The Green Lady Page 12

  Mavros thought about how to play this. He could either be the ecologist from Athens come to offer support – running the risk of his lack of technical knowledge soon being uncovered – or he could come clean about his profession, without specifying who he was working for. The latter had a pretty obvious downside. As soon as he asked if anyone knew Lia, they’d think he was working for the owner of the plant they hated so much – he couldn’t disclose that his client was actually the wife. He would be Mephistopheles to them and they’d clam up tighter than a bent doctor’s hand around a bribe. Or they themselves were Lia’s kidnappers and the same would happen – or worse. He decided that tweaking the truth was the better part of valour.

  He went into the building and was greeted warmly by both Lykos and Angeliki. The man from the tractor gave him a more restrained look and went back to painting a banner.

  ‘So, Alex,’ Lykos said, after giving him a bottle of water, ‘what brought you down to the Inferno? That’s what we call the HMC plant.’

  ‘Can you keep a secret?’

  ‘We’re all friends here,’ Angeliki said.

  ‘I’m a private investigator.’

  There was an immediate froideur in the room, despite the lack of air-conditioning. Akis Exarchos went over to the single computer and tapped at the keyboard.

  ‘And I’ve been employed to check out Rovertos Bekakos.’

  Normal warmth was resumed.

  ‘That bastard,’ Lykos said. ‘We can give you a bucket-load of shit on him.’

  Mavros smiled. ‘I was rather hoping so.’

  ‘Who’s your employer?’ Angeliki asked, her boldness touching in its naivety.

  ‘I can’t—’

  ‘No, of course he can’t, my love,’ Lykos said, putting his arm round her. ‘If he had given a name, I wouldn’t have believed him.’

  Mavros nodded, relieved to be off the hook.

  ‘From what I see on the Internet, you’re a missing persons specialist,’ Exarchos said.

  Mavros tried to trump that, taking a card from his wallet. ‘As you can see, it says “Private Investigations” here. Sure, I do a lot of missing persons work, but not exclusively.’ He went back to what he had been about to say. It was speculation, but he had a bad feeling about the lawyer, remembering the way his eyes had followed the girl down the street outside his office. ‘There are other rumours about Bekakos.’

  All three of them were staring at him now.

  ‘For instance, that he has a penchant for underage girls.’

  Angeliki turned to Lykos and gave him an unfathomable look.

  Lykos shrugged. ‘That’s no good without proof. He’ll have us shut down in an eye-blink. It’s only because my aunt’s an MP – one of the few good ones – that we’re still operating.’

  Mavros asked who that was and heard the name Tatiana Roubani, the veteran Communist parliamentarian whom he’d recently seen on TV. She had been in the student resistance against the dictatorship and had known his brother, Andonis.

  ‘Do you think Bekakos has been preying on the workers’ daughters in Paradheisos?’ Lykos asked.

  Mavros was intrigued by the activist’s question. Could his guess be right?

  ‘Have you heard anything of the sort?’ he asked

  ‘Actually, I have.’

  Mavros disguised his unease. Could that be what had happened to Lia Poulou? A pederast kidnapping his employer and friend’s daughter, then successfully dissembling during the search for her? Had he abused local girls too? That was vile enough to have the ring of possibility, considering the lawyer’s visits to the area. But his wife had been with him on many of those. Was she in on it?

  ‘Yes,’ Lykos said. ‘A girl of fourteen. We run a workshop in Paradheisos two evenings a week, even though the mayor – who works for the company, of course – has tried to stop it and we have to change venue all the time. But there are good people in the town. Some of the HMC workers, especially the wives who aren’t employed at the plant, are worried about the pollution.’ He turned to his partner. ‘She spoke to Angeliki.’

  The young woman’s face reddened as she picked up the story. ‘The bastard. He scared the poor girl out of her skin. She didn’t have it in her to speak to her parents, but somehow we got through to her on the ecological side. She stayed behind and started crying when we asked if we could help. Then it all poured out.’ She glanced at Lykos. ‘It’s one of the reasons we raised the profile of our activities. And that piece of shit was in the middle of things today.’

