"I noticed at the pavement to my right and fifty metres away a couple arguing and it seemed to me that the man was beating the woman." "I saw the man turn right into the first byway while the woman was running down towards the end of the road." "When she arrived at the junction with Aliakmonos Street, she collapsed on the pavement." "I realized then that the man must have done something bad to her." "I immediately stopped and started chasing him." "But he had gone away." "Then I moved on towards the woman to help her." "If you ever see him again, will you recognize him?" "It was dark, you know..." "Maybe I'll recognize him." "He arrived at Nikodemou Street corner almost at the same time with me." "We were close to each other but he had lowered his head and, since it was nighttime, I can't say for certain." "Maybe I can recognize him." "What can I say?" "Can you describe him from what you have seen?" "35-odd years old, rather short and fat... with thick dark hair, in a dark suit." "I'm absolutely certain about that." "Did you hear any cry when you saw the couple arguing?" "No, I heard nothing." "Of course, I had closed the side windows of my car." "But I'm under the impression that the young woman didn't shout." "My name is Christos Christoforides, and I'm a final year student at the Department of Pharmacy." "At the night between 3rd and 4th of May" "I was at the "Venzina" bus stop on the route to Metamorphosis." "When I saw the bus coming, I had a look at my watch and the time was five minutes to twelve." "My attention was always on the bus when I heard a woman's cry." "I turned my head and saw a woman running down the Agathoupoleos Street and collapse on the pavement when she arrived at the junction with Aliakmonos Street." "At the same time a Volkswagen going down the Agathoupoleos street stopped next to the woman." "First, I thought that it was a case of a dispute, that the young woman had just got out her escort's car." "The man, whose name I heard later is Markos Grigoriou, looked very agitated." "No, I didn't see the Volkswagen reverse." "The Volkswagen reached the young woman almost immediately when she fell down." "I'm quite sure that it didn't go after the culprit." " Did you see the culprit?" " No." "I only saw the young woman fall down and, right after that, Grigoriou's car getting next to her." "That's why I first thought they had been together." " Are you sure she screamed?" " Absolutely sure." "It was her cry that drew my attention or, else, I would remain occupied with the bus." "My name is Theodoros Bakounis and I am a bus driver." "At the night between 3rd and 4th of May." "As an exception I worked a shift on the bus route to Metamorphosis replacing my colleague Georgios Markogiannis, who suddenly became ill." "My normal post for a month now is the bus running to Zografou." "I looked around through the glass but I didn't see anything." "Meanwhile, the traffic light changed to green and I moved on." "When I got to the "Venzina" bus stop" "I opened the door to let someone get on the bus, but suddenly I saw that man passing in front of the bus." "I kept watching him and I saw a stopped Volkswagen on the opposite corner and a woman fallen down who was looking injured." "I told the passengers we should stop and go look if they need any help." "Later, I learnt his name is Grigoriou." "When at that very moment I asked him what happened he told me the woman was hit by a car that ran away towards Goudi." "He looked very agitated." "My name is Xenophon Tsiliris and I run a coffee shop at 35 Agathoupoulis Street." "At the night between 3rd and 4th of May." "I was in my coffee shop with my wife Evgenia and I was about to close it." "Note that." "I live in the same block of flats where my shop is located and for that reason my wife comes every night and helps me clean the shop." " What was that?" " Don't bother." "Must be a quarrel." "It didn't seem to me like a quarrel." "I called the police and, then, I went out to see what's going on." "Stay here to watch over the shop." "They told me that a crime had been committed and the Volkswagen had taken the woman to a clinic." "In the meanwhile, the police arrived." "Let Chalkias' parents in." "Chalkias' daughter was killed!" "In Agathoupoleos Street behind Hilton hotel." "Have you got your taxi to take us there?" "What's there to see, Petros?" "Just let's go and see, Haralambos!" "A girl from our neighbourhood was killed." "We should go and see, shouldn't we?" "It's too crowded." "Let's go." "Wait a moment to see what's going to happen." "What do you think will happen, Petros?" "It's all over now." "The girl was killed." "Let's go." " What on earth is going on, Mother?" " I don't know." "I'm going to open up." "I'm in a relationship with Eleni for three years now." "She was a schoolmate of my sister." "That's how I got to know her." "Six months ago we decided to get married." "Since then, she used to come to my place almost every night after work." "Except weekends, when we meet somewhere else and go to the pictures." "Now about me..." "I work in the "The Jar" restaurant and I was on the night shift last night." " Eleni works as a salesgirl..." " At "Tsitsopoulos" shops." "She went home after work yesterday." "That was about 8:30." "I came back home at 11 and found her there." " Is that you, Iraklis?" " Yes." "Good evening, Mother!" " What's wrong with you?" " Nothing." "I've got a headache." " Don't put out a plate for me." " Why?" " I'm not hungry." " Let me put a little bit." "No, none at all." "I won't have anything at all." "You are tired, eh?" "I am too." "I'm not feeling well tonight." "Something's not right with me." "Where's Helen?" "It's time for you to go." "You'll be late." "We'll talk tomorrow." "Good night." "I was too tired and I had a headache." "That's why I ate hurriedly and went to bed." "Eleni... stayed until a quarter to twelve, and then she left." "My mother saw her out." "At 2 p. m. the police waked us up and told us she was murdered." "The whole city of Athens is searching the criminal who slaughtered in the middle of the road the beautiful salesgirl of "Tsitsopoulos" shops." "The eyewitness went after him but he was lost into the night." "He was wearing a black suit, about 35 years old of age, short and fat with dense dark hair." "The victim let out not one cry." "Mortally injured, she walked thirty metres before falling down on the ground." "Who murdered her and why?" "She departed from "Fix" area with direction to Kaisiariani." "There were only 90 cents found in her bag." "She did not have enough money to take the bus." "[Crime At the Heart of Athens]" "Therefore someone must have been escorting her." "Who?" " Are you reading about the crime?" " I am." "I..." "I suspect the fiancé." "If he weren't such a coward, I'd suspect Giannis." "It's not worth killing such an ugly woman." "I just can't tell you." "I told you that before." "I don't know him." "It was dark." "So are you sure none of them looks like him?" "No, I'm not." "Then, have another look at them." "Carefully." "Stand right before each one of them and look closely." "This gentleman looks a bit like him." "A bit?" "I told you." "I can't be certain." "My name is Persephone Kalligas and I run a dry cleaning business at 24, Agathoupoleos Street with my partner Stylianos Kamvanas who is betrothed to Dimitra Dourakou." "At the night between 3rd and 4th of May, around 9.45." "I closed the shop." "Then I saw a couple in front of the kiosk situated at the side of the street opposite my shop and I believed that it was my partner Stylianos with his fiancée." "I drew near to the couple in order to say good evening but I realized that the young woman was not Stylianos' fiancée and because the young woman sensed that I was looking at her." "I speeded up my pace to go past them." "Yet I turned back afterwards to greet my partner and then I saw that it wasn't Stylianos but an unknown person greatly resembling him from behind." "The next morning." "I saw the picture of this young woman in the newspaper and I recognized her immediately." "I rushed to the Police headquarters and I told officer Giannopoulos everything I know." "This morning a police car stopped in front of my shop and you, Mr Giannopoulos, some other policemen, and