mine near Tlaxcala owns a computer store and he can duplicate your DVD in no time. Let me take the disk to his house tonight and ask him to make copies, which we'll keep in a safe place, and if you wish, I can accompany you to the State Police in the morning.
"That's a good idea," Anna said, even though she hesitated to hand over her precious property to anyone. In the end, she decided to trust David and his storeowner friend. "Do you think he'll duplicate this tonight? It's almost eight."
"Not a problem," David said. "His house is fifteen minutes away. I can be there and back by nine thirty even if I stay and enjoy a beer with my friend." He smiled for the first time since her arrival. "Don't worry, Maestra. I guarantee the security of this disk. Please promise me that you'll tell no one about the duplicates. Not even your friend Miguel."
Anna agreed, though she wasn't comfortable with the idea of holding back more information from Miguel.
"Bueno. I'll see you both in less than two hours," David said. "Maestra, may I suggest you remain here with Marianna until I return." David picked up his car keys from a shelf near the living room doorway, tucked the DVD into the inside pocket of his windbreaker and disappeared into the courtyard. Anna watched him leave with mixed feelings. Maybe she should have offered to go along.
Chapter 21
M arianna took Anna into the kitchen where she set out a platter of sweet rolls and poured two cups of Manzanilla tea already simmering on the stove. Images of saints and crosses covered the turquoise green walls of Marianna's humble kitchen, and unlike Anna's house or rather Art's house next door, the Portillo kitchen came equipped with an up-to-date refrigerator. Outside the house, a generator guaranteed a constant source of power during the sporadic electrical outages when the utility company for reasons unknown to anyone, shut down electricity to the village.
"Maestra," Marianna asked in a low voice, "do you have any idea who killed the Director?"
"Not a clue," Anna said. "I wish I knew, and I worry whether anyone will ever know. How do the police in Mexico investigate crimes like this?"
"That's a difficult question, Anna. Each village is different in the way its officials conduct business. Every crime is unique and so each must be handled according to the special circumstances surrounding it."
"I understand what you're saying, Señora, but murder is murder. I mean, somebody shot the man through the head and disappeared into thin air. Surely, village officials take the crime of murder seriously and don't condone violent solutions no matter how egregious the problem."
"Well, from their point of view, murders are not all the same, as I'm sure they're not in your country. If someone threatens my life or the lives of my children, it's justifiable to use violent means to save myself and my children if that's my only choice."
"I agree, Señora, but I can't believe Pedro was murdered in self-defense. He was a con artist, not a killer. He made many enemies and I'm sure more than one person wished him dead, but that's a long way from actually killing the man."
"I'm not familiar with the details of Maestro Pedro's life or his murder," Marianna said, "but I'm aware of circumstances where the officials choose to ignore a crime and allow even a murderer to go unpunished. Knowing you took someone's life and living with that knowledge on a daily basis can be sufficient punishment for some people, especially if they acted on impulse or committed a crime of passion."
"My guess is this was an impulse killing," Anna said. "It had to be. No one could have known Pedro would be alone in the rose garden in the middle of a fiesta."
"That's a good observation, Maestra. Perhaps it's a revenge killing, particularly if as you say, the Director was unpopular in Cuamantla and wronged many people."
"Well, it's criminal if the village officials make no effort to solve this murder. What kind of example would
"That's a good idea," Anna said, even though she hesitated to hand over her precious property to anyone. In the end, she decided to trust David and his storeowner friend. "Do you think he'll duplicate this tonight? It's almost eight."
"Not a problem," David said. "His house is fifteen minutes away. I can be there and back by nine thirty even if I stay and enjoy a beer with my friend." He smiled for the first time since her arrival. "Don't worry, Maestra. I guarantee the security of this disk. Please promise me that you'll tell no one about the duplicates. Not even your friend Miguel."
Anna agreed, though she wasn't comfortable with the idea of holding back more information from Miguel.
"Bueno. I'll see you both in less than two hours," David said. "Maestra, may I suggest you remain here with Marianna until I return." David picked up his car keys from a shelf near the living room doorway, tucked the DVD into the inside pocket of his windbreaker and disappeared into the courtyard. Anna watched him leave with mixed feelings. Maybe she should have offered to go along.
Chapter 21
M arianna took Anna into the kitchen where she set out a platter of sweet rolls and poured two cups of Manzanilla tea already simmering on the stove. Images of saints and crosses covered the turquoise green walls of Marianna's humble kitchen, and unlike Anna's house or rather Art's house next door, the Portillo kitchen came equipped with an up-to-date refrigerator. Outside the house, a generator guaranteed a constant source of power during the sporadic electrical outages when the utility company for reasons unknown to anyone, shut down electricity to the village.
"Maestra," Marianna asked in a low voice, "do you have any idea who killed the Director?"
"Not a clue," Anna said. "I wish I knew, and I worry whether anyone will ever know. How do the police in Mexico investigate crimes like this?"
"That's a difficult question, Anna. Each village is different in the way its officials conduct business. Every crime is unique and so each must be handled according to the special circumstances surrounding it."
"I understand what you're saying, Señora, but murder is murder. I mean, somebody shot the man through the head and disappeared into thin air. Surely, village officials take the crime of murder seriously and don't condone violent solutions no matter how egregious the problem."
"Well, from their point of view, murders are not all the same, as I'm sure they're not in your country. If someone threatens my life or the lives of my children, it's justifiable to use violent means to save myself and my children if that's my only choice."
"I agree, Señora, but I can't believe Pedro was murdered in self-defense. He was a con artist, not a killer. He made many enemies and I'm sure more than one person wished him dead, but that's a long way from actually killing the man."
"I'm not familiar with the details of Maestro Pedro's life or his murder," Marianna said, "but I'm aware of circumstances where the officials choose to ignore a crime and allow even a murderer to go unpunished. Knowing you took someone's life and living with that knowledge on a daily basis can be sufficient punishment for some people, especially if they acted on impulse or committed a crime of passion."
"My guess is this was an impulse killing," Anna said. "It had to be. No one could have known Pedro would be alone in the rose garden in the middle of a fiesta."
"That's a good observation, Maestra. Perhaps it's a revenge killing, particularly if as you say, the Director was unpopular in Cuamantla and wronged many people."
"Well, it's criminal if the village officials make no effort to solve this murder. What kind of example would
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