  ‘I’d have killed him,’ Akis Exarchos said, shaking his head. ‘But you and that cop turned up and Angeliki told me to hold back.’

  ‘That would have ruined us,’ Lykos said. ‘The media would have portrayed us as terrorists and the plant would have gone on spewing out its filth.’

  ‘Yes, but did the girl identify Bekakos?’

  ‘Not by name,’ Angeliki said. ‘But she described someone who resembles him and we know he was in Paradheisos that day.’

  ‘Come on, my love,’ Lykos said. ‘You know it was him.’

  ‘When was this?’ Mavros asked.

  ‘She was a bit vague about the date,’ Angeliki replied. ‘Around the beginning of June.’

  Mavros dropped his gaze. ‘What did he do to her?’

  ‘He didn’t actually rape her,’ Angeliki said. ‘But he got her clothes off. There was more, but she wouldn’t say.’

  ‘Definitely enough to get him arrested,’ Mavros said. ‘Where did it happen?’

  ‘In her home, would you believe? The father, an HMC forklift driver, was on shift and the mother was in the corner shop she runs.’

  ‘No siblings?’

  Angeliki raised her head in the standard negative way.

  ‘It was early evening,’ Lykos said, ‘still light. Maybe someone saw his expensive car.’

  ‘But will they talk?’ Angeliki said doubtfully.

  ‘They might,’ Mavros said. ‘I might be able to offer an inducement.’ He didn’t give details. He needed time to think.

  Silence fell. Akis went back to his painting.

  ‘So,’ Lykos said, ‘have you got anything to give us on Bekakos, Alex?’

  It was payback time. Mavros played the only card he had. ‘I know he’s been down here with his wife offering people deals if they agree not to sue the company. I was hoping you could help me out with that.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Lykos said. ‘The simple fact is that there’s been an increasing number of deaths from cancer in Paradheisos and Kypseli over the last five years.’ He glanced at the man with the banners. ‘Akis’s wife Yiorgia was a recent victim.’

  ‘My commiserations,’ Mavros said.

  The thin-faced man raised his head and studied him, before murmuring thanks. He had a hungry look and Mavros didn’t fancy his chances if he got on his wrong side.

  ‘The thing is,’ Lykos continued, ‘bauxite mining and processing needn’t be anything like as damaging to the environment as it has been here, especially in the last few years. If you look at the mountains in Viotia and Fokidha, you’ll see access roads for the heavy equipment all over them, serious deforestation – with all the consequences that has for the general environment – and great heaps of waste from the mining. Until recent changes in the law, it was mostly strip mining on the surface, but now there’s underground work going on too.’

  Mavros frowned. ‘None of that sounds like it would cause a spike in cancer rates.’

  ‘No,’ the young man said, ‘but the plant across the water is another story. It was supposed to be cutting edge technology when it opened back in the Sixties, but people didn’t care about damage to the land and air quality back then. The bauxite ore is heated in pressure vessels and combined with sodium hydroxide – a dangerous chemical that’s also used as drain cleaner. There should be effective filters, but what do you think?’ He pointed to the dirty cloud above the bay.

  Akis Exarchos came over. ‘The problems really started when the Gre
ek Mining Corporation was taken over by Poulos A.E. ten years ago. They’re only interested in cutting costs and increasing profits, not in looking after the workers and the rest of us who live in the area. You’ll have noticed the different coloured houses in Paradheisos.’

  Mavros nodded.

  ‘We’ve been gathering information. Over eighty per cent of the cancers and other lethal medical conditions have been suffered by people who live in the white houses, those nearest the shore.’

  ‘The ordinary workers,’ Mavros said.

  ‘And their families. You’ll have seen the red tinge in the water too. The company claims that the residues it discharges into the bay are non-toxic.’

  ‘And, of course,’ Lykos said, ‘it has the chemists to prove it, as well as the clout in Brussels to satisfy EU inspectors. But the whole story has never been allowed to get out. That’s what we’re going to broadcast to the world.’

  Mavros admired the activists and was sorry for the local man who had lost his wife, but he didn’t give much for their chances against a human bulldozer like Paschos Poulos. And he still had to find the missing Lia.