a man in civvies got out." "I thought you were coming to the shop but you didn't." "That man who was with you this morning, the one in civvies, looks strikingly like the one I saw with the girl and mistook as my partner." "I asked the policeman, who was left in the car, about him because I reckoned that he might be a policeman." "I asked him "who's that man in civvies?"" ""A policeman?" And he answered "No. "" ""He's not a policeman." "He's Chalkias' fiancé who came for interrogation"" "and he told me to come here at the police station and inform you." "A moonless night has fallen." "The darkness is deep." "Yet there's a young lad who cannot sleep." "Yet there's a young lad who cannot sleep." "Hey, be quiet!" "It's not a cafe here." "What's this place then, mister Guard?" "I wonder what he's waiting for." "What have you done to nail you, boy?" "They say that I murdered a whore!" "Well, you don't look like a murderer." "Eleni had been a friend of my daughter before she started dating my son." "My Iraklis was a good lad and his intentions were good." "They were saving money for their marriage." "Eleni was fond of me." "She'd come every day and help me out with household chores." "She'd always bring me something." "A pot of yoghurt, a bottle of milk..." "because I like milk..." "On Tuesday evening she came as ever around 8.30." "As concerns my testimony on 5th of May." "I have to add the following:" "I said to the police officer Mr Haralambides that the person in civvies did not uncannily resemble the man I saw with the victim the night of the murder." "It was written in my testimony by misunderstanding." "The night of the murder I truly saw a man with the victim but he bore no uncanny resemblance to victim's fiancé." "Iraklis Stavropoulos." "If it is verified that the victim at the very time, that is to say 9.45 a. m., was somewhere else, then the girl I saw with that man was not the victim." "So you don't think that Eleni cheated on Iraklis..." "No, I don't think so." "At least as long as she were at the shop, she were speaking only for Iraklis." "Do you think they were getting along well, at least from what she said?" "She seemed to love him." "But she wanted to get married as well." "That's why... she sometimes turned a blind eye to him." "That means it was Iraklis that cheated on her..." "No, I don't think so." "But he used to take all her money." "She often asked me to lend her money cause she couldn't afford even her own tickets." "He was taking everything from her." "On top of this, he wasn't very affectionate with her, you know." "He was often letting her waiting for hours and doing all the chores for her mother-in-law." "She'd finish work in the shop shattered." "And when she'd go back her mother-in-law would make her do all the chores." "Once she said..." ""She had put even the dirty dinner plates aside so that I'd do the washing-up in the evening. "" ""Imagine what would happen If we got married. "" "Then why marry him?" "And then whom should I marry?" "Oh, poor girl, marriage is just a myth!" " Why marry on these conditions?" " Yes but I have no dowry." "I don't have either yet I don't give a damn." "One boss is enough." "I don't need another on my back." "This way at least I can do what I want." "I go out with every man I like and turn down anyone I don't." "When did Eleni stop giving you money?" "Since last year's August." "She said her boss was not giving her pay so I offered to talk to him." ""Then he'll fire me" she said, so I didn't go." "Later, my wife told me that Eleni was giving her money to Iraklis so he put it in the bank for their marriage." "I didn't like that very much." "If she wanted to collect her dowry, why not save her money in her own bank account?" "But I didn't say anything." "They did not take care of my child, Mr Police officer." "They did not!" "One day I told Chrysoula:" ""Don't let her go out alone at nighttime!"" "They went with her to the bus stop once or twice and that was all." "Do you know if Eleni had any other relationship?" "What's all this about, Mr Police officer?" "My Eleni was a girl with high morals!" "She would never go with any other man." "Iraklis was the only love of her life." "But he'd let her go out alone." "Then that luckless hour came when she didn't even have two drachmas for the bus!" "They did not take care of my child." "She was my only child!" "They did not take care of her." "My father was killed in the war." "And my mother became a maid to raise my sister and me." "I left school to work." "Now I go to night school to finish middle school hoping that I could do something with my life." "My sister had become a shop assistant and things were looking up a bit when she met and got engaged to Mitsos [Dimitris] Soultanis." "Mitsos was saying he didn't want any dowry yet they had to put off the marriage for a little while and save some money to set up their household." "In the meanwhile my sister let on about being pregnant to me." "And Mitsos said he couldn't get married like that, having nothing at all." "He asked for a bedsitter as a dowry with a furnished kitchen and a bedroom and ten thousands in cash to open a shop." "When he had already taken a bank loan for the same reason." "Then I went with my mother to Aegina island to sell her family house and we got 40,000 drachmas." "I gave a 20,000 advance for the building lot and I signed a bill of exchange in monthly instalments of 1,500." "With the rest of the money I was going to built my sister's flat." "But Mitsos said "never mind, we'll stay together for a short while. "" ""Better take over the payments of the bank loan. "" "That meant another 1,000 a month." "I also gave a 3.000 advance for the furniture, a bedroom set... and I signed a bill of exchange in monthly instalments of 500." "In the meantime my sister had her baby and with the clinic expenses all the money from mother's family house was spent." "And my sister had quit her job a little before the marriage." "I work at a restaurant and I earn 4,000 drachmas a month." "And I give 3,000 for the debts." "Eleni wanted us to get married, Mr Giannopoulos." "How could we under these circumstances?" "It is natural she had to do something about her dowry too." "She'd never complained about me taking her money." "I don't know who told you these things." "Why did you lie about seeing her only at night, the day she was murdered?" "Eh?" "I didn't lie, Mr Giannopoulos!" "I didn't see her any other time of that day!" "The post-mortem examination revealed that at about 6." "Eleni had a sexual intercourse." "Wasn't she with you?" "Are you positive, Mr Giannopoulos?" "Absolutely." " Wasn't she with you?" " No." "The first time I saw her that day was at 11 at night." "But she had to be at her job by 6, Mr Giannopoulos!" "The slut!" "How had you been getting along?" "Did you know that she cheated on you?" "I don't know, Mr Giannopoulos." "All women are whores..." "For two years and a half she pretended being a virgin..." "We had relations but not normal." "You understand..." "That is 'unnatural'?" "That's right." "Six months ago, we did consummate our relationship normally..." "and she wasn't a virgin!" "As you understand, Mr Giannopoulos, that made me livid." "What's wrong with you?" "Get up and put your clothes on." "We're going to the doctor." "I'm not going anywhere." "I'll stay here." "Get up without much talking!" " And what the doctor said?" " He beat about the bush." "Something about women being virgins but not looking so and such like..." "He didn't truly convince me but I loved her..." "I loved her and shut my eyes." "Besides, I didn't want to admit that I had been taken in by her for two years and a half." "Did you have a huge row then?" "It wasn't huge." "Doctor patched things up." "You never had a huge row?" "Once, a year ago." "I wanted to go to the pictures alone because money wasn't enough for both of us to go." "So I told her to wait for me at home." "She deemed that an offence so we broke up for three months." "Then she sent a friend of hers to tell me to make matters up." "With the aim to help the police to solve the dreadful crime." ""Evening Herald" offers, as is known, a 30,000 drachmas reward for information that will lead to the arrest of the culprit." ""I saw the