Charon's Net

by Gemma Herrero Virto

  "Well, that isn't so strange though,” said Carlos. "If he was suspecting that we could come looking for him, he wouldn’t be all that prepared to give them his telephone number or make any call that we could trace."

  "But he could have called them from a phone box, and then they would have calmed down about it. Some of them proved to be very insistent. He was risking losing them when he told them no without a single reason why. What I think is that he doesn't want them to hear him; that there's something strange about his voice that he wants to hide."

  "What do you think, Natalia?" asked Carlos.

  "I don't know... It has logic to it, but I'm still thinking that the defect is in his physical appearance, and that is why he removes their eyes. Furthermore, that problem with the voice could just be in his imagination. It’s easier to search for someone with an obvious physical defect.”

  "Let's not rule it out, in any case," said Carlos, taking out his notebook to begin jotting things down. "Have any of you gone back into his account again?"

  "Yes, a few times," replied Gus. “He's been on ICQ, on invisible ever since that night, so I went in to see whether he was still keeping in contact with his girls. It seems that he’s abandoned the account definitively. The girls spend the day sending messages to him, asking him to say something to them, asking why he's left them."

  "Is it possible he’s stopped forever?" asked Carlos, hopeful.

  "I don't think so," replied Natalia. “It's possible he knows that we were very close, and that he’s going to hold off for a while, but, as soon as he loses control, he will attack again with more anger than ever. Right now, he's like a caged animal. He will be much more aggressive and dangerous, but it will also be much easier for the fury to cause him to make mistakes."

  "So in the end we scared him," said Carlos, angry. “How are we going to find him if he creates another account?"

  "I don't think he can create another one for himself. It seems that the username and information are too important to him," countered Natalia.

  "But he can make himself another account with the same information," Gus disagreed. Carlos and Natalia looked at him in concern. “Don't get scared, I can find out at any time if someone makes themselves another account with those details. ICQ allows you to carry out searches, and find out how many users have the username of Charon, or how many of them who are calling themselves Alex are also saying they live in the north of Spain. I keep an eye on it every day. It won't escape our attention."

  "Okay, it seems you both have it all under control," said Carlos, satisfied. "Any more news?"

  "Yes, I had an idea for how we could find him,” replied Gus. "I couldn't bear just sitting back and doing nothing, so I thought about making it so that he would find us."

  "What do you mean?” asked Carlos.

  “Setting out some bait for him. As I was going along reading the chat threads, I couldn’t stop thinking about how easily those girls allowed themselves to be trapped, just how simple it turned out to be for Charon to handle them. I thought that I would be able do it better; that I would be able to talk with him, and have him think that he had made me fall in love with him, and then get a date with him in order to set a trap.”

  "And how you going to set out that bait for him?" asked Carlos, leaning forward and looking nervously at him, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

  "Well, we have two computers, and I can have up to 7 ICQ accounts open simultaneously on each one. With Natalia's help, I've gone along setting up the accounts with the details of Charon's possible victims, little by little, so that he doesn't suspect," explained Gus. "If we get him to talk with one of them, we’ll follow the course until he believes the girl is in love and he proposes a date."

  "And then we get him," Carlos stood up and gave him a slap on the back. "I think you’ll work better without me, there was no need for me to come back."

  "Don't talk nonsense," replied Natalia. "We missed you. But we haven't finished yet; we’ve still got my bit to go. I’ve finished going over the psychiatric files and I've reduced the list of suspects to seven. The problem is that I don't know how we're going to question them now that you're not on the case."

  "I still have my badge, so we'll present ourselves at their houses saying that we're carrying out an official investigation. People don't tend to call the Ertzaintza to check whether they really have sent an officer to question them. Is there anything else I should know?"

  "Yes, one thing... could you come with me for a moment?" asked Natalia.

  Carlos nodded and got up out of the chair in order to follow her. She made her way to the hall and led him to one of the back bedrooms. On reaching the door, she turned around and looked at him for a second, not knowing how to explain herself.

  “What’s up, Natalia? Is something wrong?”

  “No, it’s just that I... Well... I wanted to thank you for coming back to the investigation, it’s very important to me that you’re back here...”

  “You don’t have to thank me at all. After all, it’s you two who are helping me; you’ve both worked a lot. I ought to be thanking you...” replied Carlos, uncomfortable.

  “Well, it’s just that I like the fact you’re with us,” she raised her gaze and smiled at him, afraid of blushing. “I’ve missed you, so I bought you a present.”

  “A present? What is it?”

  Natalia opened the bedroom door. Carlos went inside, and a little bundle of fur shot out towards him, crashing into his legs. Carlos looked down, taken aback.

  “It’s d’Artagnan. You asked for a new collaborator, and here you have him. Now that’s all of us,” Natalia crouched down beside him. She looked up and met Carlos’s surprised gaze. “Don’t you like him? He’s a German Sheppard pup.”

  “Of course... I do like him... But, how am I going to be able to look after a dog? I spend all day out of the house, and I don’t know a thing about these little guys.”

