The White Corpses

by Gemma Herrero Virto

  ‘Yes. And we’re precisely looking for a killer who could be basing himself on it in order to commit his crimes. That’s why you have to read it: to stop him.’

  ‘Even if I admitted you were right about that, which I’m not going to, do you know what you’re asking of me? They’re three whole books. Pages and pages and pages. Is it that you have absolutely no lead about where the thing you’re looking for is?’

  ‘No. I thought about it, but the killer has not left any verse numbers.’

  ‘Are you sure? Did you take a good look?’

  ‘Natalia folded her arms across her chest and shot him a look of incredulity as she shook her head.

  ‘Are you really asking me that? I’ve looked at them inside and out. I’m a medical examiner. Remember? Nobody has looked at those women with as much intensity and care as I have in their whole lives.’

  ‘Okay, okay... Don’t get offended. It’s just that it seems strange to me that the killer would have left the abbreviations of the books as a kind of message, but not left any numbers anywhere that would indicate what the hell it is he wants to tell us.’

  ‘Any numbers... Wait...’ Natalia ran to the table on which she had left the post-mortem reports. ‘How stupid! Of course! Here it is!’

  ‘Could you stop creating suspense, and bring me back into the conversation?’ Gus interrupted her, feeling annoyed.

  Natalia selected several pieces of paper and returned to Gus’s side with them in her hands. She spread them out on the table so that he could see them. They were three photographs of the victims’ left forearms.

  ‘Each one of the victims was wearing a watch that the killer had put on them. They were stopped watches that showed a set time. Up until now I hadn’t realised what they meant.’

  ‘They’re the verse numbers,’ said Gus in astonishment.

  ‘Yes. It’s amazing, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes: most of all because I’m no longer going to have to read those bloody books. I adore you right now,’ Gus set his hands on the keyboard, to start searching for the information. ‘If we find anything important, you ought to call Carlos. He’ll be glad to know we’re making headway.’

  *****

  Natalia’s father messed around for a bit, and then pulled away. Carlos followed him to the main road. They started driving out of Bilbao. He remembered that Natalia had told him once that her father lived in Plencia, which entailed almost half an hour of continuing to grow ever more nervous, and thinking about what he would say to him. After leaving Algorta behind, the road worsened and became a single carriageway in each direction, badly surfaced and full of curves, and which started going in between mountains, and revealing meadows, isolated hamlets and, every now and again, the lights of some city.

  At last they arrived at the Plencia estuary. The Audi followed the road, leaving the port behind, before arriving at an impressive detached house surrounded by immense gardens. Carlos shook his head as he parked. He was certain that he would have to have a lifelong mortgage just to pay for the front door of somewhere like that. Was this where Natalia had grown up?

  The door opened and a uniformed man waited to receive them. Just what he needed. A butler. And he was considerably better dressed than him. After giving him his coat, he went into the house, following Natalia’s father, who led him to a library. Carlos stood still in the doorway for a few seconds, admiring the dark shelves filled with leather-bound books, the heavy curtains, the rug, which was so thick and luxurious that it made him feel embarrassed to step on it...

  Natalia’s father did not seem to have sensed his discomfort. He walked at a dignified pace to one corner of the room and poured two whiskies.

  ‘I hope you don’t tell me you like whisky with ice,’ he said to him as he handed him one of the glasses. ‘It would be a sin to water down a Macallan.’

  Carlos limited himself to smiling, accepted the glass, and took the first sip. The strong liquor went down his throat and settled comfortably in his stomach, starting up a little campfire that made him feel better. Natalia’s father sat down in a leather armchair and indicated towards the other chair opposite, for him to do the same. Carlos sat down and, for a few seconds, enjoyed the silence of the whisky and the welcoming fire coming from the fireplace. Nevertheless, as soon as he switched his gaze from the dance of the flames and focussed them on they eyes of Natalia’s father, he felt all the heat vanish in a second.