murderer!"" "statement made by kiosk owner Spyros Koromilas to Evening Herald's reporter." "He came and asked for a coin." "I heard clearly what he said on the phone." "He said:" ""Is that First Aid Station?"" ""Did they bring in a woman by the name Eleni Chalkias?"" "I heard it clearly cause he had left the door open." "The next day I recalled the name when I read in the newspapers that a certain Eleni Chalkias had been murdered." "And then I thought:" ""How could that man know at the time that Chalkias was hit?"" "Therefore he must be the murderer." "I remember him very well cause his expression struck me." "It was agitated and perplexing." "That's why I noticed him very well." "He's fat, moustached, average height, dressed in a dark brown suit, with... thin black stripes, a white shirt with thin green stripes, a dark green tie... gold engraved cuff links though I didn't notice the letters..." "His hair was dishevelled and his forehead sweaty although he had parted his hair and applied brilliantine." "Average height, wearing glasses too..." "Glasses with a thin silver frame." "His eyes were pitch-black and sparkling." "In the meanwhile, a new shocking detail came to light." "As the post-mortem examination revealed, Eleni was not chaste." "The fiancé claims that he is not responsible." "And this raises the question:" ""Who made a woman out of her?"" "Who is the lover who presumably killed her out of antagonism with Stavropoulos?" "I wouldn't call her a virgin, Mr Officer!" "We went out together just once, and she straight off slept with me." "A seasoned young woman." "That summer, she came to the island, to her grandmother on holiday." "A friend of mine was the boyfriend of her cousin." "At one point they wanted to go out and she told him she couldn't leave Eleni alone." "My friend invited me so that we could make two couples." "I didn't like her that much when I saw her." "But I didn't have a girlfriend then and I had nothing to lose." "Is that right, Mr Officer?" "I didn't treat the girl crudely." "I went easy on her, so to speak, and I figured out that she liked it." "I understood that she wanted us to make love rightaway." "But I wasn't..." "in good form that very moment and I said that we better take a dip into the sea first." "After the bath, I had regained form." "We copulated both naturally and unnaturally." "She gave me her address to visit her in the shop she worked in Athens." "But I didn't visit her because, as I already told you," "I didn't really like her." "She gave me the impression of a woman "loose" and "worn"." "The blade was inserted into the heart through this point here and came out through that there." "In short, it literally penetrated it." "The wound depth is 12 cm." "The culprit must have struck with extreme force and resolution." "I dare say that such resolution in a such short period of time cannot be expected from a usual murderer." "The culprit must have known his victim, have had strong reasons to finish it off and have deliberated his action in order to carry it out at the given time." "A pervert, for example, would need a period of arousal and then another period of getting satisfaction from his action." " You understand what I mean?" " Of course." "In this specific case we do not have instances neither of sadism nor of pointless waste of time." "What the murderer wanted was precisely victim's death and nothing more or less than that." "That's how the wound looks externally." "It gives us information about the width of the killing tool, that is 6 cm." "I believe it is a common knife, a kitchen knife." "That means it could be available to anyone provided that, of course, one is determined to commit such crime." "When we heard the news about the death of our niece we took the boat and came rightaway." "What a disaster fell upon my cousin, Mr Officer!" "Eleni was a bit of a naughty girl though." "I've told my daughter Eleni would come to a bad end." "Four years ago he had an affair with a plumber, a good lad as she had told me herself but he emigrated to Germany." "I said to her:" ""Are you going to wait for him?"" "And she told me "I don't know." "We'll see. "" "Last year when she came to the island she had an affair with a friend of my daughter's fiancé." "I don't know what happened with him." "Besides, she had told my daughter she was in a serious relationship with a certain Iraklis and wanted to marry him." "Then yesterday at the funeral" "I was talking with a woman, neighbour of my cousin, who was saying that Eleni was perhaps slain by a butcher." "She had an affair with a butcher who was a married man." "She couldn't tell me who was." "She had heard that by a relative of hers who was Eleni's friend and was told that by Eleni herself." "But that relative of hers left for America last week." "We had a lot of work at the shop in the evening of the day Eleni was killed." "I barely had time to breath at the checkout." "About 6:00..." "He asked an abrupt question:" ""Is Chalkias here?"" ""Yes," I said, "on the 1st floor. " And I saw him running up the stairs." "There were many customers so I couldn't pay more attention..." "No, I don't think I could recognize him." "Well, I'm not sure." "I only remember his hair." "He had thick bushy hair." "The thick veil of mystery still covers the murder of "La belle Helene"" "and the interest shown by the public opinion reaches a peak." "Did the victim lead a double life?" "A relation from her village revealed that she and another villager had been living together and that she also had a relationship with a butcher or fishmonger who was giving her steaks for free." "Could it be him the man who was blackmailing her?" "The butcher who slain her?" "As is known, "Evening Herald" offers a 30,000 drachmas reward." "An inquiry is held about the information provided by a reader that Eleni was related to a Kouvaona resident who was always carrying a knife." "It is also verified that a dry cleaner's owner handed over a blood-stained suit to the police." "It was proved however that the blood belonged to its owner, a handicapped person from Kaisariani district who was vehemently pummelled and defenestrated by an Armenian." "Meanwhile, the police refuted the information published in an evening newspaper that Eleni was seen the evening right before the murder with a Corsican at a club by the sea." "["The Bloody Fists"]" "[Herald Offers 30,000 Drachmas]" "He locks himself in and does not reply." "We must all indulge him every whim." "His nibs won't let us even air his room!" "He doesn't let you sleep..." "He doesn't let you talk..." "Quiet whenever Giannis wants..." "Music whenever Giannis wants..." "Imagine what he'd do if he were at his own home!" "Go and do all these things at your father's!" "Hear me?" "Not here!" "Giannis is not feeling well..." "Giannis is scared..." "Giannis can't go with women..." "And so?" "What was our fault?" "But I don't blame you." "I blame my stupid daughter who took you in!" "She should have left you in your mother's hands." "That would be a lesson to you!" "Bloody cat!" "Shoo!" "Shoo!" "Bloody cat!" "This situation cannot go on!" "We'll catch a disease one day!" "And that's because Giannis is fond of kittens!" "Mindless woman!" "This night your soul will depart from you!" "Police!" "Ask for mercy!" "Ask for mercy because I'm not joking this time!" "I'll suck your blood like a vampire!" "Ask for mercy!" "Ask!" "Please... have mercy on me." "Next time, ask for mercy rightaway." "Your drawings are nice though a little morbid, eh?" "[Astrology... "The Bible"..." ""Dracula"..." "Anarchism]" "[Shakespeare..." "Gynaecology]" "Have you got a lover?" "No." "Why?" "Is that important?" " Don't open the window." " Why?" "Just because." "So you're a virgin." "I got it right." "Poor girl." "Rubbish." "I'll be going." "I'm late." "Wait a minute." "I want to ask you something." "If we weren't cousins... would you make love with me?" "Are you not ashamed of yourself, Giannis?" "I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks, nor made to court an amorous looking-glass to strut before a wanton ambling nymph" "cheated of feature by dissembling nature, deformed, unfinish'd... sent before my time into this breathing world" "scarce half made up, and that so lamely and unfashionable