‘Yes, I know that...’
‘No. You know it on a theoretical level, but inside you you’re still thinking that thing about “they were asking for it”. I need you to have it very clear in your mind who is the one responsible in all of this, because we’re the ones who’re going to be in charge of searching for him and putting him behind bars. And if you’re going to excuse it, you’re not the suitable person to be leading this case.’
Natalia lowered her gaze and remained silent. She did not like to admit Carlos was right about anything, but she had to acknowledge that on this occasion he was. The fact that she had been brought up differently and could not imagine herself meeting with a stranger in order to have sexual relations did not give her the right to judge those women. She limited herself to nodding, feeling embarrassed. Fortunately, Gus decided to intervene in the conversation and take the heat off her.
‘Well, I’ve found something that I’m sure you’re going to love. This Azkar, thank God, has sent photos of other parts of his anatomy besides his penis.’ Gus performed several clicks of his tongue, and a photo appeared on the screen. ‘This is the face of our suspect.’
‘He’s fairly attractive and has a good boy face,’ commented Natalia.
‘Yes, to tell the truth he is attractive,’ admitted Gus, shrugging his shoulders. ‘With that smile, nobody would say he devoted himself to killing women.’
‘Would you be able to send me the photo and all the details by email?’ asked Carlos. ‘We’ll compare it with the photos of any sexual criminals on our files, to see if there’s any luck there.’
‘Of course,’ Gus typed into the keyboard for a few seconds. ‘There you have it. And what if he isn’t on file?’
‘I’ll have to talk with Aguirre. Perhaps we should pass the photo onto the press in order to ask for public cooperation. Someone must know this guy.’
‘Have you got anything on Carmen’s computer?’ asked Natalia.
‘No. I still haven’t uncovered the password, but I hope it won’t take much longer. As soon as I can get in, I’ll let you know.’
‘Good work, my boy,’ Carlos said to him, giving him a couple of pats on the back. ‘With any luck, we’ll have that son of a bitch behind bars before the end of the week.’
*****
She should never have looked at his phone. Through the tears, Estefanía repeated that sentence over and over again whilst she waited for her computer to boot up. She should never have looked at his phone. It was one thing to suspect that Sergio was no longer interested in her; that he no longer found her attractive; that perhaps he was being unfaithful on all of those weekend conferences, and another thing to see it with her own eyes... All of those photos, all of those bawdy conversations, all of those allusions to past nights of pleasure, all of those women... She should never have looked at his phone. Letting out a gasp, she hid her face in her hands, trying to expel all of that rage and sorrow.
After a few minutes she realised that she would never get over it. The trust had been forever broken, and there was no going back now. She would never be able to forgive Sergio for what he had done to her. She would give herself a few hours or days to contemplate her decision and to calm down, and then she would tell him that their marriage was over. But before that, she had something else to do: something that would serve to rebuild the pieces of her self-esteem. She needed to retaliate, to hurt him in the same way that he was hurting her.
She opened up the browser and typed in “Websites for finding a partner”. The screen filled with results. She chose one of the first ones almost by chance. Quicklove. That’s what she needed. Something fast, before she had a chance regret it, before the feelings she still continued to have for her husband stopped her.
She began filling out the registration page, cursing all of those questions. Age, residence, hobbies, likes... By the time she managed to fill out the whole questionnaire, her confidence had already begun to dissipate. What if all of this was no use? Why would she think that any one of the men on that site was going to be interested in her? Sergio was sleeping beside her, and had not felt the least bit of interest for her in months now. Whilst she was suffering to hear any loving word from him again, to be caressed again, to feel desired, he was looking for any other woman than her. And what if the problem was with her? What if she was no longer desirable to any man?
The beeping sound of an incoming message brought her out of that vortex of negative thoughts. Someone had taken interest in her profile. And in less than five minutes! She clicked on the envelope icon that was blinking on the screen and a message opened up. On it appeared the photo of a young and attractive man, with dark hair and incredible black eyes. She read the message whilst a smile began to faintly appear on her face, banishing all of her tears into oblivion:
Hello, I’m Azkar. I liked the smile in your profile so much that I don’t know whether I’ll be able to withstand seeing it in real life.
*****
After dropping Gus off at his home, Carlos started up the car again. Natalia was beside him, in the passenger seat. She had been very quiet throughout the entire journey to Sestao, and it seemed she was going to continue in that way. When Carlos was on the verge of turning on the radio to break that uncomfortable silence, she began to speak:
‘You know something? I’ve been thinking about what you told me before...’
‘About what? I’ve said a lot of rubbish by the time the end of the day rolls around.’
‘This wasn’t rubbish. I think you could be right when you say I’m not going to be able to lead the investigation on the deaths of those women.’
‘Wow, now you’re the one talking rubbish,’ he joked.
‘I’m being serious. I go around like I’m a modern and feminist woman, but, without realising it, I’m full of prejudice. I don’t know whether that could be due to all those years I spent in a convent school, or because of such a strict upbringing that my father gave me, or because I have never been too sociable and have never gone out to have drinks and to flirt, but I find it incredibly difficult to put myself in those women’s shoes without judging them.’
