Kotsikas' face took on hard, straight lines. "I see."
"I suspect that Adelfia is to escape unharmed," the general added. "Nikkor, of course, will not be here because he has nothing to do with any of this."
Kotsikas looked out the window for a long time. When he turned back to us, he asked: "And this man and the girl?"
"They are here to help," Kriezotou said simply.
"How do I know that it is not you three who have come to murder me?" Kotsikas asked evenly.
Kriezotou made a grimace.
"Colonel," I said quietly, "if I had come here to kill you, you would be dead."
His eyes stared deeply into mine. "All right. You are free to check out the house. But I am certain nobody has been inside who would want to harm me or my friends."
"Is there a basement, Colonel?" I asked.
"Yes."
"We'll start there," I said to Erika. "You and the general have a nice talk, Colonel. How much time do we have before they begin arriving?"
"I would say at least fifteen minutes."
"That should be enough." I turned to Erika.
"Let's get started."
We searched the large basement quickly and found no bomb or explosives. We checked out the rest of the house and left the study, where the meeting was to take place, for last. We searched the study carefully. Although no bombs were discovered, we did find two electronic bugs.
"Incredible," Colonel Kotsikas said when I pointed out the devices. "I don't know when it could have been done."
"These people are professionals," I said. "Now you should believe me."
"Well, it's about time," Erika remarked. "Will they arrive separately?"
"Since they have been at the committee headquarters this morning, they could come together," Kotsikas said. "Even Adelfia might be with the others, despite the fact that they dislike him immensely. After all, this is an alleged attempt at reconciliation."
The colonel's guess was right. Ten minutes later a big, black limousine drove up, and all three colonels were in it Plotarchou and Glavani were older men, Glavani with white hair. Adelfia was about forty, an oily, obese man whose uniform seemed three sizes too small for him. He beamed smiles in every direction and spoke loudly of settlement and accord and was very surprised when, in the entrance foyer, I slipped the handcuffs on his right wrist.
His demeanor changed like lightning. The smile was gone, and an icy hardness appeared in the dark eyes. "What are you doing?" he cried.
Kotsikas and Kriezotou kept silent. I turned Adelfia roughly and cuffed his hands together behind him. His hard face was quickly filling with rage. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked loudly, looking from me to Kotsikas and the general.
"Mr. Carter here says you came to my house today to kill us," Kotsikas said coldly.
The other two colonels exchanged shocked looks. "Is this true, Anatole?" Glavani asked Kotsikas.
"It is absurd!" Adelfia exclaimed. "Who is this man?" Before Kotsikas could answer, Adelfia switched from the formal manner to one that allowed a barrage of hot Greek, spitting out the words like venom, throwing his head toward me regularly. I couldn't catch most of it.
"We shall see, Colonel," Kotsikas finally replied.
I grabbed Adelfia roughly by the arm. "You get to spend the next little stretch of time in the study," I said, "in case we missed some surprises in there." I looked over at Kotsikas. "The rest of you except Erika stay in the room across the hall until you hear more from me."
"Very well," Kotsikas said.
The colonels and General Kriezotou entered a living room on the opposite side of the hall from the study while Erika and I applied tape to Adelfia's fleshy mouth and tied him to a chair. I took a revolver off his hip and stuck it into my belt. Erika and I returned to the foyer with Adelfia mumbling insults at us from behind the tape.
"Now we wait?" Erika asked.
I looked down at her. Her red hair was pulled back in a twist and she looked very businesslike in her bell-bottom pants suit. She took the Belgian.25 from her purse and checked its ammunition.
"Yes, we wait," I said. I went to the open front door and looked down the long drive fringed by tall Lombardy poplars. It was almost a mile to the only road that passed the place. A perfect spot for a multiple killing. The question was, what had Stavros' twisted mind dreamed up? I had considered questioning Adelfia, but time was short and he was too scared of Stavros. That showed in his face.
Erika came up behind me and pressed her body against me. "We have so little time alone, Nick."
"I know," I said.
Her free hand, the one without the revolver, stroked my shoulder and arm. "When this is over, we'll hide away in Athens and just eat and sleep and make love."
"I don't think our bosses would appreciate that," I grinned.
"They can go to hell. They can spare us a few days," she said petulantly.
I turned to her. "We'll make some time," I assured her. "I know a nice little hotel where…"
I turned back to the door at the sound of a car engine. At the far end of the drive, before it curved out of sight, a black sedan was approaching. It had a light fixture on its top.
"It's the police!" Erika said.
"Yes," I agreed, slowly. "Do you think that Stavros bought off a precinct captain?"
"It would only require a few to go along," Erika speculated.
"Especially if Stavros sent a couple of his own men along," I added. "Come on."
We hurried into the room where the junta members and the general were waiting.
"A police car is pulling up outside," I said quickly to them. "This looks like Stavros* gambit. Are you all armed?"
They all were but Kriezotou. I gave him Adelfia's revolver. "Now just sit here as casually as you can, as if you're engaged in serious discussion. Have your weapons ready, hidden at your sides. Erika, get into that closet there." She moved quickly.
"I'll be just outside those French doors," I continued. "When they all get into the room, we'll try to take them. If any of you wants to leave now, you can go out the back way."
I looked at the tight-mouthed officers. They stayed in their place.
"All right. We'll try to avoid gunplay. Take your cue from me."
I went through the French doors just as I heard the front door crash open. A servant tried to stop the police, but he was verbally brushed aside. I heard them rattle the locked door of the study where Adelfia was tied and gagged, and then I heard the servant's voice again. It sounded as if there were several men. A brief moment later, I could see them clearly, they stormed into the living room. There were six — five in uniform and one in plain clothes. All the men in uniform had revolvers on their belts.
"What is the meaning of this?" Kotsikas asked, rising but keeping his gun hidden behind him.
The one in plain clothes stepped forward, a uniformed man with lieutenant's bars at his side. The plainclothes man was a Stavros bodyguard whom I had seen at the penthouse. The lieutenant was probably the policeman Stavros had bought There would have to be real police. There would have to be a made-up, but credible story for the press.
"We did not expect you here, General," the lieutenant said. He looked around the room, probably for Adelfia. "You are all under arrest for treason. We have evidence that you came here to meet with a Communist agent and to arrange for a clandestine agreement with international bandits." He seemed very nervous.
"That is absurd," Kotsikas said.
"You are all traitors," the lieutenant insisted loudly. "And you will be executed as such." I watched as the lieutenant drew his revolver.
The Stavros man gave a hard grin. "And the execution will occur here," he said in English. "When you resist arrest."