by Ines Galiano
- Only one question, Inspector, Shara asked, as the three policemen entered. Do you happen to have a cigarette?
CHAPTER 13
Answers
He was starting to get fed up. Apparently, Shara had nothing to do with the men who had just taken Lady Rios. Or so she said. She also said that she had been tied up until the police arrived. And that the other boy who had disappeared for two days had also been tied up.
But what evidence did he have that she was lying? There was no sign of the other boys. This started to get out of hand.
They had been following them since they left the old woman's house. The car with the three thugs who had kidnapped her had taken them to the old mansion on the cliff. Once there, they had gotten out of the car and had tried to arrest them, without success.
But how could they know that there would be so many men hiding in this house? The guards had immediately noticed that the police car was following the car of their allies and had sounded the alarm.
Immediately all the rats that were in the mansion ran out, including those of the car they had followed.
Desperate and unable to do much, due to the large number of armed men in haste of fleeing, they had to decide whom to follow. With so many cars accelerating in many directions, they had selected the most innocent one.
When they were finally able to stop that car on the road, a scared boy who got out confirmed that they were not following the correct villain. His name was Lars and he was going to spend the night in the dungeon.
But what about the others? And the lady? And the corpse found in the container? Lowe was starting to get nervous. Never another case had been as complicated as this one. Before returning to the office almost empty-handed, Lowe had decided to investigate the mansion, in case they could have left something forgotten in the rush. And the truth was that something had been found: Shara Marst and the missing Neil with hair raising stories.
His instinct told him to arrest them without further ado, to blame the murders on them and close the case, but his common sense prevented him to do that. If Shara Marst had really been involved with the horde of boys who had left in terror, wouldn’t she have run away too? What was the point of staying, waiting to be found and arrested? In addition, Neil was one of the main suspects in the murder of Lisa Lewis. What was the point of disappearing for two days and getting caught up in a police raid? Could it be true that both had been kidnapped by the band? And how did they free themselves then?
Neil's words echoed in his head:
- I got hit on the head and woke up here ...
- It contradicts our information about your call to the Marst house at ...
- No, sir, I called and went back inside. That's when I saw Lisa collapsed on the floor and innocently asked Karla what was wrong.
Neil told them again what he had told Shara first, but to Lowe it was still unclear. Assuming that what Neil told him was true, there was still the matter of Eric Amat. And the new corpse. And from ...
The sound of his cell phone startled him. Reluctantly, he left the table where he was interrogating Shara and Neil with the help of his companions. On the other side of the line, he heard the voice he had been dreading since they found the third corpse. His boss had already found out.
- May I know what you are playing at? - He asked without saying hello.
- Sir, I found Shara Marst and ...
- Another corpse, Lowe?! But what are you thinking?! - He accused him, as if he himself were the murderer -. We cannot afford any other scandal in the press.
- Yes, sir, I know, but I assure you I did not find it on purpose. It was accidental.
- Accidental? Did you find a corpse in a container by accident?
- Yes, well, Mrs. Ríos told me to look inside the container, but of course, how am I going to suspect ...
- Mrs. Rios? - The voice of his boss, incredulous -. Marst's ex-wife?
- What are you implying, sir?
- Are you trying to tell me that we have her as a witness?
- Well ... - Lowe felt dizzy, he did not know how he was going to be able to tell him everything -. Actually, we had her.
- What do you mean? Another one dead?
- No, no, Mrs. Rios is not dead. Only kidnapped, but alive.
- Kidnapped?!
- It's a bit long to explain, sir, but it will please you to know that I am interrogating Shara Marst.
- Shara ... M... Marst? The daughter of the old boss?
- Yes,
- You better have a good reason.
- A reason?
- And have evidence, a lot of evidence. But mainly a reason. Do you think you can question who you want?
- Sir, I thought that was what it is all about.
- Well, it's not about anymore. As soon as you hang up, you release her, do you hear me?
- But sir, I did not have her captured, it's the others in the band that ...
- What others?
- Those who had Shara tied up.
- Wait a minute. Shara Marst is no longer the leader of the Marst band?
- Well that seems to be so, sir.
- Arrest her.
- How do you mean, sir?
- Now is the moment!
- But I don’t have a reason.
- Make one up - his boss's voice suddenly seemed happy -. And what about the body, do you know who it is yet?
- They have not identified it yet, sir, but the patrol I sent out is in the process of ...
- Well, there's no hurry. We can blame it on Shara Marst. Do you know what that means? We will be out there in full in the press! We caught Marst!
- But if Shara Marst does not ...
- Free Pireia from the clutches of the mafia!
- But if the gang is still ...
- Lowe, shut up. I'm going to get assigned to another quieter region and you will not stop me. Arrest Marst, find the evidence to blame her for the murder, or the murders, rather, and good night.
His boss hung up the phone and Lowe stared at the receiver with his mouth open.
