Horacio Castellanos Moya - The She-Devil in the Mirror

HOW COULD SUCH A TRAGEDY HAVE HAPPENED, my dear? I just spent the whole morning with Olga Mara at her boutique at the Villas Espaolas Mall, she had to check on a special order. Its unbelievable. I still cant believe it; its like a nightmare. I dont know why theyre taking so long to get her ready: its already five thirty, and they still havent brought her out. Its that magistrate, he took his sweet time. Hes a disgrace. The poor thing, stretched out there on her living room floor, everybody and his brother coming and going through the house. How horrible. They let me know right away: Sergio, Olga Maras brother, called my house and said something terrible had happened, Olga Mara had been mortally wounded during an attempted robbery. Thats what he said: mortally wounded. I couldnt believe it Id been with her just an hour and a half earlier. We left the boutique and walked to the parking lot together. She said she was going to pick the girls up at school and then shed call me in the afternoon. No wonder Sergios call caught me totally by surprise. I asked him which hospital theyd taken her to. He said she wasnt in a hospital, she was lying dead on her living room floor, and Marito had taken the girls to Doa Olgas. I was in shock. I couldnt even react. Then I said, Im on my way. I drove like a madwoman, like I was on drugs, my dear, I dont know how I managed to avoid having an accident. So many images of her raced through my mind, and the last words wed exchanged that morning, about how happy she was that sales at the boutique were up and about how she was trying to patch up her relationship with Marito. And then something like this its so unfair. Anyway, their house is in Colonia La Sultana, and I live in Santa Tecla, so it took me only ten minutes to get there. The police were already there. I dashed out of my car, I wanted to prove to myself that it wasnt true, Olga Mara was still alive, and everything had been a terrible mistake. But there was her body, stretched out on the living room rug next to the sofa in a pool of blood, covered with a white sheet. I knelt down and lifted the edge of the sheet: the hole in her head was small, but all her brains had poured out the back. Oh, my dear, I felt horrible I even felt like vomiting. But I was too upset to even cry. I covered her back up. Sergio placed his hands on my shoulders and told me he needed me to be with the girls, theyd killed her in cold blood right in front of them, they were still in shock when Marito came to get them. Imagine that: those murderers killed Olga Mara right in front of the girls. Its unforgivable. They sure are taking their sweet time, they should be bringing her out any minute, a lot of people are starting to arrive. We chose a black satin dress for her, very elegant. I want to see how it looks. Doa Olga had her doubts, but finally she followed my advice: it is her prettiest dress, the one that looks best on her. Sergio insisted I go to their mothers to help her with the girls, because Marito had to get back to the house to deal with all the legalities, after all he is her husband, the owner of the house, hes the one whos responsible for everything. Poor Marito, hes devastated. I didnt see him till later. We mustve crossed paths, he on his way back to the house and me on my way to Doa Olgas. I was so eager to give the girls a hug, protect them, somehow make them forget what theyd seen. But halfway there, I broke down, it was horrible, my dear, I was choking and I couldnt breathe; I managed to pull off the road, then I started crying uncontrollably my forehead on the steering wheel, I was crying for Olga Mara, for the girls, for Marito, for myself, because if I didnt get it off my chest it would only get worse later. When I got there a doctor was talking to the girls. Doa Olga seemed composed, strong, she wasnt even crying, though you could see in her body how tortured she was. She told me theyd just given the girls a sedative, they were very upset, the best thing for them now was to get some rest instead of going over what theyd seen again and again, thats what the doctor recommended. I hugged them, trying to control myself: I didnt want them to see me falling apart. Little Olga just turned ten, shes so grown up, so pretty, just like her mother, the same expressions, intelligent like her, too; Raquelita looks more like Marito, and shes a bit withdrawn, maybe because shes the youngest. Theyve always called me Auntie, even though were not related, Olga Mara taught them to call me that: Auntie Laura. We were best friends, have been ever since we started at the American School imagine that, twenty-three years ago. Finally, theyre bringing her out. Come on, come with me, lets see how she looks. Look at those gorgeous flower arrangements: Maritos advertising agency sent them over. I told you thats her best dress dont you think she looks gorgeous, they did a good job on her, you can barely even see the hole in her head. Life is a catastrophe. How could this have happened to her? You went to her last birthday party, remember? She was so happy to be turning thirty she said the best part of life was just beginning, always so optimistic, so vivacious. Those sons of bitches, those cowards, they should all be killed. Doesnt her hair look great? Its just like she used to wear it for parties, Mercedes herself came from the salon to do it. Theyre truly evil, all they wanted to do was kill her, they didnt steal anything, they didnt even try to. Thats what little Olga told me this afternoon: he snuck up on them in the garage as they were getting out of the car, then forced them into the living room and there, without a word, he shot Olga Mara in the chest, then one to the head to finish her off. Disgraceful. Makes me so angry. More people are starting to arrive lets go sit down. Look, here comes Marito. Sergio said he was going home to change clothes. Doa Olga and the girls will be here around seven, those poor dears, those girls have behaved so well, its amazing how grown up they are. The one Im worried about is Marito, he seems fragile, I dont know what hed have done without Sergio. Its been a crazy afternoon. I spent about an hour at Doa Olgas, trying to distract the girls until the sedatives kicked in so theyd fall asleep. Thats