Corruption's Price: A Spanish Deceit (33 page)

"Good. I'm glad we move forward. So what happens next?"

"Both the M-In and M-Out teams are waiting for Caterina. She started work on Friday and has been running all sorts of data processing preparation followed by analyses. To be honest, at this point, she hasn't really explained much. Emilia, however, has been assisting her, prompting questions – and, frankly, running protection for Caterina whenever we try to understand what she's up to." He shrugged. "You should try asking her yourself?"

Pedro acknowledged the implied rebuke. He knew, from what Davide had once told him, that Caterina could disappear into a cloud of self-obsession once she had something to chew on. Davide had advised him not to break her concentration unless he had little alternative.

Indeed, Davide had confessed that he himself behaved similarly when confronting a challenge that engaged him – though nowhere to the degree of focus Caterina would display. He had admitted it was probably one of the reasons he and Caterina connected (when they did, he had added with heavy irony).

Pedro was bemused about Davide and Caterina as a pair. They seemed so simultaneously well- yet ill-suited. Well, this was one of those times to disturb her.

"Done!" exclaimed Caterina, before he could act.

She suddenly looked up as if seeing everybody for the first time that day. While haggard there was fire in her black eyes.

"Okay, Caterina. What have you got? Any chance of enlightenment?"

For the greater part of an hour Caterina behaved like a fire hydrant as she described what she had been doing all weekend. The gist, so far as Pedro could discern, was that she had pulled data from the accounting records belonging to the three ORS client companies and had gathered this into what she called a single logical data store. This was, in her own word, untrivial.

She had subsequently started some first analyses using techniques he had never come across, including something from Google called MapReduce. It was gobbledygook to him and to the others, judging by their expressions. Finally she stopped, asking if they understood. They looked blank.

"No? Never mind. It really doesn't matter. In essence I'm running a series of jobs, programmes to you, looking for matches and discrepancies and patterns, focused on the M-In payments. These will take some time yet to complete, maybe an hour or hours. There's a lot to crunch.

"After that I'll deliver to the M-In and M-Out teams a whole lot more detail than they have now. At that point the accounting sleuthe" – she pointed to Emilia – "can take over. I'll be very surprised if she doesn't find something. She's very good when given the right openings."

Emilia bathed in Caterina's unexpected
paean
of praise. While Emilia still thought of Caterina as a pain, her friend did not seem to harbour reciprocal feelings. They had talked a little over the weekend. Caterina was, as usual, having man-doubts – whether Davide was too good for her, whether he was wrong for her, whether she was good enough for him, where was everything going, and such like. Emilia, who rarely regretted anything, had switched off. It was easier to let Caterina rabbit on, making only supportive noises whenever seemed appropriate.

Pedro said, "So we have to wait on you?"

"Yes, but I genuinely hope there'll be unexpected nuggets. The trick is spotting the trail. Emilia's a genius at reassembling what really was going on at the time. My particular expectation is that somewhere there'll be one or two payments to an identifiable account to follow up. But you'll have to wait. Sorry."

"If that's how it has to be we'll wait. Let's have an early lunch to consume some time. Will Ana join us?"

Emilia mentioned seeing her earlier and left to find her. She would drop by Alberto to discover when he wanted to meet up. She was uncertain whether staying at Inma's had offended him. Should she offer him to Inma for experimentation? Now there was a thought. She doubted, however, Alberto would be tempted. Inma was so much older than he or herself for that matter.

Monday: Madrid

Marta and Alfredo met in his offices in central Madrid. It was easiest for both and they needed to plan before Marta had to appear again in front of
Juez
Garibey de Williams. Marta remained instinctively apprehensive whereas Alfredo exuded bonhomie and good cheer.

When Marta asked why, it turned out that his visit to Moncloa had gone well. He was no nearer knowing what might be offered. That would have to wait until some internal process was completed, which sounded awfully like a lottery. But he was assured that he could be an ambassador in post by the summer following. Alfredo's only regret was he could not pin down in advance where he might be sent. This was preventing him and Puri from making plans. Already, he confessed, they were dreaming what might be.

"Anyhow, we mustn't dwell on that. More important by far is your appearance in the
Audiencia Nacional
. What have you found? What do you think you'll say?"

"I went through the lists that Garibey handed me. I've selected about fifty items from each list, mainly medium-value items or ones where I knew a mistake had been made and subsequently rectified. Yes, there are some of those. He indiscriminately included a few."

"Excellent! Those will make him doubt his selections when we force him to confront your data, especially when you point out these out to him. Well done."

"For the others I've tried to choose innocuous transactions. But my explanations won't, I fear, sound great. There are items where clearly MMH, ServiArquitectos and CE really should've chased up because the amounts are significant and their records clearly show they'd paid twice or that credit note refunds were not sought."

"That's not our problem, Marta. Remember the chasing, as you call it, was the responsibility of MMH and the others. It was not yours or your clients' responsibility. If CE, ServiArquitectos and MMH didn't do what they should have, you can't be blamed."

"But
Juez
Garibey also asked about what happened to the excess, the monies which my clients kept for themselves that should've been repaid. You know, like what your firm paid to me so I could lubricate certain greedy little hands via anonymous white envelopes."

"You're right. That is harder to handle. That's why we must consider what you say with the greatest care. I've been thinking about this. What I'd like to suggest is ..."

Tuesday: Alcobendas

"Are we getting anywhere?" asked Ana.

She was with Caterina and Emilia. From her perspective progress was slow, without any of the magic spark the Australians had promised. She reflected.

