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As soon as Carlos sat down in the car, he heard his mobile phone ring. Before answering, he breathed in a couple of times in order to gather his patience. It was Sebas again. He most likely had a thousand more questions to ask him.
‘Carlos here. What is it, Sebas?’
‘Hi, I’m so, so sorry to bother you...’
‘You’re not bothering me. What is it?’
‘They’ve found Carmen Ortega’s car less than a kilometre away from the quarry where her body appeared. It was in the forest, concealed by some branches.’
‘Great. Tell me where it is.’
‘On the outskirts of Seberretxe.’
‘And what’s that?’
‘A neighbourhood in Bilbao.’
‘That’s impossible. I’ve been living in Bilbao since I was a child, and I’ve never heard of that place in my whole damn life.’
‘That’s what they told me. I’m sorry,’ Sebas seemed sorry enough to actually move that neighbourhood from its place if it would make Carlos happier.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll meet up with you there. Send its location to my phone.’
As soon as he hung up, he dialled Natalia’s number. She picked up after a couple of rings.
‘Natalia, it’s Carlos. I have news about our case.’
‘Then I’m glad, because we’re not getting anything from the post-mortem. The white body paint they used to paint the bodies is very common and can be bought on hundreds of Internet sites. And it’s the same thing with the watches. They have them in every budget variety shop in the country.’
‘And the masks?’
‘They're also cheap ones. You can buy them from any fancy dress shop. I was hoping that a killer who takes so much care over the crime scene would use higher quality materials. He's put no care into the details.’
‘Woman, maybe he’s strapped for cash. No matter how much the government says it, we're all still in the crisis.’ Carlos heard Natalia's laugh on the other end of the line. ‘Anyway, I'll tell you... They've found Carmen's car. Are you very busy, or can you come and see it?’
‘No, not at all. I'll be right there. Where is it?’
‘In a place called Seberetxe. I've never heard of it in my life.’
‘I know where it is. People tend to think it belongs to Arrigorriaga, but it's a neighbourhood in Bilbao.’
‘My God, do you know everything about everything?’ asked Carlos, wearily.
‘You already know I do,’ she replied, teasingly.
‘Well, as soon as Sebas sends me the exact location, I'll send it to you.'
'I hope we find something in the car, because we're pretty stumped right now.'
'There’ll be something. The killer concealed the car with branches, so we know that he was there with her. And I’ve found something else out from questioning Carmen's boss...' Carlos went quiet for a moment, in an attempt to create suspense.
'Go on; you’ve got me on tenterhooks.'
'It seems that Carmen made up that lawyers’ convention in Barcelona.’
‘No way.'
'Yes; she asked her boss for three days off for personal matters.'
'But then that means she lied to her husband..." said Natalia, astonished.
‘Yes. Do you think we ought to tell him?'
‘No. Today is the funeral. Let him bury her and cry over her loss for a couple of days. We'll crack on with the investigation, and then we’ll talk with him later on if needs be.’
‘I’ll listen to you. You’re the sensitive one of the group. I’ll see you in half an hour.’
*****
Natalia travelled through the few streets of the Seberetxe neighbourhood, trying to find Carlos's car. There weren't many places he could have driven into. The neighbourhood was comprised of a few workers’ houses, a mansion that seemed to be abandoned, and a fountain with a sink, on the wall of which were sitting two elderly men in berets who watched her car go by with interest.
Before she even knew it, she was already out of the neighbourhood again. The road, which ascended up towards the mountain, was very narrow and in bad condition. There were meadows and agricultural land on both sides and, further ahead, was the beginning of a small grove. At the entrance to the wood there were a couple of parked cars. Natalia headed towards them and, upon recognising Carlos's car, parked behind it.
She could not see anybody in the vicinity, and she did not fancy going into the wood alone. It had rained a lot over the recent days, and she was certain that the roads would be too muddy to go down in her high-heeled shoes. She called out a couple of times and, after a few seconds had gone by, she heard the sound of someone advancing towards her through the trees. Carlos's figure appeared at last, gesturing for her to come over. Although fearing that it would be the end of her expensive suede shoes, she walked over.
‘Is it here?’ She waited for Carlos to nod. 'Have you found anything?'
'We're collecting hair and footprints. I hope the killer wasn't as careful inside the car as he was with the bodies.'
'Is it very far?'
'No, don't you worry," replied Carlos mockingly. ‘Your shoes are safe. You only have to follow a few more metres down this road.’
A little further ahead could be seen an enormous car: a black Audi. All four doors were open, and Sebas along with another two officers were endeavouring to find clues inside it. Carlos stopped a few metres away, took out a cigarette, and offered it to Natalia.
‘The car was covered in branches in a somewhat slapdash way. I don’t think the killer took too much time to hide it. There are no remains of blood or signs of a struggle.’
‘Is the place where they found the body very far away?’
‘It isn’t, actually. Come with me.’
Carlos left the road and went into the forest. Natalia stayed still for a few seconds, looking at the puddles and the mud covering the ground. She sighed and began walking after him without protest. He had told her a thousand times that she ought to keep a pair of wellington boots in the car for crime scenes, and she never remembered to do it. She had no desire to hear him repeat it yet again.
After about five minutes of walking through the trees, they reached a ravine. Carlos stopped on the edge and pointed out a steep little road that descended down to the bottom.
‘This is the Artxondoko quarry, where they found the body. It’s been abandoned for years.’ Carlos pointed to a narrow asphalted road that led to a few buildings that were in ruins. ‘There’s an easier entrance down through there, but I don’t think they would have used it. Given that the victim’s car is here, I think they went down the cliff-side path.’
‘It seems dangerous going down through here.’
‘Don’t be so sure. It’s no actually that bad. It’s wider and less steep than it looks. Sebas and I already went down it a short while ago and it’s fairly safe, even for going down carrying an unconscious person or a dead body.’
Natalia shook her head. It did not seem remotely safe to her. At any moment a piece of the sidewall could break away, and sweep along with it anything that happened to be passing along that route. Furthermore, if the murder had taken place at night, as she suspected, going down through there would have been genuine suicide. The sound of Sebas calling out for them to come back brought her out of her thoughts.
When they returned to the clearing where the car was, they saw that Sebas was carrying a black bin bag in his hand. He held it out to Carlos as soon as they reached his side.
‘What’s this?’
‘We think it’s the victim’s clothes,’ replied Sebas. ‘We found them in the boot. They don’t appear to have any tears or bloodstains, and they were perfectly folded.’
‘Are there shoes too?’ asked Natalia.
‘Yes, you can see them here.’ Sebas opened the bag a little so that she could take a look.
‘Then he didn’t undress her here. Carmen was wearing clothes when she went to the quarry and, after killing her, the murderer took them off her, carried out his ritual, carefully held onto the clothes, and brought them here.’
‘How do you know?’ asked Carlos.
‘There were no injuries to the victim’s feet. If she had had to go barefoot down that gravelly road, her feet would have been wrecked. This is a great clue...’
‘Are you sure? I don’t see how it could help us,’ commented Carlos.
‘All of these details tell us clearly about the killer’s personality. The way in which he folds the clothes and puts them away; the careful positioning in the crime scene... Don’t you see it? These things don’t speak to us of a murderer filled with rage or with a financial or emotional motive for killing.’ Carlos snorted, feeling jaded, before she could finish explaining. ‘It’s very clear: He is a serial killer.’