The Green Lady Read Online Free PDF Page B

sharpness. ‘I heard you know her.’
    â€˜Let me see. Angie, she calls herself, doesn’t she? Paschos Poulos I know more about. He bought one of the main literary publishers and tried to put me out of business. Sold it when he lost interest. Horrible man. His wife, yes, I met her a few times at the usual functions. She seemed nice enough. She does a good job of covering up her proletarian origins.’ Despite being the widow of a high-ranking Communist, Dorothy had never completely lost the bourgeois attitudes of her native Edinburgh. ‘I always got the impression she’d rather be elsewhere.’
    That squared with what Angie had told Mavros – that she preferred to be with her daughter rather than at receptions. ‘Ever hear anything about her marriage coming unstuck?’
    â€˜Alexander Mavros!’ His mother’s outrage wasn’t entirely an act. ‘You should address that question to your sister.’
    Mavros smiled. ‘How is Anna?’ He knew she visited their mother every day – and was unimpressed that he didn’t.
    â€˜Flourishing. There seems to be an infinite appetite for gossip these days. The build up to these infernal Games has kept her even busier.’
    Anna wasn’t exactly a gossip columnist, but she was in the know to a disturbing extent about Athenian society and its meretricious vanity.
    â€˜I’ll talk to her later,’ he said. ‘When I get a moment, I’ll come round one evening and take you down to Dhexameni.’
    â€˜Oh, that would be lovely, Alex.’ Dorothy’s voice was wistful. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’
    â€˜Me too.’ He broke the connection. The fact that his mother was getting frailer by the month disturbed him. He rang his sister.
    â€˜Is Mother all right?’
    â€˜I’m fine, thanks, how are you?’ Anna answered acidly. ‘And Mother is as well as can be expected. Maybe you should take the short walk round Lykavittos and see for yourself.’
    Mavros took a deep breath. ‘Sorry. Bad day at work?’
    â€˜You could put it that way. At this time of year, I’d normally be on holiday with Nondas and the kids, but thanks to the Games . . .’
    â€˜You should swap notes with the Fat Man.’
    â€˜No, thanks.’ Anna had never got on with Yiorgos, not least because of his wardrobe. She was a devotee of the most chi-chi Kolonaki boutiques. ‘Look, Alex, I’m trying to set up an interview with Sebastian Coe. Can this wait?’
    â€˜Have you been transferred to the sports desk?’
    â€˜Very funny. As a matter of fact, he’s a very stylish man and he knows absolutely everyone.’
    â€˜I’m very happy for him. Before you go – Angie Poulou.’ Mavros could almost hear his sister’s ears prick up. She was a newshound of the first order.
    â€˜What about her? Don’t tell me you’re finally going to come through on all those promises of exclusives.’
    â€˜I gave you plenty on the Cretan case last year.’
    â€˜True enough. All right, so you’re picking my brains. Why?’
    â€˜No particular reason.’
    â€˜Client confidentiality, you mean.’
    â€˜No comment.’
    Anna laughed. ‘What’s she got you doing?’
    Mavros could tell his sister hadn’t picked up anything about the daughter’s disappearance. Paschos Poulos’s grip was as firm as his wife said.
    â€˜Is she what she seems to be?’ he asked offhandedly.
    â€˜And what’s that, exactly? A former Marks and Spencer model from the council estates of East London, who managed to capture the most eligible bachelor in Greece in the late 80s?’ There was a hint of antagonism in Anna’s voice.
    â€˜Don’t tell me you were after him?’
    â€˜Certainly not. I was already married.’ Anna’s marriage was famously solid. Nondas was a right-wing Cretan businessman whom Mavros