that dogs bark at me as I halt by them..." "I am determined to prove a villain and hate the idle pleasures of these days." "The history of mankind is written by the knife." "Those worthy of remaining in mankind's memory have carved their name on the earth with that." "A knife glowed in the moonlight before amorously sinking in Juliet's breast." "With a knife Orestes ripped the belly that brought him to life and Agamemnon cut the throat of his own daughter." "With a knife Byzantine knights [sic!" "] conquered thrones." " Are you reading about the crime?" " Yes." "I still suspect the fiancé." "If he weren't such a coward, I'd suspect Giannis." "He's obsessed with murders and knifes." "There's nothing else on his mind." "Luckily, he's a coward." "At least with other people." "Because in my case three times he tried to strangle me." "I told you a thousand times, Mother, to leave Giannis alone!" "He's a hapless kid and if you insist to bother him, he may be right to strangle you one day." "I've already done it in his place." "Excellent!" "What a fine fellow you are!" "Well, what could anyone ever expect from a luvvy like you?" "How could you respect your mother when you don't respect God?" "Grandmother is right." "One needs guts to kill." " Could you ever kill someone?" " I'm not an idiot to go to prison." "See?" "It's not that you don't want to kill." "You're just afraid of the punishment." "Not just the punishment." "Why kill when nobody has wronged me?" "But even so, I'd be an idiot to kill and go to prison." "You're wrong." "Don't you see what the newspapers write for those who kill?" "They're being admired and feared, that means respected." "History is written by the murderers!" "From David to Orestes, from Alexander the Great, to Constantine the Great and Napoleon..." "They were all murderers!" "You need to have strength to kill and those ones had it!" "Who were born great were born killers!" "But if you haven't got the strength, you're lost!" "You are but the "unknown soldier", who dies during battle." "That one hasn't got the power, the genius of the murder." "He is forced by others to kill and when he does kill, he feels qualms, he feels guilty and tries to find an excuse, a pretext to kill and punish himself." "They all die in the end, one way or another." "This is absolutely true." "But it's irrelevant." "What I mean is that this one dies before his due time whereas the others are allowed to go on living and complete their work." "Tell me the truth now, did you kill her?" "If I had killed her, I wouldn't have been such an idiot to hide it." "I would have trumpeted it in the streets to show you what I'm capable of." "It's not worth killing such an ugly woman." "I'd try something better." "Well, I was right to say you're a coward." "Watch your step, my good man!" "You trod on my foot." "What are you doing here, young man?" "Nothing." "What "nothing"?" "I'm asking you what you are doing." "Why are you asking me?" "I'm just asking." "I'm doing my job." "What are you doing?" "I'm waiting for someone." "I've got an appointment." "Have you got an ID card?" "He hasn't got one." "Let's go to the police station to check your identity." "But why Mr Officer?" "What have I done?" "Let's go to the station to check your identity." "We find this on him, Chief." "He was standing on a corner and had a suspicious look." "He didn't have an ID card." "I brought him to the station to check his identity and we found that weapon on him." "I'm talking to you, young man." "Where did you find this?" " I bought it." " What for?" "Nothing." "What means "nothing", what did you buy it for?" "I liked it." " Has his identity been authenticated?" " Yes, sir." " Has his family been notified?" " Yes, sir." "His aunt is here, waiting outside." "She says he's a psychopath." "All right, let him go." "Next time, be more careful." "People don't go around carrying knives." "How many times I told you not to carry knives on you?" " We'll run into trouble one day." " But I'm in fear of my life, aunt." "It makes me feel safe when I have it on me." " But what are you scared of?" " I don't know." "Of men." "What could they do to you and why, Giannis?" "Just because." "Carrying a knife gives me peace of mind." "A new piece of evidence is now added to the criminal inquiry." "The murderer is left-handed." "That was found out by the latest expert research combining post-mortem examination with crime scene investigation." "This is verified by the direction of the wound, the position of the victim in relation to the culprit and latter's..." "What happened there?" " When did you break it?" " Yesterday." "Why did you not tell anything so as to throw it rightaway?" " Put the mirror down!" "It's mine!" " It's bad luck!" " The mirror is moving away!" " I'll do with it what I please!" " That's all we needed now!" " Get your hands off my mirror!" " We can't even give the room an airing!" " The room is mine!" "Help!" "You'll strangle the poor woman!" "Get out!" "I told you a thousand times!" " I told you I want nobody in!" " Acting the lover!" " Get out of my room!" " He told you not to go into his room." "He wanted to kill me!" "You saw that, didn't you?" "If you hadn't been here, he'd have strangled me." "I'm sick and tired of living like that for twenty years now..." "He's getting worse everyday." "He doesn't let us put some fresh air into the house!" "He fills every wall with hellish monsters!" "He picks up every dirty kitten in the neighbourhood!" "And now he's got even broken mirrors!" "[Gynaecology]" "Eunuch!" "Giannis!" "Giannis?" "Open the door!" "What's happening?" "I cut my hand slightly." "I don't know any more when the day ends and when the night starts." "I don't know which of the two is more cruel to me... or more real." "This disgrace has become insufferable." "I live among worms and they keep trampling me underfoot." ""Power" has started to poison me." "I feel it eating me away like acid." ""Power" is like semen." "It must find a way out, otherwise it becomes a poison." " Here Chalkias was killed." " What do you think?" "Might there be left any blood?" "Nah!" "Nonsense." "They must have cleaned it up." "Was she a relative of yours?" "Yes, a cousin of mine." "It's such a shame about the girl." "I didn't see you at the funeral." "I was away from Athens." "I came back today." "If I were at the funeral, would you remember me?" "You know, it crossed my mind that the murderer might be one of them." "So I was staring at each one of them wondering whether I could recognize him." "How could you know?" "Dunno." "I imagined there has to be something special about him... and I could find it." "Did you?" "I didn't." "How do I look like to you?" " What's wrong, young man?" " Nothing." "What "nothing"?" "Why are you tailing me then?" "Got scared?" "It has eventually become evident that the victim did not lead a double life and most probably the left-handed murderer might be a psychopath that committed the perfect crime." "Hi there, Giannis." "Oh, that good-for-nothing is back." "How come he did go out bright and early this morning?" "Let me tell you something, Rena." "Modern girls deserve everything they get." "Now they say she didn't lead a double life!" "All that time they bombarded us with those boyfriends of hers!" "It's still incredible, isn't it?" "They haven't arrested him yet!" "I believe they haven't interrogated the fiancé enough." "If you ask me, I don't think he's a true fiancé." "But if he truly is, then he was right to kill her." "Sorry Grandmother but people don't kill just like that." "If she wasn't all right, he should leave her not kill her." ""Pretty salesgirl," my foot!" "What will become then of you who respect morals and people?" "Are these girls smarter than you?" "Then, it serves them right!" "But can't you see, Grandmother that I risk remaining a spinster?" " I wish I at least enjoyed life." " Enjoy life?" "See the result?" "Stick to your path." "I want to tell you something." "Can you keep it secret?" "I killed her." "No way!" "I'm telling you the truth." "Ask grandmother with caution and you'll find out." "That night I came back later than usual." "While opening the door, I woke her up." "She made a fuss about waking her but I didn't say a word." "Doesn't it seem strange