Read Death on a Galician Shore Online
Authors: Domingo Villar
‘How’s Uncle Alberto?’ asked Caldas as he got into the car.
‘Not too bad. Free of the mask. He’s only got a nasal tube now, so he can speak and eat without that horrible noise.’
‘That’s good.’
‘Yes. In a few days, he might not even need the oxygen.’
‘Will he go back to his place?’ asked the inspector, opening the window a couple of centimetres.
‘Not unless he wants to.’
They arrived at the estate and parked beside the camellia bush.
When his father opened the door, the brown dog, which had run up to the car, began jumping around him, licking his hands, whining and lashing its tail.
‘How long have you been away?’ asked Caldas.
‘Only since this morning,’ replied his father, trying to push the dog away.
‘Well, that’s quite a welcome,’ muttered the inspector. ‘Does it know it doesn’t belong to you?’
‘How the hell should I know what a dog’s thinking, Leo?’
‘I don’t think it does know,’ Caldas said and smiled, heading towards the terrace that overlooked the vineyard.
Leaning on the wall, he contemplated the ranks of leafless vines, each tied to a post. It was a cold day, and so clear that you could
count the trees on the hill across the river. It smelled like the days of his childhood.
His father came to stand beside him.
‘The estate’s looking lovely, isn’t it?’ he said, patting the brown dog’s side in an attempt to stop it rubbing against his legs.
‘Yes.’
‘Have you seen the new area I’ve planted, down by the river?’
‘No,’ Caldas lied once again.
‘Well, let’s go in and say hello to Alberto, and then we can walk down and take a look. You’re going to love it.’
As they got to the house, his father said, ‘By the way, we spoke to Alba yesterday.’
‘Did she call you?’
‘Yes,’ said his father. ‘To see how Alberto was.’
‘Right.’
‘You haven’t called her, have you?’
‘No, not yet.’
‘Don’t you think you should?’