Philip Kerr 13 страница

‘How was training this morning? ’

He shrugged. ‘All right. ’

We drove down to the Astir Marina. I’d arranged to borrow Vik’s yacht tender for a couple of hours, so that I could drive the two of us out into the Saronic Gulf – a patch of blue sea on the edge of the world before it turned magically into a place where heroes did battle with gods and monsters; where Aristotle might have tried to teach Alexander an important life lesson; where there were no phone signals and we couldn’t possibly be interrupted.

The boat was a thirty‑ three‑ foot Regulator with a centre console and a couple of outboards with a top speed of around fifty‑ two knots. It had been a while since I’d driven a boat so I hugged the coastline for a while, getting a feel for the conditions and the boat, before picking up speed and heading northwest out to sea. On the way we caught sight of The Lady Ruslana which stood off the coast like some ironclad Argo. I could just make out the crew members; against the dark blue hull, their orange shorts and polo shirts made them look like figures painted along the surface of a large Greek vase.

‘Are we going to Mr Sokolnikov’s yacht? ’ asked Prometheus.

‘Not today, ’ I said.

‘Pity. I heard it’s pretty cool. I’d like to see that sometime. ’

‘I dare say you will. But on this occasion we’re going for a short history lesson. ’

‘I never was much good at history, ’ admitted Prometheus.

‘It’s not the history that’s important so much as the lesson, ’ I said.

After about fifteen kilometres the sea began to narrow between two points of land and I throttled back to a crawl before putting the engine into neutral. I didn’t drop anchor. It wasn’t going to be a long lesson. Besides, I needed to manoeuvre.

‘We’re here, ’ I said.

‘Where’s here? ’

‘This is where the lesson is going to take place. ’

Prometheus nodded and with his phone still in his hand he leaned over the side of the boat, staring down into the watery blue depths as if expecting Poseidon himself, or perhaps a sea monster. There was quite a swell and it wouldn’t have surprised either of us if something large had appeared in the water. A tuna perhaps or even a shark.

‘Listen, boss, ’ he said, still looking down into the water, as if he didn’t dare to meet my eye. ‘I’m sorry about what happened, what I did to Bekim. That was wrong and I feel very bad about it. I put the evil eye on that man and I’m all messed up inside because of that, see? I only meant to spook him a little, and that’s God’s truth. If I’d known that it might really work I’d never have done it, you’ve got to believe me. I can’t sleep and I can’t eat for thinking about it. If I could turn the clock back, I would, yeah? I’d give anything. Anything at all. Honest. ’

‘That’s all bullshit, ’ I said. ‘There’s no such thing as the evil eye. You behaved like a twat, that’s all. ’

‘Seriously, I don’t think I’m ever going to feel good about myself again, boss. ’

‘Well then, you’re no good to me, ’ I said, and placing a shoe on his backside I launched the Nigerian over the side.

Prometheus hit the water with a loud splash and then disappeared.

As soon as he was in the water, I sat down at the steering wheel and moved the boat away from him – just a few metres, so that it was just out of reach and the lesson might be learned, properly.

‘What the fuck? ’ he said as he emerged, thrashing the water angrily with his arms. ‘What the fuck d’you do that for? I lost my sunglasses. And my fucking phone. And my hat. ’

‘I didn’t like the hat, ’ I admitted. ‘To be honest you’re better off without it. And you won’t need a phone out here. There’s no signal anyway. ’

He started to swim towards the boat; I edged it away from him.

‘Hey! What you doing, man? What’s the big idea? This isn’t funny. That phone was a Vertu Signature with Bang and Olufsen speakers, its own concierge and everything. It cost me nearly seven grand. ’

‘For a phone? They saw you coming, son. ’

‘Fuck you, man. ’ He swam towards the boat a second time and I moved it again.

‘Stay the fuck where you are, ’ I said. ‘Or I’ll leave you here. I’m serious. ’

‘You crazy nigger, ’ he said but now he was just treading water; and he had one of the many crucifixes around his neck in his fingers as if he was going to pray.

