GREG LOOKED AT HIS WATCH. It was three-thirty in the morning. He risked being labeled as a nuisance — or worse, drunk. He got up from the couch and went straight to the phone, intending to call his wife, Alissa, with whom he was still in constant contact.
In addition to having worked in the Dioclesian Archdiocese of Cartagena years ago, his father-in-law knew by heart all the stories and legends of that autonomous region.
If there was anyone capable of helping him, it was him...
He dialed the number with desperate persistence. A little later, he heard the sleepy voice on the other end.
— May I ask who the jokester is who wants to ruin my evening? — she asked harshly, still sleepy, intending to offend the one who had managed to pull her out of one of the most wonderful dreams of her monotonous existence: completing her collection of old stamps.
— Alissa, it's me... Greg... — he said softly. — I'm sorry to call you at such an inappropriate hour, but I need you to help me. I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't really important.
"... Greg...? Is it really you...?..." — she asked again, as if it was hard for her to understand that all this was really happening.
"... Did something happen, dear?..."
— I already told you I'm sorry, dear — she insisted — but I urgently need some information that you can get from your father...
She paused for a moment and added:
— It's a matter of life or death... Believe me, please."
Although she thought her husband was exaggerating, Alissa gave him the benefit of the doubt.
"... Okay, you bore... go ahead and talk..."
— I'd like you to ask him everything he knows about the stone chains that surround the Velez chapel.
For a moment, Alissa thought her husband had overdone his usual dose of gin and tonic. Nevertheless, she decided to indulge him. Maybe because he was one of the few with whom she shared her passion for antiques, or maybe because he was the only one who deigned to call you regularly.
"... Since when did you know that? Are old cathedral legends of interest to you?..."
— Since the moment they murdered a colleague — Greg replied, without hesitation and in a serious tone. If there was a trace of drowsiness in Alissa's confused brain, it ended up disappearing when he heard those words.
The matter seemed to be really serious...
Alissa imagined the fact that there was a crime involved forced him to be careful. Even so, she decided to tell everything she knew.
"... Okay, I'll call him..."