Before she even knew it, she was already out of the neighbourhood again. The road, which ascended up towards the mountain, was very narrow and in bad condition. There were meadows and agricultural land on both sides and, further ahead, was the beginning of a small grove. At the entrance to the wood there were a couple of parked cars. Natalia headed towards them and, upon recognising Carlos's car, parked behind it.
She could not see anybody in the vicinity, and she did not fancy going into the wood alone. It had rained a lot over the recent days, and she was certain that the roads would be too muddy to go down in her high-heeled shoes. She called out a couple of times and, after a few seconds had gone by, she heard the sound of someone advancing towards her through the trees. Carlos's figure appeared at last, gesturing for her to come over. Although fearing that it would be the end of her expensive suede shoes, she walked over.
‘Is it here?’ She waited for Carlos to nod. 'Have you found anything?'
'We're collecting hair and footprints. I hope the killer wasn't as careful inside the car as he was with the bodies.'
'Is it very far?'
'No, don't you worry," replied Carlos mockingly. ‘Your shoes are safe. You only have to follow a few more metres down this road.’
A little further ahead could be seen an enormous car: a black Audi. All four doors were open, and Sebas along with another two officers were endeavouring to find clues inside it. Carlos stopped a few metres away, took out a cigarette, and offered it to Natalia.
‘The car was covered in branches in a somewhat slapdash way. I don’t think the killer took too much time to hide it. There are no remains of blood or signs of a struggle.’
‘Is the place where they found the body very far away?’
‘It isn’t, actually. Come with me.’
Carlos left the road and went into the forest. Natalia stayed still for a few seconds, looking at the puddles and the mud covering the ground. She sighed and began walking after him without protest. He had told her a thousand times that she ought to keep a pair of wellington boots in the car for crime scenes, and she never remembered to do it. She had no desire to hear him repeat it yet again.
After about five minutes of walking through the trees, they reached a ravine. Carlos stopped on the edge and pointed out a steep little road that descended down to the bottom.
‘This is the Artxondoko quarry, where they found the body. It’s been abandoned for years.’ Carlos pointed to a narrow asphalted road that led to a few buildings that were in ruins. ‘There’s an easier entrance down through there, but I don’t think they would have used it. Given that the victim’s car is here, I think they went down the cliff-side path.’
‘It seems dangerous going down through here.’
‘Don’t be so sure. It’s no actually that bad. It’s wider and less steep than it looks. Sebas and I already went down it a short while ago and it’s fairly safe, even for going down carrying an unconscious person or a dead body.’
Natalia shook her head. It did not seem remotely safe to her. At any moment a piece of the sidewall could break away, and sweep along with it anything that happened to be passing along that route. Furthermore, if the murder had taken place at night, as she suspected, going down through there would have been genuine suicide. The sound of Sebas calling out for them to come back brought her out of her thoughts.
When they returned to the clearing where the car was, they saw that Sebas was carrying a black bin bag in his hand. He held it out to Carlos as soon as they reached his side.
‘What’s this?’
‘We think it’s the victim’s clothes,’ replied Sebas. ‘We found them in the boot. They don’t appear to have any tears or bloodstains, and they were perfectly folded.’
‘Are there shoes too?’ asked Natalia.
‘Yes, you can see them here.’ Sebas opened the bag a little so that she could take a look.
‘Then he didn’t undress her here. Carmen was wearing clothes when she went to the quarry and, after killing her, the murderer took them off her, carried out his ritual, carefully held onto the clothes, and brought them here.’
‘How do you know?’ asked Carlos.
‘There were no injuries to the victim’s feet. If she had had to go barefoot down that gravelly road, her feet would have been wrecked. This is a great clue...’
‘Are you sure? I don’t see how it could help us,’ commented Carlos.
‘All of these details tell us clearly about the killer’s personality. The way in which he folds the clothes and puts them away; the careful positioning in the crime scene... Don’t you see it? These things don’t speak to us of a murderer filled with rage or with a financial or emotional motive for killing.’ Carlos snorted, feeling jaded, before she could finish explaining. ‘It’s very clear: He is a serial killer.’
CHAPTER FOUR
Carlos was sitting down in his office, rereading the reports on both crime scenes. He had already gone over everything a thousand times, but there had to be something he could investigate. It was just impossible to believe that this man was so methodical that he had not left a single footprint, hair, or drop of blood... Yet there was nothing: it was as if the person who had committed those crimes was a ghost.
He was on the verge of giving up and going out to get a coffee when there were two knocks on the door. It opened, and Natalia appeared in the threshold.
‘Are you very busy?’
‘To tell the truth, I was getting really bored. Do you need me?’
Natalia smiled, closed the door behind her, walked up to the seat that Carlos was in, and sat down on his lap.
‘I always need you,’ she said to him, before planting a little kiss on the tip of his nose.
‘What are you doing, Miss Egaña?’ asked Carlos, feigning shock. ‘I thought you were always serious and professional...’
‘I’m tired of being serious,’ Natalia tilted her head to one side and began giving him gentle kisses on his neck.
