In Search of Murder--An Inspector Alvarez Mallorcan Mystery (6 page)

‘I have spoken to Señora Picare,' Alvarez answered.

‘Well?'

‘She is in a state of shock.'

‘As she would expect you to expect.'

‘I judged her emotion to be genuine.'

‘As she hoped you would.'

‘I asked her about the state of health of her late husband.'

‘Her reply?'

‘He was not a strong swimmer and the pool was kept shallow so that he would never be out of his depth. He suffered from no complaint, of which she was aware, that might suddenly have caused him to lose consciousness or the ability to save himself.'

‘Is that all?'

‘Yes, señor.'

‘The range of your questioning could well have been wider.'

‘She was under considerable stress and every question which I asked and she answered increased that.'

‘In such circumstances, a witness is more likely to speak the truth, forgetting her intended lies.'

‘If Señor Picare was deliberately drowned by someone, his wife could have had no part in the murder.'

‘Do you have an acceptable reason for so firm a declaration of her innocence?'

‘While questioning her, she said that because he did not swim, she thought of having the pool filled in. Had she done so, he could not have drowned. That thought made her weep as if heaven had closed its gates.'

‘Someone of such limited literary ability as you should forgo fanciful similes for fear, as in this case, of saying the opposite of what was intended. Had heaven closed its gates, it would be because she was a murderess.'

‘Her tears were genuine.'

‘A woman uses tears as a camouflage. You will question her again, far more thoroughly; you will disregard a cataract of tears; you will abstain from introducing heaven into your report.'

‘Wouldn't it be better, señor, considering all that has happened, if I wait a little …'

‘You will determine as quickly as possible if she was in great need of more money than her husband was likely to give her, if she was having an affair and her husband had discovered this and had promised to throw her out of home and disinherit her.'

‘Would he have done so when his own affairs were legion? The doctrine of equality of the sexes has thankfully not yet reached the stage where a woman has the right to claim a man's infidelities automatically negate hers. I should make the point that there has not been a single suggestion she has committed adultery.'

‘You have questioned the staff as to that?'

‘Not directly, but they would inevitably have remarked about the possibility had there been any such suggestion.'

‘Your trust in the loyalty of an employee is today, sadly, unfounded. Have you spoken to friends and acquaintances, in particular female ones, who may have suspected such a relationship?'

‘There's not been the time—'

‘The Englishman, Russell, might have used his past friendship with Picare to explain his frequent visits which were, perhaps, made in the hope of finding Picare absent.'

‘I don't think—'

‘Were you to think, you would remember Russell had lunch at Vista Bonita on the day Picare died. You will question him at the first opportunity.'

‘Before the post mortem? The results of that may make it unnecessary to question him and others you have named. If I do as you suggest—'

‘As I command.'

‘Since it must by now be generally known we are treating the case as one of murder, rumours will be rife and innocent persons to whom we speak may have their reputations wrongly damaged.'

‘Conduct a quick and efficient investigation and there will be no such risk.'

‘But if it turns out that the drowning was accidental, not murder, the cuerpo's reputation for efficiency will be damaged.'

‘The man who argues against his orders is inefficient as well as insolent.'

‘I was expressing an opinion, señor, not arguing.'

‘From you, neither is welcome. Have I not told you that at the heart of every crime is a motive and money is the most likely motive?'

‘Frequently.'

‘But repetition for you does not precede comprehension. If there is someone with a strong motive for murdering Picare, is touched by the evidence, however lightly, then, lacking evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable to consider him a suspect.'

‘Is that not assuming a murder because there is someone who might have a motive for committing it, then naming that person with a motive to be the murderer?'

Salas brought the conversation to an end by replacing his receiver.

Alvarez picked up a pencil and a sheet of paper, wrote down the names of people he was ordered to question; added XX to signify friends, neighbours, odds and sods who had not yet come into the frame.

The list represented hours and hours of work and frustration. One person would be out with friends on a yacht, another shopping in Palma, a third on holiday in Timbuktu …

He opened the bottom drawer of his desk, brought out a bottle and glass.

S
ome said there was no such thing as an inexplicable coincidence. Alvarez had reason to refute that when, as he walked towards Dr Ferrer's consulting room in the medical centre, he was accosted by the woman who had challenged him on the previous occasion.

‘We are still of no account?' she said angrily. ‘We live in a democracy, but you think we are still in a dictatorship and authority has the right to push the ordinary citizen aside?' She turned to face the other seated men and women who waited to see a doctor. ‘He is of the guardia. When we were young, he could order us around as if we were nobodies. He could assault us and if we complained, we were called liars; he could have us imprisoned because we had been denounced, but we could not denounce him. He believes he can still do as he wishes. I say he cannot.'

Several agreed – in lower key.

The post mortem was to be held on the next day and there was no pressing reason to consult with Dr Ferrer before then. Alvarez left.

Properties in Carer Julian Gayarre sold for less than might normally be expected because halfway along the narrow road, behind what had been a typical village house, was an extension in which was the area mortuary. It's identity dated to before the Civil War and as soon as that had concluded, there had been a public demand to have it removed from within the town. There had been plans to do so, but endless bureaucratic delays ensured that nothing had been done until the financial situation ensured further, indefinite delay.

In the large air-conditioned room, Alvarez stood by the tiled wall as far away as possible from the tilting table, underneath a pod of lights, on which lay the naked body of Neil Picare. Others might have learned to regard the evidence of death unemotionally, he could not. A noted Spanish poet had written that no man stood alone because he was diminished by another's death. Alvarez was not only diminished, he was also scared because he was forced to accept he was mortal and a pain in the stomach might not be due to a rich diet, but was the sighting shot of death.

