Murdered by Nature

by Roderic Jeffries

  ‘And you’ve no idea where the call came from?’

  ‘When I answered, I could just hear a voice speaking Mallorquin in the background.’

  ‘If it was Browyer, he was phoning from somewhere on the island?’

  ‘It would seem very likely.’

  ‘Is there anything more you can tell me?’

  ‘I think not.’

  ‘Thank you for your help. And will you ask Inés to come along and have a word?’

  ‘Inspector, permit me to say that she is young for her age and of a simple nature due to the conditions under which she lives. She will be very worried and probably frightened by you questioning her.’

  ‘Why are you telling me this?’

  ‘I hope it might persuade you to allow me to be here while you speak to her, then she will not become scared.’

  ‘I prefer her to be on her own.’

  ‘Then . . . if she is very nervous and becomes confused, perhaps you will understand?’

  ‘I am used to confusion. And if it’ll make you less worried, I question any young woman with restraint.’

  Alvarez watched Benavides, clearly less than happy, leave. Perhaps he doubted an inspector could speak to anyone, young or old, with restraint.

  There was a knock on the door. He called out and Inés entered, clearly nervous and uneasy. He thanked her for coming and assured her he would be as brief as possible; if she became upset, she should tell him and they’d have a break. ‘You know why I’m here?’

  She nodded as she stared down at the floor.

  ‘I have to find out why the unfortunate man drowned. Of course, you’ve no idea why he was swimming in the bay, so all I have to ask is if, before then, you ever saw a man with a large scar on his neck who came to the house?’

  She looked quickly at him, then back at the floor.

  He waited before he said: ‘Can you remember if you did?’

  She said nothing.

  He stood, crossed to the door, now watched by her, opened it and called out. Benavides quickly appeared. Alvarez explained the problem and asked Benavides to return with him.

  Benavides spoke to her quietly in a tone which contained no hint of butlership.

  She said: ‘I only . . .’ then stopped.

  ‘Inés, inspector, only opens the front door to a caller if I am unavailable and Beatriz is too busy in the kitchen to leave it.’

  ‘And she has not done so and faced a man with a scar?’

  ‘Have you?’ Benavides asked her.

  She shook her head.

  ‘Then we don’t need to bother you any more, Inés,’ Alvarez said.

  She hurried out of the room, and Benavides began to follow her until stopped.

  ‘Will you ask Beatriz to come along?’ Alvarez said.

  ‘I think she will be very reluctant to do so, inspector.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I understand the señora has eaten so little recently that Beatriz is cooking her favourite dish in the hope it will tempt her. Beatriz will want it to be perfect, and any interruption might prevent this.’

  ‘What’s the dish?’

  ‘Oblades amb bolets.’

  ‘I’m not prepared to take the risk of spoiling that. I’ll speak to her at some other time.’

  ‘I will tell her.’

  ‘Do you get a chance to have a taste?’

  ‘The señora said we were always to eat the same as she and the señor did.’

  ‘You must be enjoying haute cuisine!’

  As he drove away, Alvarez wondered if there was an à la carte or a fixed menu in heaven? Oblades amb bolets. Turbot, mushrooms, onion, olive oil, white wine, lemon, parsley, fennel, salt, pepper . . . Surely they would serve that, since the dish must have originated in heaven.

  ‘Yes?’ Ángela Torres asked, for some reason less sharpishly than usual.

  ‘Inspector Alvarez speaking. Is the superior chief there?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Will you tell him I have spoken to the staff at Son Dragó, with the exception of the cook, and they testify Kerr did not call at the house, nor was he seen in the gardens.’

  ‘Is that all?’

  ‘I think so.’

  She did not say goodbye; he had not expected her to. He checked the time, decided it should be all right to leave the office in ten minutes. The phone rang. He swore as he lifted the receiver. ‘Inspector Alvarez . . .’

  ‘What the devil are you doing, disobeying my orders?’ Salas asked.

  ‘I have not disobeyed them, señor.’

  ‘You have just informed my secretary that you spoke to the staff at Son Dragó.’

  ‘To Benavides and Inés . . .’

  ‘You would like to explain why that was not flagrant disobedience?’

  ‘You forbade me to speak to Señora Ashton, for a reason you did not state . . .’

  ‘Nothing could have been clearer.’

  ‘You did not say I must not question the staff.’

  ‘Because I forgot you were incapable of understanding a negative is not an indirect positive.’

  ‘If it were, mathematics as we know it would be upset.’

  ‘A subject which at present is not of the slightest relevance and of which you are likely to have little knowledge.’

  ‘I was thinking of the supposition that two negatives make a positive.’

  ‘It is fact, not a supposition.’

  ‘That I do not understand what I am not to do, means I must understand even when I don’t?’

  ‘It doesn’t need a double negative to cause you to ignore the simplest instruction. Have you interviewed all the staff?’

  ‘As I informed Señorita Torres, not yet.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Beatriz was cooking, and had I interrupted her, this might easily have ruined a golden dish.’

  ‘Was the intended consumer Midas?’

  ‘I don’t think there was anyone but the señora.’

  ‘Can you give a valid reason for not questioning a witness solely because she was cooking?’

