“What do they steal?” said Tassos.
“Simple things of value, but not valuable enough to be unique. Gold jewelry, gems, items like that.”
“All portable?” said Kouros.
“Yes.”
“Great,” said Tassos. “We’ve got thieves acting like careful mice, taking only what they can carry away in their cheeks.”
“Where did the robberies take place?” said Andreas.
“There was no one place.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our main vaults are here, in caverns and rooms underneath this complex, but we have other places for safekeeping all over the island.”
“A sort of ‘not keeping your eggs in one basket’ approach to security?” said Kouros.
“Yes, but once we thought we’d secured one location things would disappear from another.”
“And you’ve been robbed at all locations?” said Andreas.
“Yes.”
Andreas put his right elbow on the desk, and his forehead in the palm of his hand.
“I know just how you feel, Chief Inspector. It is a burden I’ve carried for the Foundation for many years.”
Andreas looked up, “You mean the Foundation’s commission doesn’t know about any of this?”
Dimitri said nothing.
“I want a map showing every site where you’ve been robbed,” said Andreas.
Dimitri gestured no. “I cannot possibly do that. The locations are top secret, known only to a handful of persons completely above suspicion. And that includes the few longtime, trusted employees who inconspicuously transport items from the Church to our places of safekeeping.”
“Plus, let’s not forget the thieves. They seem pretty well informed. Dimitri, that was a non-negotiable request. You’ve left us no other place to start. Either I get the list from you or I start asking government ministers to get it from the Foundation for me. And believe me that most definitely will ‘ burden ’ the Foundation’s commission.”
“But-”
Andreas cut him off. “How you choose to deal with all those robberies is your own business. Frankly, unless you force my hand, I don’t want to get involved in any of that or go public with your ‘delicate’ decade of details. But how I choose to deal with solving five murders is my business. Do we understand each other?”
Dimitri cleared his throat. “Very well, but promise me you’ll not share what I give you with anyone outside of this room.”
“Agreed.”
“So help you God?”
Andreas looked at Tassos and Kouros.
“So help us God,” they said.
Chapter Twenty-four
The three cops stood by their car in the parking lot behind the church and across the street from a grassy, tree-shaded park running up a hillside. “What I don’t understand is how Dimitri possibly could have kept something like that secret from the Foundation’s commission for ten years,” said Tassos.
“You’re assuming that he did,” said Andreas. “And isn’t just taking one for the team. After all, Eleni said he’s dedicated nearly his entire life to the Foundation.”
“But why keep a robbery secret in the first place?” said Kouros.
“The ‘why’ I understand,” said Tassos. “I don’t know if you remember, but the Foundation once announced a public auction to convert some donated treasures into cash to fund its projects. Supporters went wild. They didn’t want their gifts to the Megalochari sold off to strangers. Can you imagine how those supporters would react if they knew how much of what they’ve donated has been stolen?
“I think the ‘why’ is nothing more than our traditional Greek ‘cost of doing business’ attitude. You must give up to get.”
“But if we’re talking about tithing that’s a hell of lot of money disappearing every year,” said Kouros.
Andreas opened the driver’s door. “Guys, I’d prefer if you’d come up with another ‘why’ theory.”
“How about a conspiracy between the supervising government ministries and someone at the Foundation?” said Kouros opening the driver side rear door.
“Another Greek trait,” said Tassos. “When all else fails, find a conspiracy.” He walked around the car and opened the passenger side front door.
“It would also answer your ‘how’ question,” said Kouros sliding onto the back seat.
“Can’t we come up with something else, like biblical justification for all this? After all, we are talking about a church here,” said Andreas.
Tassos sat down next to Andreas. “You mean like not cutting to the edges of your field so that the poor may live off of what is left?” said Tassos.
“That’ll work,” said Andreas.
“But it’s Old Testament,” said Tassos.
“Still works, I’m just looking for someway to justify to myself why I’m willing to ignore a ten year cover-up.”
“Come on,” said Tassos. “You don’t actually believe that no one at those ministries knows about the robberies?”
“I see, we’re back to conspiracies,” said Andreas.
“Yes, but let’s not look upon it as one premised on an opportunity to corruptly profit, but instead evolving out of a genuine desire to protect the victim from further harm by adopting a ‘let sleeping dogs lie’ approach.”
“Wow, you make it sound as if something like that could actually happen in this country,” said Kouros.
“Enough already. Let’s leave it at if we find the thieves we’ll find the killers. And screw whatever else happens.” Andreas started the car and handed Tassos a document. “Here’s the secret map. You navigate. Just tell me the first stop on our treasure hunt.”
“Eleni’s father’s taverna.”
Andreas looked at Tassos. “You’re joking. The Foundation has a secret vault at his place?”
“No. I’m hungry.”
The father put them at a large table beneath a sprawling tree and placed a bottle of water on the table together with what he called the “the yield of their shade,” ripe, freshly peeled figs. Tassos thanked him, and took him aside for a few moments of private conversation.
By the time he returned half the figs were gone. “Hey, you’re eating them all.”
“No, only our half,” smiled Kouros.
“What did he have to say?” said Andreas.
“No more than what Eleni told us.” Tassos popped a fig into his mouth. “Plus, the part about him ‘only telling a few people.’”
“Any one we know?”
“Nope. But enough to say it probably got back to Trelos through him or possibly indirectly though Trelos’ sister. Eleni’s father mentioned it to a metanastes who works here and hangs out at her brother’s bar.”
“Maybe we should ask Eleni’s father if he has any idea where the sister might be?” said Andreas.
“How would he know?” said Kouros.
“Because gossip goes two ways,” said Tassos. “And, I already asked him. The only places he could think of were where we already looked. He said that whole area over by Trelos’ house belongs to their family. It covers practically everything for a quarter mile north of the sea between Aghios Fokas and Aghios Sostis, except for that prehistoric settlement.”
Tassos took another fig. “He did have a bit of interesting gossip on the sister. It seems that fellow who jilted her wasn’t all to blame. He came from a very traditional family but he wasn’t from Tinos and not someone her parents approved of. Her parents were outraged when the couple became engaged without obtaining their consent and refused to give her a dowry. That killed the deal for the boy’s parents. No dowry, no marriage.”
“How long after that did the parents die?” said Andreas.
“You and your patricide-matricide theory. She was jilted about a decade before, so that would have given her a very stale motive.”
“Anything else?”
“She’d tried to get the Foundation to give her a dowry, something they did for girls in need of that sort of help. But the Foundation said that since her family was very rich they couldn’t do it for her. No one has heard her say a word since.”
“That’s probably when she tried to hang herself,” said Andreas.