A Corpse for Cuamantla (24 page)

Chapter
61

M
iguel, please ask the truck driver to take us to the police station at the corner of the zócalo," Cortez said from the bed of the truck. "You and I can ride back here and guard our prisoner, and the Maestra can sit up front."

"Not a problem, Comandante," Miguel said, helping Anna climb into the cab. The driver's side door opened and a short dark man of indeterminate age climbed in. Miguel stood by the door to introduce him.

"Maestra, Señor García."

"
Buenas tardes, Señor
,"
Anna said.

"Buena' noche', Maestra," the man answered, fidgeting with the key to start the truck.

I hate when they do that, Anna thought, correcting me about the time of day when the creeping darkness hadn't quite completed its journey. The driver turned on the headlights as if to prove his point and jolted the truck forward.

Anna searched for the non-existent seat belts, grabbing onto the door-rest to prevent a collision between her head and the dashboard. I know a restaurant in Los Angeles that could use this truck, she thought, it's worse than their bronco rides
.
The truck bounced along the narrow cemetery road contending with rocks and ruts before laboring onto the street in its determined effort to reach town. Anna tried to see Miguel and the Commander through the small back window but the dusty glass revealed only hazy shadows.

"I'm Pedro's uncle," the truck driver said, breaking the silence once they turned onto the paved road leading to the zócalo. Anna wished he'd watch the road when he talked.

"I'm sorry for your loss," she said, trying to formulate an appropriate expression of sympathy. "Your nephew was an interesting man."

"Yes, interesting, Maestra, a good word to describe my nephew. Like the Chinese curse, may your life be interesting, Pedro was cursed." The man's voice carried no evidence of malice, more like dismay. "All his life, everything came too easy to him. He never had to work hard like the rest of us. That was a curse. Look where it got him. How else to explain it?" Pedro's uncle took his hand off the wheel and shrugged his shoulder in Anna's direction. "Life's not easy. Better to work hard, keep your nose clean, do your duty, and make good friends," he said.

Anna agreed with him, thinking how succinctly his words summed up the average Mexican citizen's philosophy of life.

"Ah, here we are, Maestra, the Zocatlo police station. Not a place I like to visit ordinarily, but tonight I'm happy to deliver that swine to this place. Excuse me, Maestra, while I get out and see if the Commander needs my help."

Anna opened her door and dangled her leg, hesitant to put pressure on her tender ankle. Before she could step down, Miguel reached up for her.

"I think I'll try to slide out," she told him, "so I don't land on my ankle."

"Never mind, Maestra, I've got you." He lifted her down as though she were a child. Once her feet touched the ground, Miguel continued to hold her to him stroking her hair and whispering what sounded like "te quiero," which she thought meant I love you.

"I'm trying hard not to cry, Miguel, and you're not making it any easier."

"It's okay to cry, Anna. The nightmare's over."

The noise of men's footsteps on the sidewalk caught their attention. Pedro's uncle led the charge with half a dozen of Zocatlo's finest running with him. Miguel and Anna walked to the back of the truck to join the Commander who stood guard over his bound prisoner. Cortez showed his credentials to the village officers, explaining the prisoner in the truck was a murder suspect and that he, Cortez, needed to borrow their interrogation room. Everyone nodded their agreement, quick to offer Cortez their services.

"Interrogation is one of our specialties," replied the officer in charge.

I'll bet it's one of your specialties,
Anna thought, as she watched two officers untie the ropes from around the prisoner. They were none too gentle. From stories she'd heard about local police tactics, Rolando should fear for his life right now. She almost felt sorry for him.

"Has he told you why he broke into my house last night?" she asked Cortez

"He gave me his name, Maestra, and that's all he's saying so far." Cortez turned to Miguel, "Maestro, thanks for your help. I'll be spending some time here with Señor Múñoz. I'm not sure how long. If you wish, I'll stop by your hotel rooms when I've finished here and let you know what I learn."

"We'd appreciate that Commander," Miguel said, answering for both of them.

"Go ahead and enjoy a good meal. I'll talk with you later.
Hasta luego
." Cortez bowed slightly in Anna's direction before joining the officers currently manhandling his prisoner.

Anna stood for a minute, remembering out loud. "He's a student of Professor Fortin's," she told Miguel. "I met him one evening a few months ago when he stopped by the house in Belén asking for Art. The next time I saw him was yesterday morning in Cuamantla, just before I met up with Pedro."

"Let's not think about this now, Anna. I'd like to go back to the hotel and clean up before I take you out to dinner. What do you say?"

"Sounds good to me, Miguel, though I'm not very hungry. I feel grimy and disheveled and I really would appreciate a hot shower."

"Of course. You can shower first, or we could save time and shower together?"

