Page 34 of His Worst Crime

“Can you…? There’s a message from Carme. Can you read it to me?”

David took the phone.

“I need your fingerprint.”

Ramon held up his index finger, keeping his eyes on the road, as David pressed the phone onto it to unlock it. Then he waited while David found the message.

“It’s Estel. He’s taken a turn for the worse.”

“Weren’t they supposed to be walking him this morning? Maria was meant to do it.”

“I’ll read it to you:

[Carme:] Bad news. Estel’s leg inflamed again. Ernest here looking at it. I’ll keep you informed.

“Shit. Tell her… Tell her I’ll be there tonight.”

“Sure… ah, actually, my Catalan’s not good enough. How do you…?”

“Just write: Vinc aquesta nit.”

“Done.”

Ramon returned the phone to the dashboard. But a few seconds later it started to ring.

“I can’t pull over here. You’re going to have to get that.”

David picked up the phone again.

“Hola?”

“Put it on speaker.”

A few moments later Carme’s voice came over.

“Hello? Ramon? Who is that?”

“Ah, it’s… David.”

Ramon and David looked at each other.

“David? What are you doing…? Is Ramon there?”

“Hi, Carme,” Ramon said. “Sorry, I’m driving. I couldn’t answer.”

“Where are you?”

“Down at the Delta.”

“OK,” Carme huffed. “Let’s take it one thing at a time. I was wondering why you’d spell ‘vinc’ with a ‘b’.”

At David’s look, Ramon explained: “You pronounce it ‘bink‘, but you write it with a ‘v’.”

“Oh, sorry.” David looked uncomfortable. “I never learned to write the lingo well, just speak it.”

“No problem, it’s a tricky language to learn. So, Carme, what’s up with Estel?”

“Apparently the message to Maria didn’t get through. He wasn’t walked today and the swelling’s come up again.”