FromBTN

 Gazpacho, Salmorejo, Ajoblanco, Tortilla… So many flavours, mixed with so many interesting facts. Yes, I knew there and then, I definitely found the perfect gift. The title itself made it already difficult to resist: ‘Que Aproveche! How food helped shape Spanish history.’ Felicity would like this one, I had no doubts about it. And I was positive I knew her enough to get this right. But the final nod came in the form of four words from Hildegard: “Mate, this is brilliant!” I felt proud of myself at that moment. After all, Hildegard was not well known for being easily impressed, but ultimately, she was very honest. Bluntly, in a way that it’s not common to find amongst people in this country. If she said something, you could be sure that there was no reading between lines, hidden meanings or subliminal messages. She said it as it was, black and white. But she was not rude. It’s a thin line between honesty and rudeness, and she used to say that the secret was finding the reason to gi...

 "Do you think this is a..."  I couldn't bring myself to finish that sentence. Hildegard looked serious, and her next words were not exactly the reassurance I was expecting from her.   "I don't know, mate."   "This can't be serious!"   She spoke calmly, almost mechanically, as if her brain was working at a different pace than her mouth. It felt like she was talking to herself.   "I've seen hundreds, maybe thousands of these over the years. Most of the time, it's nothing. Someone is bored? Sometimes they have an agenda, something that is masked under the threat. Some people want fame, some are out to make a quick buck. Yes, all these can have serious consequences, but I normally wouldn't jump on murder as my first guess."   "Do you think it could be something else?"   "I don't know. Honestly. This could be anything. Right now, we only have one message, one letter, a few paragraphs. It's too early to m...

 It was not even half an hour later, and I was already approaching the south lanes. I wanted to grab a cup of coffee, but I was not sure what kind of forensic restrictions would be in place, so I decided to skip any drinks. The call had already been enough to wake me up and give me the energy to jump into the shower, get myself ready and head out. My mind was working at 150%, trying to recall all I knew so far about the case. And all I could remember was the postcode, and where it was located.   I arrived at the cordoned area, which started in the roundabout connecting East Street and North Street, identified myself and got through. I’ve been instructed to follow the side path adjacent to the roundabout, as the other routes have been closed off and access was restricted to this path. As I walked, I noticed that the area covering the postcode was even smaller than it looked when I checked it in the online map. It started with a small alley, no longer than fifty metres in l...

 I could not say with a hundred percent certainty, but I was convinced that these were the same people I heard talking on the beach earlier. I considered calling Hildegard and Philski aside to give them a heads up about it, but I was not sure how that could have been done discreetly, and I thought it better to not alert the visitors about it, at least not at this point. Apart from the gold, curly hair, Kimberly Campbell had a long face dotted with freckles, mostly in the area below her green eyes. Her nose was small and slightly pointing upwards, whilst her lips were thin and in a pinkish hue. When she spoke, her voice was on a higher tone than I expected it to be, and her accent was somewhat neutral, with a little twang of Essex here and there, as of someone who's once lived there a long time ago. "It is a tragedy, really. Poor Johnny, bless him. Unfortunately we all knew where this was heading, with the life he was leading. Bad company, drinking, drugs. There is no future in...

“Hello, stranger!” Philski greeted me with the same energy as always, which added to my surprise. I had no idea why he was visiting me, or from where he was pulling that energy, but he went on. “I got a bottle of red and I wanted to catch up properly. After this horrible day, nothing like two friends having a drink and talking about stuff. Unless you have plans? I don’t want to impose.” “No, don’t worry. I just had a long bath, was planning on getting something to eat and drowning in the couch in front of the TV, so you are a big upgrade to my evening.” “Are you sure dear? Ok, well, if you insist…” We both laughed. He made his way in, I opened the bottle and served two glasses. I got some packs of crisps and nuts I had in the cupboard and served them in a nice little bowl. He had already made himself comfortable on the couch, and started speaking even before I sat down. “So, how are you? What happened after the academy? Gosh, it’s been what? Three years now? They grow up so fast! I mus...