Read Online The Mystery of Rio by Alberto Mussa, Alex Ladd - Free Book Online Page B

existed.
    All sexual idiosyncrasies were kept strictly confidential, and only the parties involved knew about them. Madame Brigitte also catered to risky desires; in such cases, though, it was necessary give the personnel the day off and suspend all activities, which required very high financial compensation, as was the case with the lady who wanted to be with four men at once (Madame Brigitte demanded that she be masked), or the gentleman who enjoyed mistreating young men in uniform (usually foreign sailors, recruited at the piers).
    Madame Brigitte trained the girls, developing in them the ability to discover inadmissible drives and propose to clients the most exotic adventures. Therefore, the success of the House of Swaps depended on the selection of its nurses, to which Madame Brigitte gave special importance. She wanted only women of great talent with very reputable pasts. In the case of Fortunata, she had failed in her evaluation of this second trait.
    Although it was already too late, after the expert’s visit, Madame Brigitte decided to set the record straight regarding certain matters, even if it meant saying a few harsh words. So, she sent off the letter, addressed to a distant ranch in the vicinity of Encantado.
    The letter arrived at its destination, but from there it was forwarded to another address in Europe. It lay there a few months, until the addressee returned from her summer travels. When the answer came—in late September, well after the point where the narrative is now—Madame Brigitte had a big surprise, and an even bigger disappointment.
    In fact, Cassia was not Fortunata’s friend. She did not even know Fortunata. She just wanted to leave the life, and sought
someone versed in the magic arts of
mandiga
to win over the heart of the judge, who was a good man and an old client. The sorcerer Rufino demanded a diamond ring, and that she place a person of his own choosing—the prostitute Fortunata—at the House of Swaps.
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    The minimally experienced reader knows that in police novels, or mystery novels in general—at least when there is an honest relationship between the narrator and his readers—there comes a point when the reader has enough information to solve the mystery.
    When the reader intuits that this point has been reached, the reader feels compelled to anticipate the end, guessing the narrative ploy that gives coherence to the plot—usually revealed only in the last pages. Therein lies the pleasure of the literary game.
    That is precisely the point our story has reached. Although some facts remain hidden, all the clues have been provided, some directly and others symbolically. Nonetheless, for the expert Baeta, I believe it is still impossible to solve the crime of the House of Swaps.
    This was the conclusion that Baeta himself had reached, in the confidential report he prepared and signed for the chief of police in early July.
    On June 13th, 1913, at about four o’clock in the afternoon, the secretary of the presidency of the republic arrived at the House of Swaps and was greeted by the prostitute Fortunata. Minutes after they entered the room, Fortunata went downstairs to get two glasses and a bottle of red wine in Dr. Zmuda’s makeshift wine cellar beneath the grand staircase, where, legend has it, there is a secret passageway built by Emperor Pedro I.
    The following fact should be emphasized: the nurses at the House at the time saw Fortunata pass, holding the bottle and glasses. So, the fingerprints found on these objects that are not the secretary’s belong to her.
    At around 6 p.m ., Fortunata passed the Upper Oval Parlor, where her colleagues were gathered. She was in a hurry, and reacted in an uncharacteristically curt manner to a kind gesture, before leaving through the front door. She was wearing a blue taffeta gown and had on the pair of gold earrings shaped like seahorses.
    Shortly before eight, taking note of the secretary’s