Read Online Sons of Sparta: A Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis Mystery by Jeffrey Siger - Free Book Online Page B

taken when brought into the church through its southern door. Kouros’ mother headed straight for a crowd of black-clad women surrounding the coffin, crying and consoling one another. Kouros looked for his cousins, but saw only Calliope and her sister. Her brothers weren’t here. He found a seat close by the front door, sat down, and waited. They would be here soon enough.
    He hoped not carrying heads.
    ***
    Andreas somehow made it into his office by ten. Before he could ask Maggie for coffee, she burst though his office door with a pot in one hand and a cup in the other.
    “How did you know?”
    “I could say female intuition.” She poured him a cup of coffee. “But a cop named Petro from headquarters security stopped by with a message for you. ‘Please tell the Chief they caught the guy who got away last night and he corroborated it was a drug-related shooting.’ He also told me to have the coffee ready for you.”
    Andreas smiled. “Tell him thanks. Anything else happening?”
    “Spiros’ office called twice. You’re to call him ‘the moment’ you arrive.”
    “Oh, God, have mercy. There’s not enough coffee in the world to get me up for a call from him this morning.”
    “Perhaps God considers it your penance for last night.” She put the pot down on top of a notepad on his desk. “Call me when you’ve had enough coffee to speak to Spiros.”
    “As I said, there will never be enough. I may as well do it now.”
    Maggie picked up the phone on Andreas’ desk and dialed. “Hi, dear, it’s me. Is your boss in? Mine would like to speak with him.” She handed Andreas the phone just as Spiros came on the line.
    “Andreas, where have you been?”
    “Morning, Spiros, what can I do for you?”
    “I don’t know what you did last night but I got a call at home at dawn from Orestes telling me about your behavior last night.”
    “The guy’s a bit of an asshole.”
    “Maybe, but he thinks you’re terrific. Couldn’t stop praising you enough or thanking me for finding someone who would ‘save our country from ruin.’”
    “Make that a ‘delusional asshole.’”
    “Look, I don’t know how you did it, but you got him off my back, and for that I owe you.”
    “All I said was that I would look into what’s happening on Crete to see if something illegal was going on.”
    Spiros laughed. “On Crete? Something illegal? How could anyone ever think that?”
    “It’s not smuggling or drug production he’s interested in. He just wants to protect his crowd’s piece of the gas find. I said I’d look into it. That’s all. And I can assure you I do not intend on going to war with the Cretans over anything I find. If our military thinks it’s too risky to fight them over drug production in their mountains, I’m not about to start one over gas production in their sea. I’m just going to look around and report. After that, Boss, it’s all up to you where you decide to take it.”
    “Fine, fine, no problem. Just keep me informed. Got to run now. Bye.”
    The phone went dead. Andreas stared at the receiver. Spiros hadn’t changed. As long as his immediate problem is somehow pushed down the road, he’s happy. It gave him more time to find someone to blame for whatever might go wrong.
    “But not me this time, asshole.” Andreas hung up the phone.
    ***
    By the time Uncle’s sons arrived at the church, Kouros’ other cousins were already there. The brothers went straight to the coffin. Grim-faced, dressed in black suits and white shirts, they lined its far side staring back toward the door. Mangas locked eyes on Kouros only long enough to nod. Kouros nodded back, tight-lipped, his hands crossed in front of him below his waist.
    The priest came out from behind the iconostasis separating the main part of the church from the altar area, said a few quiet words to the family, and began the service. Age-old prayers and blessings chanted against a background chorus of crying, moaning, and wailing filled the