Murdered by Nature (3 page)

‘I don't think I can be blamed for not knowing that.'

‘In the course of my preparation, I have considered the clear-up rates of the areas. It should not surprise you to learn that yours are the lowest.'

There was a silence.

Salas said sharply: ‘I am waiting for an answer.'

‘To what question, señor?'

‘What I have just said surely makes that obvious?'

‘Not exactly.'

‘Then I will speak very exactly. Why does your area suffer the lowest clear-up rates?'

‘It's difficult to say.'

‘But simple to judge why.'

‘I don't think so. I very frequently have to cope with problems because of the many foreigners who live here and the very many who come on holiday. Foreigners bring trouble. The English, for some reason I do not understand, are badly affected by the sun. And having spoken to colleagues, I have learned that that is particularly true in Port Llueso where it seems love is in the air. They run off the rails and—'

‘Are we now discussing railways?'

‘I mean, they do not behave as tradition marks them.'

‘In what way?'

‘Men often try to have a roll in the hay, and this can cause trouble with their wives.'

‘Hardly surprising since that is something no honest man is likely to attempt, as it would be undignified and uncomfortable.'

‘The hay is imaginary, señor. Sand is preferred, yet I think it is probably equally uncomfortable.'

‘I have yet to understand how such unwelcome, atavistic behaviour is of consequence to the matter in hand.'

‘Señor, you refer to my clear-up rate. If a husband has been temporarily enjoying himself with another woman, his wife sometimes expresses her annoyance physically as well as verbally and he needs medical attention. When I later question her about the incident, she will often deny everything, and her husband naturally confirms her denial. He talks about a fall. With no proof of the truth – the second woman will remain unidentified since the husband will not have bothered to learn her name – I can do nothing and there can be no clear-up. Likewise, if a wife entraps another man into adultery and the husband has cojones and finds out, he will assault the lover. Yet none of the parties will admit anything: the husband because he does not wish to be derided, and the other man also doesn't want to be derided – as an incompetent lover. I can do nothing, and the case has to be recorded as unsolved.'

‘You confirm that speech introduces confusion, not clarification.' The call ended.

T
he next day, Alvarez mused that the experts were right, and one did not have to travel at a vast speed to discover that time could proceed quickly or slowly. Convinced twenty minutes had passed and it would be feasible to leave the office and start the weekend, Alvarez's watch recorded there were still eight to go.

He lit a cigarette, slumped back in the chair, stared at the unshuttered window through which was visible a wall of the building on the opposite side of the road. When he had left home that morning, Dolores had been singing, and the content of her songs was always a trustworthy guide to her mood. If a blackguard, who had declared his emotional passion for a lady, had then deserted that lady, lunch would be very ordinary. If a young man, handsome, strong, brave, who throughout his absence in far-off lands had remained faithful to the maiden to whom he had declared his love, the meal would be delicious.
Filetes de salmonete en papillote?
Fillets of red mullet, green peppers, chopped dill, cream, salt cooked in foil. In her hands, a dish to earn a gourmet's praise. She might even prepare a sweet, following a custom introduced by foreigners.
Púding de castanyes
. A favourite of his. Chestnuts, butter, sugar, egg yolks, egg white, milk . . .

The phone interrupted the meal.

‘Roberto Plá here.'

A policía in Playa Nueva who would not be phoning at that time of the day on a Saturday unless there was some form of trouble. ‘What d'you want?' Alvarez asked, his tone expressing his resentment.

‘Is life crushing your two-piece set or have you just woken up?'

‘A member of the Cuerpo does not sleep when on duty.'

‘And I believe in goblins. How's the family?'

It was a matter of courtesy to discuss the health of relations and mutual friends.

Plá finally gave the reason for his call during unsocial hours. ‘One of the llaüts was out early, saw a body in the bay, reported it to the harbour master. He sent out a boat to bring it in. Male.'

‘Any signs of trauma?'

‘The doc who examined the body didn't mention any.'

‘Then it's not my problem.'

‘Thought you ought to know in case your superior chief asks what's going on.'

Plá had a point. ‘Has the doctor anything to say about why he drowned?'

‘He breathed water instead of air.'

‘I can refrain from laughing.'

‘The man had probably been dead for several days.'

‘You mean hours.'

‘Days. Takes time for the gases to bring a drowned man back to the surface. And you've only got to look at him to know he didn't drown during an early swim this morning. Skin's wrinkled and—'

‘I'll take your word for it.' Alvarez seldom swam; even a very brief and partial description of the results of drowning convinced him that was with good cause. ‘Anything to say who he was?'

‘No. Looks like he hasn't seen much sun recently, so maybe a foreigner.'

‘Age?'

‘Mid twenties to early thirties won't be far wrong. One last thing: the doc says death could have been due to a cause other than drowning. So that's it. How about meeting up at a bar in the near future?'

‘Fine, if this trouble doesn't keep me busy.'

‘It would take more than one dead man to do that.'

Alvarez replaced the receiver, slumped back in the chair. Bad luck seemed always to strike at the most disturbing time. The unknown man had been found at the beginning of the weekend instead of after that.

He phoned Palma. Ángela Torres asked him to identify himself as if she had not known who he was from the sound of his voice. Women never missed an opportunity to suggest they were of importance.

‘What is it?' Salas demanded.

‘I have a report to make, señor.'

‘One which, no doubt, should have been made sooner.'

‘That would not have been possible since he has only just been found.'

‘Some fool walker in the Tramuntana had lost himself?'

‘In the bay.'

‘Unless he was trying to walk across it, you have succeeded in a shorter time than usual to become virtually unintelligible.'

‘He wasn't found until today.'

‘As you have already stated. Will it trouble you to start your report in traditional style – that is, at the beginning?'

