An Inconsequential Murder (39 page)

“
The people that opposed the legalization of drugs wanted to steal that information.”

“
Why? What did they want with it?

“
I don’t really know all the facts; perhaps they wanted to know the names of all the people who were in the legalization group or perhaps they wanted to use it to expose some of the more influential members through the media. As I said, I can only speculate on what they planned to do with it.”

“
So, why did they harm Victor?”

“
I don’t need to tell you, Mrs. Delgado, that Victor was very conscientious about his job. When he found out that the information was in danger, so to speak, he safeguarded it by encrypting it—making it impossible for anyone to read without having a certain code.

“
Is that what was in the paper I gave you?”

“
Yes, that was part of it. Because, you see, this encryption scheme needs two ‘keys,’ as the computer people call them. One is to encrypt the information and the other is to decrypt it; that is, to make it readable again. You had the key to encrypt it, and Victor had the other key, the one to decrypt, which he meant to give to the Dean of the University, but, he, uh, never got the chance to do so.”

“
So, these men were trying to get this key from Victor?”

“
Yes, that’s why they abducted him.” He decided not to give her the ugly details of his death, so he just said, “They were questioning him when he died—probably his heart gave out.”

For the first time since he had met her, he saw her display emotions. She picked up the folded towel and covered her face. Her shoulders heaved, gently marking her silent sobs.

Lombardo wished he could take her in his arms and console her. He looked for his cigarettes and found he had left them in his coat pocket.

He felt guilty that he had used the excuse of bringing her news about her husband’s case to see her again. All he had done was cause her more pain. Nervously wringing his hands he said, “I’m very sorry for having told you all of this, Mrs. Delgado. Perhaps I should not have…”

“
No,” she said regaining her quiet composure, “in fact, I thank you for coming here to tell me. So many people in this country go without knowing what happened to their loved ones with all of these crimes that happen every day. It is horrible not knowing. You see, they gave him to us in a sealed coffin so we could not even say good-bye properly.”

“
I understand,” said Lombardo. He decided to soften the facts even further by saying, “If it is any comfort, Mrs. Delgado, the doctor who performed the autopsy told me that he had not
suffered. He probably had a heart condition he was not aware of and his heart, as I said, just gave out.”

She looked past Lombardo to the window, as if trying to remember something and said, “He was a very gentle man. The last thing one could imagine about him was that he would be involved in any sort of violent act. He was always trying to help others. He was that kind of a man.” She had regained her soft voice when she added, “When I went to the University to retrieve his personal things, everyone had nothing but good words, kind words to say about him.”

Lombardo was relieved that she had given him the opportunity to change subjects. “Yes, as everyone I have met, too.” Lombardo remembered the fact that the Director of the Computer Center had promised to help her out financially. “By the way, Mrs. Delgado, has the University arranged to have his insurance and other benefits paid to you?”

“
Yes, they have, Captain. It seems that once again he has come to my rescue. I don’t know what I would have done if Victor had not helped me when I lost my job. My family, my friends, everyone seemed to have turned away. But not Victor. He was more of a man than a lot of others...” She did not finish the sentence but Lombardo understood what she had left unsaid. Then she added, “Now it seems that once more he is looking out for me.”

“
That brings up something I would like to ask you, Mrs. Delgado. We found Victor’s car by the, uh, by the Presa de la Boca. It’s been impounded as evidence but I am sure they would release it now. Would you like me to help you recover it?”

“
Yes, I would appreciate it, Captain. I don’t want it, but perhaps I can sell it. We will need the money now…” she said trailing off.

Lombardo tried to put it as delicately as he could when he asked, “Are you going to be all right, Mrs. Delgado? I mean, will you be able…”

“
Yes, yes,” she said, “the University has provided a small stipend and they offered a scholarship for the boy when he comes of age. There is also a small amount from his insurance policy. I’m sure that will suffice until I can get a job.”

“
Do you own or do you rent your house?” he asked.

“
We, uh, the house is rented. I will have to move out—look for something less expensive; with the kind of job I can expect to get I wouldn’t be able to stay here.”

Again he struggled to find words that would not seem offensive to her. She had probably been offered ‘help’ enough times to be wary of ‘the kindness of strangers.’ “Mrs. Delgado, please don’t misunderstand what I am going to say, but, you see, I have been, uh, requested, or allowed, if you will, to retire early. The last day of the month will be the last day I work in the Investigations Department.”

“
I am glad for you, Captain, because that is very dangerous work.”

“
Yes, but my point is, you see, that I plan to go away for a while.” He made up the lie as he went along. “I have always wanted to travel, and never had the chance, so, I am thinking of going to, uh, France and other places.

The thing is, I have a house. It is mine and I would hate to leave it alone, you know how houses seem to deteriorate when left alone, but I don’t want to rent it either. I don’t need the money and then having to collect the rent or seeing to problems that the renters encounter would just be a nuisance.

What I am saying is, you are welcome to have the house, free of rent for as long as you want. It is not a big house, but I am sure you would be as comfortable as you are here.”

She said nothing so he added,
“And, there are no conditions or other, that is, I am not expecting anything in return.”