  ‘Well, now that we are comfortable, you can tell me what you wanted to talk about,’ he said, to break that uncomfortable silence. ‘I’m all ears.’

  ‘As I told you, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I insulted you by offering you money to leave my daughter, and I want to apologise for it.’ When Carlos nodded, he continued speaking. ‘I didn’t think your feelings for my daughter could be so intense and sincere.’

  ‘Well they are. There’s no money in the world that can pay for what I feel for her.’

  ‘I know that now. And I also know that you are an upright and honest man. I misjudged you, and I ask your forgiveness.’

  Carlos smiled, leaned even further back in the chair and took another sip of his drink. In the end Natalia’s father was not going to be as rigid and inflexible as she said. He was already imagining going to eat there every Sunday and enjoying that whisky.

  ‘That is why today I am going to appeal to your integrity and your honesty. Think for a moment about what I am going to tell you, and be honest with yourself. Do you really think that somebody like yourself could make Natalia happy?’

  Those words caught him by surprise so much that he did not know how to react straight away. Natalia’s father indicated with a hand gesture for him not to answer yet, put his glass down on a low table, and got up to walk to the picture window, which showcased a spectacular panorama of the beach.

  ‘Natalia grew up in this house. From an early age, she was surrounded by all the luxuries and comforts: the best dresses, the most expensive toys, the most select schools, ballet classes, horse riding, piano...’ The man seemed lost in his memories, as if talking to himself. ‘There was nothing I denied her, nothing that was too much for her. I spent her first twenty years educating a princess. And you know something? Princesses marry princes, not guys like you.’

  Carlos put his glass on the table with a loud bang and got up out of the chair. Natalia’s father was not perturbed. He did not even deign to turn around.

  ‘You are insulting me all over again and I have no reason to tolerate this.’

  ‘I am not insulting you. I am merely opening your eyes. Natalia was brought up to live in luxury, to travel to Paris at the weekends, to go shopping in the best boutiques of Rome, to enjoy the theatre, the ballet, the opera... Do either of you do any of that?’

  ‘No, but she doesn’t need that to be happy.’

  ‘Perhaps she doesn’t need it now. Perhaps she could even manage to pretend that she doesn’t need it for a couple of years, but she is a sensitive and refined soul.’ The man turned at last and looked Carlos up and down with contempt before he continued to speak. ‘How long do you think a flower can live surrounded by sludge?’

  ‘You don’t have any power over her anymore. Natalia loves me, and has decided to marry me.’

  ‘That is why it is not her I am saying all of these things to, but to you. She doesn’t want to see it. I even think that marrying you is a new way of defying me, so I would never be able to convince her not to do it. That is why I trust that you will do it.’

  ‘You’re mad if you think I’m going to convince Natalia to leave me. Why would I go and do something stupid like that?’

  ‘I have already told you that I consider you to be an upright and honest man. Now you are furious and you can’t think clearly, but I’m confident that, as soon as you think objectively about it, you will realise that, if she marries you, my daughter will be miserable. What kind of life can you give her? It’s been almost twenty years and you’re only a police inspector who will never be promoted.�
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  ‘I think we’ve spoken enough now. It’s Natalia’s decision, and neither you nor I have anything to say about that. If she believes she can be happy, I will do everything in my power to achieve that.’

  Carlos turned towards the door, closing his fists so tightly that he drove his fingernails into his palms until it hurt. He had to manage to make it to the door and get out of there before he lost control and threw a couple of punches at that arrogant man’s face. No matter how badly Natalia got on with her father, he was not sure she was going to agree with him beating him. Before he could leave the library, the other man’s voice stopped him again.

  ‘Do you know that Natalia always dreamt of a princess’s wedding? A beautiful white dress, with a train several metres long. A packed church, with flowers everywhere, and banquet with hundreds of guests. Is that how you are both planning your wedding? Or will you be getting married in a filthy registry office and go for out a burger at Burger King?’