She made a face at him and he responded with an embarrassed grin. "Sorry, Anna, just joking. Let's ask at the concierge's desk for a good restaurant. Or we can stay in the hotel and eat, whichever you prefer." Miguel was almost jubilant, which amused her. "And, I want to hear about those self-defense moves. I think you've been holding out on me. Was that karate?"

"Kali. It's a Filipino combat system and there's not much to tell. I've been taking Kali lessons since I was fifteen when my high school boyfriend…, well, let's not go into that. I don't talk it about it much. It's something I do to relax, like running, though I'll have to say my Kali training has come in handy, which reminds me that I have another story to tell you. I'm just annoyed that I let Rolando trip me in the first place."

"Well, if he hadn't, you might never have noticed the missing rowel. In retrospect, that was a good thing. I mean, as long as you didn't get hurt." Trying to recover, he added, "I guess I'll need to more careful around you from now on."

Anna smiled at him. Without thinking, she reached for his hand during the walk across the zócalo, her mood lightening with each wobbly step.

Part V. The Third Death

Chapter
62

I
nside
the nearly empty hotel restaurant Miguel and Anna finished dinner, paid the bill and left for their rooms. Crossing the lobby they ran into Cortez looking haggard but pleased to see them. The two men shook hands.

"We're heading upstairs, Commander, care to join us? I have a bottle of Herradura
in the room in case we have something to celebrate."

"Gracias, Miguel. I could use a drink right now and a place to relax."

"You look tired," Anna told him, worried about Miguel's reaction if she sounded too concerned. "Was the interrogation difficult?"

"Not particularly, Maestra. Once Muñoz entered the interrogation room his story spilled out with little encouragement from me or the Zocatlo police." Cortez gave them a tightlipped smile. "Their presence frightened him into cooperating, I think. He looked to me for protection and readily answered my questions. He's a teacher in Yolanda's school, which is where they met. He claims they've dated for over a year and plan to marry."

"He told me he was leaving for Spain tomorrow," Anna said.

Cortez looked surprised. "He never mentioned it during questioning, but that wouldn't be unusual. Entering Spain is easy since it doesn't require a visa. He may have planned to lie low there over the summer and return once the controversy over Pedro's death settled down."

"Did he really think he would get away with murder?"

"I believe so, Maestra. He wouldn't have attempted such a crime in Zocatlo, but he assumed no one could connect him with a murder so far from his own village. If it weren't for you Maestra, I'm afraid his assumptions might have been correct. How did you come to know him?"

Anna explained about Rolando's visit to Belén shortly after she arrived in Mexico, and then about seeing him in Cuamantla the previous day. He said he was visiting a cousin in Cuamantla and she thought nothing of it.

Miguel unlocked Anna's hotel room door and motioned everyone inside. "I'll get another chair from my room."

Anna pointed the Commander to the lone chair in the room. "Please sit down, Commander. I'll make myself comfortable right here." She reached for a pillow to use as a back support then propped her ankle on the bed, anxious to hear the rest of the Commander's story. Miguel returned with a straight-backed chair and tequila supplies. He filled two shot glasses and handed one to the Commander.

"Anna?"

"No thanks, Miguel. I drank enough wine at dinner to last me the night."

Miguel steadied the tequila bottle on the floor next to his chair and rested his stocking feet on the end of the bed next to Anna's feet. "Let me know when you want a refill, José."

"Gracias
,
Miguel," Cortez replied raising his shot glass, "salud."

"Salud
.
"

The two men acted like longtime drinking buddies, Anna thought, impatient for Cortez to finish telling them about the interrogation. "Are we going to hear the rest of the story?"

"Si Maestra," Cortez smiled, pausing for another sip. "The matter is complicated. Our friend Pedro appears to have been caught up in a high profile smuggling ring with ties to an international black market dealing in pre-Columbian and early historical antiquities. The AFI office in Tlaxcala has been investigating this case for a long time. In fact, one of the earliest thefts occurred in Cuamantla three years ago when the local priest disappeared with a Colonial oil painting from the church. The leading suspect is a history professor from the University of Tlaxcala by the name of Antonio Medina, but until Rolando's testimony today the federales lacked sufficient evidence to arrest Medina. As it turns out, Maestra, Medina is one of your Professor's research assistants in Tlaxcala, although the AFI agents
are confident Professor Fortin knows nothing of these criminal activities."

"Oh my god." Anna sat straight up in the bed. "Of course he wouldn't be involved in this and when he hears about it, he'll explode. He's arriving in Tlaxcala today and I really don't want to deal with him right now."

"
Con calma
, Anna," Miguel said. "He's due here next month anyway. What difference does it make if he's a little early? It's not a problem."

"Not a problem for you, maybe," Anna said, "but I'm not ready to have him here breathing down my neck."

