Barcelona 03 - The Sound of One Hand Killing Read Online Free PDF Page B

stink.”
    â€œSo can I. And we’ve used up all our perfume,” grumbled my brother, holding the bottle up against the light to check that it was empty.
    Borja was right. We had to find a way out of that mess without being implicated. I let him pour out shots of brandy that we drank in silence, aware that Brian Morgan was not going to go away and that we had to think up something so the police would have no reason to link us to his death. While I sipped my brandy, I saw how clean and tidy our neighbour’s flat was, compared to the chaos in our office. You’d never have dreamt someone had broken in or done him in. Brian Morgan’s death bore the mark of an execution, and the mere thought made me shudder. I told Borja what my fears were and asked him yet again why he kept a set of keys to the flat of a man who’d been shot in the head and murdered.
    â€œI’ve told you already,” he insisted in a tone of voice that suggested I was being paranoid. “One day when you weren’t around he came down to our office and gave them to me…”
    â€œHey, come on… You don’t expect me to swallow that, do you?”
    â€œI swear it’s the truth. He said he was always travelling and wanted a neighbour to have a duplicate set of keys incase he lost his or there was some kind of problem, like burst pipes or a gas leak. He also said he didn’t trust the concierge, and that I seemed the ideal kind of person.”
    â€œFuck, the guy holed in one there!” I retorted sarcastically.
    â€œI thought he seemed plausible and I agreed to take the keys. Obviously, after what’s happened…”
    â€œDo you have any idea what he did? His line of business?”
    â€œI think he worked as an executive for an American company. Something to do with electrical components…”
    â€œDo you know the name of the company?”
    â€œI don’t remember.”
    â€œBut, Pep, what if he was a crook? Or belonged to a gang of criminals?” I suddenly blurted out.
    â€œHey, don’t be stupid! I’m sure there must be a straightforward explanation. Besides, Brian was a handsome guy and the women must have been after him. It’s probably a crime of passion, you just see.”
    All of a sudden my brother jumped up from the sofa as if he’d remembered something very important.
    â€œI’ll be back in a minute. I must check something…” he said, rushing into the corridor.
    Borja went into the spare bedroom and straight to the wardrobe. He opened one of the doors and took out a small package hidden behind a pile of sheets. He picked it up gingerly with both hands, unwrapped it and put the contents on the bed.
    â€œMy lucky morning!” he shouted, looking visibly relieved. “I’m what you call a lucky man!”
    I’m no expert in antiques or works of art, but you didn’t need to be to realize that it was a very old sculpture, like the ones you see in museums. The piece, only a few centimetres high, was an anthropomorphic representation, perhaps of some deity, with an animal head and human body. I noticed that its hind legs were missing.
    â€œWhat the hell is that?” I asked.
    â€œAn antique.”
    â€œI can see that much. I don’t understand how you knew it was in the wardrobe.”
    â€œThat’s easy. I put it there.”
    â€œYou did?”
    â€œI thought it was a good hiding place. As I had the keys to the flat…”
    â€œYou mean Brian didn’t know you’d hidden it in one of his wardrobes?”
    â€œOf course he didn’t! That was the whole point. Nobody should know.”
    I took a deep breath and shook my head. I understood nothing.
    â€œWait a minute, Borja,” I said a few seconds later. “What if they killed him because of this sculpture? If it’s an antique, it must be worth a packet…”
    â€œNah, it’s too small! You can fit it in the