He seemed to show too much, because from a distance his companion Setti gestured for him to share the information.
Lowe returned to the place where they had been interrogating Shara and Neil. Col walked in circles around the table where they were sitting and looked at them frowning his brows, as if to scare them, although it seemed more like a comic scene.
- What did your boss say, boss? - Setti whispered.
- Nothing, nothing important - Lowe answered, still processing the information and deciding what he should do.
- Do you want us to interrogate them again, boss? To find out if either of them has forgotten about some details and that way discover that they have been lying? - Col said, loudly, from the other side of the room.
Shara laughed softly and Neil rolled his eyes.
- It will not be necessary to ask them the same things again, Col, the inspector replied, ignoring the absurdity of the question.
He sat down in one of the chairs around the table and addressed Shara:
- We've already talked about Lisa's murder. Now, who killed Eric Amat? The inspector noticed the reaction of both: Neil seemed surprised and eyed Shara, as if looking for a confirmation.
Shara did not flinch and was the first to speak.
- Obviously, the boys.
- Have they done away old Eric? - Asked Neil, finally.
- Yes - said Shara, sighing.
- Did you already know, Miss Marst? - Lowe asked.
- Yes.
- How did you?
- I found out that he was in the hospital and I went to visit him this morning. The girl at the reception told me that he had been liquidated but it was still a secret.
- The girl in the ...? Lowe clenched his fists, angrily because everyone seemed to know things instantly in this town.
- Do not worry, she will not tell everyone. Certainly not the press, only us.
- Why would old Eric be killed? - Neil asked, l
ooking at Shara confused.
- Eric was going to confess.
- Wow - Neil murmured. The inspector felt as if Shara was the lead singer and did not like that, although he had to admit that she seemed to know what she was doing. It was hard enough to think that everything she told him could be a lie.
He decided to tell the truth to observe her reaction.
- Eric called us saying that he had some information that he would only share in person. When we arrived at his home, he had already been shot.
- Yes. Never use the phone to say something like that - said Shara, mocking.
- Do either of you have any idea what Eric might have wanted to tell us? They both remained silent for a few moments, until Neil said, carefully, Well, maybe ... He looked at Shara, with an expression of concern.
- Perhaps Eric heard something the night of Lisa's murder. The truth is that he lives quite close to the tunnel.
- Heard something like what?
- Like a shot?
- But Lisa was hit with a bottle on her head.
- And shot also, right? That's what the newspaper said.
Sure, the newspaper. He had almost forgotten it, Lowe thought. The official version was death by bullet wound. Death by contusion was something that appeared in the autopsy report but had not yet been made public.
- You think Eric heard the shot?
- Yes, and he saw something too perhaps. You know, from his home there is a very good view towards the mountain tunnel. It would be easy for him to see a car enter and not leave at the time it should, considering its constant speed while crossing. Then hearing a shot. And then a few minutes later seeing the same car leaving at the other end. He might even have recognized the car.
- So far away?
- Old Eric liked cars very much, he would recognize them from miles around.
Lowe had to acknowledge that what Neil offered him made sense and cleared the doubts of why it was necessary to silence Eric Amat. The police managed to take him to the hospital to treat the wound and save the man, but the killers could not afford Eric to talk. They had to silence him in the hospital.
But how could he be sure that the killers who had arrived at the hospital dressed as policemen had not been sent by Shara Marst? Shara had not shown the slightest sign of surprise during Neil's plausible explanation. Was it so obvious? Did she know in advance? Was it her? However, something told him that it could not be that simple, that this woman could not have sent those thugs. Didn’t she say that Eric was an old friend of her father?
- How did you know Eric?
- An old tavern customer, she said. That was enough explanation for both, since the two had spent many years of their lives in the tavern.
- Who could have been able to send the thugs to the hospital?
- It is quite clear, right? - Neil asked -. I mean, Karla hits Lisa with a bottle. I do not know if she intended to kill her or whether it got out of hand. When they realize what happened, she and Red decide to get rid of the corpse.
- Why would Red help? - Lowe asked, to make sure they both knew the kinship.
- Because Karla is her mother - Neil said, confirming Lowe's suspicions -. Both being scared, the corpse is taken to the tunnel and it occurs to Red to shoot it to mislead everyone. He leaves the body in the tunnel and leaves with the gun in his car. He goes around the cliff and throws the gun through the window. I bet you will find it at the foot of the mountain if you go looking for it. He added.
- And Eric Amat recognizes his car? - Lowe invited him to continue.
- Yes. Then Eric commits the imprudence of calling you, very well knowing that the phones in the city are not safe lately ... But hey, then Red, trying to erase his tracks decides to send someone to do away with Eric.
Maybe it was even his mother. But you arrive in time to save him, something that cannot be tolerated. So, he sends a couple of guys to pay a visit to the hospital.
