Petro suggested it might be easier if he didn’t bother the owner, but simply used his key for the club to get inside and copy the photos himself.
“Clever kid,” said Kouros.
“Kid? You’re not much older than he is.”
“My time in this unit has aged me far beyond my years.”
Andreas waved his hand in the air at Kouros. “So, what do you think? Is the ‘kid’ shooting straight with us?”
“I wasn’t sure until he dropped the bomb about the accident,” said Kouros.
“Hell of a coincidence if it’s your uncle’s accident.”
“More like a miracle if it’s not.”
Andreas nodded. “I’m a big believer in not trusting coincidences, but how the hell could it be anything else?”
“We’ll know the answer to that when he gets back from the club.”
“My instincts are he’s legit.”
Kouros nodded. “Mine too. Any idea on how to ID the mystery guys with Orestes?”
“There’s always a shot with Europol or even our own records department. But maybe we’ll get lucky and recognize them, at least the Greek.” Andreas paused. “Just to increase our chances…Maggie.”
The door swung open. “Yes?”
“Is Tassos in Athens?”
“He’s at my place cooking and cleaning while I slave away at police work.”
“Please ask him to get over here as soon as he can. We need his help.”
“Can it wait until he’s finished doing the windows?”
Andreas waved her off. “The two of you deserve each other.”
Maggie smiled. “By the way, what should I tell Petro’s boss from headquarters security who just called to ask-and I quote-‘Who the fuck does your boss think he is assigning my men to do work for him without my permission?’ End quote.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I’d pass along the message.”
“Good. Tell him, quote, ‘The same guy who two years ago caught you with your literal fucking pants down in the middle of a vice bust on a low-end whorehouse on Filis Street and let you walk away.’ End quote.”
Maggie smiled. “That should do it.” She closed the door.
“Did you really?”
“The idiot didn’t even know he was on top of a hooker on the top floor of an Albanian drug-cutting operation. He was still pounding away on her when we broke down the door.”
“You’re kidding.”
“You can’t make this stuff up.” Andreas leaned across his desk toward Kouros. “Which brings me back to our little coincidence of last night.”
“Meaning?”
Andreas sat back in his chair. “Meaning it looks like it’s time to get back to work on your uncle’ s case.”
***
Tassos came through the door into Andreas’ office without knocking, dressed precisely as always: dark suit, dark tie, and white shirt. “I worked hard to be entitled to dress this way,” was his only explanation to any tieless, jacketless cop who asked why he dressed so formally no matter what the weather or occasion.
Tassos plopped down on the couch next to Kouros, grabbed Kouros’ thigh, and squeezed. “Nice job you did down on the Mani. Your uncle would be proud.”
“Thanks.”
Tassos looked at Andreas sitting behind his desk. “So, what’s so important that you dragged me away from doing my beloved’s windows?”
Andreas stared at him. “She told you to say that, didn’t she?”
“Who am I to question the ways of my beloved?”
Andreas dropped his head and shook it. “Okay, let me tell you where we are.”
It took about fifteen minutes to bring Tassos up to speed, and just as he was explaining his potential concerns about Petro, Maggie opened the door and popped in her head.
“Petro is back.”
Andreas said to Tassos, “Any questions?”
“No, I get the picture. Send him in.”
Andreas nodded to Maggie, the door opened, and Petro walked in.
Andreas introduced him to Tassos and motioned that he sit in the same chair as he had the last time, directly across from Andreas. “Do you have the photographs?”
Petro gestured no. “I couldn’t pull them off the recording.”
Andreas kept his eyes fixed on Petro but out the corner of one he saw Kouros grimace.
“So, I brought the whole thing. It’s on this.” Petro handed Andreas a DVD.
Kouros smiled.
“Let’s see what we have here.” Andreas slid the disc into his computer as the other cops came behind his desk and crowded around the screen.
“It covers everyone coming into the club last night,” said Petro.
Andreas stood up. “Sit here, Petro, and get us to where the three guys we’re interested in show up.”
Andreas, Tassos, and Kouros huddled around Petro as he scanned through the recording. A minute or so into the search he froze the video. “Here’s where they got out of the limo.”
The first one out looked the size of a giant. “That’s the bodyguard.”
“Anyone recognize him?” said Andreas.
“No,” said Tassos and Kouros together.
“Probably not from around here. I’ll get Maggie to pull a photo off the DVD and see what our records boys and Europol can come up with.”
Petro pointed to the screen. “This one’s ‘Ugly Guy.’ He’s the boss.”
“Sort of built like you, Tassos,” said Kouros.
Tassos gently smacked Kouros on the back of his head. “Thank God he has your looks. Otherwise the ladies would never leave him alone.”
“Enough already. Does anyone recognize him?” said Andreas.
“No,” said Kouros.
Tassos leaned in and studied the image. “There’s something about this guy that seems vaguely familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“Another one for Maggie and Europol. So who’s next?”
“It’s the Greek. He’s getting out of the limo now.” Petro froze the image.
“Nope,” said Tassos.
“Me either,” said Andreas.
Kouros didn’t speak.
“Yianni?” said Andreas.
Kouros leaned in closer to the screen, leaned back, and nodded. “Yes, I know him. He was one of my uncle’s morning coffee buddies. His name is Alexander, he’s a politician.”
“Holy shit,” said Tassos.
“No, more like ‘holy war’ if any of this ties into my uncle’s murder and my cousins find out about it,” said Kouros.
“But the girl didn’t hear anything to suggest that any of the people at Orestes’ table had something to do with murdering your uncle.” Tassos looked at Petro. “Or did she?”
“No.”
“Just the opposite,” said Andreas. “It sounded to me like they were hustling to hold things together because of his death.”
“So, where do we go from here?” said Kouros.
Andreas pointed at the screen. “If anyone knows whether someone other than the dead taverna owner was involved in your uncle’s murder, it’s likely one of these guys.”
“I guess that means it’s time to pay Alexander a visit,” said Kouros.
Andreas gestured no. “Not yet. He’s not going anywhere. Especially if he doesn’t know we’re on to him. I want IDs on the other two guys first, because as soon as they know we’re interested in them they’ll disappear from Greece.”
“I assume asking Orestes for his buddies’ names is out of the question for the same reason?” said Tassos.
Andreas nodded. “Let’s get photos of the two we don’t know out for a priority ID and see what comes back.”
“Make a copy of Ugly Guy for me,” said Tassos. “It might help jog my memory.”
“While doing windows?” smiled Kouros.
Tassos shrugged. “One must do whatever it takes to make things clearer.”
Kouros smacked his forehead and shook his head.
Tassos patted Kouros on the shoulder. “No need to say it, my boy. I know. You’ve missed me.”
Chapter Fifteen
Tassos left Andreas’ office with Ugly Guy’s photograph and an idea. If Ugly Guy had a criminal record, sooner or later Europol would identify him. But Tassos had another, more expeditious sort of international information clearinghouse in mind.