Andreas pointed at the ground. “Any foot prints?”

“Hundreds. What with firefighters, cops, and the locals, no way to tell what we have, if anything.”

“Any witnesses?”

“None so far as we can tell. This area is deserted at night. And the fire started just before sunrise. A farmer over that hill,” he pointed southwest, “saw the smoke and called it in. But I’ve got uniforms talking to everyone who’s here.” He gestured at the crowd. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, find something to go on.”

Andreas nodded. “Let’s hope so.” He patted the police chief on the back. “Be safe, Odysseus. Let me know as soon as you come up with anything.”

Andreas walked to where Spiros was holding court and stood just outside the circle of reporters and cameras. He wasn’t worried about being drawn into that zoo. Spiros shared the media spotlight with no one. As for the real mess-the one amid the field behind him-Andreas had no idea what Spiros had in mind for him, but he’d find out soon enough because Spiros was just wrapping up his prime time TV performance.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sure you understand I must get on with the investigation, so please excuse me. But I give you and the Greek people my word that the ruthless murderers behind this heinous crime will be apprehended and punished. Greece cannot tolerate such crimes against its citizens.”

The reporters kept shouting questions, but Spiros walked toward Andreas, motioning as he did for three cops to keep the press from following him.

“So, what do you think? Sounded pretty good, didn’t I?”

Andreas shrugged. “I’m glad you followed my advice.”

Spiros’ voice bristled. “Sometimes I don’t understand you. The van is Greek so we can trace it, but even if it’s stolen we have two victims. One execution style murder might be hard to solve, but we’ve got two dead bodies and a message. There has to be an obvious motive for this, one that will point straight to whomever is responsible. And once we start pressing for leads informants will be falling all over themselves trying to make deals and score points with us.” He shook his head.