to you I said nothing?" "Why didn't I, you think?" "Because I let off steam with Chalkias..." "It's all lies." "I don't believe you." " You can't hurt a cat!" " Cats is another matter." "I don't believe you." "What proof do you want?" "I don't know." "I don't want any." "Yet I don't believe you." "And why, you think, I kept buying those knives?" "For practice." "Three years now I've been practising." "Well, I made it in the end!" "Chalkias wasn't of course worth the trouble but I had to do it when I could." "I don't believe you." "You like telling tall stories." "It's a shame that you don't believe me." "I thought you at least could understand me..." " Aren't you tired of being a virgin?" " And how's this relevant?" "That's exactly the most relevant thing!" "The food is ready." "Let's wake up Dina." " Have you woken up?" " Just moments ago." " Don't smoke on an empty stomach." " I don't mind." "I'm used to it." "I need to tell you something serious." "About Giannis." "No time for chatting!" "The food is ready." "All right, mum." "We're coming." "The dice is loaded." "An easy-going job." "I play with women's hearts like beads from "komboloi"." "I never failed whenever I chased a woman" "because I'm a well-educated man in the matters of love..." "When I was born, my father left her." "She had gone completely insane now." "He said she was also a nymphomaniac and couldn't stand her anymore." "It seems I inherited this infatuation with death from her." "When I was a little boy, I was fond of funerals." "I liked that people were getting fewer... and also could find peace." "Though I know I can't be crazy." "Is that why you killed Chalkias?" "Yes." "Once I found a hide-out and decided to stay there and die of hunger." "Yet, they found me and brought me back home." "I was afraid to leave home and I was afraid to go back home." "I've lived all my life in fear." "How do you like us to torture him, boss?" "First, burn his feet, and, second, cut his willy." "Take the red-hot knife." "Boss!" "His willy is crooked..." "Then announce next captive." "I was crying and I was ashamed of crying." "I was sorry for the kitten." "Shame is worse than fear." "But, maybe, they're the same thing." "I had to do something to cease to be the victim and be ashamed." "I started being frightened and feeling shame about that." "It wasn't easy, you know." "It took me a lot of effort to make it." "Now, I know that I can." "Anyway, they're afraid of me too." "I'm like anybody else." "That's a great relief." " Is that why you killed Chalkias?" " Yes." "You kept being frightened when you grew up?" "I was awfully ridiculed and never went back to school." "I locked myself in my room to go out only at nighttime." "And what were you doing during daytime?" "I was reading." "Gradually, I was left alone." "They forgot me." "I began to suffer from loneliness." "It's a distressing experience when they forget you as much as when they remember you." "But this way neither you were scared anymore nor you were ashamed, right?" "I was making up imaginary creatures to keep me company." "Books were of great help." "Then I started being tormented by love." "Three years ago I had a girlfriend for a short while but she left me and that cost me dearly." "She was older than me and spoke to me first." "Her name was Aleka." "That was the first time the thought of murder crossed my mind." "Did you also have an inclination towards necrophilia?" "I was feeling..." "I had to find a way out." "He said to me "you're not a man anyway. "" " And why did you go along?" " I was curious." "Then I had a fit and took out my jack-knife." " You are not truly impotent, are you?" " It's one and the same." "It is not." "If you were ashamed of sleeping with the girls why did you not then sleep with prostitutes?" " Aren't you ashamed with them?" " Why be ashamed?" " They'd too make fun of me." " And why care about that?" "I do care, besides I went to them." "And what happened?" "Nothing." "Do sit down, my boy Giannis." "The gentlemen are journalists." "I'm asking you to speak to them with frankness." "Please excuse me, I'm completely unprepared and not well-groomed..." " Don't worry." "We won't get you wrong." " We understand your position." " Thank you." "What's going on here?" "Since when the journalists do not ask questions?" "My boy Giannis tell the gentlemen why you killed Chalkias." "It's hard to explain in front of all these people." "The flashes irritate me." "Well, Mr Zachos tell us how the crime took place." "The flashes irritate me, Mr Giannopoulos." "Photographers are requested to leave the room." " We'll call them to return at the end." " OK, no more photos, Mr Giannopoulos." "Now Giannis, try to gather your thoughts and answer the question I made." "I went out about 10:00 taking the knife with me." "I had the knife in the left pocket of my jacket." "As every time I went out," "I was looking forward to kill the first girl coming to my way." "And I was hoping for a chance and to find the strength to do what I longed for all those years." "I was in Agathoupoleos Street when I saw a girl alone turning a corner." "For a moment I was ready to hit her but suddenly a band of drunkards went past us." "A little bit further away, I felt once more that the right moment had come." "A passing car stopped and the driver made advances to her." "Then suddenly the street was entirely empty and the spot we were on was completely dark." "I took out the knife and thrust at her with all my strength." "Then I run away." "Next morning, I bought newspapers to find out that I had escaped." "All descriptions of the murderer were fictitious." "Are you left-handed?" "Yes, I do all jobs with the left hand except for writing." "Did Chalkias shout when you hit her?" "No, not at all." "The key witness says the young woman didn't shout." "But his windows were closed." "All others claim she let out a cry that made them turn towards her." "A figment of their imagination." "They're all telling lies." "Bring them here and I'll prove them wrong." "Giannis, are you certain you killed Chalkias?" "Absolutely certain!" "I find your willingness to confess too strange..." "If another suspect for murder is found what will you do?" "I'm trying to say, are you going to prove him wrong?" "In case he's got stronger evidence than me..." "Giannis, do you feel remorse for what you have done?" "Yes, certainly." "May I have paper and pencil?" " Aren't you going to bed?" " I'm not sleepy." "How about you?" "As about me this is my job." "Thank you." " Shall I go out to let you sleep?" " It doesn't bother me." "Crime is always punished because without punishment there is no salvation." "The attacker is eventually defeated and returns to his isolation." "There is no greater punishment than going back to isolation." "Attacking is the only way to break away from oneself and returning to oneself is the inevitable punishment that goes together with it." "With the punishment the crime comes full circle and its existence becomes justified." "Somewhere during this course, there comes salvation." "I have no regrets." "No." "Why should I?" "Yet there's a young lad who cannot sleep." " Did you read my article on Zachos?" " Leave me alone." "I'm busy." "It's exciting, you know." "Better than crime fiction." "Listen here for a moment." "Time: 12:10 sharp." "The grey police jeep nr. 108405 hit the brakes next to the broad pavement of Panepistimiou Street, right outside the marble steps of Arsakeio Building." "Three policemen popped out like springs." "Zachos did the same thing." "His lips tremble..." "His dark eyes gleam with a chilling and cruel atrocity..." "What's your name?" "Giannis, please tell your name to the Investigating Magistrate." "Why don't you want to tell me your name?" "My ID card is in your hands." "Are you Ioannis (Giannis) Zachos?" "Are you mocking me?" "No, it is you who is mocking me since you already know my name." "Standard procedure demands that you give us an answer." "I'm asking you:" "Are you Ioannis Zachos?" "Yes or no?" "I don't know." "What is your relation to Konstantina Stavrianou?" "I don't know." "Isn't she your aunt?" "Is it you that killed Chalkias?" "Giannis, why are you not answering to the Examining Magistrate?" "I told everything to the police