Andean Experience Ch. 06: Crime in Cusco

When he asked the nightwatch how he got this position- an easy, well-paid government job- the case began to come together in Sergeant Amanza's calculating mind.

"My nephew works there."

"What's his name?"

"Hector Hernandez"

Then the sergaent played a hunch which came from his earlier discussion with the Chief of Police.

"We've found footprints which seem to match the shoes your nephew was wearing that night. And we see those same shoes in the surveillance video of the gallery during the theft. What do you know about that, Senor Marillo?"

"Nnn... othing. I don't know what shoes he wears," he stammered, unconvincingly.

The old man was sweating profusely now and trembling with fear. His nephew had assured him it would be easy. No-one would ever know. Finally there'd be enough money. Now this inspector seemed to have him. His mind reeled, with no way out. What could he say to keep the cop away? Sergeant Amanza continued in a soothing voice.

"Are you sure you don't want to admit your part in this? Hector will tell us anyway, so you might as well admit it now. It'll put you in favour with the judge, you know."

The nightwatch was shaking hard, literally dying inside. God in heaven! Should he admit it and maybe get off lighter than if he tried to lie? He made a decision and blurted it out.

"OK. I needed the money because my wife is sick. He promised me ten percent if I would turn the alarms off at 3:00 when I went for my coffee break."

"So he could come in, take the goods and leave the building before you came back, right?" the sergaent confirmed, hardly able to believe his good luck with this.

"There were twenty minutes and he had the keys to the cabinets. He knew which exit door was outside the range of the cameras. Hector told me no-one would ever find out it was me. I shouldn't have believed him, but I needed to buy the medicine. That's why I..."

Then old Senor Marillo finally just lost it. He broke down crying with his face in his hands, his body heaving as he tried to breathe between deep sobs. He knew that he would be going to prison.

Ramon Amanza could see how Hernandez had used his desperate uncle to carry out the theft. Part of him felt sorry for the old man as he finished the interview and switched off his recording device. Then he led Senor Marillo to a holding cell in the police station.

Hector Hernandez had enjoyed a fine day up at Sacsahuman with the people from the National Museum. They left the festival as friends and he was sure there was no chance they would connect him to the missing keros. The earlier police interview had been easy too, with no apparent concerns. And Elena was in the palm of his hand now, so he would be able to escape to Lima and stay with her. More hot sex there was an extra bonus!

Everything seemed to be going very well. But he hadn't been home for more than a few hours when a loud rap sounded on his apartment door. It was quickly followed by another one and a sharp command.

"Police. Open up!"

Suddenly all of Hector's optimistic plans turned to dust.

****

Two days later, Elena, Jaguar and Marina occupied a row of seats along one side of the Cusco-to-Lima flight. They were coming home now, a short trip having stretched to five days.

"I guess it was worth the delay, Elena," Jaguar remarked.

"Definitely!" she replied, patting the cubic-foot packing box on her lap containing the precious keros.

"Until yesterday evening I didn't think it would turn out this way," Marina added.

"Chalk it up to Elena's sex-appeal!" Jag joked. "She's the one who got Hector to spend so much time at our suite."

"Stop it, Jag!" Elena exclaimed softly, not wanting to draw attention. "He was just using me. He was trying to set up an escape from Cusco. I think Hector figured he could stay with me while he unloaded the keros in Lima."

"Your sex-appeal, I say. Don't underestimate yourself, Elena," Jag laughed, then groaned as Marina shot an elbow into his ribs.

"No, it was the sergeant who questioned the nightwatch." she retorted. "He bluffed the old guy out, and he soon caved in with the whole story."

"And Hector took those drinking vessels because he knew they were being transferred to the National Museum, right?" Marina added.

Jaguar replied, "He knew that suspicion would fall on the Director, because there's so much rivalry between museums. Hector was counting on that in his timing. He planned to fence them in Lima during his vacation, and he wasn't coming back to Cusco either."

"Quite a story! And now you have the keros, Elena," Marina concluded.

"But not without the loss of my dignity!" she whispered. "Now everybody from the Director to the police knows that I spent two nights in bed with Hector. I thought we had something going, but he was just using me for a place to hide out. My god, I was such a fool!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself. If he hadn't come back for more that second night, the shoe matching wouldn't have come to light," Jaguar reassured her.

"You're not making me feel any better, you know."

Jaguar didn't say anything more because he knew the real reason the case was solved. He had prayed to the jaguar spirit, and as usually happened, the ancient Peruvian god had delivered. It had brought Marina to him and it had saved him from the Shining Path kidnappers too. In his mind the Chavin spirit was responsible yet again. He smiled with smug satisfaction.

Jaguar felt pleased with their short trip to Cusco.

Marina had a chance to experience the festival,

And Elena was coming home with precious keros.

Yes, in the end everything had turned out well....

Except for Hector and his unfortunate old uncle.

Thanks for reading the final story in the series. One day I may get to Peru myself. Please rate 'Crime in Cusco' before you go.