She liked Caterina, on edge and awkward though she could be. Actually, she rather envied Caterina. She herself would have liked to make a play for Davide, though she doubted he would be interested in someone like herself – too young and probably too Spanish for him. He was stimulating and everything she picked up about him made him more interesting. The titbits from Inma about Rome had whetted her appetite.

If Caterina and Davide fell out, which was not impossible given how bloody-minded Caterina could be, it might be worth a try. With hindsight she wished she'd paid Davide more attention when he'd first shown up at ORS, before Caterina and Emilia appeared. But it was her own fault for not making the effort.

Emilia was totally different. Less reflective than Caterina, Emilia seemed to Ana to live for today. She had overheard snatches of Alberto's conversations with his male colleagues at ORS. If true, Emilia had prodigious desires. When she had slept that night at Davide's uncle's piso, in the same bed as Emilia, Ana had sensed Emilia's temptation. For a while asking Emilia to stay in her small
apartamento
when she was pissed off with Caterina risked playing with fire. But Emilia behaved perfectly and respectfully.

A part of her wondered about Emilia and Inma. There could be a seriously complicated combination if anything caught fire. Yet a conversation with Inma indicated all was innocent. Emilia was only helping out with Inma's eye-drop problems, nothing to raise concern.

What a weird situation to find herself in, with a bizarre collection of people. If her grandmother was not so straitlaced and formal Ana would have loved to describe to her the
dramatis personae
. She was sure, had Inma not been family, her
abuela
would have adored the gossip and the game
of
trying to interpret what motives were driving whom and why, or not. Of course this conversation couldn't ever occur. She would not dream of confessing anything ever to anyone about her regard for Davide. That was doomed.

She refocused. What was Emilia saying? There was an edge to her voice.

"... is this, Caterina?"

"What?"

"This, the third payment from ServiArquitectos to El Cerámico. It's for eleven thousand and twenty euros including tax. But look here. It appears on the next day in Márquez's M-In Accounts and the same day that peculiar eleven thousand and twenty euros goes out of the M-Out accounts in a payment labelled with the shorthand of Adrian to an account called Cardarzob. It reappears the next day coming back into the M-Out accounts, as if returned or repaid. Next thing, the same amount goes out again, but just to
sobr-Cardarzob
."

Ana asked Emilia to repeat what she'd just stated. This time both Caterina and Ana listened intently as Emilia explained again, adding some additional details.

It meant nothing to Caterina, who said, "However, let me look for other instances. How do you spell those words?"

"Wait a moment," said Ana. "I may recognise what Emilia's found where you might not. It may be coincidence but the previous head of the Catholic Church in Spain was a decent, relatively open-minded man called Adrian. He died some years ago and was succeeded by someone much nastier and virulently conservative, whereas Adrian had been relatively, for the Spanish Catholic Church, liberal."

Emilia: "So?"

"The title of the head of the Catholic Church here has the title of, in English, Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo. In Spanish that is
Cardenal Arzobispo
. This could be shortened to Cardarzob. I also wonder if 'sobr' is shorthand for
sobres
, or envelopes in English.

"I think I get you, Ana," confirmed Emilia. "Interesting. So, if you're right, what we might have here is a traceable payment from ServiArquitectos to El Cerámico. In addition, at almost the same time we've precisely the same amount, including the IVA tax, paid into the El Cerámico account of Márquez called Cardarzob, which first has the reference Adrian and second happens to use the name of the man who was then Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo. Now the question is, can we find any additional detail?

"Caterina, start searching. I'm also going to try to find similar payments. Ana, have you ever looked through all the names on the M-Out payments list?"

Ana shook her head.

"I think you should. You know the Spanish scene. Just like you used the celebrity magazines, why not go through the list? Caterina, generate a spreadsheet with all the names or codes or references for Ana."

Emilia was suddenly in her element. With the tiniest bone in prospect she was taking charge.

Ana was amazed. This was a different Emilia. Her femininity evaporated, supplanted by the look of a hungry wild dog intent on eviscerating some prey – even if that prey was as yet unknown. There was instantly a fever about her which her body language clearly conveyed, though she was probably unaware of how much she'd changed in moments. It was Emilia now driving them forward.

While the other two sat engrossed at their machines, Ana phoned Pedro: "Where are you?"

"On my way to Alcobendas."

"Wonderful!
Las Australianas
may be onto something. If they are, be prepared. It may be red hot and dangerous. Yes, we'll keep it to ourselves."

She put the phone down as Caterina said over her shoulder: "Ana, do you see a spreadsheet with the names Emilia suggested in your secure email?"

Ana turned to her laptop and opened the file. She started to work through the list, making occasional notes for following up later. It was a long list. Pedro would be here well before she was a tenth of the way through it.

Wednesday: Madrid

Marta was, if anything, more nervous as she left to wait for Alfredo to pick her up and take her to face
Juez
Garibey de Williams. The two good aspects of the last few days were his support and preparation efforts together with the rather different support accompanied by the relaxation that came from being with Salvador.

He'd arrived from Valencia to stay with her last night. They had enjoyed themselves but without the exuberance of previous occasions. Her apprehensions, despite his soothing words and actions, were not sufficient to induce forgetfulness about the next day. She was certain, however, that she'd made sure he'd enjoyed himself. Although she'd had to work at it, it was only his due.

Standing outside her hotel she chatted with Salvador. He was taking a taxi to his financial advisers. His sister simply did not listen. She seemed intent on spending their inheritance as if no financial crisis existed. If the fear of more questioning bothered her, imminent bankruptcy of their late father's estate was driving him crazy.