“Anything there?” asked Vargas.

“It’s blank.”

Florencio, who had returned quietly with the technical report, watched them from the shadows. “As clean as a whistle, eh?”

“Was there anything in the car when they brought it here?”

Florencio handed them the report. “It was like this when they brought it in.”

Vargas took the report and began going through the inventory of items.

“Is this normal?” asked Alicia.

“Excuse me?” Florencio inquired politely.

“I was asking whether it was normal that the car was not examined here.”

“That depends. Usually there is a first inspection at the scene and then a more in-depth one here.”

“And was there one?”

“No, not that I know.”

“Here in the report it says that the car was found on Carretera de las Aguas. Is that road used a lot?” Vargas wanted to know.

“No. It’s more like a dirt track, a few kilometers long, and it winds around the hillside,” said Florencio. “There’s no real road and no water either, in fact.”

The explanation was meant for Vargas, but Florencio winked at Alicia as he spoke. She smiled at the joke.

“The investigators believe the car was abandoned there after the event, but the incident took place somewhere else,” Florencio added.

“Any idea why?”

“They found bits of fine gravel in the grooves of the tire treads. Limestone. Not the same sort that covers Carretera de las Aguas.”

“What might that mean?”

“If you ask the investigators, they’ll tell you there are dozens of places where that sort of gravel is found.”

“What if we asked you, Florencio?” said Alicia.

“A landscaped enclosure. Perhaps a park. It could be the entrance patio to a private house.”

Vargas pointed at the report. “I can see you two have solved the case already,” he interrupted. “But if it’s not too much to ask, could we have a copy?”

“That is a copy. You can keep it. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“If you would be kind enough to call us a taxi . . .”

14

In the cab, Vargas didn’t open his mouth. He kept his eyes fixed on the window, his bad mood spreading like poison in the air.

Alicia tapped his knee gently. “Cheer up, man. We’re off to Casa Leopoldo.”

“They’re wasting our time,” he mumbled.

“That surprises you?”

He looked at her, fuming.

She smiled calmly. “Welcome to Barcelona.”

“I don’t see what you find so funny.”

Alicia opened her bag and pulled out the notebook she’d found in Valls’s car.

Vargas sighed. “Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

“Does it whet your appetite?”

“Leaving aside the fact that removing official evidence is a serious misdemeanor, all I can see is a notebook with blank pages.”

Alicia pushed her nail between the rings of the spiral and pulled out a couple of shreds of paper that had gotten trapped inside.

“So?”

“Pulled-out pages.”

“Of great use, I’m sure.”

Alicia spread the first page of the notebook on the taxi’s windowpane. The sunlight brought out the indentation of lines marked on the paper.