‘You think so? Bad news for you if I am. You see I’m the nigger in the boat. And you’re the nigger in the water. To be quite precise, you are in the Straits of Salamis. To the west, behind you, we have the island of Salamis. And to the east, behind me, is the Greek mainland and the port of Piraeus. You could probably swim to either one, if you’re lucky. I don’t know what the currents are like here but you might make it, depending on what kind of a swimmer you are. However, I should tell you that contrary to what most people believe, there are sharks in the Mediterranean Sea, including the big predators like the great white, the bull shark and the tiger shark. Either way you’re in dire straits, motherfucker. And that isn’t a joke but a simple statement of fact. ’

‘All right, I get that you’re mad at me. But I said I’m sorry about Bekim. What more can I do to prove that? ’

‘You can listen to what I’ve got to say – not that you have any choice about that. ’

‘All right, I’m fucking listening. ’

‘Shit, I know I am. ’ I lifted my ear into the breeze. ‘It could be that I can hear something out here at sea. You see, this is the site of a great sea battle. The Battle of Salamis. Some historians have argued that it’s one of the most significant battles in human history. Hard to believe, isn’t it? This bit of deep blue sea, covered in blood and pitch and oil. Men screaming in agony. But it happened all right, in 480 BC, around the same time as the Battle of Thermopylae, and that’s some local history you do know about. According to your Facebook page, 300 is your favourite movie. ’

A big wave hit the Nigerian, and for a second he disappeared. When he came up again there was fear in his eyes.

‘Hey, the next time you put your head under the water tell me what you can hear. Maybe it will be the voices of all those men who met their end in these waters – drowned, stabbed with a spear, shot with an arrow, burned to death with Greek fire. Thousands and thousands of men who never saw their families again, whose bones make up the seabed a hundred metres below your feet. ’

I hit the throttle and moved the boat in a circle round the Nigerian’s head; it looked very small in the water, like a floating coconut.

‘Now then. Xerxes, the Persian king – you know about him, I guess – he sailed up here with the largest fleet that ever put to sea, in a hurry as usual. Twelve hundred ships, it was said, against about three hundred and seventy Greek ones, called triremes. And pretty much the same thing happened here as at Thermopylae. There were just too many Persian ships trying to get through these narrow straits and, much like we did the other night against Olympiacos, they lost their formation. But Themistocles, the Greek commander, he made sure that the Greeks kept theirs. Not to mention their discipline.

‘On board each Greek ship were the hoplites, armoured infantry who fought in hand‑ to‑ hand combat. These men carried a sword and a spear and, most important of all perhaps, a shield on their left arm with which they protected not just themselves but also the soldier to their left. In other words, one man relied on another for his protection. So, just as the ships kept their formation, so the hoplites kept theirs. Not all of the Greeks were friends. In fact as far as I can see the Spartans and the Athenians were old rivals and probably hated each other. But against the Persians they were united and despite overwhelming odds, the Greeks prevailed.

‘There’s your lesson. You look after the guy to the left – because the guy on your right is doing the same for you. The Greeks were a superstitious lot but when a Persian was trying to stab them in the neck with a fucking spear, they didn’t put much faith in their gods. In a battle it was the guy to your right who was going to look after your arse, and all the lucky charms and fucking prayers in the world weren’t going to alter that fact. That’s teamwork, son. That’s something you can believe in. Be it war or football, it amounts to much the same thing. You look out for the next guy; that way, when the game is over you can look your mates in the eye and know that you did everything you fucking could. Otherwise your team isn’t worth shit. ’

I cut the engine and sat down near the stern.

‘Which brings us to the last part of the lesson: you, Prometheus. Now I think you could probably pray to God to pull your arse out of the sea and who the fuck knows – maybe a ship would come along and rescue you. Or you could put your trust in your fellow man, namely me. So which is it to be? ’

I leaned over the side and held out my hand. ‘Me, or God? ’

Prometheus grinned and took my hand.

A few minutes later he was lying on the deck of the Regulator, staring up at the sun and laughing.

‘What’s so funny? ’ I asked.

‘I was thinking. That’s the most interesting history lesson I think I ever had. Maybe if I’d had a teacher like you at my school, then I might have passed a few exams instead of jail‑ breaking stolen smartphones. ’

I shook my head. ‘Don’t worry about that, son. If you’d ever passed an exam at school, you wouldn’t be what you are now: one of the most naturally talented centre forwards I’ve ever seen. Seriously. You’re a star in the making. ’

He sat up, still grinning. I had to hand it to him; he was a good‑ natured kid.

‘You really think so, boss? ’

‘I know so. All you have to do is learn how to play for the team. There’s no limit to what you can do on the football pitch provided you don’t mind who gets the credit. ’

He nodded.

