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in world markets.”
    Andreas looked at Kouros. “Sound familiar?”
    “It’s starting to sound like this counterfeit operation is a lot bigger than we suspected. Or we have a mega-coincidence.”
    “I’m not big on coincidences,” said Andreas.
    “Who is Alexandra?” said Petro.
    “She’s a friend and the sister of a Greek government minister,” said Lila.
    “Do you think she called you before or after she called her brother?” said Andreas.
    “After, would be my guess.”
    “Then I’m surprised she didn’t ask her brother to call Spiros to get me involved.” Spiros was Greece’s minister of public order and Andreas’ boss.
    “Probably because her brother told her you were more likely to listen to Lila than to Spiros,” chuckled Kouros.
    Lila smiled.
    Andreas waved his hand in the air. “No matter. I’ll call Alexandra’s husband tomorrow and see what he has to say. If it’s as big as it sounds, we’ll likely have to take it to the next level.”
    “Europol?” said Kouros.
    “At least. If it’s a multi-country operation we’ll have to involve the foreign ministry. Hard to fight this sort of thing effectively without international cooperation.”
    “And if China’s involved, forget about it,” said Lila.
    “We’ll have to find a common motivation strong enough to overcome all the cross-border corruption and bribery that goes along with this sort of thing,” said Kouros.
    “That’s a bridge we’ll cross once we know who’s on the other side.”
    “Nice,” Kouros told Andreas. “At least you’re off the fish analogies.”
    “Sorry I raised the subject, gentlemen,” said Lila. “I should have stuck to a less controversial one, like what’s for dinner?” She pointed toward a doorway leading into the dining room.
    “Dare I ask?” said Andreas.
    Lila took his arm and led him toward the dining room. “Fish, salad, and vegetables.”
    Andreas’ face showed no joy.
    “And chocolate chip cookies.”
    His face lit up.
    “But only one for you.”

Chapter Five
    Kharon always loved his days in the olive covered hills and valleys surrounding Delphi caring for the trees and holiday cottages of wealthy Athenians. His court-ordered education had given him great skills in agriculture and the building trades, and he practiced them with devotion that drew praise from his clients and provided him with all that he needed to maintain his simple life.
    But he was a child of hard times and knew they could return, as they had for so many in his country. Even the gods only helped those who helped themselves, and so he took the other work. He tucked that money safely away, but not in bank accounts in his name. A sizable bank account in a small village for someone doing his kind of manual labor spawned rumors. The type of rumors that attracted police attention. His first encounter with local police scrutiny led Kharon to ensure he would never again be the target of such suspicions.
    Burglaries were the accepted price one paid for the privilege of owning a vacation home in Greece, and break-ins brought knee-jerk police attention to those who cared for the victims’ homes. Attention that inevitably led to interrogations, background checks, and bank account analyses.
    One of Kharon’s clients, a well-known Athens jeweler, arrived one morning to find his home in the village of Chrisso plundered of a fortune. The police immediately accused Kharon. The owner said that was not possible as Kharon had been with him in Athens doing work on the jeweler’s primary residence. Having lost that suspect, the police claimed they knew the local ring of thieves who’d likely done it, but could not prove it. The jeweler would simply have to accept his loss.
    Two days later, all the stolen jewelry miraculously reappeared in a suitcase at the jeweler’s front door. The police had no explanation. Nor could they explain what they later called the “coincidental disappearance” of the alleged leader of the ring, as