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The absolute silence that prevailed over the room was interrupted only by the sound they made as they turned the pages. Natalia looked up from her list and gazed at her friends. She was finding it strange that neither one of the two was protesting, in spite of the fact that they had spent almost two hours doing the same thing. As if he had read her thoughts, Gus looked up and began to speak:
‘Listen, Natalia... How certain are you that one of these names belongs to the guy we’re searching for? It’s just that this is starting to get like searching for a needle in a haystack. I’ve spent minutes upon minutes looking at each name, searching for all of the information I can about every one of these guys in order to try and be sure he’s not the one we’re looking for... And, even so, every time I cross of a name, I’m left feeling so nervous that I have to go back and check it... How can I be sure that I’m not crossing off the killer’s name and wrecking the investigation? I can’t take this tension...’
‘Gus, calm down... You’ll do a good job,’ replied Natalia. ‘You should only eliminate a name if you are totally sure that it can’t be the killer. If a person doesn’t tally with what we know about him, cross him off. Otherwise, leave him and create a report about what you’ve found out about him. Carlos and I will check it afterwards.’
‘Sure, but suppose I cross of a name because the guy doesn’t seem as tall and strong as the killer, and his problem is that he comes off badly in his photos on Facebook...’
‘Are you sure that can happen?’ Natalia raised an eyebrow, incredulous. ‘Normally people try to seem taller and more strong and attractive than they really are in their social media.’
‘That’s normal people, but this guy is crazy. Who knows how he thinks.’ Gus got up out of the chair and searched his pockets. ‘Do either of you have any change? I want a coke.’
‘I don’t know whether any more caffeine is advisable for you,’ intervened Carlos. ‘You’re hysterical.’
‘Dude, I run on caffeine. Be a good sport and let me have a few euros, and I’ll bring you each a coffee.’
Carlos got up to give him the money, and in that moment the door to the room opened with such force that it crashed against the wall. Aguirre was in the threshold, with a piece of paper in his hands. His face was pale and his eyes were so wide open they looked as though they were about to jump out of his head.
‘Aguirre, is something wrong?’ asked Carlos, going over to him. ‘Has another victim turned up?’
Aguirre shook his head and remained paralysed in the doorway. Carlos took him gently by an arm and brought him in. He placed his arm around his back and walked with him to a chair. The sergeant allowed himself be led, as if he were an automaton with no will, and collapsed into the chair as he shook his head.
Carlos grabbed another chair, turned it around backwards, and sat down in front of Aguirre, with his arms resting on the back of it. He bent forwards, trying to see what was on the piece of paper that Aguirre was still holding scrunched in his hand, fearing that he might be responsible for the sergeant’s state, but he could not discern anything. Natalia came over and crouched down in front of her boss.
‘What’s is it, sir?’ she asked in a calm voice. ‘If you don’t tell us what’s happened, we won’t be able to help you.’
Those words seemed to pierce through the state of astonishment that had kept Aguirre immersed in a kind of trance, and to reach his consciousness. He shook his head a couple of times, as if he were waking up, and riveted his gaze on Natalia.
‘We’ve managed to get the dating site to provide us with the suspect’s IP.’
‘That’s great. Now all we need to do is find out which phone number belongs to it, and we’ll have him,’ said Carlos, feeling euphoric.
‘We already know which phone number it belongs to.’ Aguirre took a couple of breaths in order to be able to utter the words that appeared to have clogged up in his throat. ‘The number belongs to this station. The killer is one of ours.’
For a few seconds, nobody knew how to react. Natalia thought that it was just impossible to believe. No member of the Ertzaintza could be crazy enough to have committed those crimes. They went through regular psychological evaluations. It was impossible for them not to have detected anybody so disturbed.
Gus took a couple of steps forward and held out his hand so that Aguirre would pass him the piece of paper that he was still holding onto as if it were a lifeline. The sergeant sat looking at him. He seemed to hesitate. Perhaps inside he was thinking that, as long as he did not share that piece of information with anybody else, he would be able to continue denying it to himself; that he would be able to stop it from being real. After a few seconds, he hung his head and handed him the paper.
‘This has to be a mistake... Or a nightmare,’ he said in a whisper. ‘One of our own. I can’t believe it.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll check it,’ said Gus, as he read. ‘I’m going to need to access the station’s IP registers.’
‘Come on, I’ll walk with you to the IT room,’ Aguirre got up with effort, as if he had just aged twenty years in a single morning.
Gus picked up one of the laptops and left after Aguirre. Carlos and Natalia followed them. Carlos sped up until he drew level with Gus, and caught hold of his arm to catch his attention.
‘I know you’re going to tell me that now’s not the time, but I need you to explain to me what we’re supposed to be doing.’
‘God damn it, Carlos... Now? If you’re not going to understand it...’ complained Gus.
‘You explain it to me, nice and simply, slowly, and in words fit for human beings, and you’ll see how I’ll understand you,’ insisted Carlos.