‘Besides, you’ve passed the best exam there is, my friend. You’re playing Premier League football at one of the best teams in the country. You pay attention to what I tell you and you’ll go all the way, son. If that’s what you want. ’

Prometheus held out his hand. I took it again. And this time there were tears in his eyes. ‘It’s all I’ve ever wanted. ’ He grinned again. ‘That and a new phone. ’

‘I’ll buy you one. ’

‘No, it’s all right. I’ve got a couple of cheap burners in my hotel room. Just in case. ’

‘Where have you been? ’ asked Eva Pyromaglou. ‘I’ve been calling you for the last hour. ’

I was back at the Astir Palace, back in my bungalow, with an hour to kill before I went on the team bus to see the Panathinaikos game, answering emails and examining the contents of Bekim Develi’s Louis Vuitton Keepall. I don’t know why I should have found it shocking that Bekim had worn Frigo No. 1 underwear, but I did; actually, I know perfectly well why I found this shocking: Frigo No. 1s are a hundred quid a pair.

‘I was on a boat, ’ I said.

‘Me, I’ve spent the whole morning in the lab on this when I should have been looking after my son. ’

I didn’t answer; I was getting used to Greeks complaining about one thing or another. If you let them they’ll even complain about the Romans and how they nicked everything from Greece – and that was two thousand years ago.

‘What have you got for me, doctor? ’

‘You mentioned a bonus, Mr Manson? ’

I laughed. ‘You should play football. ’

‘Like I told you, I have a son who needs expensive medication. ’

‘Actually, you didn’t tell me that, but what the hell. I said another five hundred if you found something. Did you find something? ’

‘Yes. ’

‘I’ll send the money round by courier. This morning. All right? ’

I was beginning to see the problems you might have if you lived in Greece. Everything in the country had a barcode and the only unexpected item in the bagging area was something for nothing.

‘That would be quite satisfactory, ’ she said, briskly. ‘So then; I have a name for you. Nataliya Matviyenko, aged twenty‑ six, bra size 32AA. Her implants were done at a clinic in Thessaloniki about two years ago. She paid cash. ’ Eva sighed. ‘About five thousand euros. ’

‘Did you find an address? ’ I said.

‘Yes. It’s in Piraeus, at an apartment building on Dimitrakopoulou. That’s less than a kilometre from where her body was found in Marina Zea. There was seawater in her lungs consistent with drowning, also some diesel. Again that’s consistent with where she was found. I found traces of a lubricant in her anus – but no semen – and cocaine in her blood. If there had been any traces of semen in her mouth or her vagina the seawater would almost certainly have destroyed it; saltwater has a radical pH and is a highly effective antibiotic. I also found traces of epinephrine. My guess – and it’s just a guess – is that she was probably on antidepressants. Lots of these girls are. Although why I don’t know; they should try working in a Greek hospital. ’

‘Anything else? ’

‘About her? No, that’s it, I’m afraid. I’m emailing you all this right now. My address is on this email, so please remember what I said. I don’t want the cops having sight of any of my findings. ’

‘If only you knew how much I disliked the police, you wouldn’t worry about that, love. ’

I glanced at my Mac as an email with a Greek suffix appeared in my Inbox.

A moment later I heard a knock at the door of my bungalow.

‘I’ve got to go. Thanks a lot, doc. I’ll send your money right away. But call me if you think of anything else that might help. ’

I tapped the call off and opened the door, half expecting the maid, but instead it was Simon Page with his training report and a list of possible injuries. His eyes were as bright as marble in his tanned face.

‘There’s a slim possibility that Ayrton Taylor will be fit again for Wednesday. I fucking hope so because the Nigerian lad, Prometheus – he just doesn’t seem interested in playing football right now. I’ve tried putting a rocket up his arse, but he just gives me such a look of dumb insolence that it makes me want to smack him in the mouth. At least I think it’s dumb insolence. I’ve got a terrible feeling that he’s just dumb. Seriously, I watched him trying to pull his fucking jeans on this morning and he managed to get his feet caught in all those bloody chains on his belt and fall flat on his arse like a right spaz. If he struggles with getting his kegs on, how’s he going to understand the difference between 4‑ 4‑ 2 and 4‑ 3‑ 3? He’ll think they’re both fucking ten and leave it that. ’

‘Don’t worry about him, ’ I said. ‘We’ve had a very constructive talk about everything, he and I. I talked, and he listened. I could be wrong, Simon – and I sometimes am – but I think everything will be fine with that lad now. At least it will be when he finds out which fucking pocket I put his bollocks in. Anyway, he’s not as dumb as you think he is. I think he might actually be quite smart. ’

‘Let’s hope you’re right, ’ said the big Yorkshireman.

