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Authors: Roderic Jeffries
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imagination, call it what one would, had been correct.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
Despite his best efforts, Alvarez could not find a reason for not phoning.
âYes?â said the superior chiefâs secretary in her superior, plummy voice.
âMay I speak to Señor Salas, please?â He was not surprised when she failed to offer him the politeness of asking him to wait. Her manners were a reflection of those of the superior chief.
As he waited, he stared through the window at the wall of the building on the opposite side of the road and tried not to imagine Rachael in the nude.
âWhat is it?â
Salas was a man of moods; bad tempered and very bad tempered. It sounded as if he were suffering the latter.
âEarlier today, señor, I received a report of a missing man and I have made a preliminary investigation. I judge there is causeâ¦â
âDid you by any chance think to ascertain the name of the person?â
âYes, of course, señor.â
âRegrettably, where you are concerned there can be no such certainty. What is it?â
âCooper. Heâs an Englishman andâ¦â
âWith such a name, he is hardly likely to be a Spaniard. Who reported him missing?â
âHis wife.â
âWhy does she think heâs missing?â
âBecause he has not returned home andâ¦â
âIf a wife reports her husband is missing, do you find it strange that he has not returned home?â
âWhat I was about to add, señor, was that although there can be circumstances when a manâs absence is explicable, in this caseâ¦â
âCircumstances such as what?â
âPerhaps a lady friend whose company he has enjoyed for an overlong period.â
âAlvarez, this is not the first time Iâve been forced to comment on the most regrettable urge you suffer, that of introducing a libidinous motif into a case.â
âIâve only mentioned what is already there.â
âYou know as fact, then, that Señor Cooper has a mistress?â
âNo, señor, butâ¦â
âThen why introduce the possibility unless it is because you derive a perverted pleasure from doing so?â
âIt was you who introduced it, señor, not I.â
âHow the devil do you mean?â
âWell, maybe not directly. But you had said that if a man was missing he could not have returned home and so I was trying to explain that circumstances might show that if he was missing from home, he wasnât missing despite his wifeâs belief that he was. If this were soâ¦â
âIâve had a very heavy day. Try not to increase its weight beyond all endurance. If such a thing is possible, tell me the facts simply and without any elaboration or explanation.â
Alvarez began to detail the brief course of his investigation. He was interrupted when he described how Amoros unexpectedly visited Caân Oliver and had seen Rachael and an unknown man swimming â¦
âAre you suggesting that there is any significance in that fact?â
âI think there has to be.â
âYou really find it impossible to envisage that a married woman can invite a male friend for a swim without eagerly assuming she is indulging in an adulterous affair?â
âIt is difficult when one knows that both were naked.â
There was a long pause. âI would find my job considerably less wearing had you ever learned even the rudiments of logical reporting.â
There were no further interruptions.
âSo I think,â Alvarez concluded, âthat we should ask Traffic to identify the registration number of the señorâs car and then ask all patrols to keep an eye out for it. Remembering that he was due to fly from the island this evening in order to go on an expensive cruise, I think one must assume that he has suffered seriously, perhaps fatally.â
âThen I have no doubt that within the next
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
Despite his best efforts, Alvarez could not find a reason for not phoning.
âYes?â said the superior chiefâs secretary in her superior, plummy voice.
âMay I speak to Señor Salas, please?â He was not surprised when she failed to offer him the politeness of asking him to wait. Her manners were a reflection of those of the superior chief.
As he waited, he stared through the window at the wall of the building on the opposite side of the road and tried not to imagine Rachael in the nude.
âWhat is it?â
Salas was a man of moods; bad tempered and very bad tempered. It sounded as if he were suffering the latter.
âEarlier today, señor, I received a report of a missing man and I have made a preliminary investigation. I judge there is causeâ¦â
âDid you by any chance think to ascertain the name of the person?â
âYes, of course, señor.â
âRegrettably, where you are concerned there can be no such certainty. What is it?â
âCooper. Heâs an Englishman andâ¦â
âWith such a name, he is hardly likely to be a Spaniard. Who reported him missing?â
âHis wife.â
âWhy does she think heâs missing?â
âBecause he has not returned home andâ¦â
âIf a wife reports her husband is missing, do you find it strange that he has not returned home?â
âWhat I was about to add, señor, was that although there can be circumstances when a manâs absence is explicable, in this caseâ¦â
âCircumstances such as what?â
âPerhaps a lady friend whose company he has enjoyed for an overlong period.â
âAlvarez, this is not the first time Iâve been forced to comment on the most regrettable urge you suffer, that of introducing a libidinous motif into a case.â
âIâve only mentioned what is already there.â
âYou know as fact, then, that Señor Cooper has a mistress?â
âNo, señor, butâ¦â
âThen why introduce the possibility unless it is because you derive a perverted pleasure from doing so?â
âIt was you who introduced it, señor, not I.â
âHow the devil do you mean?â
âWell, maybe not directly. But you had said that if a man was missing he could not have returned home and so I was trying to explain that circumstances might show that if he was missing from home, he wasnât missing despite his wifeâs belief that he was. If this were soâ¦â
âIâve had a very heavy day. Try not to increase its weight beyond all endurance. If such a thing is possible, tell me the facts simply and without any elaboration or explanation.â
Alvarez began to detail the brief course of his investigation. He was interrupted when he described how Amoros unexpectedly visited Caân Oliver and had seen Rachael and an unknown man swimming â¦
âAre you suggesting that there is any significance in that fact?â
âI think there has to be.â
âYou really find it impossible to envisage that a married woman can invite a male friend for a swim without eagerly assuming she is indulging in an adulterous affair?â
âIt is difficult when one knows that both were naked.â
There was a long pause. âI would find my job considerably less wearing had you ever learned even the rudiments of logical reporting.â
There were no further interruptions.
âSo I think,â Alvarez concluded, âthat we should ask Traffic to identify the registration number of the señorâs car and then ask all patrols to keep an eye out for it. Remembering that he was due to fly from the island this evening in order to go on an expensive cruise, I think one must assume that he has suffered seriously, perhaps fatally.â
âThen I have no doubt that within the next
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