‘Natalia, don’t be foolish, let me lock the door before we start anything in here.’
She let out a malicious laugh in his ear which made all of the hair on his body stand on end. Then she stood up, straightened out her skirt, and took him by the hands to help him to his feet.
‘Now we’re leaving? Why are you playing with me like this, woman?’
‘I was only joking. Aguirre wants to see us.’
‘And what could be more important than what we were about to do here?’ Carlos let Natalia pull him towards the door.
‘I believe the facial reconstruction anthropology specialist I requested is here.’
‘The what?’
‘We need to find out who the first victim in our case is. Since the face is so disfigured, I asked Aguirre to contact a specialist who’s already collaborated with the Ertzaintza on another case.’
‘But aren’t there machines that do that?’
‘Yes, but the waiting list is extremely long, and the result isn’t as good.’
‘Let Aguirre handle that,’ Carlos grumbled. He looked both ways along the corridor and, upon seeing that it was deserted, pushed Natalia against the wall and trapped her with his body. ‘Please, let’s go back into my office.’
‘We’re two officers of the law during work hours.’ In spite of her words, Natalia lowered her hand towards Carlos’s trousers and began playing with the buttons. ‘You need to learn how to behave yourself.’
In that moment, they heard a door opening at the end of the corridor. They jumped away from each other, trying to look as though nothing was going on. The door that had opened was Aguirre’s, and there was the sergeant, looking at them with an expression of confusion. He cleared his throat a couple of times before speaking.
‘What a coincidence! I was just about to go looking for you both. I’m glad you’ve deigned to come.’
Natalia started walking towards the office with her head bowed. She had blushed all the way up to her hairline. Carlos had to contain his laugh
ter upon seeing her so alarmed. He followed her towards Aguirre’s office, whilst he did up his coat in order to disguise the suspicious bump that had materialised in his trousers.
‘As I told you on the phone, we have the facial reconstruction specialist you both requested.’ Aguirre stepped away from the door a little to let them through. ‘Allow me to introduce you to Fernando Egaña, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Deusto.’
Natalia froze stock still in the doorway. Carlos poked his head around over her shoulder to find a tall man, with grey hair, and steely grey eyes, who was observing them with his head upright and his arms folded across his chest.
‘Good morning, Natalia,’ greeted the man. ‘Long time no see.’
‘Good morning, Dad,’ replied Natalia.
*****
For a few seconds, the silence filled the office. Everybody remained still, looking at each other, as if they were all deep-frozen. Fortunately, Aguirre cleared his throat again and moved towards his chair, indicating to the others with a gesture that they could all sit down:
‘So this is your father? I thought the surname was a coincidence,’ commented Aguirre as he took a seat. ‘Well, this way everything stays in the family.’
‘Yes, it will be great working together,’ said Natalia in a tone that caused the temperature of the room to go down by several degrees. ‘Didn’t I request that you got in contact with Laura Ugalde, a friend of Marta, the medical examiner?’
‘I tried to contact her, but she’s still in Burgos opening mass graves. Your father is a renowned anthropologist and has collaborated with the police on several occasions. Is there any problem?’
‘No, none at all,’ replied Natalia, giving a smile that was so subtle one almost had to imagine it.
‘Good. Given that you both already know each other, allow me to introduce you to the other person in charge of the investigation. This is Carlos Vega, homicide inspector...’
‘And my fiancé,’ interrupted Natalia.
Dr Egaña riveted his cold eyes on him with such intensity it was as if he wanted to kill him with that look. Carlos smiled uncomfortably, whilst trying to come up with any excuse he could to leave that room as soon as possible.
‘Pleasure to meet you,’ he managed to say, in spite of the lump that had formed in his throat.
‘Let’s leave the formalities and move on to what’s important,’ said Natalia, coming to his aid. ‘How long do you think it’ll take you to have the work finished?’
‘No more than two or three days. We know the victim’s race, approximate age, and weight,’ answered Natalia’s father, with his hands folded on top of the table and his gaze lost on infinity, as if he were speaking to himself. ‘It’s really only the skin that is damaged, so the reconstruction will be far easier than the cases in which we only have the skull.’
‘Perfect. Then we’ll leave you to your work, so that you can finish as soon as possible and carry on with your life,’ said Natalia, before turning back to Aguirre. ‘Do you need anything else?’
‘No, nothing.’ Aguirre’s was running his eyes confusedly between the three of them. ‘You may all leave.’
Natalia got up out of her seat and headed towards the door. Carlos was about to follow her, but her father was faster and slipped in just behind her. When Carlos stepped out, Natalia’s father had her by the arm. The looks in their eyes were so cold that Carlos imagined that anything that happened to get caught between them would become immediately frozen and break into a million pieces. He had no intention of being the one to put himself in the middle.
‘Natalia, listen to me for a moment, please...’
‘I have nothing to discuss with you. I’ve got along very well all these years without you, and I have no intention of changing that.’
‘Do you seriously believe you’re getting along that well? Working in this dump, and engaged to a two-bit policeman?’
‘Hey, a bit of respect, eh? I’m right here.’