She looked at him steadily and she seemed to understand his meaning.

“
Thank you very much, Captain. I will consider your offer very, very seriously. With the boy growing up I am going to need all the help I can get. The jobs they offer a woman in this city, that is, what I can get, since I don’t have my degree, are very…”

“
I understand,
Señora,
” he said and she looked up, as if startled at the very formal way he had addressed her.

“
What is your first name, Captain Lombardo?”

“
Guillermo,” he answered; it was his turn to be surprised.

“
My name is Laura,” she said. “It’s five o’clock. I will have to wake up my son in another half-hour. Would you like a cup of coffee before you have to go, Guillermo?”

When Lombardo left her house
a couple of hours later, he was elated. It was a full five minutes before he could tell the taxi driver where he wanted to go. He sat in the taxi staring ahead and wondering, speculating what it all meant. She had asked for his first name. He could not believe it.

“
Señor
,” said the driver, “if you don’t tell me where you want to go you will have to get out of the taxi.”

“
Oh, I’m sorry. I was just thinking of something. Please take me to the Aeroméxico office, downtown.” As the taxi started off, he thought, “I guess I’ll just have to go to France now.”

Epilog
ue: The More Things Change…

After having received from Aeroméxico a quote on a return trip to Europe—arriving in Paris and returning through Madrid—Lombardo checked his bank account and guessed he could stay in France and Spain two or three months without worry, if he was a bit frugal in his spending.

He wanted to give Laura (how happy he was to be able to finally call her by her first name) enough time to settle her business and move into his house.

He made plans to go to France within a month, which is the time she said she needed to arrange her affairs and give her landlord notice. He had asked her to visit the house at her convenience and decide what furniture she wanted removed from the house and what she found useful and wanted to keep.

After she had seen the house and taken stock of what was in it, much to Lombardo
’s delight, she said she preferred to sell most of her furniture rather than have to pay for storage. She said she would use most of the things in his house—after all they were practically new since he was hardly ever there but for a few hours a day.

The only thing that had to change was the studio where he painted. She needed that as a bedroom for the boy. Lombardo said that was not a problem. She had told him she would not remove a single thing from his other studio so he could store things there until he got back.

“
By the way,” she wondered, “do you plan to stay in Europe or come back? What
are
your plans?”

“
I really haven’t decided,” he said truthfully. “In France, I have a friend, a man who consulted with the Investigations Department on the use of modern technology in gathering evidence and things like that. We became good friends during the time he was here. He is French but speaks very good English and Spanish. He has invited me to stay with him in a house he has in the country.”

“
Yes, but what about when you come back, if you decide to come back?” she insisted.

“
Look, you needn’t worry,” he assured her. “If and when I do come back, I really don’t plan to live here. I’ve never liked this city and now that I can, I’d rather move someplace else, someplace smaller, quieter.

This house, modest as it is, is too large for me. I really need something simpler, smaller that fits my needs better.”

“
Well,” she said, “if you come back and you haven’t decided where you are going to go next, please feel free to stay with us for as long as you need. This is, after all, your house.”

Lombardo
’s simple heart, which had not felt emotions for anything or anybody for a long time, was very grateful for her offer.

Laura’s arrangements and Lombardo’s preparations for the trip made the time pass quickly. On his way to the airport, he stopped by Laura’s house to say good-bye and let her know she was free to move in anytime she wanted. He was speechless when she kissed his cheek as she said good-bye.

Lombardo had never been very good at sleeping on planes
, but this time, the thirteen-hour flight was made more bearable by long bouts of dreamless, peaceful sleep.

He stayed in Paris for a week, getting reacquainted with a city he had first visited so long ago when he was so in love with an Indian dancer. He had followed her there while on leave from the Army and had almost gone AWOL when she asked him to stay with her.

After a
week in Paris, he left for Brittany where his friend lived. The house was about 30 kilometers from Morlaix, deep in the woods and part of a small community with only 12 houses.

The woods and countryside were beautiful, peaceful, and only occasionally disturbed by the rumbling tractors of the farmers.

Lombardo wandered around, sketching in his notebook, and making small watercolors of the landscape and old farms that, like his friend’s, were being bought up mostly by the English and Parisians who renovated them into homes and summer cottages.

Occasionally, Lombardo went into Morlaix, to visit the modest but interesting museum, buy things he needed, and sit in a café to read the papers.

He usually tried to read
Le Monde
in an effort to improve his limited French, but he also bought
The Times
and
El País
, when available. Two weeks after he had arrived, he read the news in the Spanish newspaper: “
Candidato a la Presidencia de México Asesinado
”.

In Ciudad Juarez, the candidate of the ruling party
had been assassinated. In a related story, the conservative candidate pledged that if elected, he would ask the Army to get involved in containing the drug cartels and to bring back the rule of law and order.

Lombardo closed the paper and drank the last of his coffee and cognac. “I told them so,” he said sadly.

Lombardo tried to forget the woes of his country and enjoy the two additional months that he had planned to stay in France and Spain. He thought about Laura and savored the idea of staying with her for a couple of weeks while he looked for a place to live.