brain might be among them. So the gem included some of the vehicle. Not that it matters. He really liked his minijet.”
Bruna looked at her suspiciously—but no, the woman was serious. “Why do you say ‘included’? Why the past tense?”
“Alejandro’s remains have been stolen. They’ve taken his diamond,” Rosario replied, gesturing melodramatically, operatically, at an empty case Bruna hadn’t noticed.
The rep moved closer. It was a display cabinet like all the others, seemingly intact, but there was nothing inside it. No diamond, no photo.
“They took the photo as well?”
“I hadn’t put one in there yet. What happened to your arm?”
The bandage they’d put on it in the hospital was quite dramatic. Bruna regretted not having exchanged it for a more discreet patch.
“I was bitten by a rat in a Zero zone.”
“Hmm, dangerous. Rats tend to carry foul, nasty diseases.”
“Have you or anyone else touched anything?”
“No. It was like this when I discovered it this morning. The display cases each have an electromagnetic lock that is activated at the back by punching in a code. They all have the same code: 0302. My birthday.”
“The alarm didn’t go off?”
“The cases aren’t connected to the alarm. The artificial diamonds are in fact not valuable, apart from their incalculable sentimental value. That’s why it’s so strange that they’d steal my husband’s. Just that one. Why? What for?”
“But you’ve got them inside this sort of safe.”
“Yes, and the reinforced room does have an alarm. It didn’t go off, and nobody forced it. Somebody knew how to get in, and that’s definitely not easy. The password changes randomly every week. But the strangest thing of all is that those boxes along the wall contain jewels that are much more valuable than the diamonds, and they didn’t touch them. I assure you it’s a fine collection. As you well know, you can never be too thin or have enough jewelry.”
“Who knows about the existence of this room?”
The woman burst into a false laugh. She was wearing an iridescent blue Chinese-inspired silk dress with a high collar, sleeves down to her wrists, and a skirt that came to the middle of her calf. It clung to her skeletal body like a second skin. Just looking at it made you feel hot, despite the temperature in the house being perfect.
“Half of Madrid has been in here, my dear. We used to bring the guests in after dinner to have a look at the gallery of ancestors. Not everyone can boast about knowing the twelve generations that preceded them. That’s about three hundred and sixty years. Do you know that only seventy generations separate us from the birth of Christ? Assuming that he was born when they say he was. The ancients are very imprecise. What about you? How many ancestors do you know? Oh, forgive me, what a scatterbrain I am,” Loperena said, laughing as she formed a circle with her botoxed lips and made as if to cover her mouth.
The silly gesture could have come straight out of an early silent movie. Bruna snarled to herself. The bitch had said it on purpose.
“Why me?” Bruna growled. “Why have you come to me? Why didn’t you call the police or a well-known detective agency?”
Loperena stood straight, and her small eyes flashed. “Because I have a suspicion that it’s someone close to me, and perhaps I don’t fancy the police knowing what’s happened. And because I think a technohuman without money and with virtually no clients is going to be more receptive to my needs and my wishes. I do my research, too, dear.”
Intelligence and spite. That was what that face revealed when it stopped hiding behind its insipid pouts.
9
A fter leaving Loperena’s apartment, Bruna discovered that she’d missed five calls, all from Yiannis. She heaved a sigh of displeasure but felt obliged to call back. She missed those times of total solitude—living like someone on death row inside the prison of your own body, a small,
Bruna looked at her suspiciously—but no, the woman was serious. “Why do you say ‘included’? Why the past tense?”
“Alejandro’s remains have been stolen. They’ve taken his diamond,” Rosario replied, gesturing melodramatically, operatically, at an empty case Bruna hadn’t noticed.
The rep moved closer. It was a display cabinet like all the others, seemingly intact, but there was nothing inside it. No diamond, no photo.
“They took the photo as well?”
“I hadn’t put one in there yet. What happened to your arm?”
The bandage they’d put on it in the hospital was quite dramatic. Bruna regretted not having exchanged it for a more discreet patch.
“I was bitten by a rat in a Zero zone.”
“Hmm, dangerous. Rats tend to carry foul, nasty diseases.”
“Have you or anyone else touched anything?”
“No. It was like this when I discovered it this morning. The display cases each have an electromagnetic lock that is activated at the back by punching in a code. They all have the same code: 0302. My birthday.”
“The alarm didn’t go off?”
“The cases aren’t connected to the alarm. The artificial diamonds are in fact not valuable, apart from their incalculable sentimental value. That’s why it’s so strange that they’d steal my husband’s. Just that one. Why? What for?”
“But you’ve got them inside this sort of safe.”
“Yes, and the reinforced room does have an alarm. It didn’t go off, and nobody forced it. Somebody knew how to get in, and that’s definitely not easy. The password changes randomly every week. But the strangest thing of all is that those boxes along the wall contain jewels that are much more valuable than the diamonds, and they didn’t touch them. I assure you it’s a fine collection. As you well know, you can never be too thin or have enough jewelry.”
“Who knows about the existence of this room?”
The woman burst into a false laugh. She was wearing an iridescent blue Chinese-inspired silk dress with a high collar, sleeves down to her wrists, and a skirt that came to the middle of her calf. It clung to her skeletal body like a second skin. Just looking at it made you feel hot, despite the temperature in the house being perfect.
“Half of Madrid has been in here, my dear. We used to bring the guests in after dinner to have a look at the gallery of ancestors. Not everyone can boast about knowing the twelve generations that preceded them. That’s about three hundred and sixty years. Do you know that only seventy generations separate us from the birth of Christ? Assuming that he was born when they say he was. The ancients are very imprecise. What about you? How many ancestors do you know? Oh, forgive me, what a scatterbrain I am,” Loperena said, laughing as she formed a circle with her botoxed lips and made as if to cover her mouth.
The silly gesture could have come straight out of an early silent movie. Bruna snarled to herself. The bitch had said it on purpose.
“Why me?” Bruna growled. “Why have you come to me? Why didn’t you call the police or a well-known detective agency?”
Loperena stood straight, and her small eyes flashed. “Because I have a suspicion that it’s someone close to me, and perhaps I don’t fancy the police knowing what’s happened. And because I think a technohuman without money and with virtually no clients is going to be more receptive to my needs and my wishes. I do my research, too, dear.”
Intelligence and spite. That was what that face revealed when it stopped hiding behind its insipid pouts.
9
A fter leaving Loperena’s apartment, Bruna discovered that she’d missed five calls, all from Yiannis. She heaved a sigh of displeasure but felt obliged to call back. She missed those times of total solitude—living like someone on death row inside the prison of your own body, a small,
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