The She-Devil in the Mirror by Horacio Castellanos Moya Read Free Book Online

relationship
between Olga María and Yuca. I should warn Yuca. I’ll find a chance at the
cemetery. How could Handal have found out about it if Olga María and I were the
only ones who knew? I don’t think even Julita realized what was going on; and
even if she did she’d never tell, especially not somebody like him. The only
possibility is that one of the girls from the boutique—Cheli or Conchita—one of
them blabbed. I’m going to warn them: they shouldn’t talk to that policeman. I
hate having to change gears every other minute; and the motor gets overheated
when you drive this slowly. I don’t understand why there aren’t any cemeteries
in any decent parts of the city—do you, my dear? They’re all so far away, so out
of the way, and always in the middle of dangerous neighborhoods. Well, the truth
is, this city’s contaminated with slums. That’s what Diana told me, it always
surprises her how the neighborhoods where decent people live are practically
surrounded by slums—where the criminals come from. That’s why it’s so easy to
get murdered without anybody being able to do anything about it, like what
happened to Olga María: the criminals do their dirty work, then quickly sneak
back to their hideouts. In other cities it’s not like that: you live on one side
and the bad guys live on the other, and there’s miles in between, which is how
it should be. But in this country, everything’s all squished together. Olga
María showed me how just as you enter her neighborhood, right next to the slums,
there are three row houses up against one another, wall to wall: in one there’s
a grammar school, the next one’s a whorehouse, and in the next one, there’s an
evangelical church. Can you imagine!? Sheer madness. This stoplight is going to
break up the procession. We’re going to lose each other. It takes forever for
the light to turn green. We should have had a police escort to stop the traffic;
I don’t know why nobody thought of hiring a policeman—that disgusting Deputy
Chief Handal could do it instead of sticking his nose into things that are none
of his business. The good part is that from here on out, once we’re on the
highway, there won’t be much traffic, until we get close to the cemetery, that
is, then the streets get horrible, super-narrow. Diana said she’s going to be
here for only three days; she can’t stay longer, because of her job, she’s a top
executive at some computer company with its headquarters in Miami, and she’s
finishing up her master’s in business administration. That girl’s really
talented. She’s three years younger than me and Olga María. Don Sergio sent her
there for high school and then she just stayed on in Miami. She comes to visit
from time to time, at the most once a year, especially since Don Sergio died;
she’d rather Doña Olga come to her because she can rest there. She was asking me
about what Olga María had been up to recently; they didn’t have much contact,
according to her. I’m not going to go telling her everything Olga María didn’t
tell her; I don’t want to make a faux pas or anything. She especially wanted to
know if I suspect anyone in particular, if I can think of anyone who might have
planned the murder, because as far as she’s concerned it was a contract killing,
arranged by somebody who had a strong motive to get rid of Olga María. She kept
insisting, I’m telling you, my dear, almost like that Deputy Chief Handal,
wanting me to tell her what I thought. I told her the truth, that I’m pretty
confused about everything myself. I don’t know anybody who could have even
thought about committing such a brutal crime—maybe it was a mistake. But Diana
said it couldn’t have been a mistake, the murderer was waiting specifically for
Olga María, he knew who he was killing.