My phone rang again. I didn’t recognise the number, but I answered it anyway. In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t; Simon heard every word.

‘Mr Manson? ’

‘Yes. ’

‘This is Francisco Carmona. From Orientafute. ’

Orientafute – or Representaç ã o Sports e Agê ncia de Orientaç ã o – was the largest agent‑ servicing company for footballers and football managers in Europe; and Francisco Carmona was its rapacious Brazilian founder. He’d made deals with all the big clubs and was rumoured to have made a twelve million euro fee on the summer transfer of Getú lio to Real Madrid for 125 million euros – the largest fee ever pocketed by a football agent.

‘I was very sorry to hear about Bekim Develi. He was a great player. A good man. ’

‘Yes he was. ’

‘Look, I’m going to be in Athens on Monday and if you’re still there I was wondering if we might meet up and have a talk. ’

‘Mr Carmona. I don’t know how you got this number but I have no interest in speaking to you now or at any time in the future. I have an agent already, thank you. ’

‘No problem. But if you change your mind, I’ll be staying at the Astir Palace hotel. ’ I ended the call and shook my head.

‘Fucking Frank Carmona. I’ll bet he’s here to try and tap up some of our lads. ’

‘Aye, there’s nothing players like more than someone telling them how much they could earn at another club. ’

I could tell Simon thought that this might include football managers as well, but for once he was too diplomatic to say so.

‘Nothing we can do about it, ’ I said. ‘The transfer window doesn’t close for another week. ’

‘Did you speak to Vik about replacing Bekim? ’

‘Not yet. ’

‘Christ, I’m fed up of being here, ’ said Simon. ‘I never thought I’d say this, but I wish we were back in London. ’

‘I’m working on that. ’

‘With all due respect to you, boss, that doesn’t exactly fill me with fucking optimism. Finding Zarco’s killer back home was one thing, but this is Greece. They do things differently here. ’

‘Just as often they don’t do them at all, Simon. That’s really the point of what I’ve been up to these past few days. Or maybe you thought I was just seeing the sights. Checking out the Acropolis and the Parthenon. Setting up a secret meeting with Francisco Carmona, perhaps. ’

‘It’s none of my fucking business what you do in your spare time, boss. ’

‘Well, I’m not. Really. I’ve never spoken to that shite hawk before. ’

‘I believe you. Listen, boss. There’s something I have to tell you. Last night I was chatting with this English bloke at the hotel who’s got a mate who has a local radio show. Fellow called George Hajidakis. I think it’s the Greek equivalent of TalkSport. Anyway this bloke – Kevin, his name is – he told me that Hajidakis had said that Olympiacos aren’t taking any chances next Wednesday. He reckons they’ve already bought the referee. He’s Irish. ’

‘Look, Simon, the Greeks are always calling foul. About the only thing they can agree on is that someone else’s club are a bunch of cheats. ’

‘Yes, but this bloke told me that George Hajidakis was going to mention the bent Irish ref on the show till he had the shit beaten out of him by two heavies with brass knuckles. He’s in hospital now. ’

‘Saying it and knowing it are two things. But proving it to the satisfaction of UEFA is something else. Christ, those bastards fined José Mourinho more than fifty thousand euros when he was at Madrid just for suggesting that you’ve got no chance of a fair match against Barcelona. So you’ll excuse me if I keep my fucking mouth shut, Simon. If your friend is right and they have bought the ref then we’ll just have to play around that, like a dog turd in the goal mouth. ’ I shook my head. ‘Forget it. I don’t need this right now. ’

‘You’re a cool bastard, Scott Manson, and no mistake. I tell you the referee has probably been bought and you just shrug it off like a cheap raincoat. So you’re saying we just ignore it, or what? ’

‘Seriously, Simon, we’ve got enough grief in Greece without adding to it. In case you’d forgotten we’re not allowed to leave the country. The team is effectively under open arrest with one of our number suspected of having had a hand in a girl’s murder. ’

‘The tart. Right. ’

‘Now keep this to yourself but I managed to find out her name. I’m going to call that lawyer now and tell her. ’

‘I see. Want me to leave? ’

‘No. I’d rather you didn’t. If something happens to me then it’s best there’s someone else who knows her name, too. Someone English. ’

‘What do you mean by that? ’

‘Only that I don’t really know what the fuck I’m doing, or what the fuck I’m getting myself into here. It could be that this is more dangerous than I thought it was. ’

I called Dr Christodoulou on speakerphone so Simon could hear our conversation, and told her the name of the girl; but I didn’t tell her what I had in my mind to do next.

