CHAPTER 11

CAMILA FOLLOWED BERNARDO to a restaurant that was close to the building where they worked, she spent almost fifteen minutes rehearsing to meet him, and even then she didn't know what she would say.

Bernardo started fiddling with some papers and his cell phone – completely out of breath, with no idea what was going on around him –, seeing if everything was in order to start his investigations immediately.

He didn't even notice when Camila sat at the same table he was at.

–– Hi, Bernardo – she said a little shyly, but quickly sat down before he could say anything.

Bernardo was taken aback, but recovered quickly.

–– Ah! Hi... uh... Camila, how are you?

Without waiting for her to answer, she said:

–– Can I help you with anything?

Her eyes lit up with the question.

–– I would like to help you with the case of the professor who was killed that afternoon, I had thought of doing this subject, but as you went ahead, then, I would like to help you.

He was thoughtful for a few seconds and tried to make some excuse.

–– You know what it is, Camila – he said his name after three seconds, faking a slight stutter – I work better alone.

–– It is always a good time to change old habits.

Bernardo nodded grudgingly.

–– Let's do it like this... – he put his papers in order on the table and hung up, paying attention only to Camila – we can even work together, but it would be easier if we shared the functions, you work in the research, and everything I ask you, I'm sure it is much better than me in this, I do the field research, can it be?

Seeing no prospect of being close to her lover, she warmly agreed.

–– Of course, as you wish.

–– All right – he said with a contagious smile – we have a completely mysterious case on our hands and we are going to unravel it, I owe it to Professor Cardeñas.

–– Can I know why?

–– It's a long story, I'll tell you later, do you know anything about the case?

–– I talked to the detective in charge, he told me that Carlos Cardeñas was stabbed in the belly, and that the professor himself drew a knife on the floor and made some numbers, let me see if I remember... – she consulted her notebook – that... I thought... the number was 1.6 2x 18. Now, we need to see what the relationship of these numbers was with the knife drawn on the floor.

–– The number is similar to the PHI, if I'm not mistaken, it's linked to the numerical perfection of God, or something like that, but that "2x" in the middle is very strange.

–– So, about the murder, nothing to declare for the time being, except that the man was a Freemason, as well as the last four previous ones, were killed in the same way, stabbed in Neo–Gothic style cathedrals, Freemasons and had a gold coin inside the mouth.

Camila hesitated a few moments.

–– Something happened?

–– In previous cases, something very strange happened. – he just watched, interested in every detail – The four Freemasons who were murdered, the detectives reported that when arriving at their homes to investigate, there was a Nazi prayer written with the victims' own blood, in addition to a drawn knife, there are only two coincidences, all were single / widowed Europeans and Freemasons, and nothing more about the case, that's all I know.

–– I see – he said thoughtfully, but immediately he was encouraged – so we have five interconnected murders, all Masons killed with a knife, and in a way linked to Nazism, I could take a copy of that "prayer" and send it on my e– mail?

–– Sure, anything else?

–– Did you discover anything about "Willian de Rillencourt"?

–– This is an even bigger mystery than the number, I did a quick search on the internet and nothing refers to that name.

–– This is very strange, would that name be an anagram?

–– I don't think so, I believe it's really someone's name, only nobody knows who it is specifically.

Bernardo thought about it and changed the subject.

–– Keep an eye open and find out everything you can about what connects knife to Nazism, and Freemasonry must have some connection.

–– Leave it to me.

AS SOON AS THEY FINISHED drinking coffee, Bernardo paid the bill and both went after his news.