  “If you don’t want him, I can take him back,” said Natalia, feeling saddened.

  “No, it isn’t that; I love him. But, between work at the station, and the case, I’m not going to have time,” he said, apologising.

  “That’s not a problem. He can stay here whilst the investigation is going on. He’ll be the team’s dog and we’ll look after him together. Is that better? I’ll teach you how to look after a puppy.”

  “All right,” Carlos also crouched down and tried to stroke the dog’s back, in spite of the fact that the latter felt it was a better idea to try and bite his hand. Natalia smiled at him, hopeful, as if she were the one who had just received a gift. Carlos returned the smile, feeling moved. “Thank you, really... For everything.”

  She noticed the emotion in his voice and lowered her head, unable to continue looking him in the eyes without telling him how much it mattered to her to have him nearby again. She got up off the floor and picked up the puppy, in order to bring him in to the living room. Once in the doorway, she turned, so that Carlos would follow her:

  “Come on, we have to introduce him to Gus. After all, he spends the whole day here, so he’s the one who’ll have to take him out for walks.”

  “I hope he doesn’t ask for a raise because of this. You know how mercenary he is.”

  Natalia laughed and left the bedroom, whilst she compared in her mind the black thoughts of the last few weeks with what she was feeling in that moment. Everything had been put right; they were back together again. She felt as happy as if, after so many years, she had found a family again.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The inactivity of the last few days meant that the madness was getting too close. I had only been waiting for two weeks, but it was already beginning to get unbearable. The guilt was progressively settling in my chest, threatening to stay forever, to keep growing until there was no more space left, making my entire being explode from the anguish.

  I sat for a few minutes looking at the computer. It had been days since I had deactivated my ICQ account; since I had resig
ned myself to giving up those contaminated contacts. Upon thinking about the girls I had let escape, I felt the frustration striking my chest like a stabbing pain. I had been so close with some of them... Every one of those names had been a step towards the redemption that was now refused to me.

  I tried to calm myself down. I must not allow myself to be swept along by the rage and the sorrow. I must control myself in those moments. My nerves seemed stretched to the limit; my feelings were right on the surface, making it so that the cruelty of both the world and my memories shone out like a powerful and blinding light. And I knew that it was going to get worse. The guilt would become stronger every day, and then the madness would come. I would not be able to contain myself, and I would either have to risk carrying out a sacrifice, or end my life without having completed the payment. End my life... If only it were that easy; if afterwards, there was nothing more than peace and emptiness... To rest at last.

  I dispelled that thought, which would return recurrently, and each time with more intensity. I could not keep looking at the computer screen without doing anything. With each passing second the guilt was rising up higher, the need for vengeance becoming stronger and more pressing, but I did not dare to move. They had been so close the last time...

  Nevertheless, if I continued to hide, they would have won; they would have halted my mission. I’d gone weeks now without doing anything. I could not bear this situation much longer. If only I could hide from them...

  I got up out of the chair and moved away from the computer. I had to return, but, how? They would be waiting for me, spying out for every little mistake I could make. I would have to create a new account, but I could not allow myself to change the personal details. The sacrifices would be useless if I carried them out under another name. So then, how could I do it? How could I hide myself?

  I paced through the room, feeling the urgency grow. Inactivity had ceased to be an option. I needed to start acting. It would take a long time finding and preparing a new prey. If I continued to wait any longer, in the end the desperation would mean my making a mistake, and there they would be, ready to catch me. I needed to make a start; I had already waited too long now. I continued thinking, trying to find the solution to my problem.

  A forest is the best place to hide a tree. The saying appeared in my head, as if somebody had whispered it into my ear. That was it. I would create an entire forest around me. That would confuse them; that would discourage them... There was even the possibility that they would give up. Besides, there was no reason to hide just one single tree. I could switch from one to the other if it felt like they were getting too close. I would be able to grow the forest at my will, until they got lost in it. I headed for the computer, feeling how the terror and the anguish of the last few days vanished. At last I would be able to come back into action.

  ***

  Carlos stopped the car engine and remained sitting inside, whilst Natalia re-read the report on the man they were going to question.

  "Well, this is the fourth file I chose, but it's the one my hopes are riding on the most,” she remarked. "I think we'll be able to have more luck with this one. Take a look at his details: he's young, of short stature, and he has a driving licence. He was not an inpatient on any of the dates when the crimes took place and, nevertheless, the day we prevented Susana’s murder, he suffered a nervous breakdown that necessitated his internment into the acute psychiatric unit in Basurto. That could have been down to the frustration caused by not being able to satisfy his compulsion."

  "Well I hope you're right, because the three before him wouldn't have been capable of even catching a bus on their own,” commented Carlos, getting out of the car.

  They rang the intercom, and they were let in without question. A young man, dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans, was waiting in the door. He held out his hand to them as he smiled.

  "Good afternoon, I'm Asier Azkarraga, the social worker in charge of this flat,” said the young man as he invited them in. "Come through here. Manu is waiting for you."

