An Inconsequential Murder Read Online Free PDF

said Dr. Delgado, pointing to a couch on the other side of the large office.
     
    Lombardo’s thin body seemed to disappear into the soft cushions of the couch. His dark gray suit, soft as well as shiny from so many ironings, seemed empty,
as if someone had laid it on the couch for its owner to put on. The Fat Man, on the other hand, dressed in the dark brown khaki uniform of a traffic cop, looked like a ball of chocolate ice cream sitting on top of the vanilla-colored cushions.
     
    The two lawyers sat, one on each side of the Doctor, as if they were guard dogs protecting their owner.
     
    “ I am here to ask a few questions about your employee,” said Lombardo. He was not a man used to the formalities so common in conversations in Mexico.
     
    “ Yes, yes,” said the Doctor lowering his head. “A very unfortunate circumstance.”
     
    “ How did you find out about it, Doctor?” Lombardo asked.
     
    Dr. Delgado, obviously embarrassed by the question, looked down at the floor as if searching for an answer there, but before he could find one, the lawyer-guard dog to his right barked, “We were notified, of course, since the unfortunate victim was a member of our staff.” That told Lombardo everything even though the lawyer had disclosed nothing.
     
    “ Do you have any idea who might have done this, Doctor? Any problems, enemies, people who did not like him or anything like that?”
     
    “ No, no, of course not. He was a very well-liked member of our staff. He was very diligent in his work; he was very diligent indeed. This is a great tragedy.” The Doctor’s words seemed rehearsed. The lawyers had probably advised him to remain very uncommitted in his comments. Express regret, but stay aloof from the circumstances, was probably the advice he had gotten.
     
    Lombardo took out a small notebook from the inner pocket of his coat. He pretended to read something in it. He often used this trick to make people think that his questions were really routine, nothing to worry about.
     
    “ His name was, uh, Victor Delgado,” said Lombardo casually. “Was he related to you, Doctor?”
     
    Lombardo saw th e Doctor glance briefly at one of the lawyers, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
     
    “ Yes, yes, he was my cousin.”
     
    “ Is it normal to hire relatives here at the University?” asked Lombardo with a tone that might have been mistaken for harmless curiosity.
     
    “ It is not normal or abnormal,” said one of the lawyers.
     
    “ How does that relate to the investigation?” asked the other.
     
    Lombardo ignored the question. “What was his job here, Doctor?”
     
    “ He was in charge of the Systems Management Department,” he answered.
     
    Lombardo wrote a note into his little notebook. He wrote slowly, deliberately. The Doctor fidgeted as if unnerved by the silence. The two lawyers looked at each other.
     
    Finally Lombardo spoke again, “What does that mean, Doctor, uh, systems management?”
     
    Before the Doctor could answer, the lawyer on his right said, “We can prepare a brief with the answers to all of your questions if you’d like, Captain.”
     
    Lombardo looked at the lawyer with the same stare that had made seasoned sergeants cringe in the Army and said slowly, “I’d rather hear it from the Doctor.”
     
    Turning to the lawyer, the Doctor said, “It’s all right. I will explain to the captain what Victor did here in the Department.” He turned to Lombardo and his face showed genuine grief.
     
    “ Victor was a very good systems engineer,” he began. “His job was to maintain all of the computing equipment and the University’s network in good running order, as it were.” He paused and sighed. “To do this, of course, he had other engineers on his staff and software, computer programs that helped him monitor the health of the University’s computing resources. There were other duties as well. He and his staff were in charge of running the many programs that keep