Blood Wedding Read Online Free Page A

so quickly. I’ll drive you over, could be murder.’ Anita had a pleasant, low voice.
    ‘Do you have an ID for the body yet?’
    ‘Not sure, but Sargento León thinks you probably knew her.’
    Oh God. Isabel? Mariana? Macarena? Dolores?
    They drove in silence. There was a police car stationed at the side of the Jola road, just before the road bridge over the ravine. Cabo Guevarra drew up beside the green tape that cordoned off the road. Sargento Mario León came over to greet him, chest puffed up with importance.
    ‘Thanks for coming, Max. I think you might recognize the body.’
    Max felt a flood of relief: at least it wasn’t family.
    ‘Where is she?’
    ‘Under the bridge. We’ll have to get down the ravine. But the path isn’t too bad.’
    They clambered down. The banks, usually bone dry at this time of year, were slippery with mud. The water was still ankle deep at the bottom. They scrambled along the riverbed and under the road bridge. The body of a young woman lay in the mud, crudely covered with a few branches of oleander, white flowers still gleaming.
    ‘Recognize her?’
    Oh sweet Jesus, he was never going to have that date with Leila. He reached for his inhaler and took a quick puff. Leila, Leila.
    ‘What happened?’
    ‘We don’t know. Broken neck, we think. Jaime, the goatherd, had to scramble down after his dog, and found the body. Not well hidden, is it?’
    ‘No. But then it might have taken days for someone to look under the bridge. She’s Leila Mahfouz, the daughter of one of the British Muslims. God, I had tea with her father this afternoon. She was due home any minute . . . I’ll tell him if you like.’
    ‘Thanks. Definitely Muslim? Is that going to complicate things?’
    ‘Yes, could do. We’ll have to move fast. Muslims like to bury their dead within twenty-four hours.’
    ‘Didn’t know that. I’ll tell Forensics. Can’t be too politically correct these days. The duty
juez de instrucción
is arriving any minute.’
    ‘Who is it?’
    ‘Juez Falcón. He’s fine – lets us get on with it. I’ll tell him about the twenty-four hours. Thanks for the advice.’
    Max bent over the body. ‘Look, her watch is broken, stopped at five exactly. Could have broken when she fell over the ravine.’
    ‘Maybe, but that’s an old trick. Kill her, change the time on her watch, break the watch, and the killer, of course, has an alibi for that time.’
    Max took another quick puff of his inhaler as they climbed up the bank.
    ‘Okay, Max, we’ll have to wait here for the
policía científica,
Forensics and the judge to arrive . . . Anita, you got hold of the boss yet?’
    ‘Still no luck,’ replied Anita.
    León turned back to Max. ‘Can’t understand why he’s not answering his mobile. He’ll be annoyed he’s missing the excitement. It’s our first Muslim. Look, Max, I know you have a lot of experience with Muslims, and you’re in Homicide. I’d be grateful if you could keep us straight on this one. We don’t want any more complaints.’
    ‘Mmm.’
    ‘I know you and González don’t get on too well. But we can’t be too politically correct these days, you know, and . . . well . . . the Teniente has had some problems recently, and . . . you know what he’s like, drowns his sorrows. He won’t admit it of course, but I’m sure he would really appreciate any help you can give.’
    ‘It’s not my patch, Mario.’
    ‘I know, but . . . you know how he is.’
    ‘Mmm. Okay, I’ll see what I can do.’
    ‘Thanks. Cabo Guevarra will drive you back to town. Could you ask the father to ID the body?’
    ‘Sure. I’ll see what I can do to help.’
    ‘Shall we go, sir?’ said Guevarra.
    Max got into the car beside her. He felt guilty that all he could think of was the waste of a lovely body.
    Guevarra was very pale.
    ‘Your first body?’
    ‘Sí.
I suppose you get used to it.’
    ‘Not really.’
    ‘You knew her then, sir?’
    ‘Yes. I saw her father this