Day two of the search also proved fruitless and morale among the detective team was beginning to run low but mid-morning on the third day, everything changed: Detective Pasqual Sosa hit pay dirt. He was working his way through a run of terraced garages located on one side of a quiet cul-de-sac. Standing in front of the last one, he peered closely at the lock. By now, he’d seen over forty different specimens but something about this one somehow seemed right. A surge of adrenalin pumped through his body and, for a brief moment, he delayed trying the key, just in case he was wrong. It slid effortlessly into place and, after two counterclockwise revolutions, he felt the mechanism click open.

An hour later, the cul-de-sac had been sealed off and a white transit van, which took up most of the floor space inside the garage, had been pushed out onto the road. Police cars buzzed in and out, dropping off detectives and forensic specialists attired in white protective clothing. Neighbours in the buildings opposite wondered if the police had discovered an unexploded bomb.

Vargas and Torres stood inside the garage and gazed at the ten cloth bags neatly stacked against the back wall. It was hard to believe this small, rundown garage contained millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise.

Torres was totally euphoric and couldn’t wait to start working his way through the haul. Vargas seemed slightly subdued and was unusually quiet.

“Chief, what’s wrong? Your gamble just paid off big time. We’ve found García’s hideaway.”

“Juan, I have a dreadful feeling about whatever is hidden inside one of these bags. It’s already been responsible for nine deaths and, even though we’ve found it, I strongly suspect we haven’t seen the end of the killing.”

Three hours later, six detectives had carefully opened all the bags and created a number of separate mounds on the garage floor. Cash, stock and bond certificates, jewellery and loose gemstones and small works of art all had their own pile. Vargas showed no interest in any of them. He was drawn to the smallest stack of miscellaneous items that didn’t fit into any of the other categories. Among the random items were four different-sized hard drives, two metal storage boxes and a weathered black leather case. He knelt next to the diverse collection of objects and picked up one of the hard drives.

“Juan, the answer is somewhere in this small pile. Let’s get this lot back to the station. Everything else needs to be carefully logged and then put into storage.”