Chapter 3 - THE CASE THEY BURIED
“Four minutes.”
Nikos said it again.
Andreas nodded.
“The photograph was taken by a freelance photographer monitoring police radio. Timestamp is intact.”
“But the emergency call came later?”
“Yes.”
Eleni stared at Marcus's younger face.
“He was already there.”
Nikos's expression did not change.
That was becoming more frightening than anger.
“Get the file.”
“I already sent someone.”
“No.”
Nikos looked at Andreas.
“No one touches the original. We request it through counsel.”
Andreas raised an eyebrow.
“Twelve years ago, you'd have broken into evidence storage yourself.”
“Twelve years ago, my sister was alive.”
That ended the argument.
By midnight, Eleni's parents were inside a private apartment above the Costa bakery under the watch of two men Nikos trusted.
Her mother hated every second of it.
“This is ridiculous,” Rosa Costa announced when Nikos came personally to explain.
She was sixty-one, five feet three, and apparently immune to organized crime.
“My husband has dough rising downstairs.”
“Mrs. Costa—”
“Rosa.”
Nikos blinked.
Eleni almost smiled.
“Rosa, a detective has threatened your daughter.”
“Then arrest him.”
“He is the detective people would normally call.”
Rosa stopped.
That part finally reached her.
Eleni's father, Antonio, was quieter.
He touched the bruise on his daughter's jaw with one trembling hand.
“You told us you fell.”
Eleni's eyes filled.
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad, you would've gone to his apartment with a rolling pin.”
Antonio looked offended.
“I have better weapons than a rolling pin.”
Nikos coughed.
Eleni glared at him.
“Do not encourage him.”
For the first time all night, Nikos looked almost human.
Then Rosa noticed the silk handkerchief wrapped around Eleni's palm.
Gold initials had been embroidered in one corner.
N.S.
Her mother's gaze moved between them.
Eleni immediately said, “No.”
Rosa lifted both eyebrows.
“I said nothing.”
“You were about to.”
“Perhaps.”
Nikos looked confused.
“I'm leaving.”
“That would be wise,” Eleni said.
He gave her a look.
But he left two guards.
Not in the apartment.
Downstairs.
Because Eleni asked him not to make her parents feel like prisoners.
That mattered.
The next morning, Andreas brought the police file to Olympus through an attorney who had formally requested a certified copy.
Nikos read it in his office.
Eleni sat across from him.
She had no obligation to be there.
She stayed anyway.
Callista Stavros had died at 11:42 p.m. after falling from the fourth level of a parking garage.
The death had been ruled accidental.
Alcohol was present in her bloodstream.
Witnesses reported she appeared “emotionally agitated.”
No one reported seeing another person with her.
Except Marcus.
His original statement claimed he had been driving nearby when he heard a scream.
“That's why he arrived first,” Eleni said.
Nikos looked at the timestamp.
“No.”
“What?”
“The parking structure is enclosed on three sides.”
“So?”
“You couldn't hear someone scream from the avenue.”
Andreas nodded.
“I checked.”
Nikos turned another page.
Property inventory.
Callista's handbag.
Wallet.
Shoes.
Gold earrings.
Wristwatch.
No necklace.
Eleni looked toward the photograph on Nikos's desk.
“She was wearing it that evening?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
He removed another photograph.
Callista at a family dinner.
Same night.
Same dress.
Same owl necklace.
“It disappeared before the property inventory.”
“And Marcus had it.”
“Yes.”
The next page made Andreas swear.
A supplemental evidence form had been signed forty-eight hours after Callista's death.
Reporting officer:
Marcus Delano.
Item:
Gold pendant recovered near incident location.
Disposition:
Transferred for laboratory processing.
No laboratory receipt existed.
The necklace had entered the system.
Then vanished.
“So Marcus didn't simply take it from the scene,” Eleni said.
“He documented it.”
Nikos's gaze hardened.
“Which means he expected someone to protect the disappearance later.”
Andreas turned to the final pages.
The case had briefly been referred to the district attorney's office after a witness reported seeing Callista arguing with a man earlier that evening.
The request for further investigation was declined.
Signed by an assistant district attorney.
Thomas Vale.
Eleni frowned.
“Why do I know that name?”
Andreas answered.
“The councilman Nikos was meeting last night.”
The liar from table twelve.
The man sitting fifteen feet away when Eleni dropped the wineglass.
Nikos stood.
“He knew.”
“Maybe.”
“You're defending him?”
“No. I'm stopping you from doing exactly what you told Eleni you wouldn't.”
Nikos looked at him.
Andreas held the stare.
“Decide before evidence is complete.”
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Nikos sat again.
“Call Vale.”
They did not have to.
Thomas Vale walked into Olympus forty minutes later.
No entourage.
No overcoat.
No politician's smile.
He looked as though he had not slept.
“I heard someone pulled Callista's file.”
Nikos's voice was low.
“Sit.”
Vale did.
Eleni expected defiance.
Instead, the councilman looked at the photograph of Callista and closed his eyes.
“I've been waiting twelve years for this.”
Nikos's signet ring clicked once against the desk.
“You declined the investigation.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vale looked at Eleni.
Then at Andreas.
Then back at Nikos.
“If I tell you, you will want to kill somebody.”
“I already do.”
“Not Delano.”
That changed the room.
Vale swallowed.
“I was thirty-one. Two years out of law school. I had a new baby and a mortgage I could barely afford.”
“Spare me.”
“I am not asking for sympathy.”
“Good.”
Vale leaned forward.
“The police captain told me Callista's death had to remain accidental. He said opening an investigation would expose informants, officers and people connected to your family.”
Nikos's eyes went cold.
“What people?”
Vale's voice dropped.
“Your father.”
Eleni looked at Nikos.
He had gone completely still.
“No.”
“Dimitri came to my office the morning after Callista died.”
“My father wanted her killer found.”
“No.”
Vale's eyes filled with something close to shame.
“He wanted the case closed.”
Nikos stood so abruptly that the chair slammed backward.
Eleni flinched.
He saw it.
And stopped.
That single reaction seemed to cut through his rage.
He stepped away from the desk instead.
“Why would my father protect Marcus Delano?”
Vale shook his head.
“He wasn't protecting Delano.”
“Then who?”
“Your family.”
The answer seemed to hurt worse.
Vale reached slowly into his coat.
Andreas's hand moved beneath his jacket.
Vale noticed.
“Relax.”
He removed an old folded receipt.
It was yellowed with age.
Bank-issued.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
The recipient line carried Thomas Vale's name.
The originating account belonged to Dimitri Stavros.
Nikos stared at it.
“You took money from my father.”
“Yes.”
“To bury Callista's case.”
Vale looked sick.
“Yes.”
Nikos's face changed.
Not toward Vale.
Inward.
Like an entire childhood had just cracked.
Then Vale said quietly:
“But Dimitri wasn't the person who paid Marcus.”
Nikos looked up.
Vale swallowed.
“Marcus was already being paid.”
“By whom?”
May you like
Vale's answer came almost too softly to hear.
“Someone inside your father's organization.”