‘Don’t worry. That’s what I’m here for: to hold back your chauvinist and hetero-patriarchal mind.’
‘Do you want to talk seriously for a moment? This really bothers me.’ She puffed out, feeling offended. ‘How am I going to see this case in an objective way; how am I going to create a profile of the killer; how am I going to find out his motivations and patterns of behaviour, if I’m busy judging the victims; if I’m not capable of understanding them?’
‘Natalia, you’re the most professional person I know. You’ll do a good job. Besides, you have me to help you.’
‘Can you help me to understand a person who only looks for sex in a relationship?’
Natalia waited a few seconds, but no reply came from the other seat. She turned towards Carlos, who was pretending to be highly focussed on driving, whilst trying to contain a little grin.
‘Seriously? I can’t believe it...’
‘Natalia, please. Are you going to be shocked now? I got divorced seven years ago, and have gone five without a single stable relationship. Did you think I’d been holed up in my home like a Carmelite monk?’
‘And did you sleep with a lot of women?’
The car became plunged into silence once more. After a few seconds had gone by, Carlos diverted his gaze from the road and looked at her as he shook his head.
‘Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to.’
Natalia opened her mouth to respond, but she closed it back up again without saying anything. Maybe he was right. What use would it be to her knowing whether he had gone to bed with ten, twenty, or fifty women? There was no sense in obtaining a piece of information that would only serve for her to torture herself with. She leant back in the seat, sighed, and tried to settle the conversation.
‘All right. Then every time I have a question about loveless sex, I’ll consult
my expert.’
‘Well ask soon. I’m losing my wisdom on that topic.’
‘How so?’
‘Ever since I met you, I see less sense in it.’
CHAPTER FOUR
It was almost twelve noon, now. Carlos got up out of his seat, picked up the jacket that he had left carefully hung behind the door, and left in the direction of the bathroom. He needed to check that his hair was still in place, and to find the microscopic point of balance that would allow him to appear both elegant and yet still be able to breathe at the same time with that blasted tie.
Once he had deemed his appearance to be more or less acceptable, he made his way to Aguirre’s office. The latter seemed to detect his presence, because he opened the door just before Carlos could knock on it.
‘Carlos, you’re here. I’m pleased at not having to go and fetch you.’
‘With all due respect, Aguirre... Is it really necessary for me to be present? I hate these damn press conferences.’
‘I hate them too, and you already know what they say: a problem shared is a problem halved.’ Aguirre gave him a slap of encouragement on the back. ‘Besides, it was your idea to summon the media to give them the photo of this Azkar guy.’
‘I’d love to not have to do it, but we don’t have that guy on our files. We need public cooperation.’
‘Well then, you’ll have to come with me,’ said Aguirre with a half smile.
‘But if you’re the only one who’s going to be talking... I don’t know where I fit in there, dressed like a right sight and stiff as a board.’
‘I want you there for in case I have to ask you something about the investigation. And don’t worry; you don’t look like a right sight. In fact, you’re so elegant that, when I saw you, I almost didn’t recognise you.’
‘Natalia said the same thing, but this crappy suit pinches, and the tie’s suffocating me,’ replied Carlos, trying to loosen the knot a little more.
‘Come on, it’ll be over soon. Let’s get a move on. It’s not good keeping our guests waiting.’
*****
Gus tossed another peanut in the air, and missed once again. It was impossible for a person to catch one in their mouth. He had made more than fifty attempts, and had not managed to get a single one. The only thing he had been successful in doing was messing up the whole floor. He would have to tidy up a bit before Natalia got back.
He took his feet off the table and sat up straight in the chair. After knocking back a swig from his umpteenth can of Coca-Cola that morning, he took a look at the two laptops he had open in front of him. He didn’t know what else to do by this point. He had checked Andrea’s computer from top to bottom several times, and there was nothing more to search now. In the case of Carmen’s, the program he had installed in order to be able to find her password was still working, without success.
He stood up and strolled around the room. He was more bored than a monkey in a cage, but, as they were paying him, he would have to carry on there until Carlos and Natalia found some line of investigation in which he could be useful to them. He hoped they would not take long. He was almost beginning to miss Charon’s chat threads. At least in that case, he had always had something to do.
Suddenly, as if heaven had responded to his prayers, he heard a beep coming from Carmen’s computer. He quickly walked over to it and sat down, as an enormous smile illuminated his face. There it was: the darn password at last. C3a1R18m13E5n14. He looked at it for a few minutes, trying to analyse it. It was a simple combination of the letters of the woman’s name, alternating capitals and lower case, along with the number of the position they took in the alphabet. Complex enough for it not to be guessed, and simple enough to go back and work out if you forgot it.
He typed the password into the computer and opened the browser. There it was: Quicklove, the same site that Andrea had used. He opened the site and put in the password to gain access, praying that Carmen had not chosen a different one. Luckily, the page opened and showed him the list of contacts. There was Azkar, just as he had hoped.