  ‘Do you think the girl Rovertos Bekakos abused would talk to me?’

  Angeliki looked at him gravely. ‘I don’t know. Wouldn’t your time be better spent gathering material about the bastard’s involvement in covering up the polluting of Viotia?’

  Mavros saw he had to be careful. ‘I’ll take anything I can get on that count too, don’t worry.’

  Lykos drew his partner aside and they spoke in low voices.

  ‘All right,’ Angeliki said. ‘I’ll take you to see her this evening. But you must promise to be sensitive.’

  Mavros nodded distractedly. He’d just noticed what looked like an ancient statue of a solemn woman or goddess in a niche at the rear of the room. Tendrils from a plant in a pot had wound themselves around her robed lower body and there were bowls of dried seeds and fresh fruit next to her.

  The Fat Man, forced to sit with the Peugeot’s engine turned off as he watched the Bekakos house, kept falling in and out of a sweat-drenched sleep. Although the wide street was lined by eucalyptus trees, they didn’t give him enough cover. He considered calling Alex and telling him he was going home, but he was unwilling to do that. He was on the job and he had to be prepared for all it threw at him. That included thirst – he’d emptied the two large bottles of water he’d brought; the need to urinate – he’d refilled one of the bottles; and, inevitably, hunger. His stomach was rumbling like a landslide. And then, when the sun had at last gone behind the tallest of the trees, the gate opened and Maria Bekakou’s silver Mercedes nosed out. Yiorgos started his engine and turned the air conditioning up to full. There was no discernible difference until they were well down Kifissias Avenue, on the way to the city centre.

  The likelihood was that the target was going to her shop in Kolonaki. The Fat Man began to worry about where he would park in the narrow streets of the rich people’s quarter, but then the Merc took a left without indicating and he just managed to follow before the traffic lights changed. They were in a residential area around a couple of hospitals, which would make parking even more difficult. Two cars ahead of him, the Mercedes suddenly braked. Its hazard warning lights started flashing and then the white reversing light came on as Mrs Bekakou skilfully manoeuvred into a space.

  ‘Typical luck of the thieving class,’ Yiorgos roared, slamming a hand on the steering wheel. He tried to drive past slowly to see where she would go, but a fool in a 4x4 blew his horn repeatedly and he had to go to the end of the street. It took him ten minutes to find a space and he had to walk as fast as he could for nearly ten more before he was back at the Mercedes coupé. Fortunately, it was still there. Unfortunately, he had no clue where the driver was.

  The Fat Man hung around in a doorway opposite, drawing looks from two old ladies that suggested they thought he was a rogue elephant. As the light began to fail, the sounds from his stomach were almost as loud as the traffic from the nearby avenue. He considered dashing to find a shop, but was glad he hadn’t as the door to a block of flats across the street opened and then closed. Maria Bekakou walked the few metres to her car, got in and drove away. Yiorgos was powerless to follow, but realised there was still something he could do. He crossed the road and went to the door to examine the names by the bell buttons. None of them meant anything to him. He took out the notebook and pencil he had provided himself with, then wrote down the address and all the names. There was a selection of common ones including a Papadhopoulos, a Savalas and an Athanasiadhou.

  Then he saw one that made him stifle a laugh because of the juxtaposition of a lengthy first name with ancient heritage and a brief, unusual surname. Epameinondhas Phis. He wouldn’t forget that in a hurry.

  TWELVE

  Mavros was sitting in a rickety chair at a desk in the Ecologists for a Better Viotia office reading the group’s pamphlets, when a car he immediately recognised drew up outside. It was Rovertos Bekakos’s dark blue Porsche. He got out from the driver’s side with a briefcase, while a man mountain with short dark hair struggled to extricate himself from the passenger seat. The lawyer waited impatiently, then led his companion in.

  Mavros took the opportunity to examine the alleged paedophile at close range. Bekakos looked cool and composed in his light business suit, his features more relaxed than they had been at the blockade, but there was tension about him, as if springs were about to erupt from his flesh. He ran his eyes round the room, taking in Lykos, Angeliki and Akis, then he glanced at Mavros with barely suppressed amusement.

