"But...they found a body."
"My houseman."
Demiris sank into a chair. "I...I'm glad you're alive," he said feebly.
"You should be. I'm going to save your life."
Demiris studied him warily. "You are?"
"Yes. I'm going to defend you."
Demiris laughed aloud. "Really, Leon. After all these years, do you take me for a fool? What makes you think I would put my life in your hands?"
"Because I'm the only one who can save you, Costa."
Constantin Demiris rose. "No, thanks." He started toward the door.
"I've talked to Spyros Lambrou. I've persuaded him to testify that he was with you at the time his sister was murdered."
Demiris stopped and turned. "Why would he do that?"
Chotas leaned forward in his wheelchair. "Because I persuaded him that taking your fortune would be a sweeter revenge than taking your life."
"I don't understand."
"I assured Lambrou that if he testifies for you, you'll turn over your entire fortune to him. Your ships, your companies - everything you possess."
"You're crazy!"
"Am I? Think about it, Costa. His testimony can save your life. Is your fortune worth more to you than your life?"
There was a long silence. Demiris sat down again. He studied Chotas warily. "Lambrou is willing to testify that I was with him when Melina was killed?"
"That's right."
"And in return he wants - "
"Everything you have."
Demiris shook his head. "I would have to keep my..."
"Everything. He wants to strip you completely. You see, that's his revenge."
There was something that puzzled Demiris. "And what do you get out of all this, Leon?"
Chotas's lips moved in a parody of a grin. "I get it all."
"I - I don't understand."
"Before you turn the Hellenic Trade Corporation over to Lambrou, you're going to transfer all of its assets into a new company. A company that belongs to me."
Demiris stared at him. "So, Lambrou gets nothing."
Chotas shrugged. "There are winners and there are losers."
"Won't Lambrou suspect something?"
"Not the way I'll handle it."
Demiris said, "If you'd double-cross Lambrou, how do I know you won't double-cross me?"
"It's very simple, my dear Costa. You're protected. We'll have a signed agreement that the new company will belong to me only on the condition that you are acquitted. If you are found guilty, I get nothing."
For the first time, Constantin Demiris found himself becoming interested. He sat there studying the crippled lawyer. Would he throw the trial and lose hundreds of millions of dollars just to get even with me? No. He's not that big a fool. "All right," Demiris said slowly. "I agree."
Chotas said, "Good. You just saved your life, Costa."
I've saved more than that, Demiris thought triumphantly. I have a hundred million dollars hidden away where no one will ever find it.
Chotas's meeting with Spyros Lambrou had been a difficult one. He almost threw Chotas out of his office.
"You want me to testify to save that monster's life? Get the hell out of here."
"You want revenge, don't you?" Chotas had asked.
"Yes. And I'm getting it."
"Are you? You know Costa. His wealth means more to him than his life. If they execute him, his pain will be over in a few minutes, but if you break him and take everything away from him, force him to go through life without any money, you would be giving him a much greater punishment."
There was truth in what the lawyer said. Demiris was the greediest man he had ever met. "You say that he's willing to sign everything he has over to me?"
"Everything. His fleet, his businesses, every company he owns."
It was an enormous temptation. "Let me think about it." Lambrou watched the lawyer wheel himself out of his office. Poor bastard, he thought. What has he got to live for?
At midnight, Spyros Lambrou telephoned Napoleon Chotas. "I've made up my mind. We have a deal."
The press was in a feeding frenzy. Not only was Constantin Demiris being tried for the murder of his wife, but he was being defended by a man who had come back from the dead, the brilliant criminal attorney who had supposedly died in a holocaust.
The trial was being held in the same courtroom where Noelle Page and Larry Douglas had been tried. Constantin Demiris sat at the defendant's table, cloaked in an aura of invisibility. Napoleon Chotas was next to him in his wheelchair. The State was being represented by Special Prosecutor Delma.
Delma was addressing the jury.
"Constantin Demiris is one of the most powerful men in the world. His vast fortune gives him many privileges. But there's one privilege it does not give him. And that's the right to commit cold-blooded murder. No one has that right." He turned to look at Demiris. "The state will prove beyond a doubt that Constantin Demiris is guilty of the brutal murder of a wife who loved him. When you are through hearing the evidence, I'm certain that there's only one verdict you can bring in. Guilty of murder in the first degree." He walked back to his seat.
The Chief Justice turned to Napoleon Chotas. "Is the defense ready to make it's opening statement?"
"We are, Your Honor." Chotas wheeled himself in front of the jury. He could see the look of pity on their faces as they tried to avoid looking at his grotesque face and his crippled body. "Constantin Demiris is not on trial here because he's rich or powerful. Or perhaps it's because of that that he has been dragged into this courtroom. The weak always try to bring down the powerful, don't they? Mr. Demiris may be guilty of being rich and powerful, but one thing I am going to prove with absolute certainty - he is not guilty of murdering his wife."