He clicked on his name to see his profile information, and felt his blood run cold. She had been involved with him. He grabbed his mobile and, at full speed, dialled Carlos’s number.
*****
The first few notes of Hoochie Coochie Man interrupted the press conference. Aguirre paused in his speech and turned towards Carlos, to give him a lethal stare. The latter smiled by way of apology and took the phone out of his jacket pocket. It was Gus. What would that pain in the neck want now? Surely calling him because he had nothing to do and was bored. He rejected the call and turned off the mobile. Aguirre stopped looking at him as if taken by the urge to kill him, turned back towards the journalists, and continued speaking.
A few minutes later, when the journalists realised that, no matter how many questions they asked, they were only going to receive answers in the style of “That forms part of the investigation and we cannot tell you anything for the time being. We will inform you as soon as possible,” the pressroom was left empty. Aguirre turned back to face Carlos:
‘Has no one ever told you that you have to turn off your phone when you’re in an important meeting?’
‘I’m sorry. I forgot,’ Carlos smiled apologetically. ‘Anyway, it didn’t go so badly, did it? Now we just have to wait for someone to recognise that man and let us know.’
‘Yes. If everything goes well, perhaps we could catch him in a matter of hours.’
Aguirre gave him a couple of pats on the back by way of goodbye and went away to his office. Carlos decided to go for a coffee at the machine. Along the way, he took off the jacket and tie and untucked the shirt from his trousers, not caring if the shirt tails were wrinkled. Then he undid the first button on his shirt and managed to breath normally. He could not help a smile of satisfaction. Now he was a little more himself, even though he was dying to get home and swap those formal trousers for his everyday jeans.
Whilst he was waiting for the machine to prepare his coffee, he took out his mobile and turned it back on again. As soon as it was ready, it received a new call from Gus.
‘What do you want, you tiresome person?’
‘What the hell do you think I want? To talk to you, damn it. I don’t understand why every time I call you I have to insist so many times. If I’m calling you, it’ll be because it’s something important, won’t it? Bloody hell, you both go and hire me to work for you, and then, whenever I have something to tell you, there’s no way for me to contact you. Why did you hire me if you don’t want to listen to me?’
‘Come on, stop, stop, you’re already going off on one. And besides, the one who hired you was Natalia. Speaking for myself, I’d never have come up with anything like it in my life.’
‘That’s why Natalia’s the intelligent one of the group... Anyway, listen to me, because I haven’t called you just to argue with you. I’ve managed to get into Carmen’s computer.’
‘It’s about time. It’s taken you ages.’
‘How easy it is speaking from ignorance! You’d never have been able to get into it in a thousand years, not even if your life depended on it. It makes no difference. I called you because I’ve found something important.’
‘What? Have you been able to verify that she was also speaking with Azkar?’
‘Yes..., but not exactly with the “same” Azkar that was speaking with Andrea.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘That the profile photo is different. It belongs to another guy who doesn’t look one iota like the first.’
‘So?’
‘Well, I suspect that both photos are false. I imagine that he’ll have nicked them from random Facebook profiles. That’s why I was calling you, because you’d told me that this morning you were going to be carrying out a press conference in order to issue the suspect’s photo. I think it’ll be better if you cancel it.’
‘Too late. The press conference has already finished.’ Carlos puffed out, feeling furious
. ‘Shit, God damn it... You couldn’t have called me five minutes earlier?’
‘I did call you five minutes earlier, and you hung up on me.’
‘Okay, leave it. I’ll be waiting for you at the door to Aguirre’s office.’
‘I have no intention of going.’
‘Yes, you’re going to come. He’s going to give us the telling off of the century, and I have no intention of taking it all on my own.’
*****
‘I can’t believe you could be such bunglers,’ shouted Aguirre, whilst he paced across his office in large strides. ‘Did it not occur to either of you for a second that the photo could be false?’
‘Well, you also thought it was a good idea to put it out there,’ Carlos tried to excuse himself.
‘It seemed like a good idea to me because you both said that it was a good idea. How did it not occur to us, even if only for a second, that it’s not exactly normal for murderers to share their real photos?’
‘He didn’t know that we were going to find that photo,’ said Gus, in a faint voice. ‘There are murderers who’ve been caught because of similar stupid things.’
‘Well, then this one is cleverer than you were expecting.’ Aguirre returned to his side of the desk, rested both hands on the surface of it, and leaned towards them threateningly. ‘Bear it in mind from now on.’
‘We will,’ replied Carlos, avoiding his gaze.
‘Now we’re going to have to call all of the media so they don’t release the photo, even though many of them will have done so already.’ The redness in Aguirre’s face began increasing in intensity once more. ‘Do you know how the force is going to end up coming out of this? We’re going to look like herd of bloody morons!’
‘It’s not that bad. Everyone gets it wrong sometimes.’ Carlos tried to reassure him.
The White Corpses Page 9