‘How did you find this out? ’ she asked.

‘Never mind. ’

‘You know that it’s a crime to withhold information in a murder inquiry, ’ she said. ‘Even in Greece. By rights I should really inform Chief Inspector Varouxis. I could be disbarred. ’

‘Just hold off for a little while, ’ I told her. ‘At least until I’ve had a chance to follow up on this. ’

‘All right. But only until Monday, right? ’

‘Sure. How is it going with your own enquiries? Did you manage to find out anything about Svetlana Yaroshinskaya? ’

‘Not yet. Like you said, it’s the weekend. Most Greeks don’t work on a Saturday. ’

I was half inclined to ask her on which particular day they did work but thought it would have sounded rude.

‘All right. Give me a call when you have something. ’

I hung up and looked at Simon.

‘That gives me less than forty‑ eight hours. ’

He frowned.

‘To find out who killed her and why. ’

‘Maybe you should leave this alone, ’ he said. ‘We don’t need you getting yourself murdered, boss. Right now you seem to be the only one who’s in with a shout of getting us all home. Just be careful, okay? I’ve already had one bugger die on me while we’ve been here. I don’t want another. ’

Panathinaikos arranged for a coach to take us to their match against OFI at Leoforos, which was what the locals called the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium. As it pulled away from the Astir Palace hotel I walked to the back of the bus and peered out of the back window to see if there was a silver Skoda Octavia on our tail. When I saw that there was I smiled; it’s always nice to be proved right about something. Especially when it’s the cops.

I sat down and closed my eyes. It felt fantastic to be going to a football game, even one we weren’t actually playing. The only pity was that I wasn’t going to see the game itself. I had other plans that afternoon. The mood on the coach was boisterous to say the least, with Gary Ferguson leading not just the team these days but its sense of humour, too, even though his jokes were more obvious than any new hair on the front of his head.

‘Look at the state of this country, ’ he complained as the coach roared north. ‘Shops boarded up. Roads left unrepaired. Squeegee guys everywhere. People say it’s the credit crunch, whatever the fuck that is. I’ve been watching the Bloomberg Channel every day in my room since I got here to find out what happened to this bloody place. ’ The idea of Gary glued to Bloomberg got a laugh all of its own. ‘That’s the financial channel with all these wee numbers on the bottom of the screen. To be honest when I first saw them I thought they were the final scores but it turns out they’re stocks and shares, shite like that. Anyway, take it from me, lads, you won’t find any of the answers on Bloomberg as to why they’ve had such a bad recession here. You want to find out what went wrong take my advice and watch some Greek porn channels. They explain everything. Quite simply everyone in Greece is fucked. ’

More laughter.

‘As a matter of fact, that’s why I feel so at home in this shithole. This country makes the coffee for fucking Germany in the same way that Scotland makes the tea for England. But I reckon the Greeks could teach the Scots a few things about doing fuck all for a living. ’

I always loved listening to Gary riff about stuff. Maybe he did have a future career in television after all, as a comedian. But after a while, something else began to creep to the edge of my mind and crouch there like a guy in a high‑ viz jacket at the end of a match, as if he was expecting trouble, and, much as I would have preferred it, I could hardly ignore it. I got up and sat behind the coach driver. He was in his sixties, I thought; lots of white hair, big sunglasses, skin like leather, Nikos Galis T‑ shirt (Nikos Galis was a Greek basketball player), BO like the last towel in a sauna and tobacco‑ plantation breath.

At the next red light I put a slightly damp twenty on the dashboard in front of him.

‘I was wondering if you knew Thanos Leventis. ’ I paused, and then added: ‘Hannibal Leventis? ’

‘I knew him. ’ He shook his head. ‘It was really terrible what he did. I’ll be honest with you, sir, I didn’t think he was the type. I mean, you have to be crazy to do what he did, right? But he wasn’t crazy at all. Not even bad. He was just ordinary. ’

I stayed silent for a moment as he manoeuvred the coach around a difficult corner. Then I said: ‘There was some talk that Leventis didn’t act alone. That he had an accomplice. ’

‘Yes, sir. That’s what one of the victims said. But the police judged her evidence to be unreliable, apparently. She was badly beaten up, of course. I suppose it’s why they didn’t think she could be relied on as a witness. ’

I knew a bit about unreliable evidence myself.