and then, once again, to the journalists." "Why do they keep asking me since they know?" "It is a legal formal procedure, Giannis." "That leaves me indifferent, Mr Archontidis." "I don't like people kidding me." "Well, Giannis..." "I'll read your testimony in order to tell me if you agree and to sign it." "All right?" ""I do not know my name. "" "I do not know what my relation is to Konstantina Stavrianou." "I do not know if I am the murderer of Chalkias." ""I reserve the right to speak at my trial. "" "All right?" "Then come over here and sign it." "Foaming at the mouth the lone wolf roamed the streets every night looking for the tender victims of his passion." "The hands of the murderer in an unnerving spasm that reflects all the savageness of his soul..." "Would you like the papers to write about you?" "Yes, of course..." "Though not in that way." "Then how?" "We were forced to isolate him." "Three times he was caught with other boys in the act." "It was impossible to impose order while he stayed along with others." "You understand what I mean?" "Good morning, Giannis!" " Who are you?" " I am a doctor." " What doctor?" "A surgeon?" " Who talked of a surgeon?" "No one." "It's just me in need of a surgeon." " Are you ill?" " No, I want to change." "To change face." "A plastic operation on the nose..." "To become another person." "What doctor are you?" "A doctor of "psyche"." "A psychiatrist." "And the gentlemen?" "Psychiatrists too." "Ioannis Zachos..." "He neither smokes nor drinks alcohol nor has any of the venereal diseases." "He was committed here for three months four years ago." "He was sixteen years old then." "I remember Zachos." "A sympathetic kid." "Back then he suffered from persecutory delusion, and the obsession that he was ugly so he wanted to have a plastic operation to change face." " Is he schizophrenic?" " Certainly yes." "But the examination of his schizoid personality led me to the conclusion that he was not dangerous." "I really find it astonishing how he came to commit a crime." "If it weren't for the criminal evidence," "I could never believe that Zachos is a murderer." "He was a mythomaniac." "I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but..." "On the 25th of May, Ms Stavrianou called and told us she suspected that her nephew had committed the murder." "During our inquiry in the flat we found a whole collection of killing tools and a knife among them that looked very much like the one the forensic evidence described as the instrument of murder." "Right after his arrest, the culprit confessed his crime in detail and, also, exposed his own motives thoroughly." "We sent the knife for forensic analysis which established that the murder of Chalkias had been indeed committed with it." "Meanwhile, the eyewitness Markos Grigoriou recognized the culprit without hesitation." "That means, you have no doubts as to whether Zachos perpetrated the crime." "None whatsoever." "Mr Giannopoulos, why did you have to wait for a whole month to present Zachos to Grigoriou and not immediately after his arrest?" "The rest of the evidence against Zachos was so infallible that we deemed dealing with that detail unnecessary." "Later on, when the case got to the Examining Magistrate, he asked us to have him recognized by the eyewitness." "What was the infallible evidence?" "Zachos' admission of guilt and the forensic report on the knife." "Was Zachos sane when he committed the crime?" "Absolutely so." "When we arrested him, he gave us the most rational account of his crime." "We even admired his retention of the details." "After the murder, he took every precaution to remain unnoticed and escape." "Also, he explained his motives in a most sensible manner." "And did you find his motives reasonable, Mr Giannopoulos?" "He's a pervert." "How can you explain that during crime scene reconstruction." "Zachos told you that he escaped via Theocharous Street while the eyewitness asserts that he turned to Nikodemou Street?" "He may have forgotten that detail or got confused." " Yet, you admired his memory." "Is this the knife that was sent to you for analysis?" "He was very tender and fond of the animals." "At school, other kids had the upper hand and were poking fun at him." "How old was he when you took him in?" "He was about 5 years old that was when his mother was committed to mental asylum." "Other kids were poking fun at him even for his mother." "One day they discovered his physical defect and made him a laughing stock all over the school." "Growing up, he wouldn't even set eyes on a girl." "He was getting increasingly melancholic." "He had no friends at all." "He was reading endlessly having only love for the books." "As if he wanted to slip away from real life that made him so miserable." "Still I could not ever believe he would turn out to be a criminal." "Now I'm afraid that I too made a mistake when I rushed to hand him in to the police." "He always had a rich imagination and might have told us lies to look important in our eyes." "I've done everything I could for him." "I loved him like my own child." "I don't know if he truly is the murderer but even if he killed, he did that out of his misery and illness!" "Lies!" "He is a crook!" "A crook I'm telling you!" "He killed my child!" "And you didn't save her!" "A crook!" "Why are you blaming your aunt, Giannis?" " Didn't you kill Chalkias?" " I did." "When I saw him, I recognized him rightaway." "Of course, I didn't see his face clearly the night of the murder but he had the face shape of murderer." "He was only fatter at the time and his hair was longer and bushier." "I'm absolutely sure that it is him." "About one and a half year ago I was passing through a desert street." "I heard someone saying "puss, puss"" "I turned around and saw Giannis." "I didn't know his name yet." "He was standing on the corner waving to me to come closer." "I went but he suddenly took out a jack-knife and attacked me." "We fought and since I was stronger I managed to take his jack-knife." "I wanted to call the police but he started begging and I felt sorry for him so I didn't." "Giannis says that you asked him certain things in exchange, that he yielded to immoral advances you made and that's why you didn't turn him over to the police." " Is it true?" " No, Your Honour!" "Giannis, what do you have to say on that?" "What I said to the police." "Do you mean that Giannis is a criminal type?" "Quite so." "Do you believe that he killed Chalkias?" "Certainly." "It's all my fault, Your Honour!" "If someone should be in the dock now, that should be me!" "Because I left my child in the hands of strangers and let them turn him into a criminal!" "But the court must know that I was ill." "I was ill so they took him away from me." "There was nothing I could do any longer." "And when I regained my health my child didn't love me anymore." "They had poisoned his soul and made him not love me." "His aunt made him a murderer, that woman you watched shedding her stagy tears!" "She brought him before the court in order to gain publicity!" "She made my child hate me." "She indulged all his whims to keep him under her control." "One day she told him to come and kill me." ""Kill your mother," she said, "and I'll save you from the police. "" "So Giannis came and threw a flowerpot at my head." "But I am a mother, dear judges, and I forgive!" "And I can understand my child." "It wasn't his fault." "He was guided by another person!" "I used to call him and he would hang up the phone." "He didn't want to ever see me again." "Such was my sister's influence on him." "Just to give you an idea what an evil woman she is, yesterday she called and told me what I should say in the court!" "And what did she tell you to say?" "To say that my Giannis is crazy, that he hated women and had no friends." "Do you regard him as sane?" "We had him cured in a clinic, Your Honour!" " Did he get in with girls?" " He did not, Your Honour." "Do you believe that it was him who killed Chalkias?" "I don't, Your Honour." "My Giannis is a fantasist." "Did you really want to kill your mother, Giannis?" "She's that kind of woman!" "Always making me a laughing stock!" "We can't help it, Giannis." "We can't choose our parents." "Sure but..." "it's such a shame." " Are