The White Corpses

by Gemma Herrero Virto

  As if responding to her pleas, Carlos breathed harder, with a single deep inhalation. Natalia thought that he was coming round, and leant towards him. She felt panic overwhelm her entire body. He was not breathing, he was no longer breathing. She placed her fingers on his neck and searched for his pulse, but was unable to find it.

  ‘God damn it,’ she cried out, in desperation. ‘I told you not to die. Don’t you dare leave me on my own.’

  In a single pull, she undid his shirt from top to bottom. A few buttons shot off and rattled on the cement floor. Natalia got to her knees beside him and leant over his mouth in order to forcefully breathe life into him. Then she began to compress his chest whilst repeating over and over again to him not to die.

  She was not aware of how long she spent trying to keep him alive. All she knew was that her arms were hurting her more and more, that she was feeling exhausted, and that her face was covered in tears. She did not care about any of that. She would continue trying to save him, however long it took.

  She had leant over Carlos to perform the next two breaths, when she heard the front door open violently. The footsteps of many people echoed along the hallway. She put her mouth to Carlos’s to provide him with the air he needed and, as she went back to compressing his chest, she began to shout out for help.

  *****

  Gus heard some loud noises at the door, and forced himself to open his eyes. He was surprised to see that the entire bathroom floor was coloured red. He had lost an incredible amount of blood. He was not going to get out of this alive. He thought that it was very sad to end up dying on a toilet floor because of having been attacked by a dog. It was not a very heroic death. Besides, that damn dog was striking the door with ever increasing vigour. If he carried on like that, he would tear it down in just a few more attempts, come in, and finish his work. He tried to find the strength within himself to fight, to search for a way out, but there was nothing. It was all over.

  He heard another bang, and the door opened with such force that it ricocheted off the wall. Instead of the bloodthirsty beast he was expecting to find, Gus saw two men dressed in uniform who descended quickly upon him.

  ‘Careful, there’s a dog out there,’ he managed to whisper.

  ‘Don’t worry: we’ve already dealt with it. You’re safe.’

  Gus was still able to smile before his eyes closed and unconsciousness took away all the pain.

  *****

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The place where he was lying was not his own bed. The mattress was much harder, and the sheets were much rougher. Furthermore, it smelt strange, of disinfectant and medications. Gus made an effort to open his eyes, and looked around. The sunlight was coming in through the windows. He was in a room that was painted in a pale green colour. There were not many items of furniture. Just a beaten-up looking armchair, a table filled with bouquets of flowers and cuddly toys, and another bed beside him in which there lay a snoring old man whom he did not recognise from anywhere.

  He tried to sit up, but his head felt as though it was spinning, and he had to lie back down again. In that moment the door opened, and a smiling Natalia leapt towards his bed and gave him such a strong hug that it winded him.

  ‘You’ve woken up. How wonderful!’

  ‘How long have I been unconscious?’

  ‘Only a day. Don’t worry, you’ve not missed much,’ she replied.

  ‘Where’s my mother? You haven’t told her, have you?’

  ‘Yes, of course... I don’t know how to tell you this...’

  ‘Tell me what? Has something happened to her?’ asked Gus, sitting up suddenly in bed and feeling as though the entire room had begun to spin.

  ‘No. She’s fine, but she’s really angry. She says that if you’re going to keep getting yourself into trouble and ending every investigation in the hospital, she doesn’t want to hear about it any more.’

  ‘Pfff, well you just wait until I tell her I want to take the public examinations to be an ertzaina. For that, she’ll disown me.’ Gus remained silent for a moment, and pulled away the sheet to uncover his leg. It was wrapped up with a dramatic-looking bandage, but he ascertained with relief that it was still there. ‘Have the doctors said anything about my leg?’

  ‘Yes, and it’s all good news,’ replied Natalia, smiling. ‘Fortunately the bite didn’t sever any muscles or break any bone. You did lose a lot of blood, but they’ve already given you a couple of transfusions. The doctors believe that, once the wound heals, there won’t be any after-effects.’

