Zone Defence

Kostas Charitos, head of the Homicide Division of the Security Police, spends his vacation on a well-known Cycladic island. He seems to prefer his dictionary to socializing with his wife's relatives who are hosting him. An earthquake on the island brings to light the body of an unknown man, and the local authorities ask for his help in solving the murder. Instead of continuing his boring vacation, Charitos takes on the case and accompanies the corpse to Athens. There, however, a surprise awaits him: the dead man's fingertips are burned, so the body cannot be identified.

Kostas Charitos has just returned from vacation and, as he is one of the few police officers in Athens in August, he is soon assigned another mission: to investigate the murder of Konstantinos Koustas, a well-known nightlife figure and owner of nightclubs and high-end restaurants. As the investigation into the identity of the unknown man from the island seems to be going nowhere, Charitos begins to investigate Kousta's circle of acquaintances.

Charitos continues his investigation into Koustas' murder, meeting with his daughter, Niki Koustas, and his accountant. Gradually, however, he begins to realize that there is a wall of silence surrounding Kousta: while everyone knows him, no one is willing to talk about him. Charitos's suspicion is confirmed when his superior, Police Chief Gikas, asks him to "bury" the case!

Charitos learns from his assistants that shortly before his death, Koustas had been in telephone contact with political figures, including a government minister. With a heavy heart, Charitos follows Gikas' advice and asks the sergeants to send the Koustas case to the unsolved crimes department and returns home. Late at night, he receives a call from Vlasopoulos, who tells him that someone has identified the body of the unknown man from the island. While waiting for Vlasopoulos to arrive with the witness, Charitos suffers a heart attack. Despite his objections, Adriani calls an ambulance and takes him to the hospital, where Fanis takes charge of him. The next day, the sergeants arrive at the hospital with the witness, from whom Charitos learns that the body of the unknown man belongs to Christos Petroulias, a football referee. Charitos wants to leave the hospital, but Fanis forbids him. Police officers find Petroulias' address and go to search his apartment.

From the investigation at Petrouia's apartment, Charitos confirms the presence of the blonde woman in the referee's life. Checking his bank accounts, he finds that his deposits and standard of living are not consistent with the meager earnings of a third division referee. With the help of the police officers, Charitos studies Petrouia's file and discovers that he is an "inconsistent" referee, with excellent refereeing one Sunday and "foul" calls the next. Charitos seeks the help of police reporter Sotiropoulos. Through his mediation, he meets sports reporter Nasiouli in order to understand what games are being played with the Third Division soccer teams. Nasiouli warns him that if he gets involved with the owners of the Third Division teams, he will run into "Zone Defense" and will have a hard time finding a solution. Nevertheless, he gives Charitos information about some "strange" refereeing decisions by Petroulias.

Charitos learns from Kalogirou that Koustas was the owner of a Third Division team, Triton, and that after the match in question, Koustas and Petroulias had quarreled. An eyewitness to the fight was the injured Faliro player, Nigerian Obikue. Gikas gives Charitos permission to continue the investigation without officially reopening the Koustas case, as they are under pressure from high-ranking officials. Charitos returns home to find a big surprise waiting for him: Katerina's ex-boyfriend, Panos, is waiting for him on the steps of his apartment building. Panos, is waiting for him on the steps of his apartment building. Panos explains that he still loves his daughter, but that she has fallen head over heels for his cardiologist, Fani Ouzounidis. Charitos forces Katerina to admit her relationship with his doctor, something that Adriani knew from the very beginning.

Charitos, with the help of a tax officer acquaintance, Kelesidis, checks Triton's books, from which he learns that on the day of the murder, Koustas had made a large cash withdrawal, which he probably had with him when he was killed, and that the polling company where Niki Koustas works is a sponsor of the soccer team. Charitos manages to extract a confession from the nightclub doorman, Manta, that he took the money Koustas had with him. Charitos visits the polling company, where he meets its director, Arvanitaki. Arvanitaki admits that Er-Ai-Ellas is a sponsor of Triton, but explains to Charitos that the sponsorship order came from the parent company, Grikinvest.

Charitos interrogates Koustas' children, Niki and Makis. He then visits Loukia Karamitri and her husband, Kosmas. He learns that Loukia left Koustas for Kosmas and that Koustas took revenge on them. First, he drove Kosmas into bankruptcy, then he got hold of checks that Kosmas had issued to loan sharks and began blackmailing them. He forced Loukia to become the administrator of Grikinvest and sign blank checks, and saddled Kosmas with a third-division soccer team. He also learns that Koustas had forbidden Loukia from seeing her children again. Immediately afterwards, Charitos obtains a warrant to search the offices of Grikinvest. There, a major surprise awaits him. Among other papers, Charitos finds documents in which Grikinvest orders its subsidiary Er-I-Ellas to conduct opinion polls on behalf of specific members of parliament, including a government minister.