‘Okay, I’ll try... The IP they’ve provided us with is from the station’s router.’ Carlos shook his head to express that he had already become lost. ‘God, we’re on fire... Imagine that there’s a big box, like a switchboard, which is the thing that provides the Internet to all the computers in headquarters.’
‘And all the mobiles,’ interrupted Aguirre. ‘I know how you all spend the day connected to the station’s WIFI.’
‘Fine, all the computers and all the mobiles... The IP they’ve supplied us with from QuickLove corresponds to the number of that switchboard. Because of that, we know that the connections were made from here. But, in addition to that, on the register of that switchboard they keep other numbers, which are the exact IPs that those connections were made from.’
‘You’ve lost me again,’ moaned Carlos.
‘Let’s see... The switchboard is a kind of mother computer. All the other computers that are connected to it are its children. They share the beginning of the IP, as if it were a surname, and then you have other specific digits at the end that indicate exactly which computer established the connections with QuickLove. Do you understand it now?’
‘But you said exact IPs,’ said Natalia, confused. ‘Have there been connections made from different computers? Do we have more than one killer?’
‘No, but IPs are dynamic.’ Gus made a gesture, asking them to wait while he finished explaining. ‘That means that they change every time the computer is turned off, or the router.’
‘So then, how are we going to know which computer they belong to?’
‘From the registers. All the IPs that access the router are registered, together with the time that said computer was connected. We know the times at which Azkar spoke with his victims and, by looking at the register, we’ll be able to find out the IPs that logged into QuickLove.’ Gus showed them the laptop that he was carrying under his arm. ‘All I have to do is compare the details, and I’ll tell you who it is.’
*****
Whilst Gus typed on the computer, consulting his notes in addition to making new ones, Carlos paced up and down. He felt as if an electrical current had invaded his entire body and he was not able to keep still. He was going to have to arrest one of his colleagues. Whilst they were investigating, somebody with whom he had possibly been crossing paths with every day was planning those murders. Whilst they were trying to find leads and put all of the pieces of that puzzle together, that man had been speaking with his next victims barely a few metres away. He could not believe it.
He heard Gus puffing out, and he turned towards him. Aguirre and Natalia looked over his shoulder, waiting for him to say something to them.
‘Do you have it? Do you know who it is?’ asked Carlos, unable to contain his anxiety.
‘Yes, I’ve checked it several times, and I think there’s no possible mistake,’ Gus puffed out again. ‘The killer’s computer is in the homicide department.’
‘It’s one of the inspectors?’ asked Aguirre, collapsing into a nearby chair.
‘Yes, it is. I too was hoping to be able to tell you that it was someone in maintenance or some external consultant, but all of the connections have been made from that computer. And on top of that, there’s the whole thing with the name...’
‘What name? Tell us who it is already, for God’s sake,’ shouted Carlos.
‘Your old colleague: Roberto Azkarraga.’ Faced with the silence of the others, Gus felt obliged to continue explaining. ‘Azkar... Azkarraga... You get it?’
‘It can’t be him. He’s an arriviste and a real son of a bitch, but he’s not a killer,’ said Carlos.
‘Well, that’s not what this says. There’s no way it could be a mistake.’
‘I don’t want to believe it either, but the best way of verifying it is to talk with him in person and have him tell us his version of the events.’ Aguirre took his mobile out of his pocket and dialled a number. ‘Maite, would you be able to tell me whether Inspector Azkarraga is on duty? No? All right. Send me his address, please.’
Aguirre hung up and went over to Carlos. He placed a hand on his shoulder and led him towards the door.
‘Come on, we have to arrest him.’
‘You’re going to come as well?’
‘Yes. I think I should be present. I’m going to go and organise everything, and then I’ll be waiting for you at the main door in two minutes.’
The sergeant went out of the room and left them alone. Carlos turned towards Gus and Natalia and shrugged his shoulders.
‘I’m sorry you can’t come, but this could be dangerous. It’s highly likely that he’ll be armed.’
‘Don’t worry. We’ll be waiting here for you. Let us know about everything,’ replied Natalia.
‘Yes, don’t worry. I prefer to finish a case without having to pay a visit to the hospital.’ Gus winked at him. ‘Good luck.’
‘And be careful,’ Natalia told him before he walked out through the door.
Carlos turned around in the threshold, nodded, and gave her a soothing smile. When he disappeared, Natalia flopped into a chair with a vacant gaze.
‘So is that it?’ said Gus, interrupting her thoughts. ‘Do we have to stay here waiting for the warriors to return?’
‘Seems that way,’ replied Natalia. ‘Or we could always go to the bar across the road and have a cocktail to celebrate.’
‘And what is there to celebrate?’ asked Gus. ‘I’ve been left jobless through having solved it too quickly, and I’m not even close to being able to afford a car. This is shit. You’re going to have to lend me the Mercedes a few more times.’
‘I will,’ she said, getting up, ‘but come with me for that drink. I think we’ve earned it.’
*****