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Father Aguilar wondered aloud whether town officials would waste much time trying to solve this murder since they still hadn't resolved the theft of a small oil painting from the church by his predecessor. The old priest, nearing retirement, allowed greed or the desire to live out his last days in comfort, to get the better of him. One day three years ago, the priest disappeared along with one of the church's colonial paintings. The people of Cuamantla promised to kill the old priest if they ever found him despite Father Aguilar's several homilies on the sixth commandment.
    At some point, the village officials called in the Federal Agency of Investigation in Tlaxcala , who to this day had found no trace of the priest or the painting. Their most recent account reported him in South America and the painting in the hands of a U.S. collector. AFI agents believed the theft was part of an international smuggling ring specializing in Mexican antiquities. According to the AFI agents, the ring protected itself by employing several layers of people, which made the case difficult to solve. Recently, however, they claimed to be making progress and promised an arrest soon.
    A noise in the back of the sanctuary caught the priest's attention. He turned to see the body bearers enter, deep in discussion over the merits of leaving the murder investigation in the hands of Pedro's kinsmen and the officials from his home village, rather than involving local officials and necessarily, the Tlaxcala State Police. The men hesitated to share their opinion with the priest for fear he would disapprove. The group's appointed spokesman stepped forward.
    "The Cuamantla officials want to wash their hands of this whole mess," the spokesman said, on behalf of the town council. "In our opinion, the village of Cuamantla will do better forgetting about Pedro García and his fateful if inevitable end," he added, with a slight note of defiance as the men waited for the priest's reaction.
    To everyone's great relief, Father Aguilar agreed.

Chapter 15
     
    A hushed silence spread over the schoolyard during Miguel's announcement of the death of Pedro. "With regard to the fiesta," Miguel explained, "the village officials have asked that we not wait for their return but continue with the festivities, which we now hold in honor of our friend and colleague, Pedro García Hernandez-Barrera, deceased Director of the morning primary school. We honor the dead by remembering and respecting their lives and living our own lives with honor. Let the Cinco de Mayo festival proceed. I now turn over the microphone to my friend and colleague, Maestra María Guadalupe Costanza, who will introduce the next event."
    Anna focused her camera on Miguel as he handed the microphone to María. Dark glasses covered her reddened eyes. María returned to the microphone with her clipboard in hand, efficient and professional. Anna marveled at her composure. The woman must be made of steel. Miguel walked over to Anna and placed a casual arm around her waist in a way that made her heart to skip a beat. She had so many questions to ask him, starting with how this murder would be handled. When would a serious investigation begin? Who was collecting and preserving evidence? Why didn't they seal off the murder scene? Time was running out. Whatever evidence might exist certainly would be compromised by the end of the day, and where was the village Comandante in all this? Most likely, she realized, as another explosion rocked the area, he's with the pyrotechnics crew contributing to the surrealistic atmosphere of the day. Anna knew she was working herself into a snit as Miguel sat down beside her and fiddled with the sound equipment, but she felt justified.
    "I need to talk to you," she whispered.
    "I know," Miguel said, concentrating on the knobs and buttons in front of him, "you have many questions and I will answer them for you, but later, not now. Now, we must proceed as if nothing has happened,