Charles Cumming by The Spanish Game

Author:The Spanish Game
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2010-04-08T03:00:00+00:00

24. El Cochinillo

It was a honey trap. I allowed the simplicity of Rosalía’s deceit to obscure the truth about Arenaza’s disappearance. She posed as his lover, lured him to Madrid and – most probably – Sellini did the rest. Walking in the Casa de Campo after Bonilla has paid the bill, taken my cheque and left, I put the pieces together with ease. Mikel’s death was revenge for the step-father’s murder, pure and simple. It’s time the police knew about that. It’s time to call Patxo Zulaika.

Back at the flat I find his phone number and dial it just after five o’clock in the afternoon. A full confession to Goena is not an option: instead, I will tell Zulaika that Mikel briefly mentioned he had a mistress called Natalia or Rosalía in Madrid who worked as a lawyer or industrial engineer. It was something he said over dinner that completely slipped my mind. A guy as professional as Patxo should be able to put the pieces together based on these simple clues. Unless Bonilla already knows the whole story. Unless he has already gone to the cops.

But Zulaika isn’t answering his phone. According to a message in crackled Basque and Spanish, he will be out of the office until Monday. He doesn’t leave a contact number, but suggests calling one of his colleagues at Ahotsa ‘in the event of an emergency’.

‘Hello, Mr Zulaika. This is Alec Milius. You may recall that we spoke about Mikel Arenaza’s disappearance when you were in Madrid a couple of weeks ago. It may not be important, but I’ve remembered something that could be interesting for you. Would you give me a call when you get this message? Gracias.’

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