Read Online Che Committed Suicide by Petros Márkaris - Free Book Online
Authors: Petros Márkaris
Ads: Link
owners greased the palms of the police or someone in the local authorities in order to add another couple of floors on the sly to pay for their daughter’s dowry or their son’s studies. I saw no ambulances or any TV crews and I concluded that the bodies must already have been taken to the morgue.
As I was going down the steps to the basement, I bumped into Diamantidis from Forensics.
‘What are you doing here, Inspector? Are you back on duty?’ he asked, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
‘No, but I’m back in training as you can see,’ I said and he broke into laughter. ‘What’s going on down there?’
He hesitated for a moment as if about to say something, but then changing his mind. ‘Go on in and you’ll see,’ he said.
The door to the flat was open and voices could be heard. The flat was just one room, just as it had appeared on the TV, with a sizeable recess that served as a kitchen. Beside it was a door that must have been the bathroom.
The bodies had been moved as I had thought. Standing in the middle of the room was Yanoutsos together with Markidis the coroner. They were glaring at each other like cocks, ready to begin fighting.
‘I’m not saying a word,’ shouted Makridis at Yanoutsos. It was the first time in all the years I’d known him that I saw him losing his composure. ‘You can wait and read the report.’
Standing behind were my two assistants, Vlassopoulos and Dermitzakis . Their backs were half-turned to the other two and they were pretending to be chatting so as not to appear to be listening in to the conversation.
Suddenly, as though on cue, they all turned and looked at me. Yanoutsos was goggling. Even more odd was my assistants’ behaviour . They stared at me at a loss, unable to decide whether they should greet me or not. In they end, they settled for a formal nod of the head accompanied by a smile, before turning their backs again.
The most congenial of all of them was Markidis, who offered me his hand. ‘Glad to see you up and around,’ he said. His face had become somewhat friendlier as he had exchanged the huge glasses he had worn all his life for an oval-shaped, metallic frame.
‘Why are you here?’ Yanoutsos asked. ‘As far as I know, you’re still on sick leave and we’ve no need of you.’
‘I came so you could tell me again what you told me the other day in Ghikas’s office,’ I replied with spite.
‘And what was that?’
‘That if you were to take every prattling announcement seriously, you’d be running all over the place. Well now you are.’
‘This has no connection with the announcement. This is the work of the Mafia.’
The other three had now turned round and were watching the second cockfight.
‘Where were they shot?’ I asked Markidis. I knew, but I wanted everyone to hear it.
‘In the eye. Both of them.’
I turned back to Yanoutsos: ‘Mafiosos wouldn’t have wasted their time with details like that. They’d have let fly with five or six bullets and then been on their way.’
‘They might have had a reason for staging the scene.’
‘What reason when they were only two miserable Kurds? Do you know what work it requires to stage an execution by shooting someone in the eye?’
I turned and cast a look around. Everything was in its place, there were no signs of any struggle. I heard Yanoutsos say to my assistants:
‘Dermitzakis, Vlassopoulos, you can go. I’ve no further need of you.’
I looked up, curious to see whether they would acknowledge me as they left. But they pretended to be engrossed in their conversation and left without even looking at me. I couldn’t explain their attitude and I felt infuriated, but I tried to control myself so as not to spoil my mood for riling Yanoutsos.
‘From what I see, there are no signs of struggle,’ I said to Markidis.
‘No.’ We looked at each other and Markidis shook his head. ‘You’re right. I’d noticed that too.’
‘What have you
As I was going down the steps to the basement, I bumped into Diamantidis from Forensics.
‘What are you doing here, Inspector? Are you back on duty?’ he asked, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
‘No, but I’m back in training as you can see,’ I said and he broke into laughter. ‘What’s going on down there?’
He hesitated for a moment as if about to say something, but then changing his mind. ‘Go on in and you’ll see,’ he said.
The door to the flat was open and voices could be heard. The flat was just one room, just as it had appeared on the TV, with a sizeable recess that served as a kitchen. Beside it was a door that must have been the bathroom.
The bodies had been moved as I had thought. Standing in the middle of the room was Yanoutsos together with Markidis the coroner. They were glaring at each other like cocks, ready to begin fighting.
‘I’m not saying a word,’ shouted Makridis at Yanoutsos. It was the first time in all the years I’d known him that I saw him losing his composure. ‘You can wait and read the report.’
Standing behind were my two assistants, Vlassopoulos and Dermitzakis . Their backs were half-turned to the other two and they were pretending to be chatting so as not to appear to be listening in to the conversation.
Suddenly, as though on cue, they all turned and looked at me. Yanoutsos was goggling. Even more odd was my assistants’ behaviour . They stared at me at a loss, unable to decide whether they should greet me or not. In they end, they settled for a formal nod of the head accompanied by a smile, before turning their backs again.
The most congenial of all of them was Markidis, who offered me his hand. ‘Glad to see you up and around,’ he said. His face had become somewhat friendlier as he had exchanged the huge glasses he had worn all his life for an oval-shaped, metallic frame.
‘Why are you here?’ Yanoutsos asked. ‘As far as I know, you’re still on sick leave and we’ve no need of you.’
‘I came so you could tell me again what you told me the other day in Ghikas’s office,’ I replied with spite.
‘And what was that?’
‘That if you were to take every prattling announcement seriously, you’d be running all over the place. Well now you are.’
‘This has no connection with the announcement. This is the work of the Mafia.’
The other three had now turned round and were watching the second cockfight.
‘Where were they shot?’ I asked Markidis. I knew, but I wanted everyone to hear it.
‘In the eye. Both of them.’
I turned back to Yanoutsos: ‘Mafiosos wouldn’t have wasted their time with details like that. They’d have let fly with five or six bullets and then been on their way.’
‘They might have had a reason for staging the scene.’
‘What reason when they were only two miserable Kurds? Do you know what work it requires to stage an execution by shooting someone in the eye?’
I turned and cast a look around. Everything was in its place, there were no signs of any struggle. I heard Yanoutsos say to my assistants:
‘Dermitzakis, Vlassopoulos, you can go. I’ve no further need of you.’
I looked up, curious to see whether they would acknowledge me as they left. But they pretended to be engrossed in their conversation and left without even looking at me. I couldn’t explain their attitude and I felt infuriated, but I tried to control myself so as not to spoil my mood for riling Yanoutsos.
‘From what I see, there are no signs of struggle,’ I said to Markidis.
‘No.’ We looked at each other and Markidis shook his head. ‘You’re right. I’d noticed that too.’
‘What have you
Similar Books