The investigation at Grikinvest's offices reveals that Grikinvest was used to issue orders for sponsorships to teams in the Third National Division. One of these teams, in fact, turns out to be owned by Renos Hortiatis, the director of Fantasia. Accountant Kelesidis, who undertakes to examine Grikinvest's books, concludes that Koustas was laundering money, a fact that can only be proven through Koustas's "second" books. The search for the "second" books in Koustas' villa is interrupted rather ingloriously, as Haritos is notified that something is happening with Elena Koustas in an apartment in Kypseli. Charitos suspects that Elena has a lover, which confirms Maki's accusations and makes Elena a suspect in Kousta's murder.

Charitos breaks into the apartment in Kypseli, only to discover that Elena is hiding her 25-year-old autistic son there. He also learns from Yannis, the accountant, that Kousta's "secret" books are in a warehouse. In the warehouse, he discovers, among other things, "pink" photographs of a minister, as well as a postcard from the island where he discovered Petrouia's body! Charitos meets the photographer from "Fantasia," who finally admits that Koustas forced him to photograph the minister in Kalia's apartment.

Charitos learns from the photographer of "Fantasia" that Kalia was found dead a few days ago from an overdose. He also learns that two glasses and a bottle of whiskey, free of fingerprints, were found in her apartment, but he discovers a picture frame without a photo in her apartment, which gives him pause. At the police station, Gikas questions the sergeants about developments in the Kousta case. Charitos decides to visit the minister before reporting to Gikas. Before doing so, however, he learns from Arvanitaki how poll numbers can be manipulated, confirming the trick Koustas could use to blackmail politicians.

Charitos visits the minister's political office. The minister is surprised by the photo of him with Kalia and says he knew nothing about her death. Charitos hopes that by pressuring the minister, he will force developments. And he is not wrong. A few hours later, Gikas calls him to the Security Department. There, Charitos is confronted by the Secretary General, who reprimands him for the way he handled the matter. Charitos reveals all the evidence he has at his disposal, but is suspended from duty.

Charitos and Adriani say goodbye to Katerina, who is returning to Thessaloniki. At home, Charitos imagines a world where good people are vindicated: in his dream, Gikas is arrested for attempting to cover up the crime... At the moment of Gikas' arrest, Adriani "wakes him up" to watch Sotiropoulos' report on television. According to the police reporter, the honest Charitos is the scapegoat in the case. Sotiropoulos' report has a strong impact. Charitos goes to deliver the case files to Gikas, but the minister has ordered the investigation to continue. An investigation that is further complicated by the murder of Loukia Karamitri. From the couple who witnessed the murder, he learns about a Toyota driven by a white-haired man!

Charitos searches the home of Karamitris, Loukia's husband, where he finds one of the two checks that Koustas used to blackmail them. Kosmas claims that the check was found in his mailbox. Charitos informs Gikas. Karamitris appears to be the mastermind behind the two murders, as he is the only one who benefits. Gikas congratulates Charitos and asks for a report so that he can make a statement to the press. As Charitos begins to write his report, a bag arrives at the police station containing Petrouia's personal belongings, which were found forgotten on the sailboat he had rented to go to the island. The bag hides a huge surprise for Charitos. A photograph reveals the identity of the blonde woman who accompanied Petroulia to the island, who is none other than Niki Kousta!

Charitos interrogates Niki Kousta. After the discovery of the photograph, Niki is forced to admit her relationship with Petrouia. Niki describes to Charitos how Petrouia was kidnapped by three unknown men on the island where they had gone on vacation. When she went to ask her father for the rest of the money, she realized that he was responsible for her boyfriend's disappearance. Charitos knows that now only the last piece of the puzzle remains. And that is none other than the white-haired man. He decides to look for two people he believes may have crossed paths with him on the night of Kousta's murder. And he is triumphantly vindicated... He learns that along with the white-haired man, there was a brunette woman with short hair. He immediately goes to Niki Kousta's apartment, where Elena is also present. Charitos explains his theory to Niki: that she blackmailed her father over the murder of Petrouia and that she killed him.

Niki admits that on the night of Kousta's murder she was indeed with Makis, who, under the influence of drugs, killed Kousta, but she denies any involvement of her own. Charitos orders Niki's arrest, but she is certain she will be acquitted. Charitos leaves with Elena for Kousta's villa. There they find Makis, who confirms Niki's testimony and also describes how he got rid of Kalia when he feared she would talk to Charitos, and that he killed Loukia Karamitri to take revenge on her for abandoning her children and maintaining financial dealings with her ex-husband.