Corruption's Price: A Spanish Deceit (43 page)

Yet thinking about it, it was not Caterina who was the real issue. It was Caterina and Davide, or Davide. No, Emilia couldn't really blame Davide. What had he done except fall for her crazy friend who was incapable of sustaining a relationship with a jar of Vegemite, never mind someone as patently decently patient as Davide?

Why couldn't Caterina either grow up or at least lose her guilt or whatever it was that drove her to her absurdities? If she copied Emilia she could be having endless fun. Caterina was good-looking enough to attract whomever she chose. They would make a great pairing in any hunt for action.

Last night had been a case in point. Emilia had wanted to go out to see what they might enjoy. Caterina had insisted on staying home in case Davide appeared. On top of that she had insisted Emilia keep her company. To cap it all, she spent the whole evening hashing and rehashing what Davide might or might not be doing, including with Ana.

It had been too much after three hours. Emilia had gone to bed mentally to replay the pleasures of Klaus and Mila, whom she was meeting again tomorrow with the fun starting after lunch. Hmmm. Anticipated pleasures and all that. They were inventive though at times they stretched even Emilia's appetite. Fortunately they were also sensitive as to when a line might be crossed, or at least Mila was. Klaus was less so.

She left her bedroom to make coffee. In the kitchen she found Caterina doing the same.

"Do you have to strut around naked, Emilia? What if Davide or Ángela were here? Why must you always display yourself?"

"Listen to the prude. Ángela is away this weekend. Davide's locked up with Ana or whatever. Who cares?"

"Don't even suggest or insinuate that, you mean bitch! I can't bear the thought."

"What are you referring to?"

"That Davide's up to something with Ana. How could he? She must be a decade or more younger than him. How old do you think she is?"

"Felipe reckons late twenties, like himself. She dresses and behaves that way, if you can remember being that young."

Caterina pouted. "I guess so. So why would he be interested in her? She's all legs and like a bean pole."

"She has a good bust. Not like you, you mean? Yes, she is leggy. But she's bright. Have you not noticed how breaks have come when she's involved? You know, you may be onto something that's never quite fitted together for me."

"What are you inferring now?"

"Nothing, except ... It's almost like she's too perfect."

"You rotten, sour-faced, bi-sexual cow and occasional friend of mine! Please don't do this to me!"

"I didn't mean it like that. Sorry. No. Could she be older than she seems?"

"That's worse. Please don't go there."

"Yes, it makes sense. There's a poise about her we never possessed in our twenties. I don't really have it now, though you do sometimes, like that evening just after we arrived and you dressed up for Davide. You stunned him, and me. I could see it in his eyes though it was almost as if he was recalling a treasured memory."

"I wore similar clothes to those when I threw myself at him in Rome."

"You what? You've never told me you did anything like that."

Emilia was taken aback. Caterina had thrown herself at somebody?

Reluctantly, now the story had escaped, Caterina told her of the evening when she made two proposals to him, after going out to have her hair colour changed and afterwards buying some truly sensuous Italian clothes to bring out the best in her.

"Two proposals? You can't get married twice at once, can you?"

"No, not like that. One was to become a partner in his business."

"The other?"

Caterina prevaricated.

"Come on. What did you do? Threaten to jump into bed with him?"

"Actually, yes."

Emilia's jaw dropped for a moment before she said, "You really did?" Caterina nodded. "Good for you! You should do it more often. I'd never have believed it. So the prude does know how to misbehave. You just need more practice. Maybe we should do something tonight to help you along?"

"I don't know how I had the nerve. I think it was being dressed
like
an Italian
by
an Italian. I felt so good that nothing could stop me."

"So what happened next?"

"That's where it all began to fall off the rails."

Saturday: Madrid

For the second time in a fortnight Pedro made his way to
Juez
Garibey's home. As before he was let in expeditiously but greeted this time by Garibey's wife on her way out to a hospital. They exchanged polite greetings before she told him that Rafa was in his study. He went in after opening the elevator door for her.

Garibey said to Pedro, "We've come a long way in a short time."

"We have,
Señoría
, er, Rafa. The Australians have been a godsend. They deliver so fast that my people can barely keep up. And there's Ana who's provided that extra dimension to open the door to you cracking Señora Márquez."

"And Davide?"

"An intriguing question. I'm never sure. It's as if he's a natural catalyst. He doesn't seem to do anything particular yet things happen when he's around. If it wasn't for him, Caterina and Emilia wouldn't be here and we'd never have the copy of the M-In and M-Out accounts, and so on."

"With Ana?"

"That's more complicated. I'm even less certain. I have this odd sensation that she rises to her capabilities because of him. The catalyst effect again? In the family we've all known for years that she's astonishingly clever, but she never came good as we expected. She always underplays herself." Pedro shook his head in disbelief.

"No one can work out why. For example, why on earth is she working at ORS dressed like a twenty-five-year-old? Anyway, all have and still are delivering. How shall we proceed?"

Juez
Garibey reflected on his actions from yesterday and said, "I've started issuing summonses to people to explain to me. On Tuesday my questions will be Church-related. On Wednesday, business-related, while afterwards it'll be time to start on the politicians.

"One point, Pedro, to note is that those already cited are merely a selection from those who will follow. Put another way, I want to reinforce the credibility of the M-Out entries to the point where, hopefully, the authenticity of entries is no longer disputed."