  ‘But it was Oblades amb bolets.’

  ‘You fail to understand it matters not a damn if it was dried cod?’

  ‘It would to the señora.’

  ‘You will question the cook this afternoon, whatever she is doing, and report immediately. You will not excuse failure on the grounds she was preparing the golden calf. You understand?’

  ‘Yes, señor. I have learned something interesting.’

  ‘By your judgement?’

  ‘The señor’s nephew, Browyer, visited Son Dragó more than once. He kept bumming the señor for money.’

  ‘It pleases you to use the language of an indigent peon? Explain why it is significant.’

  ‘The señor finally had had enough of Browyer’s “borrowing” and refused to give him a cent more. There was a row, and it seems Browyer didn’t visit the house again, yet very shortly before the señor died, there was a phone call from a man who wouldn’t name himself, but whom Benavides judged to be Browyer even though he was trying to disguise his voice. That this was so was borne out when Benavides heard Mallorquin spoken in the background. The call made the señor angry.’

  ‘Did you describe the information as interesting?’

  ‘As you have often said, señor, money is the prime motive for crime.’

  ‘Need I remind you that Señor Ashton died from natural causes and it is Kerr’s death you are investigating?’

  ‘I could not be that remiss.’

  ‘You overrate the unlikelihood.’

  ‘There must be a connection.’

  ‘You will suggest what that is?’

  ‘I haven’t yet checked with hotels to find out if he is a guest in one of them, but—’

  ‘I shouldn’t expect you to act with such celerity.’

  ‘It’s all a question of time, señor. As possibly the only surviving relative of Señor Ashton, it’s possible Browyer is due to inherit a large sum of money.’


  ‘Possible is a word of evasion. Presumably, you have not yet bothered to determine the contents of the señor’s will?’

  ‘No, because of everything that’s going on.’

  ‘An expression which leaves ample room for inefficiency. I will not trouble you to try to explain what is more important than to know the contents.’

  ‘I reckon we face three possibilities.’

  ‘Name them.’

  ‘Kerr had information which would cause Señor Ashton to disinherit Browyer; Browyer owed the señor so much money, only the latter’s death could leave him solvent; Browyer learned about the smuggling and the profits that made and decided to take it over.’

  ‘You have provided only three, not six, impossible suggestions.’

  ‘I am convinced there is a connection between the two deaths.’

  ‘You have questioned Browyer?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Your conviction was not sufficient to suggest it was important to do so?’

  ‘I don’t know where he is staying if he’s still on the island.’

  ‘It would help solve the problem by questioning hotel staff.’

  ‘That would take—’

  ‘You were about to suggest it would entail considerable work on your part?’

  ‘That would not be of any account if I learned where he was and he could help us.’

  ‘You will no doubt be grateful it may no longer be necessary to go to such trouble.’

  ‘But just a list of the hotels and—’

  ‘Such a list, including aparthotels and villas to let, with the names of the current occupants, is being installed in Spain and should now be available on this island.’

  ‘I’ll check that out immediately, señor.’

  EIGHT

  Banks were closed on Saturdays, their concern being with the staff, not clients. On Monday, Alvarez walked into the small vestibule of Banco Llueso in which were two ATMs, entered through the main area and into the manager’s office.

  ‘You have an appointment?’ Pagés spoke sharply. His was a frustrating life. Many of the customers were wealthy, a few were rich, but he was in a strained financial position since he had an extravagant wife and four children.

  ‘Inspector Alvarez, Cuerpo.’

  ‘What is the trouble?’ He foresaw trouble with ease.

  ‘I doubt it means any for you.’

  He seldom trusted another man’s judgement; faulty optimism was widespread.

  ‘D’you mind if I sit? It’s tiring weather with unusual heat and humidity for the time of year.’

  ‘Statistics show that over a twenty-year period, it is not unusual.’

  Alvarez, accepting he wasn’t going to be asked to sit, sat. ‘Statistics remind me I read recently there are many fewer five-hundred notes in circulation than a year ago.’

  ‘They are not popular.’

  ‘Not with the holder of one?’

  ‘You have reason for speaking to me?’

  ‘I’m investigating the death of Colin Kerr, the man who died in the bay and whose identity we have only just determined.’

  ‘How does his death give you cause to be here?’

  ‘Indirectly. First, I need to confirm the late Señor Ashton had one or more accounts with you.’

  ‘With the bank for whom I work.’

  ‘Then did he make any large withdrawals in cash during the last six months?’

  ‘You have an authorization for being given this information?’

  ‘I thought we could avoid all the trouble that sort of thing causes. And Señora Ashton will not object to my knowing.’

  ‘As I understand from your unusual request, you would like me to give details of the late señor’s account, even though, by law, it is now under the aegis of the state until probation is granted.’

  ‘I’m not trying to alter anything . . .’

  ‘You will require the necessary authorization before I may provide any information.’

  ‘There would be no need for me to mention how I obtained it . . .’

  ‘I must express my great surprise that a member of the Cuerpo should seek to subvert the law.’

  ‘All I’m trying to do is save both of us unnecessary trouble.’

