A Deadly Twist by Jeffrey Siger (free novel reading sites .txt) 📕

are listed as participating with the family in ownership of the items.” She paused. “Who those participants are is particularly interesting.”

More silence.

“As I said, the German government went to great pains to demonstrate how claims by the Greek government were inaccurate. In its rebuttal documents, Germany listed military officers of the occupying forces, and persons and entities connected to those officers, found to have participated in transactions involving items previously reported by those same officers as destroyed. In many instances, those records show Athena or her children as participants in those transactions.”

“This is insane! How could that be?” shouted the mayor, exploding out of his chair.

“If you’re asking from a logistical perspective how such a distinguished Greek family could conspire with Nazi occupiers to steal Greece’s national heritage, the answer’s very easily. The family had both the means and experience necessary for smuggling and disposing of such treasures, and the officers had the incentive. If the Nazis didn’t claim the items were destroyed, they’d be ordered to ship them back to Germany to enrich their superiors. Working with the family made sense for both sides.” Nikoletta shook her head in disgust. “If you’re looking for moral justification for robbing their fellow Greeks, may they find that answer rotting in hell.”

Andreas cleared his throat. “Allow me to summarize. I think it’s safe to say that this story shatters the image of the family as a stalwart supporter of Greece. After all, how is this going to play out against Nikoletta’s publisher’s crusade to have Britain return the Parthenon Marbles, when his own family pillaged Greece during its moment of greatest suffering?”

Andreas paused and motioned for the mayor to sit down. “That said, Mr. Mayor, which side of this story of Nazi collaboration and murder do you wish to end up on?”

He sat quietly.

A minute passed.

“Well, say something, already,” said Marco. “This is outrageous. It’s not even an issue open to discussion. We must cooperate immediately with the police.”

Andreas wagged a finger in Marco’s direction. “I’m so happy you said that. Because something has been percolating in the back of my mind that never quite sat right. I’ve heard that Spyros—you probably know him as Honeyman—was acting as the front man in efforts to acquire beachfront properties on behalf of Athena’s family.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that too,” said Marco.

“But I’ve also heard that Honeyman knew his limitations, and negotiating those kinds of potentially sophisticated transactions doesn’t seem to fit within his skillset. Nor do I think his boss—and I think by now we all know who that is—would trust him to be his man on this island in charge of supervising such significant ventures.”

Marco nodded.

“I think the big boss would look for someone familiar with the terrain and the people, someone experienced in business who would know which buttons to push and people to reach out to, even if he didn’t do it himself.” Andreas stared at Marco. “Can you think of anyone who might fit that description?”

“No.”

“Permit me to put it differently. We are investigating murders here. Anyone tied into doing that family’s business on this island is a suspect. If you know anyone who might qualify for the role of Honeyman’s boss and buffer between him and the big boss, you should encourage him to come forward now. The longer he waits, the closer he gets to a murder charge. And I can promise him that, in my experience, he can expect no assistance from the guy at the top of the pyramid. The only words that guy will say are, ‘I knew nothing about what my subordinates might have done.’”

Andreas stared at Marco. “In other works, speak up now or be set up later.”

Marco looked away. “I didn’t do anything wrong. My only dealings on behalf of the family were in connection with its efforts to acquire the properties. All told, this was a huge project. The biggest the family had ever attempted. Sovereign funds were banking on Naxos becoming bigger than Mykonos and were lined up to invest in the project once we acquired the land. It was my job to manage that, but I had to stay behind the scenes if we hoped to get all the necessary properties.”

He paused to swallow. “If locals learned I was involved, they’d know something big was underway, and there’d be instant organized opposition.”

Dimitri glared at his friend. “So, that’s why you picked Honeyman to be the face of your project. Someone so ill-regarded by his neighbors that they wouldn’t take him as a serious threat to succeed.”

Marco looked down, avoiding Dimitri’s eyes. “We needed a low-key, nonthreatening farmer type, but Honeyman was far from my first choice.” He swallowed again, still looking down. “I had no say in hiring him. I was ordered to use him.”

“Ordered by who?” said Andreas.

“By the head of the family, Nikoletta’s publisher.”

Andreas shifted his gaze. “Your turn, Mr. Mayor. Who’s running the family’s operations on the island?”

It was the politician’s turn to lower his gaze. “The publisher runs all the family’s businesses. The other family members have nothing to do with how he runs them. He treats them all like sheep, paying the six branches of Athena’s family tree equal shares to distribute among themselves. They take what he gives them to maintain their lifestyles and ask no questions.”

That’s why there are no new initials, thought Andreas.

He looked at Marco. “If word got out that the publisher’s family had been secretly collaborating with the Nazis against Greece, what effect do you think that would have on the development project?”

“It would kill it. Look, the publisher’s potential investors aren’t exactly upright citizens of the world, so I’d think the last thing they’d want to be is ensnared in that kind of emotion-charged public mess. They’d certainly still be interested in the project, but not if it involved the publisher’s family.”

“In other words, if the family’s Nazi-collaboration past got out, the publisher would see his family’s biggest deal ever disappear. Or, worse yet for a man with his