The phone rang only once before the receiver was lifted at the other end. Alicia imagined Leandro sitting in the dark somewhere in the hotel, gazing down at Plaza de Neptuno or looking at the Madrid sky awash with black clouds, awaiting daybreak.

“Alicia,” he said slowly, no tone whatsoever in his voice. “I thought you weren’t going to call.”

“I apologize. I had an episode.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Are you better?”

“I’m fine.”

“Is Vargas with you?”

“I’m alone.”

“Everything all right with him?”

“Yes. There’s no problem.”

“If you want me to get rid of him, I could . . .”

“There’s no need. I almost prefer to have him handy, just in case.”

A pause. In Leandro’s pauses there was no breathing, no sound whatsoever. “You’re unrecognizable, if you don’t mind the observation. Anyhow, I’m glad you two get along. I thought that perhaps you wouldn’t quite mesh, given his personal history . . .”

“What history?”

“Nothing. It’s not important.”

“When you say that, that’s when I really get worried.”

“Didn’t he tell you about his family?”

“We don’t speak about personal matters.”

“In that case, I don’t want to be the one who—”

“What’s the matter with his family?”

There was another of Leandro’s pauses. Alicia could almost imagine him smiling and licking his lips.

“Vargas lost his wife and his daughter in a traffic accident about three years ago. He was drunk at the wheel. His daughter was your age. He’s been through rough times. He was almost thrown out of the Force.”

Alicia didn’t reply. She could hear Leandro’s breathing.

“Didn’t he tell you?”

“No.”

“I suppose he prefers not to stir up the past. At any rate, I hope there won’t be a problem.”

“What problem could there be?”

“Alicia, you know I never meddle in your personal life, although by God I sometimes find it hard to understand your tastes and particular preferences.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

She bit her lip and swallowed the words burning in her mouth. “There won’t be any problem,” she said at last.

“Excellent. Now tell me, what have you got for me?”

Alicia took a deep breath and clenched her fist so firmly she sank her nails into her skin. When she began her account, her voice had returned to the docile and melodic tone she had learned to cultivate in her dealings with Leandro.

* * *

During the next few minutes she summed up the events that had taken place since their last conversation. Her narrative had no color and no detail; she just listed all the steps she had taken, without offering the reasons or hunches that had led her to take them. When it came to omissions, most noteworthy was the bit about the theft of the Víctor Mataix book from her home the night before. As he usually did, Leandro listened patiently, without interrupting.

Once she’d finished, Alicia fell silent, taking in Leandro’s long pause as he digested her report.