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insulted and had decided to break into the house and rape her. He'd removed one of the boards from the window and squeezed inside. He'd thought that her husband was away and had been terrified when he'd seen him lying beside her. And when the man rushed at him, he'd taken out his knife and murdered first him and then the girl. Everything was plain and simple, all very neat, no gaps or loose ends.

    "Well done, Thanassis," I said with admiration. "Perfect."
    He looked at me, and his eyes shone with pleasure. At that moment the phone rang. I picked up the receiver.
    "Haritos."
    This too was part of the FBI-type reforms imposed on us by Ghikas. We no longer answered, "Hello" or "Yes," but "Haritos," "Sotiriou," "Papatriandafyllopoulos." And regardless of whether you got cut off halfway through "Papatriandafyllopoulos," you still went on with it.
    "The child. What do you know about it?" As always, short, sharp, and to the point.
    "There is no child, Chief. I've got the Albanian's confession in front of me. There's no mention of a child. That's nonsense thought up by Karayoryi. Her ambition will be the death of her."
    I said this expressly to provoke him, because I knew that he had a high regard for her.
    "Has he confessed?" he said, as if unwilling to believe it.
    "Yes. Confessed. Crime of passion. No child involved."
    "Right. Send me your report. And a summary too, so I can make a statement." He put down the phone without even a word of thanks. Now I was going to have to write him a report that a schoolboy could understand so that he could learn it by heart.
    Normally, the case would have closed there. The Albanian had made his confession and would be sent for trial, the stuff about the child had proved to be a fabrication, the chief of security would stand before the reporters and come out with his spiel-we'd wrapped it up. But I had a broomstick up my backside. I couldn't let things rest, and I always ended up paying for it.

    "Listen, Thanassis, did he say anything about a child?"
    "Child?" he said and became all confused. Thanassis's kind are like that. When you're least expecting it, they come up with a bright idea and arrive at something that, by their standards, is nothing short of a miracle. But as soon as you burden them with something else, something unexpected, they overload, blow a fuse, and the lights go out on them.
    I looked at my watch. It was only nine-thirty. I had two hours before the reporters showed up.
    It was more than enough time for me to write the report for Ghikas.
    "Have them bring the Albanian for questioning."
    He looked at me, and all the satisfaction drained out of him. "But he's confessed," he muttered.
    "I know, but that Karayoryi woman put a damper on it last night on the news, by saying that there was a child involved. Ghikas heard it, and now he's on to me about it. I know there's nothing in it, but I want to be 100 percent sure that everything's in order. Have him brought to me, and you come along too." I would take him with me to show my appreciation, and he liked it. He left the office smiling from ear to ear.
    The Albanian was sitting in the same place, but he wasn't handcuffed as on the previous day. When we walked in, he looked at us apprehensively. I offered him a cigarette.
    "I say you everything," he said to me as he drew on the cigarette. "He come and I say all." He pointed to Thanassis.
    "I know. Don't be alarmed. Everything's okay. I just want to ask you one question out of curiosity. Do you know whether the couple you murdered had any kids?"
    "Keeds?"
    He looked at me as though it were the most unlikely thing in the world for an Albanian couple to have kids. He didn't answer, but his gaze turned slowly toward Thanassis. Thanassis suddenly reached for him, took him by the anorak, and dragged him to his feet, screaming: "Out with it, you bastard! Did the Albanians have a child? Out with it, or you're dead meat!"

    It's the quiet ones you have to watch when they're riled, as my old