Degner Picó was cheerful despite his profession. He removed hair cover, mouth mask, paper gown, surgical gloves and dropped them into a disposal bin. Alvarez walked across the room to join him.

‘Dr Ferrer was correct. He did not die from drowning,' Picó said. ‘The signs of bruising on the right ankle are no longer apparent and beneath the skin, tissues were not crushed with sufficient force to tear capillaries or small veins.'

‘Does that mean his ankle was not gripped tightly?'

‘That there is not the proof it was. The cut on the right leg was too minor to suggest with any certainty what might have caused it.'

‘It wasn't a torn fingernail?'

‘The dead man's nails were well trimmed and there was no foreign substance under them as possibly there would be had he struggled. For a man of his age, he was in good physical condition and not suffering from a complaint which might have caused a sudden loss of consciousness.'

‘Then if he didn't drown, why did he die?'

‘Do you smoke?'

Alvarez feared he was in for another lecture. ‘Only very occasionally.'

‘This seems a good occasion. We'll go outside.'

They went out to the small area beyond the extension which was all that remained of a garden. A solitary tree grew in a circle of earth and five oranges, still green, grew on it. Since Alvarez had Ducados cigarettes, he hesitated to offer them; was gratified when Picó produced a pack of Pall Mall.

The hint of a breeze took time to disperse the smoke; from nearby came the sounds of two children arguing.

‘There are times,' Picó said, as he held his cigarette between fingers, ‘one has to admit one cannot give an uncontroversial answer to a question. Facts can define the course of the path from effect back to cause, but not the reverse.' He raised the cigarette, drew on it, exhaled. ‘However, circumstances, even negative ones, can enable one to surmise that path. A healthy man is in a swimming pool and dies, but not from drowning. Dr Ferrer examined him and noted minor bruising and a small cut, too insignificant to have been deliberately caused. The victim may not have drowned, but struggled wildly to avoid drowning; a torn nail on another's hand – the victim's were very well trimmed – could cause such a cut.'

‘Can you surmise the path? Could a struggle have resulted in some form of vagal inhibition?'

‘Vagal inhibition. What makes you suggest that?'

‘There was a case in England very many years ago when more than one woman was murdered in a bath tub by very sharply pulling her head under the water.'

Degner dropped the butt of his cigarette on to the ground, dug it into the earth with the heel of a shoe. ‘I suspect there are few members of the cuerpo who can refer to that case. You must study the course of crime in other countries?'

‘When I have the time, señor.'

‘Death by drowning – I now use the word in its everyday sense – can be precipitated by the sudden and unexpected invasion of water on the naso-pharynx or glottis. Death is immediate. A person jumping into water will close his nostrils, usually by will, sometimes with fingers, which is why he survives to swim again.'

‘There was a second person in the pool who grabbed Señor Picare's ankle and dragged him down, bringing his head underwater?'

‘That is possible.'

‘You're not saying that's what did happen?'

‘Lacking evidence of a second person in the pool at the time of Señor Picare's death and, as you will know, of that second person's intention to murder, it must remain no more than a possibility.'

That bloody motive, Alvarez thought.

He sat in his office, receiver against his ear, wondering if Salas had ever considered he might not be quite so smart and clever as he believed.

‘As I remarked at the beginning of this case, it becomes a question of motive. As the pathologist could unfortunately, perhaps from lack of sufficient experience, do no more than offer possibility, motive will provide probability.'

‘But not prove murder.'

‘As I was about to comment. When a man or woman is shown to possess motive, he or she becomes a suspect and must be closely questioned.'

‘Señor, are we not putting the cart before the horse? We cannot be certain that Señor Picare was murderously dragged under the water by a second party. Yet now to investigate everyone who may in any way benefit from his death surely assumes he was murdered.'

‘I remember that, also in a confused manner, you have previously said something similar. Perhaps you wish to decide death was accidental and so avoid considerable work?'

‘Señor, that is an unfair suggestion. Such a thought would never occur to me.'

‘Except on the subject of work, your thoughts are unfathomable. You will question the señora again.'

‘I'm sure she won't be able to tell me any more than she has.'

‘You will discover whether or not you are correct. You will question the staff again and I'd be grateful if you did not now assure me that you can learn nothing from them.'

Alvarez switched off the engine, undid the seat belt, stepped out of the car. After prolonged visual enjoyment of the bay, mountains, land, he crossed to the front door of Vista Bonita, rang the bell.

Carolina opened the door. ‘Back again?'

‘Both by necessity and with you here, pleasure. How is the señora?'

‘You have come to ask to speak to her again?'

‘To speak to her.'

‘Your previous visit upset her and the doctor was called. He says she is not to be troubled by anyone.'

‘All I want is just—'

‘You will not see her.'

That was, he decided, sufficient authority to explain to Salas why he had not spoken to the señora. He stepped into the hall. ‘I'd like another word with you and Rosalía.'

‘Why?'

‘To find out if you can remember anything you have not previously mentioned or would like to change anything you have told me.'

‘I can tell you nothing more and have no need to change anything I have said.'

‘I'm sorry, but I have to carry out my orders so I have to question you again.'

They went into the staff sitting room.

‘Last time, you gave me the impression that the marriage was not all that happy,' Alvarez said.

‘You imagine any woman could be happy if her husband dishonours their marriage time after time?'

‘She wasn't willing to put up with that?'

‘Only a man such as you could ask.'

‘Tell me about their most serious row.'

‘I have.'

‘You think he did not strike her?'

‘Is that what I said?'

‘Yes.'

‘Then why ask again?'

The questioning was proceeding as he had expected; were he in her position, understanding she might be under suspicion, he would be as un-cooperative as she was. Give it a couple more minutes, he decided, and he'd bring things to an end and speak to Rosalía.