  They walked through the living room. Natalia noticed three men who, seated around the table, were having an animated game of cards. Neither one of them seemed dangerous or strange; except for the complete lack of curiosity they demonstrated at the presence of two officers in their living room who had come to question one of their friends.

  Once they entered the room, and Natalia found herself in front of Manu, she thought that it was impossible to imagine anyone less guilty. The young man was huddled up in his chair as if he were trying to disappear, as if he were living in a world that was too large and terrifying. He kept his head down, and his eyes moved quickly, as if he were afraid to look at anyone for too long. They were searching for a person who was tormented, but also with intelligence and coldness about them which this frightened creature did not possess. She was certain that they did not find themselves in front of Charon here but, even so, she decided not to entirely trust her first impressions, and to begin with the questioning. She looked at Asier, inviting him to introduce them and to facilitate things:

  "Manu, this is Inspector Vega and Inspector Egaña." Natalia smiled upon hearing that, surprised by the promotion that Carlos had invented for her. "They've come to ask you some questions. You remember I told you about it before, right?"

  The young man nodded timidly, and continued to look alternatively at the floor, and then at the faces of the other three. Asier gestured for them to start.

  "Listen, Manu..." She waited a few seconds for him to establish visual contact with her, but to no avail. "Okay, I wanted to ask you if you have access to the Internet at home."

  Manu shook his head, and Asier confirmed it:

  "No, they don't even have computers. They pay the bills for this flat with their monthly allowances, along with the work they do in a laundrette belonging to the organisation. They can't afford the expenditure of a computer and Internet connection. They just get by as it is.”

  "Yes, I can see,” Natalia tried to insist a little more. "Manu, have you used the Internet anywhere? At a friend’s house, a cyber-cafe...?”

  Manu and Asier shook their heads in unison. Asier turned towards Natalia, looking much more serious now than he had been at the beginning of the conversation.

  "Could you tell me why you want to know these things? Is he being accused of something?"

  "It's only a routine check. I don't think Manu is the person we're looking for, but I have to make sure of it. Of course, if it'll make you feel more at ease, we can all go down to the station and call in a lawyer... My thoughts were that you would both prefer it to be done like this, so that it would be less uncomfortable..." Natalia gave her sweetest smile and, in the face of Asier's silence, she continued. "I wanted to ask you both about the customs of this flat. Do you have a night time curfew?"

  "Well, this isn't a prison, but I usually come here at nine to supervise the medication. They have to be here at that time, unless they’ve notified us beforehand."

  "Can you remember if Manu was absent from that on any one of these days?" Carlos took out of his jacket pocket a card on which he had noted down the dates of the murders. Asier took it, and spent a few minutes looking at it thoughtfully.

  "Let's see if I can remember... It's going to be difficult, because I have a dreadful memory. Wait a moment, please. I carry a diary of observations on all of them, for the psychiatrist, you know? I'll get it now," he got up and left the room, returning a few seconds later, carrying a couple of exercise books in his hands. "Let's see, on Sunday the 4th of September he definitely was here. There are no observations noted down. On the 30th of September he was not here, because he went to spend the weekend with his family, in Burgos."

  "Would you be able to give me the phone number of anyone in the family who could confirm that he was with them?" asked Carlos.

  "Yes, of course," Asier looked at him, hurt, as if Carlos had just said that he did not trust his word. He searched carefully through his papers, noted do
wn the number on a piece of paper, and handed it to him.

  "And what about the other two days?"

  "On that Saturday, we went to the cinema together and had dinner and we got back at twelve. And I remember this last day well. Manu suffered a nervous breakdown, and we had to take him to the hospital.”

  "Could you tell me what it was that happened? Or he could tell me himself, if he wants.”

  "Well, if I could answer the questions myself, the best thing would be to let Manu go out into the living room,” the young man gave them a knowing smile. "He's very shy, and they're expecting him for a game of mus."

  Carlos nodded, and the young man got up, much calmer for being able to go, and left the room with a smile on his lips. Asier turned back to face them.

  "I hope you can both forgive him, but I wasn’t at all comfortable with the situation. You were asking me about the last nervous breakdown that Manu suffered, right? On that day, we had a party at the organisation for the patients’ families. They prepare a few jokes and a few songs, we show off the handicrafts they do in the workshops, and everyone’s invited to have something to eat. Manu was very much looking forward to the party, because he’d volunteered to help organise it, and wanted his family to see what he had done.”

  “And it all went awry, right?” intervened Natalia.

  "Not at all, the party was a success. But his parents didn't come; they didn't even give prior notice. I imagine they had more important things to do than to visit their crazy son and his loony friends,” Asier's voice sounded resentful. "Manu spent the whole day waiting for them, trying to find an explanation for why they were late, and calling them again and again on the phone... Once the party came to an end and he realised that they were not going to come, he couldn't take it anymore, and he had a breakdown. He spent the entire week in the hospital."