Memories of Midnight

"He asked her to meet him at the beach house at three o’clock, and to go alone."

"He said that she should come alone?"

"Yes, sir. And she said if she didn’t get back by six, I was to call the police."

There was a visible reaction from the jury. They turned to stare at Demiris.

"No more questions." Delma turned to Chotas. "Your witness."

Napoleon Chotas wheeled his chair close to the witness stand. "Your name is Andrea, isn’t it?"

"Yes, sir." She tried not to look at the scarred, disfigured face.

"Andrea, you said that you heard Mrs. Demiris tell her husband that she was going to get a divorce and that you heard Mr. Demiris say that he wouldn’t give it to her, and that he told her to come to the beach house at three and to come alone. Is that right?"

"Yes, sir."

"You are under oath, Andrea. That’s not what you heard at all."

"Oh, yes, it is, sir."

"How many telephones are there in the room where this conversation took place?"

"Why, just one."

Napoleon Chotas wheeled his chair closer. "So, you weren’t listening to the conversation on another phone?"

"No, sir. I would never do that."

"So, the truth is, you only heard what Mrs. Demiris said. It would have been impossible for you to hear what her husband said."

"Oh. Well, I suppose…"

"In other words, you did not hear Mr. Demiris threaten his wife or ask her to come to the beach house or anything else. You imagined all that because of what Mrs. Demiris was saying."

Andrea was flustered. "Well, I suppose you could put it that way."

"I am putting it that way. Why were you in the room when Mrs. Demiris was on the telephone?"

"She asked me to bring her some tea."

"And you brought it?"

"Yes, sir."

"You set it down on a table."

"Yes, sir."

"Why didn’t you leave then?"

"Mrs. Demiris waved for me to stay."

"She wanted you to hear the conversation or what was supposed to be a conversation?"

"I…I suppose so."

His voice was a whiplash. "So, you don’t know whether she was talking to her husband on the phone or if, in fact, she was talking to anybody." Chotas moved his chair even closer. "Don’t you find it strange that in the middle of a personal conversation, Mrs. Demiris asked you to stay there and listen? I know that in my house if we’re having a personal discussion we don’t ask the staff to eavesdrop. No. I put it to you that that conversation never took place. Mrs. Demiris wasn’t speaking to anyone. She was setting up her husband so that on this day in this courtroom he would be put on trial for his life. But Constantin Demiris did not kill his wife. The evidence against him was very carefully planted. It was planted too carefully. No intelligent man would leave a series of obvious clues behind that pointed to himself. And no matter what else he is, Constantin Demiris is an intelligent man."

The trial went on for ten more days with accusations and counteraccusations, and expert testimony from the police and the coroner. The consensus of opinion was that Constantin Demiris was probably guilty.

Napoleon Chotas saved his bombshell until the end. He put Spyros Lambrou on the witness stand. Before the trial started, Demiris had signed a notarized contract deeding the Hellenic Trade Corporation and all its assets to Spyros Lambrou. A day earlier, those assets had been secretly transferred to Napoleon Chotas with the proviso that it would take effect only if Constantin Demiris was acquitted in his trial.

"Mr. Lambrou. You and your brother-in-law, Constantin Demiris, did not get along well, did you?"

"No, we did not."

"As a matter of fact, would it be a fair statement to say that you hated each other?"

Lambrou looked over at Constantin Demiris. "It might even be an understatement."

"On the day your sister disappeared, Constantin Demiris told the police that he was nowhere near the beach house; that, in fact, at three o’clock, the time established for your sister’s death, he was having a meeting with you in Acrocorinth. When the police questioned you about that meeting, you denied it."

"Yes, I did."

"Why?"

Lambrou sat there for a long moment. His voice was filled with anger. "Demiris treated my sister shamefully. He constantly abused and humiliated her. I wanted him punished. He needed me for an alibi. I wouldn’t give it to him."

"And now?"

"I can’t live with a lie any longer. I feel I have to tell the truth."

"Did you and Constantin Demiris meet at Acrocorinth that afternoon?"

"Yes, the truth is that we did."

There was an uproar in the courtroom. Delma rose to his feet, his face pale. "Your Honor. I object…"

"Objection denied."

Delma sank back into his seat. Constantin Demiris was leaning forward, his eyes bright.

"Tell us about that meeting. Was it your idea?"

"No. It was Melina’s idea. She tricked us both."

"Tricked you, how?"

"Melina telephoned me and said that her husband wanted to meet me at my lodge up there to discuss a business deal. Then she called Demiris and told him that I had asked for a meeting up there. When we arrived, we found that we had nothing to say to each other."

"And the meeting took place in the middle of the afternoon at the established time of Mrs. Demiris’s death?"

"That’s right."

"It’s a four-hour drive from Acrocorinth to the beach house. I’ve had it timed." Napoleon Chotas was looking at the jury. "So, there is no way that Constantin Demiris could have been at Acrocorinth at three and been back in Athens before seven." Chotas turned back to Spyros Lambrou. "You are under oath, Mr. Lambrou. Is what you have just told this court the truth?"