“Can’t imagine what might happen to someone who gets a Christmas card from you,” said Kouros.
“Okay, guys, enough with the jokes. We’ve got-” Andreas slammed his hands together. “That’s it.”
“What’s ‘it’?” said Tassos.
“I gave four cards to people I talked to about this case. Anyone care to bet if one of them ended up on that doll?”
“You gave one to Punka that ended up in his pocket and one to the Pakistani that that ended up in his mouth. Who else did you give them too?” said Kouros.
Andreas said, “One to the two women in that metanastes bar, and-”
Tassos interrupted, “One to my niece. I can vouch for Eleni.”
“I’m not suggesting she’s involved. I just want to know what she did with my card.”
“It’s probably still in her purse,” said Tassos.
“Good, then that leaves us with the two women from the bar. But ask Eleni anyway. Yianni, I want you to locate those two other women and find out what they did with my card.”
“I don’t know what they look like.”
Andreas looked at Tassos.
Tassos shrugged. “I never really got a good look at them. I was busy with the owner. You’re the only one who talked to them.”
“Sounds to me as if you’re about to take a trip to Tinos,” said Lila.
“Not until after you and Tassaki are out of here.”
“Where do you have in mind for us to go?”
“To where we planned.”
“Capri? But that was for our honeymoon.”
Andreas shrugged. “I’m open to other suggestions. But I want you out of Greece for now.”
Lila frowned. “Okay, but I’m taking Marietta with me.”
“Fine, I’ll get there as soon as I can. But first I have a shepherd to catch.”
“A what?” said Lila.
“Shepherd. That’s what they’re calling whoever’s behind bringing all the new workers I told you about to Tinos,” said Andreas.
“And don’t forget the priest,” said Tassos.
“A priest?” said Lila.
“Not a real priest. At least as far as we know. The murdered Pakistani referred to the men he worked with as ‘brothers’ and said he was recruited to Tinos by someone who called himself a ‘priest,’” said Tassos.
“The two Romanians working with the Pakistani told us the same thing. But they said it wasn’t the same priest as recruited the Pakistani,” said Kouros.
Lila started rocking back and forth on her chair.
“What’s on your mind?” said Andreas.
“Nothing,” said Lila.
“Please don’t say ‘nothing’ because when you’re rocking like that there’s always something on your mind.”
“It’s silly.”
“Just say whatever it is. At this point even ‘silly’ is an improvement over where we are,” said Andreas
“ Filiki Eteria.”
“Society of Friends?” said Andreas.
“Like I said, it was a silly thought.”
“Are you talking about the secret society that instigated Greece’s War of Independence in 1821?” said Kouros.
Lila nodded. “Yes.”
“But Tinos is all about foreigners, not Greeks,” said Tassos.
“So was the Society in many ways. Three native Greeks founded it but they recruited large numbers of Greeks and non-Greeks from what today we call Eastern Europe and Russia. Even the Russian Tsar was believed to be a member. By the time our War began the Society’s secret membership numbered in the thousands.”
“How’s all that tie into what’s happening on Tinos?” said Kouros.
“The Society was organized like a pyramid, with an ‘Invisible Authority’ at the top coordinating everything below. No one was allowed to ask who founded the Society, question a command, or make an independent decision. New members were recruited without knowledge of its true revolutionary purposes. They were attracted by glamorous rumors of a celebrity membership and an avowed but vaguely stated general purpose of ‘doing good’ for the nation.”
“Are you suggesting the metanastes and tsigani recruited to Tinos have no idea of what’s actually going on?” said Tassos.
“All I’m saying is that’s how Filiki Eteria operated. Its recruits were motivated by the Society’s perceived glamour and altruistic goals. If you want a parallel to Tinos, I guess you could say today’s recruits are motivated by the money.”
“Sorry, but that doesn’t seem like much of a parallel to me,” said Kouros.
Lila nodded, “I agree, but what got me to thinking of Filiki Eteria was its pyramid organization. It was based on four levels. Those at the lowest two levels had no idea of the Society’s true purpose. The third level was responsible for recruiting, and the top level was in charge of implementing what had Greeks fighting for independence under the battle cry ‘Freedom or Death.’”
Lila paused. “Those at the bottom two levels were called the ‘Recommended’ and ‘Brothers.’ The recruiters were called ‘Priests’ and those at the Society’s top level were called ‘Shepherds.’”
Lila looked at Andreas and shrugged. “Like I said, ‘Silly.’”
Andreas picked up a pencil and began tapping it on the desk. “Jesus, what the hell is going on?”
“How should I know? I’m just an art historian. You’re the detectives.”
Chapter Eighteen
The next morning Andreas kissed Lila and Tassaki goodbye at the Mykonos airport. Lila’s father had arranged for a private jet to fly them directly to Naples, and a friend of Tassos on the Naples police force promised to escort them from the airport to the private motor launch of the Capri Palace Hotel.
Kouros took a flight back to Athens, and Andreas and Tassos caught the Fast Ferry Theologos to Tinos. The boat was halfway there when Andreas’ phone rang. He didn’t look to see who was calling. He knew it would be Lila.
“Miss me already, my love?”
“This is no time to be funny!”
Andreas held the phone away from his ear so Tassos could hear. “I agree completely, Minister.”
“I want to know why the Tinos matter that was supposed to be closed before your wedding is still listed as open. Just how much longer do you think it will be until foreign headlines start screaming that Greece has declared war on non-Greeks? We’re up to five dead in what is obviously a major tsigani clan war.”
“Are you including in that ‘ tsigani clan war’ the murdered Eastern European hit man in Syntagma and the Pakistani?”
“Of course. This mess has boiled over into tsigani battling foreign criminal elements no different than they are. Frankly, as long as Greeks aren’t involved I don’t give a damn. Let’s just call it the tribal warfare that it is, and keep the Greece-hating foreign press pricks off our backs!”
Andreas knew it would be a waste of time to argue. Spiros was hell bent on fitting a square peg into a round hole. “Sorry. The wedding had me busier than I anticipated and things just got backed up.”
“Allow me to repeat what the Prime Minister personally told me this morning, ‘There is nothing more important than closing this case.’ Nothing.”
Andreas held his hand over the phone and whispered to Tassos, “I sure hope he’s pushing this hard only because he really is scared shitless of the press stirring things up again.”
“Did you hear me, Andreas?”
“Loud and clear.”
“Then what are you doing about it?”
“I’ve already canceled my honeymoon.”
“You what?”
“Well, actually I postponed it. I knew you wanted the matter closed by the wedding and when it wasn’t I felt an obligation to stay and make certain it’s resolved ASAP.”
“Lila must be furious!”
Andreas winked at Tassos. He knew Lila’s potential anger at her new husband was not what alarmed Spiros. The distinguished minister was worried about himself. Lila’s position in Athens society far outranked his own, and incurring Lila’s wrath was not prudent for one who relied on ass-kissing and favors to move on up the social and political ladder.
“Well, she’s not exactly happy but I promised her I’d have it wrapped up by the end of Tis Panagias.”
“August 15th is this weekend,” said Spiros.