  ‘Apart from a horrible scar in the shape of a dog-bite.’ Gus shrugged his shoulders and smiled. ‘Well, it’s my first war wound. I shall wear it with pride. By the way, how were they able to rescue me from that dog? He was totally crazy.’

  ‘According to what they’ve told me, he’s a very nice and docile dog. He went for you because you attacked his master.’

  ‘In the end it’s always all my fault... And what’s happened to him?’

  ‘Well given that his master is going to be spending an incredibly long time behind bars, and nobody’s stepped forward wanting to take care of him, he’s been taken to the pound. I hope he finds a new family.’

  ‘And what’s happened with Salazar? I don’t know whether I overdid it by hitting him with the shovel.’

  ‘You did really well. He’s recovering in this very hospital and, as soon as he’s better, he’ll be going straight to the nearest prison.’

  ‘I’m glad everything’s turned out well,’ said Gus, breathing contentedly. ‘And what about Carlos? Where is he?’

  ‘He’s also an inpatient. Salazar forced him to take a ton of Luminal pills, and he was on the verge of dying of intoxication.’ Natalia placed a hand on Gus’s shoulder to reassure him. ‘Don’t worry. He’s all right. Fortunately he managed to vomit out the majority of the pills, and there will be no lasting effects for him. He’s already awake and aware. In fact, he’s too awake, and won’t stop complaining. I told him I was coming to see how you were, in order to be free of him for a while.’

  ‘We’re always the same.’ Gus winked at her and gave her a teasing smile. ‘I’m never your first choice.’

  ‘Don’t be stupid. You know I adore you,’ she said, making him lie back down and tucking him in. ‘Now I’m going to go back to him, to see how he’s doing. You rest and recover. The doctors have said that, if everything goes well and there’s no infection, you’ll be home by the weekend.’

  Natalia deposited a gentle kiss on his forehead and left. Gus remained lying down, looking at the ceiling of the room. After a couple of minutes, he turned his head towards the bedside table. Fortunately his mobile was there, so he would be able to speak with his friends, or play a game to make the time not seem to pass by so slowly. He picked it up and, suddenly, he stopped and looked at it. He shook his head. It was a crazy idea, but he knew he would not be able to forget about it. He searched the Internet for the number he needed, and dialled:

  ‘Bilbao Municipal Pound,’ replied a man’s voice. ‘Good morning.’

  ‘Hello, good morning. I was calling to ask about a dog that was brought in to you yesterday. He’s an enormous dog, brown, lots of fur.’

  ‘Is he the one that bit someone?’

  ‘Yes, that’s the one, but I’m the person he bit, and I have no hard feelings about it. Don’t go and put him down over that.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said the man, laughing. ‘We’ve already checked that the dog doesn’t have rabies and that he isn’t dangerous. We’re not going to put him down.’

  ‘Well, that takes a weight off my mind. I was worried.’ Gus tried to convince himself that he had now asked enough questions and should end the call, but he could not contain himself. ‘What’s going to happen to him now? Are you going to find him a home?’

  ‘I’d like to say so, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy for him. He is not a young dog: he’ll be around seven or eight years old and, in addition to that, he’s epileptic. Th
ere don’t tend to be many people who adopt dogs that are so large, old, and have a chronic illness.’

  Gus tried to bite his tongue: he told himself that it was madness, and that his mother was going to kill him, but he did not manage to hold back his following words:

  ‘There’s no need for you to find him anyone to adopt him. I’ll take him. I’ll be out of the hospital this weekend. Could you have everything ready for Saturday?’

  *****

  Carlos came into the room wearing a smart black suit, and stretched his arms out to the sides as he did a twirl. Natalia put down the book she was reading on the sofa and whistled.

  ‘You look so handsome,’ she said to him, before standing up and going to put her arms around his waist.

  ‘Watch the hands; you’re going to crumple my suit.’ In spite of his words, he hugged her back and gave her a kiss on the lips. ‘Do you really not want to come? There are a lot of she-wolves on the loose there, and I’m pretty tasty dressed up like this.’