when little Olga told me about the murderer and how all he wanted was to kill Olga Mara: she told him to take the car, whatever he wanted, just dont hurt them, especially not the girls; but he didnt want anything, he just wanted to kill her, like someone had sent him, like hed been given explicit instructions. Something smells rotten, because Olga Mara couldnt have any enemies. Thats exactly what I told those insolent policemen who came to Doa Olgas asking for the girls; they wanted to question them, they said, because they were the only ones whod seen the killer, they urgently needed a description of the murderer so they could make a composite sketch they kept insisting it was very important. But the doctor said the girls shouldnt be disturbed I told them and anyway they were already asleep, so theyd better put off their questioning till tomorrow. But they were pigheaded, especially the boss, the one who said his name was Deputy Chief Handal, what a pig of a man thats why were in the mess were in: the police spend their time harassing defenseless little girls instead of catching criminals. Thats what I told him. No reaction. He just repeated that the sooner they got a description of the suspect the easier it would be to organize a manhunt and capture him. But I wasnt going to let those rude men wake up the girls. I stood my ground and told them they would have to wait a couple of hours until the girls woke up, and if the girls ended up with some permanent psychological damage, I would hold them responsible Handal and that other nasty man who said his name was Detective Villalta and that wouldnt be the end of it because Id sue them, and Im not just some nobody, they couldnt mess with me, theyd better be very careful and show more respect or theyd soon find out who they were dealing with. But little Olga hadnt fallen asleep yet, she was lying down and dozing a bit dazed from the sedatives and what with the ruckus those policemen were making, she woke up. She got out of bed and appeared in the doorway and asked what was going on, maybe she got scared that the policemen were murderers, like the one whod just killed Olga Mara. These two gentlemen, I explained to her, were policemen investigating her mothers death, and she should go back to bed because they were just about to leave. But that Deputy Chief Handal shoved his way in front of me and started interrogating little Olga such a snake, theyve got no respect for anybody, that pig and they wanted to take advantage of little Olgas innocence to get her to tell them what shed already told me: that the murderer didnt want anything, all he wanted was to kill Olga Mara. Three times the deputy chief asked little Olga to repeat every detail of the story, and he kept asking her questions what a degenerate then he called in some creep with a mustache who was supposed to make a sketch based on the girls information. Little Olga said the murderer was tall and heavy-set, a big huge guy, clean-shaven, with very short hair, like a soldiers, and he was wearing blue jeans and white tennis shoes, like the kind astronauts wear, she said. The deputy chief asked her if she remembered any other details, anything out of the ordinary that would help them identify the suspect. Little Olga said he walked like RoboCop, that robot policeman on television. I warned the deputy chief to leave the girl alone, not to take advantage of her, who knows what damage it could do shed just taken a strong sedative. But that Handal creep kept at it: Was he alone? Did little Olga see the car he drove away in? Was she aware of anybody else in the street? Did the housekeeper show up before or after the crime had been committed? Oh no, not her, not our Julita, how could they possibly suspect her, I butted in, what a pig, Julita practically raised Olga Mara, and now shes almost fifty, what are they thinking, shes worked for Doa Olga and Olga Mara her entire life, shes totally trustworthy, how could he be such an idiot. Doa Olga agreed. Little Olga explained that Julita came into the living room after the shots were fired, she was in the laundry room at the back of the house she was the one who called Marito and Sergio and Doa Olga, and she was the one who ran to get help from the neighbors. You see those people coming in now: they work at Maritos agency dont they look young? The tall one in the brown suit with curly hair and little round glasses, yes, the good-looking one, thats the new marketing director Marito just hired. Olga Mara told me about him; she was right, hes very handsome. Anyway, as I was saying, once they finished with little Olga, that Deputy Chief Handal said he wanted to ask me a few questions, alone, seeing as how Id known the victim so well, seeing how Id been her best friend, maybe I could help him, give him a few leads so he could find out what happened. But I suspected he had something nasty up his sleeve, people like that so crass, so degenerate, so dirty-minded Ive always known about policemen like him, thats why I was on my guard, I didnt want him to think he could trip me up. And it was just as Id feared: the deputy chief asked me if I knew of any enemies Olga Mara or Marito might have, or maybe they had a big debt, or if there was an employee whod threatened them after getting fired, or, with all due respect those were his words, brazen man, with all due respectif Olga Mara had had any extramarital relationships, maybe there was a disappointed lover, someone who might want to hurt her. Thats when I got furious: he was a total idiot, I shouted at him, a complete boor, whatever made him think I was going to talk to some nobody like him, about my best friends private life, where could he possibly have gotten such an idea, how could he suspect such an honest honorable woman, someone so devoted to her family and her work, what a scandalous insinuation; Olga Mara didnt have any enemies, nobody would ever dream of wanting to kill her, it had to have been a mistake or the act of a madman. I almost threw them out of the apartment, thats how dreadful they were, like mangy dogs. Right then Cuca, Sergios wife, arrived: she was crying her head off, asking if the girls were alright, if Doa Olga needed anything. Here come Cheli and Conchita, Olga Maras assistants at the boutique, you know them, dont you? They look so