We do that through the omda. The village headman.
And you dont go out to the villages yourselves?
I believe some people do.
He brought Owen minutes of the Boards meetings and papers recently considered.
Self-explanatory, I think.
Owen detained him.
The thing Im trying to establish is Mr Fingaris exact role.
He represented the Ministry.
I know. What did he do?
He expressed the Ministrys viewpoint.
Which was?
The clerk gestured towards the papers.
Its all in the minutes, he said.
A Greek, expensively dressed and with an air of seniority, came through the door. Owen recognized him. It was Zokosis, one of the businessmen who had invited him to meet them at the Hotel Continentale. He shook hands.
I hope Petros has been helping you?
We have some way to go.
Ah! He sat down. Try me.
Thank you. Im trying to establish what Fingari actually did.
The Greek laughed. Good question, he said. At least, I think so. I wonder what any of them do. Well, look, all I can do is tell you what he did for us. He attended Board meetings once a month. Meetings usually occupy the whole morning.
And in between?
Well, of course, there would be papers to read. Possibly he even drafted one or two papers. Although off-hand I cant Ill get Petros to check.
Anything else?
I really cant recall
You know, Mr Zokosis, you surprise me. You gave me the impression at the Continentale that his work was important.
Did I? A businessmans way of talking, perhaps.
You wanted me to change the date of his death.
Not quite as crudely as that, I hope. But certainly his death was inconvenient to us. You see, we were just negotiating we thought we had negotiated, in fact an important arrangement with the Ministry and we didnt want to go through all that again.