* * *

When he’d finished his account, the doctor asked for a third glass, as a nightcap. Bea, Daniel, and Fermín joined him cautiously.

After a tactful silence, Daniel opened the discussion. “Where could she have gone?”

“To right a wrong, I imagine,” said Fermín.

“Please speak plainly, Your Graces,” said the doctor. “When I studied medicine, the Sempere family mysteries were not on the curriculum.”

“Believe me when I say I’m doing you a favor by suggesting you go home,” Fermín advised. “Place a veal steak like a beret on your head and leave us to untangle this mess.”

The doctor nodded. “Must I expect more gunmen? I’m just asking in case I need to be prepared.”

“Not for the time being, I think,” said Fermín. “But perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to leave town and go off to a spa in Montgat for a couple of weeks. Take a merry widow with you and work on the elimination of a kidney stone, or any other corpuscle that may have got stuck in your urinary tract.”

“For once, I wouldn’t say no,” said the doctor.

“Daniel, why don’t you do us the favor of taking the doctor home and making sure he gets there in one piece?” suggested Fermín.

“Why me?” Daniel protested. “Are you trying to get me out of the way again?”

“If you’d rather, I’ll send your son Julián along. But I think the mission requires someone who has at least taken his first communion.”

Daniel agreed reluctantly. Fermín felt Bea’s eyes fixed on the back of his neck, but he preferred to ignore it for the time being. Before saying good-bye to Dr. Soldevila, he poured him one last glass of brandy and, seeing there was still a shot of liquor left in the bottle, downed the remains in one swig.

Free at last of Daniel and the doctor, Fermín collapsed on the chair and covered his face with his hands.

“What was all that the doctor said about the taxidermist and making a body disappear?” asked Bea.

“Some unpleasant matter that unfortunately will have to be resolved,” said Fermín. “One of the two most annoying things about Alicia is that she’s always right.”

“What’s the other?”

“That she doesn’t forgive. Did she say anything to you these last few days that might allow us to guess what was going through her mind? Think carefully.”

Bea hesitated, but then shook her head.

Fermín nodded resignedly and got to his feet. He took his coat from the stand and prepared to hit the road on a winter’s afternoon that did not look promising. “Then I’d better go off to meet the taxidermist. Let’s see if I come up with any ideas on the way.”

“Fermín?” Bea called, before he’d reached the door.

He stopped, but didn’t turn around.

“There’s something Alicia didn’t tell us, isn’t there?”

“I suspect there are a lot of things, Doña Bea. And I think she did that for our own good.”