"Have you any special reason for that sequence? Do you expect to bring everybody to a trial at some point?"

"On the first, not really, other than Cardarzob was the initial 'clue'. As for the second, I'm unsure. One aspect that bothers me is what might occur if so many are simultaneously declared
imputados
for the criminal acts alleged against them? I can't think of any equivalent mass accusation in a modern society. Can you?"

"No, other than perhaps in Eastern European countries as Soviet rule broke down."

"That analogy occurred to me too. It's not precisely the same because most ex-Soviet states lacked a credible, independent rule of law. I don't think that's our position."

"But it might be closer than you wish?"

"Exactly. My dilemma – actually it's not a dilemma – is whether what I'm doing is making everything worse than ignoring it. But we both saw what happened on that previous occasion when the powers-that-be closed our investigation. It just left the perpetrators free to carry on perpetrating more injustices. Do I want to upset the apple cart? No, not if it can be avoided. But can I see another way to do this without forgetting the whole caboodle? There's no partial way forwards. It's all or nothing. Or such is my personal reasoning. What about you? Do you have doubts?"

"To be honest with you, Rafa, yes." Pedro held up both hand in mock surrender to Rafa. "Not about the principle. In that I am wholly behind you."

Juez
Garibey was relieved. Losing Pedro's support would have been a blow.

"It's the downstream consequences that worry me. What do Javier or Javiera in the street think? Or, more importantly, what will they do when they understand how comprehensively they've been misled as well as systematically ripped off? I don't want Ceaușescu-type puppet trials. That would be awful beyond words."

"We think alike. But what's the alternative? We feel the impending weight of history, correct? We
could
stop now. Should we?"

They looked at each other, both understanding the implications. The list that Ana and Davide had drawn up only featured some twenty people or organisations. But the names included household ones, with several already being suspected of possessing dubious moral compasses. It was almost inevitable that, if more proofs emerged from Márquez's revelations, explanations and verifications, others would join the list.

The real question was no longer how high but how wide. After all, indicting a previous head of the Catholic Church in Spain, albeit a dead one, was pretty much as high as you could go. The next stop but one was God.

They sat together in silent contemplation of a week or more that was going to be explosive, particularly for one
Juez de Instrucción
.

"You will be famous, Rafa."

"Infamous, you mean. In any case it's too late."

"Too late?"

"The formal papers went out yesterday for Tuesday and Wednesday. The fat is out of the pan if not quite yet touching the fire. The only real uncertainty is when the media get wind of what's occurring. That was, by the way, another reason for choosing the Church first and business second. They are more likely to keep quiet until the last moment, in the hope that silence – they would probably call it common sense – will prevail. By Thursday I expect the clamour to be near crazy."

"Should we hold back on the politicians?"

"I wondered about that too. But how, Pedro, can we differentiate? There are biggish names and many minnows. It would be unfair to go after the latter and not the former, or vice versa. There's no good answer."

"It seems that you've considered all. It's going to be a long weekend and the week will be worse for you, Rafa."

"I agree. What about Ana, Davide and the Australians? Is it fair or even safe to keep them within Spain?"

"Another good question. I think you might want to consider the options. But they will almost certainly have to be here at some point for any trials that follow, assuming any do."

Pedro rose to leave.

As he headed for the door he turned to ask: "You realise there's one other possibility?"

"
Un golpe de estado
, a coup?"

"Precisely. It could happen all too easily if too many of those who think power belongs to them by right feel threatened enough to take action."

Sunday: Chamberi

Inma sat comfortably in a favourite
restaurante
. She liked Paolo's because it was spacious, a converted printing works or something like that. It had high ceilings, plentiful space between tables, good food and courteous service. What more could you want?

Inma exchanged greetings with Ana, commenting on how radiant she looked.

"Has something special happened?"

Ana said, "Speak for yourself! You amaze me yet again. Every time I see you these days you're dressed to kill. I love that blouse. Where did you find it?"

"Barcelona."

"Well it suits you magnificently. One day would you please explain how you keep in such good shape? I'm envious. I find it harder and harder not to put on weight, especially now that I really am stopping smoking."

"Good for you! Staying like this takes a lot of hard work. I have my own special routines. They took me a decade or so to evolve. They demand a minimum of an hour a day – preferably much more – and involve a combination of tough stretching as well as aerobic exercise with some weights."

They fell into more talk about different fashions in Yoga, Pilates and the various sources that Inma had tried, rejected or combined. Inma shared her opinion that everybody needs their own specific approach tailored to their specific bodies. Most people were not patient enough to find out what was best for them. She commented that for someone as naturally tall and slender as Ana many of her own exercises would almost certainly be either useless or inappropriate.

"I think the only body-proportion you and I have in common, inherited from our common grandmother, is our chests. Although yours isn't as generous as mine, I do think some of my exercises would help keep you shapely."

This topic continued long after they had ordered. Ana was ever more impressed by the depth of Inma's research and experimentation. More than that she enjoyed the way Inma opened up. She was a pleasure to be with.

After a while, when the exercise topic palled, Ana tentatively asked Inma if she liked Emilia.

"Are you hunting for something, Ana?"

"Yes, but not about Emilia. That comes later."

"Fair enough. To me, Emilia is beyond words. Have you ever come across someone leaking so much lust into her surroundings? I haven't. But that might be my ignorance from all those years cloistered in Opus Dei."