  Carlos stood frozen in the doorway. Those words had so much truth to them, and were so hurtful... He took a breath and exhaled hard, trying to clear out all of his rage, and carried on walking. He could still hear his last words as he made his way down the hall.

  ‘Doing everything in your power may not be sufficient. She is not for you. You don’t deserve her. Accept it.’

  The butler was already waiting at the door with his coat. Carlos tore it from his hands and went down the steps, taking long strides. Without looking back once, he got into his car, pulled away, and hit the road burning rubber. He was feeling so restless and filled with anger that his hands were shaking. Once he had driven a little over a kilometre, he parked and searched around for a cigarette in his coat pockets. He found an envelope that did not belong to him. It only showed two words: Carlos Vega. He opened it and took out a letter. Even the paper was good. It was thick and sepia in colour, and weighed more than normal sheets. He unfolded it and read the contents:

  Dear Mr Vega:

  I beg you not to take this gift as a way of trying to buy you, but rather as a compensatory measure for the trouble caused. I know that you will make the right decision.

  Yours sincerely,

  Fernando Egaña

  A cheque for thirty thousand euros accompanied the note. Carlos turned the car engine back on, ready to go back to the house and make that conceited idiot eat it in little pieces, Natalia’s father or not, but the vibration of his phone stopped him. He breathed several times in order to try and sound calm before he answered it.

  ‘Hello. What do you want?’

  ‘Are you at headquarters?’ asked Natalia.

  ‘No. To tell the truth, I’m a bit of a way away...’

  ‘Well, get here as soon as you can. Gus and I think we’ve found something important.’

  Carlos hesitated for a few seconds. He could not tell Natalia that he was going to be late because first he had to go and beat up her father. That would have to wait.

  ‘I’m on my way. I’ll be at headquarters in half an hour.’

  CHAPTER TEN

  Natalia got up from her seat upon seeing Carlos entering the room. In spite of the fact that he was covered in dried up mud, she went over to him and gave him a kiss in welcome. He responded briefly to her kiss and gave her a half smile.

  ‘Hi. Where were you? You’re quite a sight.’

  ‘I was in the surrounding areas of the quarry. We’ve been searching for the latest victim’s car, but, apart from working our backsides off and catching a case of pneumonia, we’ve not got anything.’ Carlos made his way towards the table they were working at and flumped down into a nearby chair, feeling exhausted. ‘What is this thing you’ve found that’s so important?’

  ‘Do you remember that the victims had some letters written on the masks?’ asked Natalia.

  ‘Yes, we thought they were their initials, but the letters for Andrea don’t fit,’ he answered.

  ‘That’s because they’re not initials. They’re abbreviations of books in the Bible.’

  ‘Damn, so our murderer is a religious nut.’

  ‘Not only that: wait, there’s more,’ intervened Gus. ‘You know how the victims were wearing a stopped watch? Well we’ve discovered that the time on it points to the specific verse that conveys the message the killer wants to send to the world. Look: Andrea was wearing the letters “Ex” on her mask, and her watch said eight and fourteen. If you type into Google “Ex 20:14”, this is what you will find: “You shall not commit adultery”.’

  ‘And how do you know it’s 20:14 and not 8:14?’ asked Carlos.

  ‘Because if you type in Ex 8:14, you get this,’ Gus carried out the search and showed him the result. ‘ “And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.” The other one makes more sense, and coincides with the messages of the other victims.’

  ‘All right,’ said Carlos, agreeing. ‘Show me the other two.’

  ‘This is Carmen’s message. “1 Cor” is the first book of the Corinthians. If we type in “1 Cor 6:9”, this is what we find: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality”.’

  ‘Wow, that greatly broadens his range of victims, just in case he runs out of adulterers,’ commented Carlos.

  ‘Yes, well now you’ll see his latest message,’ intervened Natalia.

