"Are you done, here?" I asked Dimitris, the other technician from records.
"We're done, all right. We're packing up."
There was a closed cupboard on the adjoining wall. I opened it. Men's suits and women's dresses; the kind that fashion companies supply the newscasters with in order to get their names in the credits and so get some free advertising. I'd worn a tie for the first time when I'd entered the academy. It came with the uniform. And I'd acquired a suit when I graduated. From Kappa-Maroussis's "almost-ready-towear department." They brought me a brown suit, covered in stitching, that was big enough for a second Haritos. "Don't worry," the assistant had said. "That's why you choose it `almost-ready.' Once we tailor it precisely to your size it'll fit you like a glove." Two days later, the ready-to-wear was as baggy on me as the almost-ready-to-wear. "It's just your imagination," the assistant had snapped at me. "You've still not worn it in, that's why." Meanwhile, Kappa-Maroussis burned down, whereas I moved up in the world and started going to Vardas, which also makes its money on tailored suits.
I looked swiftly through the clothes, but found nothing. The women's dresses had no pockets, the men's suits had empty pockets.
I went back to the bench, beside Yanna Karayoryi, who'd had the rod removed from her. Markidis was bent over her, poking around. I picked up her handbag and emptied it out onto the bench. Lipstick, powder, eyeliner, exactly what she had on. No one was going to take it off now; she'd go to the grave with her makeup. A packet of Ro-1 cigarettes and a silver Dynon lighter, very expensive. A key ring with car keys and what must have been the keys to her house. And her purse. It contained three five-thousand notes, four one-thousand notes, a bank card, and a Diner's Club card. In the photograph on her identity card, she couldn't have been much more than fifteen, with long hair and a stern expression. I looked at the year of birth, 1953. So she was forty, and she hadn't looked it at all. I kept the keys and put everything else back in the bag for forensics.
Markidis was done and came up to me. He was short, bald, with thick-rimmed glasses, and had been wearing the same suit for two decades. Either it never got dirty or he'd found a way of sending it to the dry cleaners on Sundays. He invariably had the expression of a whipped dog, whether as a result of the force or of his wife, I can't say. Anyway, it always got on my nerves.
"I'm fed up with seeing corpses," he said. "There are days when I see as many as three and four. I knew I should have become a microbiologist."
"It's not my fault that you chose corpses instead of urine," I said. "Come on, let's have it quick. I might still get an hour's sleep."
"The rod entered beneath the left thorax at an angle of approximately fifteeen degrees. It pierced the heart and came out through her shoulder. The murderer was standing behind her."
"Why behind her?"
"From the front he wouldn't have been able to run her through with such force without knocking over the chair." He went and got one of the metal stands. "He must have killed her something like this." He held it in both hands just above the middle, raised it, and brought it down with force. "He must have been quite tall and muscular."
"How do you figure?"
"If he was short, either the wound would have been higher, or he wouldn't have been able to run her through at all because he would have lost some of his strength when leaning over."
He may have seemed grumpy and dispirited, but he knew his job. "What can you tell me about the time?"
"Two or three hours. No more than three, but no less than two. I might be able to be more exact after the autopsy."
He left without saying good-bye. "Sir," said Sotiris, whom I'd notified and who had meanwhile arrived. "There are a lot of reporters outside asking to see you. And Mr. Sperantzas, the newscaster, is annoyed that you're making him wait."
"I don't give a shit! First, I want to see whoever it was who found the body. Have him brought here."
"It wasn't a he, it was a she. A girl from the production team."
"Just get her here!"
How on earth could the murderer have come up to Karayoryi from behind, with the stand in his hands, without her having seen him in the mirror? She must have seen him, but not thought anything bad because she'd known him. So we were looking for a tall, well-built acquaintance of Yanna Karayoryi's who at the time of the murder, obviously, was at the studios.
The girl who came in couldn't have been more than twenty-two and was pretty nondescript. At most she was five one, or maybe five two. She was wearing jeans, a shirt, and boots. She was still shaking from the shock, and her eyes were swollen from crying. Sotiris stood her before me, holding her by the arm, so she couldn't get away from him, like the thoroughbred police officer that he was, instead of sit ting her down on a chair so she might feel relaxed and we could get to the bottom of things.
"Have a seat," I said to her gently, and I had her sit in the third chair, which was the only one available. She sat with her legs drawn in, her hands clamped on her knees, and she stared at me silently.
"What's your name?"
"Dimitra… Dimitra Zoumadaki…"
"Listen, Dimitra, there's nothing to be afraid of. Just tell me what you know, in your own time. If you forget anything, don't worry, you can add it later."
She remained silent for a while to collect her thoughts. It wasn't easy for her. She unclamped her hands and began rubbing them on her jeans. "We were about to move on to the news bulletin when we suddenly saw that a spotlight had burnt out, and so Mr. Manisalis sent me to get another one-"
"Who is Mr. Manisalis?"
"The director… I'm his assistant…"
"Okay… go on…:'
"I came running in here, and I didn't notice her. I was in a hurry to replace the spotlight. But when I turned around to leave, I suddenly saw-" she covered her face with her hands as if wanting to block out the memory.
"You saw the metal rod sticking out of her back," I said coaxingly, to help her. She nodded emphatically and began sobbing.
"Open your eyes," I told her, but she kept them shut. "Open your eyes. There's nothing to be afraid of." She opened them and looked, first at me, then, hesitantly, all around her. The room had been emptied. The corpse was in an ambulance on its way to the mortuary, and the forensics boys had left. There was only Sotiris, who was standing discreetly outside her line of vision.
"Try to remember, Dimitra. Was this chair here, as it is now, or was it turned toward the mirror?"
She stared at the chair and thought for a moment.
"It must have been like that because I didn't touch anything, I'm sure of that. I screamed and ran outside. And Mr. Manisalis, who came back with me afterward, didn't enter the room at all. He looked in from the door and went at once to the phone."
"When you were coming to get the spotlight, did you see anyone outside in the corridor? Anyone coming out of the room or leaving?"
"I didn't see anyone, but I heard something."
"What did you hear?"
"Footsteps. Someone was running. But I didn't pay any attention, because there's always someone running in here. We're all run off our feet."
"That's my girl, you reeled it off like an expert. I'll let you know when to come to make an official statement, but there's no urgency. Tomorrow, the day after, when you've got over the shock. Go on home now and have some rest. But find someone to take you, don't go on your own.