Page 28 of Skotos
Laskaris blinked several times, his face suddenly redder and even more sober than when we first arrived. He studied Thomas a moment, then, with a heavy sigh, relented. “Fine. What is it you want to know?”
I didn’t hesitate. “We want to speak with the officer who found the king. Nikos Tzannis.”
A flicker of something—interest, perhaps even unease—passed across Laskaris’s stony face.
“Tzannis,” he repeated as though weighing his options. “He is not an easy young man, but I will have him speak with you. Do not leave this room.”
Without so much as a “thank you for coming,” Laskaris rounded his desk, left the room, and slammed the door behind him. It felt a bit like the jailer slamming shut a row of bars.
“That went well,” Thomas muttered.
I bit back a chuckle. “Did you expect a red carpet? And what was that bit about wagging his dick around?”
“Just calling his bluff.” He shook his head. “I didn’t come here thinking they would wrap us in hugs and hand us goblets of wine, but I did expect some sense of camaraderie. We are allies, our countries aregrowing closer, and we are fellow law enforcement officers. I didn’t expect to be treated as enemies—”
“He guards the royals. It’s his job to be suspicious. Besides, he probably grills his wife and children over the dinner table. Gets off on it.”
Thomas grunted, then a smile curled his lips. “Do you think he has one of those bright lights like they have in a police interrogation room hanging over his dining room table?”
“Probably one over his bed, too. Bet his wife loves to play cops and robbers.” A snort slipped free. “I bet it squeaks when it swings, too, scaring the shit out of his kids.”
“God save any boy who wants to date his daughter,” Thomas said.
The door opened as I began to laugh.
“Something amusing?” Laskaris growled before stepping around the desk to stand against the wall.
Thomas didn’t miss a beat. “We were discussing the glamor that is your office. It is very, well, un-palace-like. Does the queen know you work in a broom closet?”
I nearly choked on Thomas’s not-so-subtle dig. The man already disliked us. Poking the bear seemed like a terrible way to improve our situation.
But Laskaris grinned. It was something between a sneer and a scowl, but I was fairly certain it held more humor than anger.
“I am a man of action, of simple, utilitarian needs. The royals may have their finery so long as I have my work.”
Before Thomas could rejoin, another man appeared in the doorway. He wore the ceremonial dress we’d seen on the guards outside the royal entrance, though his helmet was tucked tightly beneath one arm rather than covering his disastrously messy hair. I supposed that was the danger in making men wear hats all day. The bedhead effect was real.
“This isLochiasNikos Tzannis, as requested.” Laskaris extended an arm, pointing with his open palm at the young man, then motioned for the guard to sit in the chair behind the desk. “Lochias, please take a seat.”
“Lochias?” Thomas asked.
“His rank. In your military, he would be a sergeant,” Laskaris explained.
Thomas nodded. “Chief, would you mind if we spoke with theLochiasalone?”
Laskaris scowled again, something I was finding him quite adept at. “You may find your questioning rather challenging without my presence. The goodLochiasspeaks very little English.”
Shit, I thought.
Thomas appeared unfazed.
“Understood,” he said, shifting his gaze from the chief to the sergeant. “LochiasTzannis, I know youhave likely told your tale a hundred times by now, but please walk us through the evening of the king’s death, beginning with where you were and what you were doing in the hour before you found him?”
Tzannis sat rigidly in the chair across from us. His jaw was square, his brow furrowed, and his fingers sat knotted in his lap like he was bracing for something. He looked at me and Thomas in turn, then glanced back toward his chief. I could practically feel his butthole puckering beneath Laskaris’s gaze. The chief was reputed to be a strong guardsman, but he was a man to be feared, not loved.
Laskaris fired off the question in rapid Greek.
Tzannis responded immediately, and Laskaris translated flatly: “He was stationed at the northwest entrance to the palace gardens with a clear view of the main paths.”
