‘Pretty way of showing it. Where is Valls?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘How can you not know where your boss is?’
‘Because I don’t know him. OK? I’ve never seen him. I’ve never spoken to him.’
‘Explain.’
‘I started working for Ariadna a year and a half ago, in the Madrid office. In all this time I’ve never seen him. Nobody has.’
He stood up slowly and walked over to the telephone. I didn’t stop him. He picked up the receiver, his eyes poisoned with hatred.
‘I’m going to call the police …’
‘That won’t be necessary,’ came a voice from the hallway.
I turned to discover Fermín, in what I imagined must be one of my father’s suits, holding up a card vaguely resembling some kind of police badge.
‘Inspector Fermín Romero de Torres. Police. Someone has reported a disturbance. Which of you two can sum up what has taken place here?’
I don’t know who was more disconcerted, Cascos or me. Fermín took advantage of the situation to gently pull the receiver away from Cascos’s hand.
‘Allow me,’ he said, brushing him to one side. ‘I’ll call headquarters.’
He pretended to dial a number and smiled at us.
‘Give me headquarters, please. Yes, thank you.’
He waited a few seconds.
‘Yes, Mari Pili, it’s me, Romero de Torres. Put me through to Palacios. Yes, I’ll wait.’
While Fermín pretended to wait and covered the receiver with his hand, he gestured to Cascos.
‘Have you banged your head on the bathroom door or is there anything you wish to declare?’
‘This savage attacked me and tried to kill me. I want to press charges immediately. I want to see him behind bars before the end of the day.’
Fermín gave me an officious look and nodded.
‘Indeed. We have a dungeon that’s just the ticket, rats and all.’
He pretended to hear something on the telephone and signalled to Cascos to be quiet.
‘Yes, Palacios. At the Ritz. Yes. It’s a 424. One person wounded. Mostly facial. It depends. I’d say a real mess. Fine. I’ll proceed immediately to the suspect’s summary arrest.’
He put down the phone.
‘All sorted.’
Fermín came over to me and, grabbing my arm with authority, motioned for me to keep quiet.
‘Don’t say a word. Anything you say now will be used against you and all your criminal associates till justice is served.’
Doubled up with pain and confused by Fermín’s peculiar display of procedural methods, Cascos stared at the scene in disbelief.
‘Aren’t you going to handcuff him?’