  ‘I’ll take the risk. Besides, you only have two invitations, and you’ve already told Gus that you’d take him.’

  ‘Yeah, but you know what that guy’s like. He’ll make the match feel like torture,’ protested Carlos. ‘Besides, you were the one who led the investigation. You ought to be coming yourself.’

  ‘I prefer to stay here for a while. You know I don’t like football.’

  ‘But you do like public recognition of your talent, and this invitation to the Athletic Club box is precisely that. The most influential people in Bilbao will be there, drooling to see the brave heroes who caught the dangerous killer. I thought that you would have loved to have them adoring you.’

  ‘How little you know me! It’s enough for me to know that I am the best. I don’t need anybody to tell me,’ she replied, winking at him. ‘And for you to know it and adore me, of course.’

  ‘I already do. Well, I’ll be off then.’

  ‘One second.’ Natalia adjusted the knot on his tie and gave him another goodbye kiss. ‘Take the good coat.’

  ‘Don’t worry, mum,’ he said, joking.

  ‘Less of that. And behave yourself; don’t eat too many sweets, and don’t fight with the other children.’

  Carlos laughed, picked up his coat, and left the flat. Twenty minutes later, he parked the car in a car park near to the stadium and walked up to the entrance. Gus was already there waiting for him. It seemed that he too had gone to great effort to make himself presentable. His clothes were clean, and he had even combed his hair. Just as Carlos arrived beside him, they heard a voice calling them.

  ‘Carlos, Mr Guevara. Over here!’

  They saw Aguirre signalling to them from a few metres further ahead. They went over to him, smiling, and shook his hand.

  ‘We’re not going to join the queue?’ asked Gus.

  ‘The queue? Today we are VIPs: we’re going to the box,’ replied Aguirre. We don’t mix with the mere mortals. Come with me.’

  Aguirre led them to a side door that was being guarded by two giants dressed in black who, in spite of the fact that the afternoon light was sad and subdued, were wearing sunglasses. Once Aguirre identified himself, they let them through. A hostess was waiting for them on the other side, to take them to the main box. Before entering, Carlos took a deep breath and rubbed his sweaty hands on his trouser legs. In spite of the fact that this was something very exciting for him, he was starting to get too nervous.

  Over the course of the ensuing minutes, Aguirre proceeded to introduce them to the various authorities that were inside the box: the president of Athletic, the mayor, the Bishop of Bilbao, several ministers from the Basque Government... Everybody congratulated them, and a few of them even wanted to have their photos taken with “the heroes of the moment”.

  Once the introductions were over, they could finally sit down. Gus was on his right, whilst on his left sat the mayor and the bishop. Carlos reminded himself that he needed to control himself, and not let out too many swearwords during the game if he did not want the bishop to excommunicate him right there and then. As he saw that the two men were still looking at him with admiration, he gave them a timid smile.

  ‘It’s an honour to be seated here with you both.’

  ‘No. The honour is ours,’ said the mayor. ‘We have been told that you are the ones responsible for having solved several highly complicated cases, and for having arrested dangerous killers. The city owes you a lot.’

  ‘Indeed. We are indebted to you,’ the bishop stepped in. ‘If you ever, at any time, need anything from us, you only need to say. Anything.’

  In that moment came the whistle that signalled the start of the match, and they all focussed their eyes on the pitch. Carlos relaxed upon seeing that he had ceased to be the centre of attention, and placed his hands in his coat pockets. Immediately, he noticed something in the right one. He took out the piece of paper and unfolded it. It was the damn cheque that Natalia’s father had given to him. How could he be such a disaster that he had forgotten about him yet again? As soon as the match was over, taking advantage of the fact that he was well dressed and had washed his car, he would drive to Plencia and make him swallow it. He would make that pretentious man see that he did not need those miserable thirty thousand euros to make Natalia happy. Or maybe he did? One idea began to churn over in his mind, making him forget about everything else.