  ‘On the latest victim we found the letters “Lv”, which correspond do Leviticus.’ Gus went back to typing. ‘If we search “Lv 20:10”, here is what the killer wants to tell us: “If anyone commits adultery with the wife of his neighbour, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”’

  ‘In other words, it’s possible he’ll start killing men in the days to come?’

  ‘Maybe... Or it could be that he already has done,’ suggested Natalia.

  ‘What do you mean? We haven’t found a single man murdered in that way.’

  ‘We still don’t really understand his motives, his way of thinking, or the significance of his rituals. Maybe his disorder makes him see women as beings who need to be saved from their sin. That could be an explanation for why he washes their bodies with such care and covers them in white, which is the colour of purity. Maybe he doesn’t think that the men deserve the same treatment, and limits himself to just killing them.’

  ‘So then I have to set to work on checking all the unresolved murders of men over the last few years? Is that what you’re suggesting?’

  ‘Well, I’m not the person to tell you how you ought to do your job, but I would begin with those who have been strangled with a cord,’ responded Natalia.

  ‘And why is that?’ asked Gus.

  ‘Every killer has a modus operandi when it comes to killing, and they don’t tend to change it. It’s very difficult for a murderer who kills with poison to suddenly get involved with firing bullets,’ explained Carlos.

  ‘Exactly,’ confirmed Natalia. ‘That’s why we should search for men who have been strangled with a cord and whose murder has not been solved.’

  ‘Would it be possible to find traces of the drug the killer uses on those bodies?’ asked Carlos.

  ‘No: no drug lasts much time in the organism. In living people, you can find remains of drugs in urine and blood up to thirty days after their consumption, and up to ninety in their hair, but I don’t think anything could be found if we were to exhume an old body.’

  ‘Damn, what a shame,’ commented Carlos. ‘Well, I’ll set to it. If the killer doesn’t take as much care when it comes to murdering men, maybe we’ll get a lead on those crimes. Have you discovered anything else?’

  ‘It’s not a discovery, but rather a hypothesis,’ said Natalia. ‘If our killer loathes adultery so much, we can imagine that he has a personal reason for doing so, which is to say, that he had a bad past experience, which is what now compels him to kill.’

  ‘So are you suggesting that his wif
e cheated on him and that, therefore, we should rule out any suspects who are single?’ asked Carlos.

  ‘And any who are divorced,’ she replied. ‘If he is as religious as he seems, he would never have divorced.’

  ‘That leaves us with those who are married, and widowers.’

  ‘Yes, especially those who are widowers due to “unnatural causes”.’

  ‘Do you think he began by killing his wife?’ intervened Gus.

  ‘Serial killers usually have a first victim, who is the origin of everything. Furthermore, now that he has begun to kill, it seems he can’t stop. If we imagine that he killed his wife years ago, that would have to make us wonder why he’s started now, having gone so long without doing anything.’

  ‘Do you have an answer to that, or do you just want to drive us crazy?’

  ‘I think I have a possible answer: that this man discovered that his wife cheated on him; he killed her, and got caught. He’s spent the last few years in prison, ruminating on his rage and his urge to kill, and planning this highly elaborate ritual. Now that he is free, he can’t stop himself.’

  ‘Well, not to worry, because that’s what we’re here for,’ joked Carlos. ‘That means I’m going to have to check all the murder by domestic violence cases over the last two decades, right?’

  ‘I’m very much afraid so.’

  ‘I really do appreciate your hypotheses, but each one of them gives me hours and hours of work.’

  ‘Gus can help you,’ she suggested. ‘You could both start tomorrow.’

  ‘I can’t tomorrow,’ answered Gus. ‘I have to go and buy clothes for a date with Lorena, and you have to come with me.’

  ‘Why me?’ asked Natalia.

  ‘Because I don’t have a clue what to buy. We’re going to be going to Algorta, to the marina, and she’s going to introduce me to her friends.’

  ‘You’re more smitten with that girl than I thought,’ joked Carlos. ‘You’ve only gone out with her once, and she already has you wrapped around her little finger.’