The Whispering City (49 page)

Grau, who had given the order, didn’t know that the First Class Inspector had also grasped that he’d used the same method on Sánchez-Herranz that he’d utilised to avoid the investigation of Mendoza’s death.

Two days after the ill-fated encounter between Grau and Sánchez-Herranz, a call from Isidro Castro informed them that they were ‘out of danger’. They didn’t feel happy, merely relieved. Sánchez-Herranz, the instigator of the murders, was dead, his body battered. They had brought on his death, by pitting one giant against the other. Although it was in self-defence, as Pablo had argued. But that didn’t absolve them. The result had been that one giant had killed the other. Had they really not considered that possibility when they came up with their plan? They wondered if, deep down, they had even wished for it.

‘What about the material killers of Mariona, Mendoza and Encarni?’ Ana asked the policeman.

‘They’re retiring Burguillos. He was left deaf in one ear and unfit for service. Since his injury occurred in the line of duty, they’re going to give him the concession for a tobacconist’s in Albacete, I think. They sent the other one, Costa, to Melilla.’

Far away. Very far away from Barcelona. Just as they heard his name for the first time, they knew they would never see him again.

Relief; that was what they felt.

They were able to attend Encarni’s funeral. Beatriz gave her a place in the family mausoleum; Encarni’s mother had accepted because that way she would be close to the slum where the family lived.

After saying goodbye to her relatives, they separated at the cemetery gates.

‘I have to get on with sorting through my things,’ said Beatriz.

And making noise in the house, which was too silent without Encarni. She wanted to get back to her work and try to fill the void with the chatter of her books.

Pablo had to go back to the firm. He still didn’t know what to do with what he’d found out. Use it or keep it quiet. Beatriz knew him well enough to be able to read the dilemma in his eyes.

‘If I had wanted an honourable profession, I wouldn’t have become a lawyer, Tieta,’ he had told her at one point during their enforced confinement, when they scarcely dared to make plans for the future.

Ana told him that Sanvisens hadn’t wanted to cause a commotion and so he’d got rid of the bitter journalist, Belda, by promoting him to Madrid correspondent, near the Ministries, at the centre of power. He’d offered Ana a staff position at the newspaper, ‘Belda’s desk’.

‘I’d prefer my own, if you don’t mind.’

Beatriz watched Ana and Pablo walk down the slope of Montjuïc. Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she thought she saw them holding hands.

She knew that, while everything went on as normal, nothing would ever be the same again.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research for this novel was not only nourished by reading, but also by the stories many people generously shared with me. I won’t attempt an exhaustive list; the task would be doomed to failure. So instead I want to thank Juan Ribas and Montserrat Moliné, whose vivid memories impregnate the entire text; Professor Isabel de Riquer, a wonderful narrator who allowed me to relive the period; and Marga Losantos from the National Library of Catalonia, who introduced me to the ins and outs of one of this novel’s most important settings.

The manuscript had the privilege of being read by Társila Reyes, Pilar Montero and Karin Hopfe, whom I thank for their comments, criticisms and enthusiasm.

I am indebted to Klaus Reichenberger for the most generous form of critique I know.

Finally, I would like to end by remembering Celia Jaén Rodrigo, who was by my side from the initial idea for this novel until its final full stop. Celia accompanied me by reading, commenting, critiquing, encouraging and correcting. My appreciation is infinite, so I will close by repeating the dedication of the novel here: to you, Celia, forever in my memory.

Sara Moliner is the pseudonym for the writing duo Rosa Ribas and Sabine Hofmann. Rosa Ribas was born in 1963 in Barcelona, and since 1991 has lived in Frankfurt, where she teaches at the university. She is the author of six previous novels. Sabine Hofmann was born in 1964 and is a former lecturer in philology at Frankfurt University.
The Whispering City
is their first novel together. Highly acclaimed in Spain, it has been translated into several languages.