  When the referee whistled for halftime, Carlos turned to his left and unfurled his best smile, and addressed the bishop:

  ‘Your Excellency, I would not wish to abuse your generosity, but to tell the truth there is something that I would like to ask you.’ Carlos waited until the bishop nodded, and returned the smile. ‘You wouldn’t happen to have a hand in the waiting list for the Basilica of Begoña, would you?’

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Natalia woke up and, her mind still confused, stretched her arm towards the other side of the bed, searching for Carlos’s body. There was nobody there, and the sheets were already cold. In that moment, she heard the sound of the doorbell. That was what had woken her up, that sharp and persistent sound.

  She sat up in bed and wondered in surprise why Art was not running along the hallway and barking insanely like he did every time anybody called. Right away, she deciphered everything. Surely Carlos had taken Art out to go to the toilet and had forgotten his keys at home. She got out of bed and, barefoot and dressed in an old t-shirt belonging to Carlos that was enormous on her, she proceeded down the hallway whilst she rubbed her eyes. As she passed in front of the living room, she looked at the street through the windows. Even though it was not even nine o’clock in the morning, the sun was shining brightly in a blue sky that was devoid of clouds. It was now April and, after the cold and rainy winter, the radiant days of spring were finally arriving. Perhaps they could go and take a stroll along the beach with the dog after breakfast.

  She opened the door with a smile on her lips, but it froze upon seeing that it was not Carlos and Art who were waiting for her. In front of her were three women whom she had never seen in her life, but they were looking at her with something akin to adoration.

  ‘It’s Natalia, isn’t it?’ asked the woman in the first row, before throwing herself at her and planting two loud kisses on her. ‘I’m Carla. Delighted to meet you, angel. Girls, let’s go inside. There are so many things to do.’

  ‘Excuse me. Do we know each other?’ asked Natalia, confused, whilst she watched as the other two women started coming into her home laden down with packages.

  ‘No, but don’t worry. We’ve been hired by Carlos, your fiancé.’ She also came inside, and closed the door. ‘Don’t just stand there. We have an incredible amount of work to do, and we only have three hours left.’

  ‘Three hours left until what?’

  ‘Your wedding, my dear,’ replied Carla, throwing herself at her once more to give her two more kisses. ‘How cute! She really doesn’t know anything! Congratulations, my darling. Are you ready for the happi
est day of your life?’

  *****

  They were still putting the final touches on the veil when the doorbell began to ring again. Carla jumped and, running in her very high heels, picked up the bouquet and handed it over to Natalia, before running off down the hallway.

  ‘I believe your chauffeur is here now,’ she called out, after opening the door. ‘Come on, girls. We need to be finishing now.’

  Natalia turned towards to door to see who had arrived. Gus was gazing at her from the threshold with an awestruck smile. He looked her up and down, and let out a whistle of admiration.

  ‘Bloody hell, Natalia. Look at you! If Carlos doesn’t want to marry you, you’ve got an applicant right here.’

  ‘Were you in on this?’ Natalia asked him, shooting a murderous look at him.

  ‘Of course. Not only am I your chauffeur, I’m the one giving you away.’ Gus went over to her and offered his arm so that she could take it. ‘Shall we go? You know you’ve still got time to change your mind, right? You ought to bear in mind that Carlos is a grump, and that’s not something that’s going to improve with age, so, if at any moment between here and the church you change your mind, you only have to tell me and I’ll change direction...’

  ‘Gus, please, stop chattering, I’m nervous.’

  ‘Me to. Why do you think I’m chattering? I’ve never given anyone away before.’

  They arrived at the car park and got into Natalia’s car. The three women had followed them and, before letting them pull away, they decorated the entire vehicle with flowers. When they finished, they took a few steps back to admire the ensemble.

  ‘Now everything is perfect,’ said Carla. ‘You can leave. We’ll see you at the church.’

  ‘Who is that lady?’ asked Gus, after pulling away.

  ‘I believe she’s a wedding planner. I’ve spent three hours putting up with her. Everything to her looks divine, perfect, cute... She was driving me crazy. Listen, where are we going?’