out to Kotsikas' place. Mr. Minourkos, you stay here at the hotel and keep out of sight If anybody recognizes you we're in trouble."
"Very well, Mr. Carter."
While Erika called a taxi, I removed my jacket and strapped on my Luger in its holster and then the stiletto on my right forearm. Minourkos watched silently and somberly. I took the Luger from the holster and pulled the slide ejector back, working a cartridge into the chamber with an easy movement, then reholstered the automatic.
Erika was off the phone. "Our cab will be outside in five minutes."
"Then let's get moving," I said. "We have an appointment to keep."
Eight
"I don't think I understand," Colonel Anatole Kotsikas said after he had received us in the entrance foyer of his large home. "Adelfia said this was to be a private meeting, General."
We had picked up General Kriezotou on the way because I knew that Kotsikas would turn us away if Erika and I went by ourselves. Kotsikas, a slim man who appeared to be a young fifty, stood in his khaki uniform, eyeing me suspiciously.
"Are any of the others here, Colonel?" Kriezotou asked.
"They are expected shortly."
"Good. Just give us a moment of your time," Kriezotou said.
Kotsikas looked at us silently, biding his answer. Although his military rank was beneath that of the General, he was the most powerful man in Greece at the moment. When the 1967 coup had taken place, the men who headed it had purposely kept the highest-ranking officers off the junta because the generals were associated with the favored upper-class.
"All right,", he finally said. "Come into the study, please."
A moment later the four of us were standing in a circle in the center of the rather dark study. A servant pulled a drapery open, and the room was brightened. Kotsikas offered us drinks, but we refused.
"Colonel, I would like you to allow these two people to search your house before the meeting and to stay here through the meeting," Kriezotou said.
"Why?" Kotsikas asked. "What a ridiculous request."
"Listen to me. This meeting is a trap," the general said. "There is much to explain later when we have the time, but Nikkor Minourkos is not the man behind the recent attacks on you. There is a man named Adrian Stavros who is hiding behind Nikkor's name and who plans a bloody coup against the junta. You, Plotarchou and Glavani are to be assassinated here in your home this afternoon."