Murder Begets Murder Read Online Free PDF

another large plate with dried-up remains on it, a side plate, a loaf which was rock hard, a plastic container which had once contained butter, a slab of cheese which had grown mould and then dried right out, an earthen­ ware bowl in which was a slime which had been lettuce leaves in oil and vinegar dressing, and a half-full bottle of wine with a thick crust. He opened the window, then the shutters, and sharp sunshine streamed through.
    He went into the kitchen and hurriedly opened the window and the shutters. In the door of the main body of the refrigerator was only one bottle of milk, half-full; the door of the frozen compartment was blocked by ice. He looked in the larder. Everything was stacked up, ready to be left. He checked the drawers on each side of the sink and these were either empty or they contained cutlery or drying-up cloths. In the right-hand side of the double sink was a saucepan in which the mussels had been cooked. He pulled open the two doors beneath the sink. Inside the space were bottles of washing-up liquid, bleach, and Ajax, and two buckets, one of which contained a small amount of wastepaper and the other a number of empty mussel shells and a quarter of lemon.
    He returned to the patio, sat down on one of the metal chairs, smoked, and luxuriated in the fresh air and the sunshine, dappled by the vine leaves. There was the distant, muted sound, almost a whisper, of the hour being struck by one of the three church clocks, then seconds after the last stroke he heard the crackling, crushing noise of a car approaching along the dirt track. A red Renault 4 turned the corner by the building which was part pig-pen.
    Sanchez parked and came over to where Alvarez sat and it was immediately obvious that, with the help of a few brandies, he had regained some of his normal cockiness.
    ‘I’ve done that for you, then. What I want to know now is what happens next?’
    ‘We wait.’
    ‘I can’t afford to wait for long and that’s a fact. I need the house clear. This is prime letting time, you know, but it won’t be any use me showing anyone over the house until the body’s away and the stink’s gone.’
    Alvarez looked at him with scorn, but Sanchez was quite unconcerned: there might have been a sad and tragic death, but one could not afford to be sentimental where money was concerned.
     

 
CHAPTER VII
    Francisca Gonzalez lived on the west side of Llueso, in a small house on what had been the main Palma road before the new by-pass had been built. Alvarez stepped into the first room, which was the formal sitting-room as well as, from necessity, the hall, and he called her name. She came hurrying into the room, her lined face creased with a welcoming smile.
    ‘Enrique! What brings you here at this time of day? Are you thirsty?’
    ‘I’ll not say no to a coñac, the bigger the better.’
    She looked curiously at him, realizing with some disappointment that this was not just a casual social visit.
    ‘Come on through and pour out however much you want.’
    The second room, the same size as the first, was used as a dining-room and the family sitting-room. She pointed to an elaborately panelled sideboard. ‘The bottles are in the left-hand side and the glasses are in the right.’
    As she sat, he poured himself out a very generous brandy.
    ‘D’you remember Teresa’s wedding?’ he asked. He drank eagerly: when a man felt the warmth spread through his stomach he knew for certain that he was still alive.
    ‘Of course I remember it. Matter of fact, I saw her and Damian only yesterday and they asked me up to their flat.
    It’s wonderful to see how happy marriage makes people.’ He crossed to a chair and sat. He was not unaware of the fact that both she and Dolores thought that a marriage between himself and her would be a very sensible arrangement. But as much as he liked and respected her, he liked his freedom more: when a man had had his freedom for a long time, it was difficult to think of giving it