  ‘The road from improbity to perfidy is short. If you have nothing more to say, inspector, you may leave.’

  Pagés had no idea how and why the world continued to turn rather than grind to a halt. Irritation led Alvarez to a nearby bar.

  ‘Señor,’ Alvarez said over the phone, ‘I need an authorization addressed to Señor Pagés, Banco Llueso, to allow me to examine Señor Ashton’s accounts.’

  ‘Why do you require to do that?’ Salas asked.

  ‘The manager is so wedded to conformity, he isn’t willing to slip me the figure I need.’

  ‘It is always difficult to understand what you are attempting to say. Salvaging what is available in your jumble of illogical words – a man can only be wedded to another human – it would seem you have asked the manager to provide information which he is forbidden to do without legal authorization. Have I translated correctly?’

  ‘It would have saved everyone trouble.’

  ‘One incurs, not saves, trouble by ignoring the rules.’

  ‘It would save in this case.’

  ‘A rule is to be observed, not bypassed, especially by those whose duty it is to uphold the law.’

  ‘Señor, I have every regard for the law; I was just trying to nudge it along.’

  ‘An absurd remark.’

  ‘This may provide the motive for Kerr’s murder.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I have been examining the details of the case from all angles . . .’

  ‘I asked for information, not elaboration.’

  ‘Kerr may have visited Son Dragó at a time when there was every probability he would not be observed because Señor Ashton may have been less than the person he appeared to be to most.’

  ‘You have a valid reason for suggesting this?’

  ‘He often sailed to Morocco, but never with his wife, although she went with him on other trips. On his return, he brought back, amongst other things, antique copper caskets. Why the caskets?’

  ‘You do not allow he might appreciate them?’

  ‘Perhaps they were filled with cannabis of a newly developed, considerably more powerful variety. Señor, you may not remember there were several spliffs in Kerr’s possession.’

  ‘Do not judge the quality of others’ memories by your own.’

  ‘If Kerr bought them locally, he will have known who was dealing in them and learned something which made him think it possible Ashton was importing the cannabis from Morocco. At first sight, this would have seemed ridiculous. Ashton was seemingly wealthy and had no need to take part in so illegal and risky a venture. Was his supposed wealth an invisible cloak? What seems so unlikely, may not be. No one would wonder if the financial chaos of the past years badly hit his income and capital, or that to maintain his luxurious lifestyle he needed to make money quickly.

  ‘Having discovered the truth, Kerr tried to put a black on him, probably for five thousand euros, eight hundred of which had been spent before Ashton decided the blackmailing had to be stopped; the only way, to murder Kerr.’

  There was a long silence.

  Salas finally said: ‘I doubt I have ever before heard the equal of such improbability. What scintilla of proof is there that Señor Ashton suffered any financial distraint before his death? What reason is there for supposing a man of his background and character would, whatever his financial circumstances, even consider indulging in criminal activities? How could he have met Kerr? Is it conceivable he would have wished to have contact with a drug addict?’

  ‘Señor, there were four thousand two hundred euros in cash in Kerr’s possession plus the notebook in which was the address of Son Dragó. There is one way of proving I have been talking nonsense.’

  ‘There are several.’

  ‘B
ut wouldn’t it be as well to consider that one way, however absurd it might seem to you, and cover one’s back?’

  ‘A very regrettable desire.’

  ‘It’s so difficult to judge in which way things are likely to go.’

  ‘And for some, in which way they have been. What are the details of the señor’s will?’

  ‘I haven’t yet—’

  ‘What is the evidence of the cook?’

  ‘I haven’t yet—’

  ‘How much longer is the analysis of the contents of the dead man’s stomach going to take?’

  ‘The lab said it would be a very lengthy process, and they couldn’t give an accurate figure.’

  ‘They said that today?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then I suggest you find out when. Logical possibilities need to be examined before illogical ones.’ Salas closed the conversation.

  The next morning, Alvarez regarded the unopened envelopes on his desk with bored dislike. Official mail was either incoherent, inopportune, or boring. For once, he had misjudged. In one envelope was the authorization for Inspector Alvarez, of the Cuerpo General de Policía, to be given details of the accounts of Señor Ashton, deceased, in Banco Llueso.

  He lit a cigarette. Salas must have decided there might be an advantage in having his back covered.

  Pagés regarded Alvarez approach with annoyance.

  ‘Good morning, señor,’ Alvarez said.

  He muttered a return greeting.

  ‘I have come back to ask for details of—’

  ‘You did not understand what I told you?’

  ‘I have an authorization granting me the right to learn certain details regarding the accounts of the late Señor Ashton.’

  ‘Let me see it.’

  Alvarez handed him the envelope.

  He opened this, brought out a single sheet of paper, read quickly. ‘It would have saved time had you bothered to obtain this before previously coming here.’

  ‘I’m afraid I had not realized you would prefer not to save yourself trouble.’

  ‘You should have accepted I would always observe rules and regulations. What exactly do you wish to know?’

  ‘Did Señor Ashton withdraw a large sum in cash in the weeks before his death?’

  ‘A large sum is an indeterminate figure.’

  ‘Something between four thousand and six thousand plus euros.’