- That's the whole explanation of what happened, right?
- The inspector asked cynically.
- Yes. Red is not very intelligent, so he is making mistakes and trying to solve them later.
- And what about the kidnapping of Mrs. Rios?
- The kidnapping? - Shara broke her silence, finally paying real attention -.
- Do you have ...?
- They took her away this afternoon, do you have any idea why?
- I ... I think ... - she started to get agitated. The inspector watched as Shara sought Neil's gaze, as if trying to tell him something. Neil seemed to react and whispered,
- She knows where it is?
Shara opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it again, thinking better.
- Where is the what? - The inspector asked and added, when he saw that nobody answered him:
- Do answer me, where is the what?
Shara turned to the inspector with that defiant look that characterized her and said:
- I need a cigarette. Lowe rolled his eyes, not believing the girl's addiction. He gestured for Setti to come over, gave him a bill and said aloud,
- Go and buy cigarettes. And please do not get delayed.
- Yes, sir.
They heard him go down the hall and out the front door, where they had parked the car. The mansion they were in was too far away from civilization, so Lowe figured they could not wait until he came back to continue the conversation.
- Your cigarette is on its way, so to speak.
Sahara looked at him with an expression of hatred and she began to speak:
- Mrs. Rios was married to my father for quite some time. It is very possible that my father confessed where his safe was at some point or that they even opened it together to look for something.
- Is it still in the same place that it was when your father and Mrs. Rios were married?
- Yes.
- What's inside the box?
- Important documents only - said Shara, as if that were a decent explanation.
- So, you're telling me that to open your father's safe, Red has kidnapped Mrs. Ríos?
- Shara nodded, by way of response.
- Why would Red want those documents?
- They are important documents - repeated Shara.
- Ok - Lowe sighed - let's say that Red wants the important documents that are in that safe.
- Can you think of any other reason for the kidnapping of an old woman just to tell him where the safe is.
- No.
- Very good.
All this while trying to erase the traces that he has left about the murders of Lisa Lewis and Eric Amat.
Both nodded, Neil excited because the inspector had followed them in the conversation, and Shara with a rather condescending aspect.
- And what about the third dead person? - The inspector asked.
- What third dead? - They both said at the same time.
Lowe looked into their eyes, trying to assess whether they were telling the truth or not. He decided to make a bluff and momentarily pay attention to his boss's request until he could investigate the matter of the third corpse further.
- All three are going to have to spend the night at the police station until we fix this matter, he said.
- What? - Asked Neil.
Shara snorted.
- It is not in your interest, I warn you - said the girl.
- Are you threatening me, miss? I remind you that you are talking to an agent of the law.
- Yes, that is precisely why.
- How do you...? – Answered Lowe in an attempt to feel offended.
- Inspector, do not be offended, because we all need friends when we get to a new place - said Shara, looking him in the eyes fixedly, with what seemed to be hypnotizing skills -. And you are not the exception. I may be an easy target tonight, but tomorrow your luck will change, and you will not like it to have me as an enemy.
CHAPTER 14
Covenants
She could not believe that this shitty inspector had made her spend a night i
n the dungeon. An uncomfortable night sleeping in an iron bed hanging from the wall. Amazing. She would not forget this when things were back to what they were, she thought.
Shara sat up on the cot and looked at the beam of light coming through the window. It will be published, today she thought, remembering the precise instructions she had given David. She seriously hoped that he would not have problems doing what she had asked. It was not that difficult ...
The sound of a slamming door told her that David had been able to keep his promise. The entire corridor trembled under the angry steps of the inspector.
Lowe came to the barred door that led to Shara's cell and opened it with fury, gesturing for her to come with him. Shara obeyed with a smile and followed him to his office at the station.
Lowe slammed the door behind him and indicated with a finger a page of a newspaper spread on the table. Shara approached, with anticipation, and took it between her hands while the inspector said;
- I want an explanation.
- First let me read it - Shara answered, calmly. With the newspaper in her hands, she sat in the detective's chair, leaving him the uncomfortable metal chair.
Lowe grimaced, but did not stop her. Shara started reading the cover story:
Important documents found about the Marst.
Police have been investigating the Marst estate, following recent events related to the death of Lisa Lewis. Various indications led the agents to their large estate, where, after hours of searching, they found a trunk full of important documents.
According to statements by the police officer in charge of the case, Detective Lowe, the documents could contain enough material to involve the members of the Marst family-led organization. Lowe believes that they are the definitive proof of the many crimes and disappearances with which the family has been involved in recent years. According to the inspector, the documents contain specific names and dates.
However, Lowe has indicated that the documents are in code and could not be deciphered now, although they hope to solve the problem briefly. "We are in contact with Shara Marst," he said, "who as you well know is the daughter of the late Marst, founder of the organization." Lowe hopes that Shara Marst will be able to use the key and help them decipher the documents.