you sleeping?" " No, I'm reading." " Fairy tales again?" " No, I'm learning German." " What for?" " No reason." "I just like German." "May I tell you a joke?" "Yes, go ahead." "From the window, moon looks like being behind bars so you can't tell if it's inside and we're outside or the other way round." "There he comes!" "Don't be afraid, Giannis!" "Defend yourself!" "Don't be afraid!" "Good morning, Giannis." "How are you feeling today?" " Fine." "And you?" " I'm all right." " Just a bit tired after overnight work." " Your job can be wearing." "Come on Giannis, tell me how do you feel now with all these women around admiring you?" " They are not admiring me." " Come on now, stop fooling us." "Don't you see how that chick over there is looking at you?" "Eh?" "What do you think?" "She's good, isn't she?" "I liked a woman that came yesterday more." "She didn't come today." "You mean that woman in the window?" "She came late today and was left outside." " You surely have a good taste." " Please, guys, don't make me laugh!" "Zachos, as shown in the psychiatric report, is a schizophrenic." "Hence, he cannot be hold accountable for his deed." "His pathological indications are directly associated to the crime." "Then how can you explain that he prepared the crime down to the last detail and managed to escape?" " This is a particular trait of schizophrenia." "A schizophrenic is both ill and well at the same time." "One moment he seems crazy, the other seems sane." "Since a schizophrenic is not crazy sometimes, can we not assume that Giannis at the moment he committed the crime was not schizophrenic?" "There are no interruptions in schizophrenia." "A schizophrenic retains all the features of a sane person." "Judgment, intelligence, memory, feeling of self-preservation..." "He is, however, a schizophrenic." "Let's take a crazy man for example who believes he's Napoleon." "He can describe the engine of a car down to the last detail." "Zachos knew that what he was doing was evil and was capable of preparing it but he never ceased to be a schizophrenic and to be unaccountable." "Then how can we know if other schizophrenics exist in here?" "At fist glance, we cannot." "How can someone know if he is crazy?" "Someone who looks completely sane." "He cannot unless he is a psychiatrist." "What do we mean when we say that Zachos' soul is sick since he looks most reasonable judging by the answers he gives?" "Right so." "He looks reasonable as you said but he is not." "Because he possesses a logic that does not actually correspond to sane people's logic." "His logic does not comprehend other people's logic and the logic of the others does not comprehend his own." "And here's the proof." "Despite all his plausible explanations, have you understood why he killed?" "That means everything our reason cannot understand is madness?" "Approximately yes." "What about the primitive tribes who seem irrational to us?" "Is that mean these tribes consist of madmen?" "In the land of the cannibals, cannibalism is rational." "In all societies crazy is the human who cannot adapt to common reason and commonly accepted values." "Giannis' values will never concur with ours." "Every one of us, more or less, has personal values and comes to make compromises with the common ones in order to be able to live in society." "You said "more or less. " It's exactly a question of degree." "Sanity for the larger part of humanity consists in the ability to compromise with reality." "That is what this ill person is lacking." "The ability to adapt, the ability to compromise." " So, making compromises is a virtue?" " Definitely." "And the man of utmost moral character, the man of full integrity... the uncompromising, the hero..." "is crazy?" "The rebel, the anarchist is crazy?" "Yes, a little." "And Zachos, Mr Panopoulos, is as crazy as a hero or an anarchist?" "Of course not." "He is a lot more than that." "Why?" "Because the cause of an anarchist can be understood to a degree by others whereas Giannis pulls out a knife and kills for reasons no one understands." "Or have you perhaps understood the reasons why he killed?" " Because he is a pervert!" " That means you have not understood." "Did he perhaps want to take revenge against society for being sexually impotent?" " But he is not, Your Honour." "He thinks he is." "This is an integral part of his schizophrenia too." "And what is the cause of this illness?" "It is not verified." "It is due to either environmental or genetic factors." "You mean that soul is a matter of heritability?" "It could be more than anything else a matter of heritability." "Then the hero or the common criminal mentioned earlier are a matter of heritability, aren't they?" "Of course." "But who can be held responsible for their own heritability?" "If we were to accept the heritability, then the deeds of man would be in an oblique way deeds of God?" "I cannot give you an answer." "I'm not a theologian." "He is sensible in his own way." "Schizophrenia does not prevent him from having reason." "His ego and state of mind are in disorder but not his ability to reason." "Therefore, he has consciousness of the evil deeds he commits." "No." "Good and evil are a social code." "A creation of society not of associative logic." "But schizophrenic does not participate in the world around him." "He is isolated from society." "He lives in a world of his own, with his own laws." "His logic cannot help him comprehend the moral code of a world he does not belong to." "You find it natural that he run away?" "Everyone reacts differently." "Therefore, in this specific case Zachos reacted reasonably..." "Yes but not in the normal sense of the logic." " Then in what sense?" " Of schizophrenic's logic." "He is fully aware that his deeds are unjust towards the others and he is fully convinced that this injustice is good for him." "He still has the ability to rationalize what he's done and explain it on moral grounds in his own best interest." "He creates a world of his own and places himself above law." " One has to be crazy for doing that?" " Naturally." "That means all dictators are crazy?" "It is not unknown that Hitler was paranoid." "Mr Gionis... are you sure that Zachos is the perpetrator of the murder of Chalkias?" " This is a problem of the police." "What do you believe as a psychiatrist?" "I do not know." "There is no doubt that he is capable of crime." "But I cannot know about the crime in question." "At any rate, schizophrenics are a danger to society, are they not?" " Of course they are." " Shouldn't they be held in confinement?" "Of course, in mental hospital." "Would not Zachos' conviction make an example of him for other schizophrenics?" "Nothing can set an example for the crazy, Your Worship!" "Schizophrenic lives in a world of his own." "He is thinking like that:" "Let the judges say what they want." "I shall do what I feel right." "And if it is so, should not they be convicted?" "But Giannis has been convicted before committing any crime." "His place in our society is in mental hospital." "And that is enough punishment not for what he has done but for what he is." "For his illness, for which he is the least responsible." "Ethics is not a made-up social code but a result and extension of natural law." "Even animals have their own ethics and submit to norms of behaviour." "When a human comes to kill another human, contrary to their natural ethics, that means they have no other choice." "In that case, any hardened criminal is crazy?" " There are no hardened criminals." " That means all criminals are crazy?" "Yes, more or less." "Or they are forced by external factors." "Yet this confutes any concept of justice." "Perhaps, but it is not a new idea." "It has been argued for a very long time, and not only by psychiatrists but also by jurists." "Does schizophrenic have consciousness of the unjust nature of his deeds?" "He may have consciousness but not control on himself so as to avoid offence in the name of justice." "Do you know that many of them have been convicted abroad, that schizophrenics were even executed?" "I'm a psychiatrist, not a judge." "Please louder, my child Giannis." "We cannot hear you." "All right." "What do you have to say about the crime you are accused of?" " Nothing." " Yes