Andreas looked at Kouros, then back at Dimitri.

‘How’s all that tie into Vassilis’ murder?’

‘Don’t know. But the Russians could have used their big money to burrow so deeply and secretly into that monastery’s infrastructure that even its abbot wouldn’t know what was going on. That would have made it relatively simple to embarrass the whole of Mount Athos by involving one of its oldest and most respected monasteries in a financial scandal and greatly increase the chances of relocating the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church to Russia. With all that’s at stake, I wouldn’t bet against the Russians doing whatever it took to pull it off, including murdering someone who might have figured it out.’

‘Vassilis?’ said Kouros.

‘Enjoy the meze, I’m going to get the fish.’ Dimitri stood up and walked away, taking his glass with him.

‘The man sure as hell knows how to make his exit,’ said Kouros.

‘And his point.’ Andreas drummed his fingers on the top of the table and looked west. ‘You know, if any of what he told us is true, or if he’s working for somebody who’s trying to make us think it’s true, we could be in the middle of some very deep shit.’

‘Located in the middle of a very big minefield.’

‘Blindfolded. I think the time has come to find who put us here.’ Andreas reached for his cell phone.

‘How are we going to do that? The minister sure as hell isn’t going to tell us.’

‘He probably doesn’t even know. My guess is this didn’t pass through normal channels.’

‘So, like I said, how do we find out?’

Andreas dialed and waited. ‘Hi, it’s me. We need to meet and talk about how you can help with a big surprise party.’ He hung up. ‘Answering machine.’

Kouros said, ‘I hate the way we have to use cell phones these days. Can’t say a damn thing on them directly. You’d think after that scandal over tapping the prime minister’s phone they’d have figured out some way to make them secure.’