A Not So Perfect Crime Read Online Free PDF Page A

can find out about your partner’s infidelities, but this had to be one of the most original. Borja saw I was making every effort not to laugh and directed one of his thunderous looks at me.
    â€œI expect it isn’t her. There’s probably just a great similarity between that model and your wife,” my brother suggested very plausibly.
    That seemed like good common sense. I’d also thought we might be dealing with a husband who was at once jealous and paranoid. It wouldn’t be the first time.
    â€œNo, and no again,” the politician shook his head. “Apart from the fact that I recognize the shoes (my wife likes to wear the most expensive, extravagant shoes) the woman in the painting is also wearing a gold necklace she is very fond of. Also,” he explained, “Lídia happens to have a small scar on her neck, from an operation she underwent when
she was young, and this necklace is the one she puts on every day by way of camouflage. Naturally, she owns more expensive necklaces, but that’s beside the point. It is true that the dress the woman in the painting is wearing is quite unfamiliar. It is dark-coloured and must be from a year or two back, because Lídia never wears a dress more than once or twice ... So do you see,” he sighed, “I am not in the slightest doubt but that it is her.”
    â€œYes, the shoes could be a coincidence, but the necklace would be taking it too far,” I agreed. “Are you sure it is the same one?”
    â€œAbsolutely. There are three fine gold threads that intertwine. The clasp is a flower of turquoise stones with a small ruby set in its centre. It is a very special necklace her father commissioned from a famous jeweller. An exclusive design, you understand.”
    â€œNaturally. Have you spoken to your wife about the painting?” Borja enquired.
    â€œNo, I have said nothing as yet. I didn’t dare, in case it turned out to be a simple misunderstanding,” he said rather nervously. “The painting is in my office. Lídia doesn’t even know that I know of its existence. What really concerns me is whether she is having an affair with the painter ...” he touched his chin. “I expect you are aware of the position I hold in my party and my responsibilities in parliament ... I mean, apart from any personal upset it would cause, you must understand it will not do me any favours at all if the story starts to leak out that Lídia ... Not that someone has painted a portrait of her, do you see, but that ...”
    â€œI understand,” Borja nodded understandingly, so Mr Font MP realized there was no need to linger on details that might be most humiliating.
    What passed through both our minds was what anyone might have concluded: no doubt his wife was finding an outlet for her frustrations with a younger man, an artist who devoted time to appealing to her vanity by painting intimate portraits like the one in question for who knows what in return. The worst of it was that she hadn’t found a way to be sufficiently discreet in order to keep her husband in the dark about her little affair.
    It was plain that what most terrified the politician was the possibility of scandal. If it emerged that the wife of a future candidate to the Presidency of the Generalitat was carrying on with another man, and what’s more that there was an incriminating work of art out there, it would soon signal curtains for his political ambitions. Being the leader and public face of a long-established conservative Catholic party didn’t marry too well with having a spouse who was unfaithful. In the event, the scandal would no doubt be hushed up. It is still possible in this country, in some cases and under certain circumstances, to prevent such incidents from surfacing, but the final result would be no different. Perhaps there wouldn’t be any big newspaper splashes, but there would be a steady drip feed of gossip and