‘A dead man was found in the bay, near the headlands, by a fishing boat this morning.'

‘His identity?'

‘There was no ID on him.'

‘The cause of death is drowning?'

‘That is uncertain.'

‘Why?'

‘There was no trauma, but the examining doctor thought drowning might not be the primary cause of death.'

‘His grounds for that?'

‘I don't know.'

‘You did not think to ask him?'

‘I haven't spoken to him. What information I have comes from one of the policía in Playa Nueva.'

‘You saw no reason to make any further enquiries, even though you don't know the victim's name, nationality, where he had been staying, why he was in the bay?'

‘Some answers can't be known until the post-mortem.'

‘The time of which you do not know?'

‘I imagine it will be tomorrow morning.'

‘You will inform me when the time has been fixed and your imagination is unnecessary. In the meantime, you will identify the dead man.'

‘That's likely to be difficult.'

‘Do not allow the difficulty to prevent you making enquiries at hotels, aparthotels, and tourist holiday villas to find out if anyone is missing.'

Jaime finished his second brandy, put the glass down on the table. ‘I had to work flat out all morning and then got a rollicking from the manager because I took a moment or two off for a coffee. He'd let a man work himself to death.'

‘You think you're hard done by?'Alvarez asked challengingly. ‘I'm going to have to go back to work before lunch, then work all afternoon and evening, and it's Saturday!'

There was a call from the kitchen. ‘Even though I may be kept busy from early morning until late at night, every day of the week, I offer both of you my sympathy.'

Jaime drank. He spoke in a very low voice. ‘To listen to her, you'd think running a home is proper work instead of having a sit down and a coffee every half hour. She wouldn't go on like she does if it wasn't for all that women's lib nonsense.'

‘And what do they think they have to liberate themselves from?'

Jaime sniggered. ‘Their brassieres. I'm not objecting to that.'

Alvarez parked his car on a solid yellow line, walked into Sol y Playa aparthotel which was considerably further from the beach than the name suggested. He crossed to the office in which two young women worked. They regarded him with little interest.

‘You want something?' the younger, peroxide blonde asked.

‘Cuerpo,' he answered.

They were surprised, but not concerned, and their manner remained offhand. Years before, their predecessors would have been attentive and eager to assist. Democracy denigrated the forces of authority. ‘I need to know if one of your guests appears to have gone missing.'

‘What d'you mean?'

Modern youth enjoyed good education, but that did not improve their intelligence. ‘To your knowledge, has one of your male guests disappeared between three and six days ago?'

‘How are we supposed to know that?'

‘Has a room not been occupied; has someone not been seen in the restaurant after previously eating there regularly?'

‘We don't do rooms,' said the blonde.

‘We don't eat in the dining room,' said the older, black-haired woman. It sounded as if she would have regarded it as demeaning had she done so.

‘Where's the manager's office?'

The blonde pointed. On the opposite side of the square reception area was a door on which was painted ‘Manager'.

He silently swore because he had not noticed the notice and must appear gormless to have needed to ask.

The manager was relatively young; the lines on his round face expressed uncertainty and weakness. He was one of the few men in the port dressed in a suit, and despite the air conditioning, his forehead and neck carried beads of sweat.

Why the hell didn't he take off the coat and tie? Alvarez wondered. Imagined they provided him with authority? He introduced himself.

‘Pedro Sardagne. More trouble?'

‘You've been having some?'

‘If I have a day with no more than a drunk trying to break up everything and a woman screaming because she hopes someone tried to get into her bedroom, I'm in luck. Whatever the problem, you'll have a drink?'

Alvarez's opinion of the manager greatly improved. ‘If you insist.'

‘What would you like?'

‘Coñac with just ice will go down a treat.'

Over the internal phone, Sardagne ordered one brandy with ice, one orange juice. He noticed Alvarez's surprise. ‘If I had a hard drink every time I'm driven mad by the clients, I'd be taken out of here in a coffin.'

‘Things are as bad as that?'

‘This morning, one of the male guests has been annoying local females; the policía came along and behaved as if it was my fault. I told them, I don't know why he's on the prowl when there are a dozen young ladies staying here who likely don't want to be ladies.'

‘Looking for variety?'

‘Anything's possible.'

There was a knock on the door and a waitress entered. At the manager's instructions, he handed Alvarez a glass, put the orange juice on the desk, left.

The quantity of brandy was generous, the quality superior to that which would be offered to the tourists.

‘Are you here, inspector, because of visitors not paying for their drinks, nicking things from shops, drunken behaviour?'

‘One dead man.'

‘Makes a change.'

‘He's possibly a tourist because of the whiteness of his skin, and that's as far as we can go. Picked out of the sea and no ID. I have to find out who's missing.'

‘You want to know if one of our guests is? That's going to be difficult.'

Which was what he had told Salas. Sardagne had staff to do the work. ‘Has a bedroom gone unoccupied?'

‘One empty bed usually means another is doubly occupied.'

‘The room will have been unused for at least three days. It'll have been tidy, the bed won't have been slept in. The maid will have noticed.'

‘You credit them with an interest in their job?'

‘I'd like to question them.'

‘I suppose you want me to organize things?'

‘If you don't mind.'

‘Doubt it counts if I do. But it won't be the first time the day's routine gets upset.'

Since Alvarez's day had been ruined, he knew little sympathy for the other.

Maids were individually called to the office. Teresa was the first. She was taller and thinner than a woman like her would have been fifty years before, due to the better diet that prosperity had brought.

‘The inspector wants to ask you something,' Sardagne said.

She faced Alvarez.

‘A man, possibly a foreigner, has been found dead in the bay. There's no way of directly identifying him, so we're having to do that indirectly. Does any bedroom you deal with seem to have become unoccupied?'