  ‘So, you idealistic idiots,’ he said, ‘you’ve hired a whore from Athens.’

  Mavros didn’t react, his eyes on the heavy behind his master, bulky arms folded.

  ‘You think we have the funds to pay people, Bekako?’ Angeliki said, her eyes wide.

  Lykos touched the back of her hand briefly. ‘Is there something we can do for you?’

  ‘I think so.’ The lawyer opened his case and took out a sheaf of papers. ‘This is for you. A court order, duly signed and stamped, requiring you and your organisation’ – he spoke the word with heavy irony – ‘to desist immediately from any activity that impedes work at the HMC plant. That specifically refers to blocking the road – I do hope you enjoyed your little stunt earlier today because it’ll be the last one – as well as to harassing HMC workers in any way.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘Such harassment includes importuning personnel and talking to them or their family members.’

  ‘What?’ Angeliki shouted. ‘You can’t do that!’

  Bekakos turned pages and pointed to a paragraph. ‘You’ll see that the judge specifically stipulates those activities. You will also desist from holding meetings – what I believe you misleadingly refer to as workshops – in Paradheisos which, as you well know, is HMC property. You will immediately stop erecting signs, hoardings, banners or any other sort of propaganda in the town.’ He turned to the last pages of the document. ‘The penalties for disregarding the order are laid out here, here and here. Heavy fines and imprisonment.’ He handed it to Lykos. ‘You are now officially in receipt of the order, as my colleague Mr Kloutsis has witnessed.’

  Mavros looked at the gorilla, who had taken several photos with a mobile phone. ‘You moved quickly,’ he observed to the lawyer.

  ‘Never unprepared – that’s my motto, Mr Mavro.’ Bekakos peered at him as if he were a rare zoological specimen. ‘What brings you to these parts?’

  ‘What do you think?’

  The lawyer gave him the eye for a few more seconds, then turned to the door. ‘I have more important things to direct my mind towards,’ he said, nodding at the big man.

  ‘You won’t get away with this!’ Angeliki yelled after him.

  Rovertos Bekakos stopped and looked over his shoulder. ‘I already have, young woman.’ He gave a dry laugh and left.

  Lykos took Angeliki in his arms and comforted her as she started to sob. Akis Exarchos went up an
d patted them both on their shoulders.

  ‘You can fight it,’ Mavros said.

  ‘Of course we could,’ Lykos said. ‘But we don’t have the deep pockets of Poulos A.E. I’ll talk to my aunt and see if she can raise it in Parliament, but big business and its stooges in government don’t pay attention to the Communists much these days.’

  ‘It’s a success,’ Akis said, smiling grimly. ‘I mean, we finally got them to declare war. What was it Alexander the Great said? “There’s nothing impossible to those who would try”? I learned that at primary school.’

  Angeliki wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand. ‘Bravo, Aki. If they want to fight dirty, we’ll do the same.’

  Lykos shook his head. ‘It’s essential we don’t break the law. Our legitimacy – and that of the whole ecological movement – is founded on the observation of existing legal codes.’

  ‘Then you will be beaten,’ Akis said, clenching his fists. ‘I’ll do anything to make them pay for Yiorgia’s death.’ He gave the activists a baleful look as he walked to the door.

  Mavros sat down and thought about how to proceed. Having heard about the alleged child abuse and seen Rovertos Bekakos close up again, he felt sure that Paschos Poulos’s lawyer was the key to finding the missing daughter. It was unclear whether Poulos was being deceived by Bekakos and his wife, or whether he too was in some way involved in Lia’s disappearance. For the time being, that was immaterial. What he had to do was probe Bekakos’s weak point. At least the court order didn’t stop him going to Paradheisos.

  ‘You’ll have to call the girl and talk her into seeing me on my own,’ he said to Angeliki.

  She looked at her watch. ‘In an hour. It’s still siesta time.’

  ‘OK. In the meantime, can I see your website? I’m guessing you have a forum for debate.’

  The ecologists looked at each other.