A Maze of Murders Read Online Free PDF Page A

turn. Alvarez swore. Every time he drove around the port, the road system seemed to have been altered; planning was clearly in the hands of someone with an interest in the manufacture of road signs. He took the next left turn, then could find nowhere to park. He swore at greater length. Ten years before, this area had been fields over which birds had flown, now it was all concrete. When people lauded the benefits that tourism brought, did they also list the spiritual values that it took?… A car drew out, leaving a parking space and as he drew into this his mood immediately lightened.
    He walked the short distance to the police station and went inside. The duty officer was an old acquaintance and so they chatted for several minutes before he said: ‘I need to talk to someone at the Institute of Forensic Anatomy; all right if I use your phone?’
    â€˜Sure.’
    He reached across for the phone on the desk, lifted the receiver, dialled. When the connection was made, he asked to speak to Professor Fortunato or one of his assistants.
    A man said: ‘Luis Jodar here.’
    â€˜I need to know what happens when someone drowns at sea.’
    â€˜He dies.’
    Every man a comic! ‘But does the body float or sink; if it sinks, does it later return to the surface?’
    â€˜I’ll give you the answers, but you must remember, they’re generalizations. There’s always some awkward bastard who’ll make nonsense of the standard figures.’
    Bureaucrats were forever covering themselves.
    â€˜When a person falls into the water he swims, if he can, until he’s too exhausted to continue; if he can’t, he starts to panic immediately. Panicking means he ingests water into the air passages which increases the panic and the water begins to collect in his lungs to mix with the air and the mucus to form a choking froth. The weight of water gradually causes first neutral buoyancy, then negative, and at some point the victim makes one last convulsive threshing movement and then dies. Because of the negative buoyancy, the body remains below the surface. After a time, gasses begin to form and these increase buoyancy until it becomes positive and the body surfaces. This normally takes between five and eight days, but in really warm weather the time can be halved. You’ll want to know about the signs of putrefaction…’
    â€˜No, thanks,’ Alvarez said hurriedly.
    â€˜They can be very interesting. And by the way, that old story that as one drowns, one sees the whole of one’s past life – don’t panic, you may die in bed.’
    As he thanked the other, Alvarez reflected that a macabre job promoted a macabre sense of humour.
    He left the police station and drove to the eastern arm of the harbour where he parked. He stepped out into the harsh sunshine and considered the yachts and motor cruisers immediately in front of him, those at more distant berths which were marked by masts or superstructures, and those which he couldn’t see at all from where he stood, and wondered how many billions of pesetas were moored about him; billions of pesetas whose only purpose was to massage men’s egos. If only all that money were used on the land to produce better crops … A fool cried to the moon for help. Burgeoning prosperity had turned men’s priorities inside out; luxuries had become more prized than essentials.
    The harbour-master’s office was in a building which dated back to the time when the harbour had been very small and used only by fishermen – there was storage and drying space available for the few who still fished commercially. Alvarez entered the office and Torres, past retiring age but not yet retired, looked up. ‘Enrique!’ He stood, came round his desk and shook hands. ‘It’s a long time; too long.’ No taller than Alvarez, he was considerably more overweight. ‘Grab that chair and sit and tell me how the