‘And what do you think? ’

‘I heard she said the other guy worked for the United Nations because he was wearing a UN T‑ shirt or something like that. That’s why the cops discounted her evidence. After all, who wears a UN T‑ shirt? And what kind of UN worker goes around raping and murdering people? They’re supposed to stop that kind of thing, not take part in it. ’

‘I guess you’re right. ’

‘But you know, if there was another guy, then they’ll catch up with him sooner or later. After all, if you do that kind of thing once, you’ll almost certainly do it again. ’

‘Unless he already has. ’

We turned onto Leoforos Alexandras. Some of our players hadn’t yet seen the stadium and they were surprised at how dilapidated it looked.

‘It’s not exactly Stamford Bridge, ’ said Xavi Alonso. ‘Or Silvertown Dock. ’

‘It looks ready for demolition, ’ observed someone else.

Ayrton Taylor had the SP on why this was:

‘In fact, ’ he explained, ‘it was supposed to have been demolished more than a decade ago. Panathinaikos moved out of Leoforos in 1984 to play in the new Olympic Stadium. But they had to move back here in 2000 while renovations to bring the place in line with UEFA requirements took place. Cut a long story short, the money ran out and now they’re stuck here for the foreseeable future. ’

‘It’s just like I was saying, ’ said Gary. ‘The country is fucked. ’

‘And to think people in Britain are still bellyaching about the cuts, ’ said someone else. ‘They don’t know how well off they are. ’

‘Come to Greece and then vote Tory, ’ said Ayrton. ‘Makes perfect sense to me. ’

Antonis Venizelos, our liaison from Panathinaikos, greeted us at the main entrance. He wore a short‑ sleeved green shirt and a green and white tie; with all the hair on his arms he looked like an Iranian surgeon.

He handed out some tickets, lit a menthol cigarette and we trooped after him and into the ground.

‘So, ’ I said, making polite conversation, ‘the other team. OFI. Where are they from? ’

‘The island of Crete, ’ he said, ‘where English whores go on holiday to get laid by a nice Greek boy. ’

‘I’m sure that’s not the only reason, ’ said Simon, stiffly.

‘English whores and sand monkeys. ’

‘Sand monkeys? ’ I frowned. ‘Who or what are they? ’

‘The island of Crete is where all the illegals from Libya and Egypt make for on their cargo boats. ’ Venizelos shrugged. ‘It’s a real problem for them and for us and the EU does nothing about it. As long as they stay out of Germany and France no one gives a damn. Every week our coastguard has to rescue boatloads of them. Just the other day they picked up 408 in one boat. That’s 408 people we’re now going to have to look after. In my opinion we should have let those bastards drown. Then maybe someone would help us to do something about it. ’

The crowd began to applaud as they saw us take our seats and Venizelos left us. The stadium may have been falling down but our welcome was holding up; and the pitch looked to be in excellent condition.

‘I’m glad he’s gone, ’ said Simon. ‘For a man who smokes menthols he says some very sour things. Sometimes I’ve half a mind to stick one on him, boss. ’

‘Don’t do that, for Christ’s sake. These are the only friends in Greece we have. ’

‘You do know he’s a bloody Nazi, a member of the far‑ right Golden Dawn? At least that’s what he told me. ’

‘Lots of people are, I think. They’ve got eighteen seats in the parliament. ’

‘That doesn’t mean they’re right. ’

‘No, of course it doesn’t. ’ I looked at my watch. ‘Listen, I’ve got to go somewhere, and I probably won’t be back in my seat until the end of the match. It suits me for the cops to think I’m here for the next hundred and five minutes. So don’t worry. I’m not about to disappear, like Zarco. ’

‘Where are you going, boss? ’

‘It’s probably best I don’t tell you, ’ I said. ‘Just enjoy the game. And if anyone asks you later on, I was here all the time. ’

Simon nodded. ‘Right you are, boss. And remember what I said: be careful. ’

I went out of the south entrance where, outside the official Panathinaikos store, Charlie was waiting in the Range Rover. We drove fast and west for a while before turning south in the direction of Piraeus.