Cortez sipped his tequila, wondering why the fuss. "Shall I continue?" he asked, looking over at Anna who was trying to calm down.

"Certainly, Commander, I apologize for going over the edge. My professor is something of a pain." She caught the surprised look on Miguel's face. "Sorry, Miguel, I didn't mean to be disrespectful, but it's the truth and you know it." Miguel's body language suggested he agreed.

"Don't mind us, José," Miguel said, "it's complicated, like this case. Please go on, we're interested in the details of your interview with Muñoz."

Chapter
63

C
ortez grinned, curious about Anna's conflicted relationship with her professor. He'd save his questions for another day.

"I have a number of friends in AFI," Cortez said, continuing with his description for Anna and Miguel of the criminal plot involving his prisoner, Rolando Múñoz. "After several phone calls, we pieced together the following. Múñoz met Professor Medina when he was at the University. Medina seems to have a good eye for spotting poor students who can be influenced to break the law for money. The coincidence in this instance, which was too bad for Pedro but which resulted in breaking up this smuggling ring, is that Rolando and Yolanda ended up teaching in the same primary school in Zocatlo. One thing led to another and they became lovers. Rolando pressured her to file for divorce, but she worried about losing Pedro's financial support. When Rolando discovered Pedro taught in Cuamantla he took the information to Medina and the two saw an opportunity."

"I can't believe this. Professor Medina is my thesis advisor's friend," Anna said.

"And my professor," Miguel added.

"Greed is powerful," Cortez said. "For a long time, Medina coveted Cuamantla's Real Cédula but worried the document would be difficult to steal without inside knowledge. Having Pedro on board, they would have had an accomplice with access to the municipal offices in Cuamantla. As they saw it, Pedro needed money for his divorce and that would convince him to cooperate in the theft. Medina invited Pedro to his office in Tlaxcala where he and Rolando questioned him about the municipal offices and proposed a business deal. Pedro never knew of Rolando's relationship with Yolanda. You see what I mean about the matter being a complicated one, Maestros?" Cortez asked, sipping his tequila with obvious satisfaction.

"The idea of an international smuggling ring operating in Cuamantla is astounding," Miguel said.

Cortez nodded and turned to Anna. "This is where we get back to the issue of Professor Medina and your advisor, Maestra. When Medina collected his fieldwork data for Professor Fortin, he would deposit the materials at the house in Belén. In the event Professor Fortin was not at home, Medina left the materials in the large desk drawer in the study using the keys provided him by your professor."

"The locked drawer. I wondered about that drawer. Art never told me anyone had keys to the house. If he had, I would have changed the locks. It's the first thing I plan to do when I get back.  That, and give him a piece of my mind."

"I agree, Maestra. However, according to Rolando, Professor Fortin was unaware that Medina made a duplicate set of keys. When Fortin was out of the country, Medina and Rolando used the house for a far more sinister purpose, as a transfer point for their contraband. Rolando would steal artifacts, then travel to the house in Belén and hide them in the locked drawer in the study or elsewhere if the items were too large. When Medina lined up a buyer, he would stop by the house and retrieve the object. A marvelous plan because neither man possessed the stolen artifact for any length of time, and who would think to look for stolen goods in the house of the esteemed professor? So, Maestra, are you ready for this? Rolando broke into your house that night not to steal your video, but to hide the Real Cédula in the locked desk drawer."

"I can't believe this," she said.

"I thought a lot about that drawer, Maestra, particularly after one of the AFI agents told me their investigation had led them to the village of Belén. Before leaving my office today I talked with the officer in charge who said their evidence showed Medina traveled regularly to Belén even when Professor Fortin was back in the U.S. For a while, they suspected your professor might be involved. On my way here, I met the agent at your house and let myself in with the key you provided. The drawer lock was simple to pick, a talent I learned in my misspent youth," he confided, to the amusement of his spellbound audience.

"When I opened the drawer, there was the Real Cédula. The AFI agent took the document into custody, and I drove straight from Belén to Cuamantla to inform the Municipal President who
is appropriately grateful. It's a good thing, Maestra, to have the gratitude of a municipal president. The federales set up a stakeout at your house in case Medina came by to retrieve the document. However, with Rolando's confession, they no longer need to catch him in the act to make their case, though I expect one of their men is still waiting at or near your house."

"I hope he's discrete," Anna said. "My neighbors have had enough excitement already."

"I'm sure he is, Maestra, and grateful," he added with a disarming grin, raising his left eyebrow slightly hoping the effect wasn't lost on Anna. "In addition to the gratitude of the Cuamantla Municipal President, I now have the gratitude of my AFI friends. All in all, a good day." Cortez smiled again and downed another swallow of tequila.