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it to the Bishop’s secretary who must have passed the letter on to the Bishop who in turn sent it to Rome. Once there it was passed on to my boss, who was told to send someone reliable to talk to Jarvis and find out what, if anything, was going on.’
    â€˜They took it seriously?’
    Jimmy gave a slight shrug.
    â€˜Seriously enough to follow it up. How seriously that is I couldn’t say. I was told to come and check, see if it was anything more than an ageing, British ex-pat going gaga in the heat and imagining things.’
    â€˜I see.’ Suarez took a slow drink and looked out to sea. Jimmy waited, he’d given her what he had and now it was up to her. She put down her glass, looked at him and gave a small shake of her head. ‘No, it’s crap, it doesn’t work. No one would believe that some English nobody, an ex-pat, a newcomer, had really managed to find out anything about ETA, never mind that there was a senior Catholic cleric at the heart of a major terrorist organisation. How could he?’ Jimmy could see her mind was made up. She took another drink but ignored the sea this time. ‘No, it’s all wrong, and you know it’s all wrong.’
    â€˜That’s right. It has to be baloney.’
    â€˜Which brings us back to why you are here.’
    â€˜Perez, in his letter to the Bishop, said there was something about Jarvis which made him almost believe what he was saying. In his opinion Jarvis was genuinely frightened, he wasn’t putting on an act. The priest said he couldn’t believe that Jarvis had indeed found what he claimed, but that the man obviously believed it himself. The priest said he thought someone ought to do something. It wasn’t much, but it got the Bishop to send it to Rome and that was enough to get me sent here and make discreet enquiries. As things have turned out I don’t have to be discreet because now it’s a murder case.’ Jimmy sat back. ‘I arrived two days ago. I didn’t try to contact Jarvis or Perez because I wanted to look around and get a bit of a feel for the place. Today you turned up and told me Jarvis was dead.’ He took a drink. ‘And that’s it, all of it. At least all that I have.’
    â€˜Meaning?’
    â€˜In my experience my boss is about as straight as a spiral-staircase. If I had to make a guess I’d say I’ve been put in to see what I can make run out, like a ferret down a rabbit hole. You understand ferrets and rabbit holes?’
    â€˜Yes, I understand ferrets.’
    â€˜And when it comes to telling me what’s going on I tend to get the facts in such a way that I go in the direction my boss wants instead of the way I should be going.’
    â€˜Meaning what exactly?’
    â€˜Meaning what I’ve told you is what I’ve been told. How much of it you believe has to be up to you.’
    He waited while Suarez thought it over.
    â€˜OK, Mr Costello, if your boss might be twisting the facts why do you think you were sent to talk to Jarvis? What’s your opinion?’
    Jimmy sat back and spread his hands.
    â€˜Me? I don’t have an opinion. I got told what I got told. I came to Santander, found a hotel, looked around and got my bearings. I was told to be discreet so I wasn’t about to rush in anywhere. I would have made contact with Jarvis or Perez tomorrow or the next day, but you popped up and told me the news. I didn’t know what to expect when I got here, but I certainly didn’t expect Jarvis murdered. Nor did I expect to find out that your lot had been digging into my past.’
    â€˜But now that you do know, what’s your opinion?’
    â€˜My opinion is that somebody in Rome tipped you off that I was coming and that same person told you where to look to find out all about me, but I have no idea why anyone should have done that. And that’s it, all of it, what I know and any guesses I might make and none of it