The corpse had vanished. One moment it was sprawled on the kitchen floor of Durval and Dolores’ house, with blood forming a circular pool around its head, like a halo. And the next moment it was gone. No traces of the dead. No blood. Nothing.
— Is it possible the cat ate it? — Joana said.
— It’s a female cat — Dolores replied.
Durval was staring at the dark bloodstain on the living room carpet. Without averting his gaze, he said:
— Don’t be silly! A cat doesn’t eat a person.
Joana thought for a moment.
— Once I heard that a dog ate a child!
Dolores shuddered and let out a groan of terror.
Durval was deep in thought, his hand on his chin.
— Moreira was the only one who entered the kitchen after we saw the dead body. But why would he remove the body? And where would he have taken it?
— I thought he was going to take us all to jail — Joana said.
— He wouldn’t do that; Durval has known him for over twenty years.
— Don’t be so sure, Dodô. If he was the one who took the body away, we can’t trust him.
Dolores got up from the sofa and wobbled to the beginning of the hallway. It seemed that, for some strange phenomenon of Physics, the hallway had become much longer to the kitchen. She looked at Joana and beckoned her with her hand.
The two walked down the hallway towards the kitchen.
— Durval, are you sure it’s not there? — Dolores asked.
— I already told you, there’s nothing in the kitchen.
Durval was thinking of a way to analyze that bloodstain. How could he determine if it was really blood? He stood up and went to the desk. He opened the drawer and took his pocket knife. He knelt down in front of the stain and carefully cut the carpet around it. Then he went to the kitchen.
Dolores was standing by the sink. She was staring blankly at the spot where the body had been. Joana was restless near the door leading to the backyard, as if the maid wanted to flee far away.
Durval approached the woman and hugged her.
— Don’t be scared. There’s nothing here anymore.
— But it could be anywhere, Durval — she looked around — What if it’s inside the refrigerator?
Durval laughed. He went to the refrigerator and opened it.
— See? Nothing.
Dolores was serious.
— It could be in the backyard out back. In the garage! Oh my God. What if it’s up in our bedroom?
— There’s nothing in the house, woman. For some reason, someone took the body from here and carried it away. I need some plastic to keep this — he showed the piece of carpet with the red stain.
Joana grabbed a transparent plastic bag from the cupboard and handed it to Durval.
It was the only evidence of the crime. Durval carefully placed the piece of carpet in the plastic. He needed to solve that mystery. It wasn’t just because his friend, the chief, would think he was losing it. Durval hadn’t cared for a long time about what others thought of him. But there was more at stake here. The order of things. A dead person couldn’t enter his kitchen and leave without explanations. He would find the corpse and solve the mystery.
A murder investigation would begin.