Paint us as indifferent to the plight of non-Greeks, an intolerant place where only Greeks are treated as deserving of protection, and all others be damned. It’s a volatile, irrational, and emotional argument but one that could turn world opinion against us if it found traction in the press. And then it would no longer be just a question of denying us further bailout funds, but whether or not to drum us out of the E.U.”

“With all due respect, Spiros, it sounds a bit dramatic to say that the murder of two tsigani on a relatively unknown island to non-Greeks could be the cause of getting us kicked out of the E.U.”

Spiros shrugged. “Our Prime Minister sees it as a risk and that’s good enough for me. Psychos running around the Greek countryside incinerating tsigani play right into the hands of those who want Greece to fail. And the longer this case remains open the greater the chance of some foreign reporter seeing glory in a story that shocks the world into action against us by linking Greece to words like ‘intolerance’ and ‘genocide.’ We cannot allow that to happen.”

Spiros seemed quite satisfied with his speech.

Andreas said, “Don’t you think the first thing to do is find out whether there actually are psychos running around out there? And if so, put an end to them.”

Spiros faced tightened. “There is no time for that. If the foreign press runs with that sort of story there will be no way to put the genie back in the bottle. We’ll be tarred forever. Besides, the only logical explanation for what happened is tsigani killing tsigani. I’m sure Tassos will agree.”

Andreas was surprised Spiros had resisted adding, “even if you don’t.” He took that as a sign of how desperate Spiros was for his help. What the hell, Tassos was a big boy. He could decide for himself whether or not to go along with Spiros’ wished for explanation.