but... we must say something." "I've already spoken to the police so many times." "There's no harm in trying again." "It's tiring in front of all these people." "People are not a trouble." "No one wants to harm you." "For that reason, you must say everything again." " What?" " What you said to the police." " All right." " Well..." " Did you kill Chalkias?" " That's right." "Why did you kill her?" "For a long time I wanted to kill... a woman." " How long?" " Very long but I didn't have the strength." " That means you were scared?" " Scared of what?" "The police, the prison, the law anyway..." " I have my own laws, you know." " That means you were not scared?" "No but I didn't have the strength." "And how did you find it?" "That night... suddenly..." "It was something spontaneous." "I can't explain it to you." "And why did you want to kill?" "Because I couldn't..." "because I'm impotent." "But you had tried to go to bed with women of ill repute, hadn't you?" "True." " How many times?" " Twice." "Here I can read that... you had homosexual relationships..." " Right." " And that you were masturbating..." "That's right but not often." "That means that you are not impotent anyway." " I don't know." " How can you not?" "Did you not understand when you went with prostitutes?" " No." " What "no"?" "I didn't like them." "I didn't want to go with prostitutes." "So you wanted the other kind of women..." "Right." "Why did you not try then?" " I couldn't." " Why?" " I was scared." " Is this the reason you wanted to kill?" "That's right." "What would you gain out of this?" "What would I gain if not?" "Did you regret what you have dove?" "Regret what?" "The murder of Chalkias." "No, why should I?" "Can you describe for us how you committed the murder?" "I went out at night." "I can't remember the exact hour." "I walked for quite a long time." "Sometime I got to Agathoupoleos Street and saw a young woman turn the corner alone." "She looked very pretty to me." "At least, from the back..." "I kept following her for a long time, over a quarter of an hour." "One moment I felt this night I could find the strength." "We found ourselves in a dark place." "I pulled the knife out of my pocket." "I had it ready on my left hand because I'm a left-hander." "I slowly got closer and stabbed her." "Show us how." "There, like that." "Crook!" "Murderer!" "He killed my daughter!" "My child!" "You'll pay for that, monster!" "Why is she screaming?" "Does she think I'm the killer?" "Didn't you say that yourself moments ago, you beast?" "And why does it matter what I'm saying?" "I am crazy!" "Five doctors told you that." " Did I go well?" " Very well, I think." "Thank you." "Giannis, please tell me..." "Didn't you feel anything now that you heard Chalkias' mother crying?" "I never heard her." "I live in a world of my own." " Giannis?" " Yes?" "What do you think?" "Are they going to convict you?" "I don't know." "What does your lawyer say?" "They will probably sent me to mental asylum." "But you are not crazy, Giannis." "What would you prefer?" "Here or there, I'm behind bars alike." "There is no doubt." "Giannis committed this dreadful crime." "This young man, who it is all too evident has won the sympathy and mercy of all of us, had the power to take this knife in his hands and plunge it into the back of an innocent and unsuspecting girl." "A criminal hides behind this blank childlike face." "Maybe this criminal is paranoid." "A victim of his own diseased soul." "What is however our foremost duty?" "Your foremost duty, ladies and gentlemen, members of the jury, as representatives and defenders of society?" "To cure Giannis or to protect the healthy and innocent members of society" "from the results of his illness?" "Perhaps truly, mental hospital is the proper place for a mentally ill person." "From mental hospital though it is possible that any time any doctor thinking that Zachos has been cured will send him home and from there directly to his next victim or victims." "Ladies and gentlemen, members of the jury." "Albeit a representative of Law," "I ask you not to stick to the letter of the Law but to recognize that Zachos is accountable for his deeds and put him under restraint in the safety of prison." "I feel sorry for Giannis too but I have more pity on the young woman who paid with her own blood his morbid hatred against society." "The time has come for society at last to take care of his own safety and not only of Giannis' happiness." "Because, let us not fool ourselves, there is only one way to keep Giannis happy..." "To let him kill, let him shed human blood." "His Worship spoke of mercy." "All sane people should be offended upon the hearing of this word, when we demand this divine feeling not for the sinner who is filled with remorse" "but for the most unrepentant criminal ever brought to court." "Zachos is not paranoid!" "He is an accomplished actor who inherited his aunt's dramatic talent and now comes here to deceive everyone." "We listened to the psychiatrists saying a whole lot of contradictory and incomprehensible things." "Each one of them had his own theory." "They agreed only on one thing." "That Zachos is schizophrenic." "I'm not questioning science." "But, as we have seen, they nearly took us all for lunatics!" "Woe betide us if we let psychiatrists influence our judgment!" "Nothing would be left standing!" "No institution!" "No justice!" "No light in the human darkness!" "Our society would turn into prehistoric chaos, into a pack of beasts... in the name of psychology!" "If Zachos is not accountable for his perversions, then none of us can be!" "Every one of us has his own illnesses and anxieties." "But we do not react to them by slaughtering people!" "You must have a criminal mind to do that and that is indeed what Zachos' mind is." "The public sentiment about security and justice depends on your decision." "I ask you to take it, fully aware of your responsibility and duty towards public opinion and Greek society." "This distinguished and heroic society having thousands of years of brilliant history to which this bloodthirsty beast before your eyes is an exception." "His Worship, the Public Prosecutor, spoke of a paramount consideration." "He demanded in the name of this consideration that you should override the very law he represents and his sacred duty is to protect," "the very law which is the result of profound study by great men, by some of the best brains that took great pains to establish justice and society." "No, ladies and gentlemen, members of the jury!" "It is unacceptable!" "It is unacceptable to override the most secure guardian of society:" "The Law!" "If the law acknowledges that a mentally ill human must be sent to hospital, this is a decision taken in the name of society's best interest!" "Law is not the outcome of one moment, one decision, one case." "It is the outcome of centuries of human experience, the peak of knowledge of men about the world surrounding them and about their very own selves." "The same applies to psychiatry." "Woe betide us if we were to believe that the aim of psychiatry is to turn us into a pack of beasts whereas its aim is to place all human knowledge in the service of man's self-awareness." "Woe betide us if we were to put science aside and banish it from courts with such ease." "Then where should we base our decisions on?" "On lawyers' eloquence?" "On who's the best demagogue?" "On ephemeral feelings shifting from one moment to the next?" "No, ladies and gentlemen, members of the jury!" "No expediency can send an ill person to prison!" "I do not ask you to justify the unjust deed." "I do not ask you to justify the offender." "But I ask you to show understanding within the very limits of the law for the human chaos and the imperfection of human soul for which no one knows who is responsible." " What do you think about the verdict?" " Very good." "I'm very pleased with the verdict." "How can you blame him for being impotent?" "He's ill." "All doctors said that." "Shall we go to a coffee shop?" "We rather go home now and go to the pictures in the evening." "What do you think about the verdict, Mr Antonakos?" "It shows that jury as an institution is anachronistic." "What do you have to say about the verdict, mates?"