‘Don’t you get involved, Carlos,’ Natalia ordered him. ‘This is my business.’
Carlos nodded and, without saying a single word more, returned to his office. He personally thought that the whole matter was his business, given that he was the one who had just been insulted, but in all honesty he was very grateful to be able to escape such an uncomfortable situation.
A couple of minutes later, the door to his office opened. Natalia came in with her head down, not saying a word. Carlos put his arms around her and waited for her to speak.
‘Why has he had to come back into my life?’ asked Natalia, whilst a tear trickled down her cheek. ‘Why does he have to show up and make me doubt everything I’ve achieved?’
Carlos hugged her even tighter, feeling the fear taking control of his gut. He was the first person to think that he was not good enough for Natalia, and that any day she would realise it. He hoped that her father did not still have enough influence over her to make that day come any sooner than it had to.
CHAPTER FIVE
Once Natalia had calmed down and returned to her post, Carlos decided that it was a good time to carry on with the case and do a bit of fieldwork. In reality, he was suffocating in there and fancied being somewhere else in order to keep his mind far away from all of those thoughts that were making him consider that Natalia deserved to be with someone better than him.
He spent a few minutes re-examining the case reports, picked up his coat, and left the office. He was already on the verge of reaching the lift when he remembered that he had a partner, and that it would be advisable that he included him in the investigation if he did not want to have any trouble with Aguirre.
He went to look for him at his office, but he was not there, so he carried on down the corridor towards the coffee machine. Sebas was there, with his back to him, chatting animatedly with two colleagues:
‘How do you know when the coffee’s going to be ready?’ asked Sebas. ‘Sooner or latte.’
‘Bloody hell, Sebas... That’s the worst joke I’ve ever heard.’
‘It’s not bad, man. Okay, here’s another one. Do you know why I like submariners?’ Sebas waited a few seconds in order to create expectation. ‘Because they’re good people deep down. You get it? Deep down, submariners... My God, guys, you’ve got no sense of humour.’
‘The problem is that you’re not flaming funny,’ intervened Carlos. ‘Now, since you’re not going to be able to earn a living down at the Comedy Club, will you come with me to some questionings?’
Sebas’s smile disappeared instantaneously. He lowered his head, said goodbye to his colleagues, and followed Carlos as if he were a criminal walking the green mile. Carlos was surprised by such a change in attitude. He had just seen that Sebas was an amenable guy, with a sense of humour, enough self-confidence to tell those awful jokes... Why did he not behave that way around him?’
When they arrived at the car, Carlos waited for Sebas to put on his seatbelt. Once he was sure that the young man would not be able to escape easily, he sprung his question on him.
‘Can I ask you why you behave this way around me?’
‘How do you mean? Have I done something to bother you?’ Sebas’s eyes grew large in an expression of panic.
‘You’ve not done anything. Calm down, nothing’s going to happen to you.’ Carlos leant back in his seat, in order to leave the most amount of space possible between their bodies and for the young man to relax. ‘I’ve simply just seen how you behave around other people. You talk, you joke... When you’re with me, you’re not like that. You’re always nervous and insecure. Is there something about me?’
‘Well, I’ve heard things at headquarters...’
‘What things?’
‘They say you broke the nose of Adrian Álvarez, your last partner. And it’s rumoured that you also had a problem with Roberto Azkarraga, your partner before that.’
‘Yes, I broke his nose too, but Roberto didn’t say anything because he knew I had more than enough reasons for doin
g so. Is that what’s worrying you? You think that at any moment I’m going to give you a whopping great big punch?’
‘Well, it’s not that, but I do try not to cause problems...’
‘Don’t let it get to you, man. I’m not a monster or a madman. As long as you don’t try to steal my girlfriend from me or leave me in the hands of a psychopathic murderer, you’re safe.’
Sebas nodded and gave a timid smile. Carlos clucked his tongue whilst shaking his head, and he started up the car. He could not do any more to make Sebas stop feeling afraid. He would get over it in time.
‘Where are we going?’ asked Sebas in the faintest possible voice after several minutes had gone by.
‘I’ve been given the list of charges that were made to the credit card belonging to Carmen Ortega, the second victim in the case. Just like they told me at her place of work, there’s no ticket to Barcelona, but what I have found is a reservation for a room at a nearby motel.’
‘What’s the name of this motel?’
‘Hotel Cupid. It doesn’t sound like the kind of name for a hotel where you’d have a work meeting, does it?’
‘No. Give me a minute, I’m going to search for the information online.’ Sebas began typing on his mobile phone. ‘As I suspected: it’s a love motel.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Carlos.
‘They’re hotels for the purpose of having sexual encounters. You can hire a room by the hour, and they promise total discretion. Look what they’re offering: “All bedrooms have climate-control, adjustable lighting, remote-controlled tilting mirrors, adult television channels, sensual music... Our staff will bring whatever you desire to your bedroom door, always protective of your intimacy: food, high quality beverages, erotic kits and accessories by top brands in order for you to enjoy to the fullest ...’
The White Corpses Page 3