The Ways of Evil Men Read Online Free

into one of the toilets or showers and found him there, they’d be sure to kick up a fuss.”
    “And this way, he won’t have to leave the room. Good idea. I’ll try to explain that to him.”
    Before Osvaldo could reply, the Indian pointed to the toilet bowl and said a few words, probably asking what it was for.
    Osvaldo answered him in the same language.
    “Wait,” Jade said. “You speak Awana?”
    “Sure do.”
    “If I’d known that I would have come here first.”
    “Come here for what?”
    “To get a translation. I’ve been trying to learn their language, but I still have a long way to go.”
    “So you went to Castori?”
    “I did. Does he know you speak Awana?”
    Osvaldo grinned. “He does, but he doesn’t spread it around. He likes the idea of being the sole expert.”
    “Why does he dislike the Awana so? And, given that he does, why did he bother to learn their language?”
    “He learned so he could make converts, but he was never able to convert a single one. He blames them for that, but the truth of the matter is he’s a drunk.”
    “What’s being a drunk got to do with it?”
    “Indians don’t respect drunks, and they don’t take on new ideas from people they don’t respect. I could have told him that, saved him a lot of trouble, but he never asked.”
    “And you never offered?”
    Osvaldo shook his head. “No way. Castori’s an asshole. So, tell me, what’s going on?”
    Jade told him.
    “Jesus,” Osvaldo said when she was done. “I can see why you’d want to get him off the street.”
    “You think he’s in danger?”
    The hotelkeeper gave an emphatic nod. “You bet I do. Think about it. After thirty-nine murders, what’s one more?”
    “So you think it might be a land grab?”
    “I do. People around here have been bitching about that reservation for years, and the only way to do away with it was to do away with the people who lived there. Everybody knew that, but nobody ever had the guts to go that far. Now,somebody has and there’s just him.” Osvaldo hooked a thumb at Amati.
    “And his son,” Jade added.
    “Right.”
    “So what you’re saying is—”
    “That if the killers get a crack at them, their lives won’t be worth a
centavo
.”
    “Who are they, Osvaldo? Who do you think might have done this thing?”
    Osvaldo scratched an ear. “One of the big ranchers, probably, or maybe someone who’s already stealing from the Indians and doesn’t want your agency or the IBAMA to find out about it.”
    The IBAMA, the
Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente
, was the country’s environmental protection agency.
    “You’re thinking illegal logging?”
    “I am.”
    “I don’t think so. We put a stop to that.”
    “You only think you did.”
    “Could you be a bit more specific?”
    “As long as it doesn’t go any farther than this room.”
    “Agreed.”
    Despite the fact that they were within closed doors, Osvaldo leaned close and lowered his voice. “You know Paulo Cunha?”
    “Sure. He owns all those shops.”
    “
And
a lumber business. You know Raul Nonato?”
    “The IBAMA guy?”
    “The IBAMA guy.
He
owns two cars and the biggest goddamned TV set anybody in this town has ever seen. Had it shipped special all the way from Belem.
Filho da puta
has begun touting it as the town’s biggest tourist attraction.”
    “You think Cunha is taking wood from the reservationand Nonato is issuing him phony certificates of provenance to enable him to do it?”
    “You have another explanation for owning two cars and a monster television set on the salary he’s supposed to be earning?”
    “So you suspect the guilty party is Cunha?”
    Outside, a truck with a faulty muffler was approaching the hotel. Osvaldo raised his voice so she could hear him over the racket.
    “Yeah,” he said. “Maybe Cunha. But it could just as well be another one of the Big Six—or maybe more than one, acting together.”
    “Big Six?”
    The noise from the truck was fading. He went