Durval had been trapped inside his neighbor Heitor’s house, who had disappeared along with his wife. As he tried to exit through the back door, he was distracted by the horned skull in the library. Then someone was ringing the bell incessantly. Whoever it was, they were determined.
As Durval hurried back down the hallway as quickly as he could, which was quite slow even for him, since his leg in a cast made each step difficult, his thoughts raced inside him at a much greater speed. They were incongruous in their rapidity. First, he thought that the house could only be on fire for someone to ring the bell like that. Or maybe it could be Heitor himself ringing the bell? since he had left the house and… couldn’t get back in because… the key was left inside? But what about Melinda? She was with him, right? Melinda must have been locked outside with her husband because… they both went out the back? And the cockatoo was also trapped outside, having attacked the two of them upon seeing the horned skull, and… there were also the cigars… and the skull.
Yes, Durval knew that none of what he was thinking made much sense. In fact, ever since he and his wife Dolores found the corpse in their own kitchen, he had plunged into a rollercoaster of increasingly bizarre events.
He would have never imagined that after turning 70, he would be thrown into such an unusual and dangerous adventure, after all, he had received a death threat and suffered an attempted murder when he was pushed off a cliff inside his Corcel. Luckily, he only broke his leg. But he still remembered perfectly the sensation when he tumbled down the slope. He thought he was going to die. Not that he was afraid of death; after 70, one becomes friends with that idea, and it stops being bothersome. But he didn’t want to leave Dolores alone. She was his reason for living. He loved that woman.
Durval was in the middle of the hallway and could already see the huge window of the living room open, but he still couldn’t see who was at the front gate ringing the bell incessantly. He wanted to run, but he couldn’t do that; if he fell, it would be much worse. He could even break his other leg or his pelvis.
And then in the middle of the journey, he remembered that the living room door was locked! He simply couldn’t leave the house, whatever the reason the person was irritatingly ringing the damn bell.
To hell with it, he thought. He was already halfway there and wasn’t going to go back to exit through the back. Just a few more steps and he would reach the living room window. The bell continued to be unbearable. Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
He leaned against the side of the window and looked outside. He was so anxious that it took a moment for his eyes to focus. At the street gate, outside, ringing the bell, was Dolores.
Upon seeing Durval, she shouted: “The killer is inside with you!”
Episode LV continues in the next edition.
JOSÉ GASPAR
Writer, trader, and collector of strange words
www.historiasdooutromundo.com
www.josegaspartrader.com