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.