KILLER PLANET

In a Juan Valdez Café, in front of the Titanium City Library, Fabio and Keiichi shared two cups of coffee. They were sitting inside a huge glass chamber, under which pedestrians walked in different directions.

“The forensic report has ruled out murder,” said Keiichi.

“There is a note that seems to confirm such a thesis,” Fabio replied.

“Does it seem to confirm?” Keiichi repeated skeptically. “She wrote it herself, I already told you.”

“How could she die with a note in his hands? Hernan told us that she was fighting to survive, with her hands around her neck.”

“Come on, Fabio. I am able to hold multiple items in my hands at the same time.”

“I just saw that,” Fabio smiled and Keiichi laughed. “But even if you are dying?”

“Well ...” Keiichi hesitated. “Let’s consider a soldier: he dies clutching his weapon.”

“I’d not compare a nervous woman to a soldier, my dear Keiichi. The note could have been written days before, too, and for another purpose.”

Keiichi laughed as he clapped his hands in delight.

“You have a macabre imagination, Fabio,” he said. “For what purpose would Cleopatra have signed such a document, if I may ask you?”

“To apologize to someone else,” said Fabio. “A letter of recommendation, for example.”

Keiichi sighed thoughtfully. He then recognized Martha, who walked swiftly approaching them at Fabio’s back.

“I wonder if Eleutheria has been involved in scandals for the past few years,” Fabio wondered.

“The pro-degenetization society?” Keiichi asked. “Not that I know. They seem quite harmless with their lectures and speeches.”

“I read that they own several buildings,” said Fabio, “including a 23-bedroom mansion in Nickel Port. The perfect setting for a hospital.”

“A degenetization clinic?” Martha asked.

Fabio turned around and Martha kissed him with surprise.

“That’s my wife!” Fabio exclaimed, caressing her waist.

A waitress approached them carrying chocolate cakes.

“How was your day, mon chéri?”

“What does the lady want?” The waitress asked.

“A cup of tea, please,” Martha said.

“It hasn’t been a very productive day,” Fabio replied. “Unless I’ve convinced Inspector Keiichi that we are not dealing with a suicide.”

“Excellent!” Martha exclaimed.

Keiichi placed a folder on the table.

“These are the copies of Cleopatra’s bank records,” said Keiichi.

Hours later, Martha, wearing a pearl-colored evening gown, read a voluminous menu in front of a table lit by a candle holder with wax candles. At the opposite side of the table, Severus, wearing a white suit with a black bowtie, was smoking a Plutonian cigar. A 5’10 ” height young waiter stood next to them with a tablet in his hands.

“Canapes aux écrevisses and Harengs grillés à la diable,” Martha said.

“Sir?” asked the waiter.

“I’ll eat the carré de mouton a la boulangère.”

“Excellent option!” said the waiter in a mellifluous voice.

“And please,” added Severus, “a bottle of red wine.”

“What kind of wine do you want?” asked the waiter.

“I’ll leave that choice to the lady,” Severus smiled.

“Don’t you know about Neptunian wines, Severus?” Martha asked.

“Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura, 3894,” replied Severus.

“Thank you, sir,” said the waiter as he wrote in his notebook. Ms!”

The waiter turned around and entered the next room.

“Jean Bourdy Côtes du Jura, 3894...” Martha repeated.

“Is it OK with you?” Severus asked.

“A connoisseur’s choice.”

“Let’s celebrate!” said Severus.

“That was Cleopatra’s favorite wine,” Martha retorted.

“Was that?” Severus hesitated. “Oh yeah! You see ... I brought her to this restaurant once. She must have influenced my taste. I see you taught her about wines. I’d like you to teach me many things about Neptune as well.”

“Which ones?”

“The Neptunian kiss, for example,” said Severus with a lustful twinkle in his eyes. “I always dreamed of having an affair with a Neptunian married woman. We are, after all, planets united by love relationships, as all Earth nations were once. Think of Lanzarote, for example. He seduced King Arthur’s wife.”

“I love my husband,” Martha replied. “In any case, men on Mars don’t have much of a reputation for directness. Cleopatra wrote to me several times about the grief she suffered with you.

“Oh!” Severus’ face became pale. “What did she say?”

“That you insisted on an open relationship,” Martha replied. “I even kept several photos of you in my sidereal code. Let me show you.”

Martha opened her mobile and typed in several commands.

“I see,” said Severus scornfully.

The waiter returned with the bottle of wine and showed it to Severus, who after looking at it nodded affirmatively.

“Here It’s!” Martha exclaimed, showing her a photo of his and Cleopatra’s faces, both hugging each other in front of a beach in bathing suits.

“It was about two years ago,” Severus agreed.

“You didn’t have that scar on your face then.”

Fabio choked on his wine, coughed, and drank from his glass of water.

“Sorry!” said Severus. “You don’t know how much I miss Cleopatra. Didn’t she tell you that I got this scar one day when, skating over the Magnesium fields, I fell flat on my face on a thorny bush?”

“Not really.”

“That’s how I got it.”

“And why haven’t you had surgery?”

“I haven’t had the time,” said Severus thoughtfully. “Is it true that guys like Fabio are so good in bed?

Martha sighed impatiently.

“If you are daring, I can be too,” she said. “I see that you are very obsessed with size.”

Severus looked shocked at the waiter, who remained unchanged uncorking the bottle.

“Venusians have a reputation for leading women to an orgasm,” said Severus apologetically.

“That’s not the point, Severus,” Martha continued. “What really excites us is a man looking after us.” Men who care even about our little problems. Fabio struggles to keep me happy.”

The waiter poured half a glass into Martha, who drank it and moved her head in a sign of approval.

“Do you think he is faithful to you?” Severus replied.

The waiter looked intently at Martha as he filled her cup.

“Our love goes beyond sex, Severus,” Martha said, “I often read that the collapse of Western spirituality is due to the illusion of fidelity. Our bodies are weak, but our minds and souls are inseparable in love. The spouse who abandons his beloved one by a slip is a bigot.”

The waiter poured the wine onto Severus’ suit.

“Damn it!” Severus exclaimed.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” the waiter apologized.

“Shut up!” Severus yelled. “Where is the bathroom?”

“On the fourth floor, sir.”

“Excuse me,” Severus justified himself before leaving the room.

“I apologize, ma’am,” the waiter said to Martha. “This has never happened to me, not in the last ten years. Please don’t tell Sir Weyden about this incident.”

“Why? What happened?” Martha asked.

“I was distracted by what you said.”

Martha looked into the waiter’s helpless eyes.

“Okay, now you can go,” Martha said,

“Thank you, ma’am,” said the waiter. “Please don’t tell anyone what happened.”

Martha eyed him suspiciously.

“Are you afraid of Sir Weyden?”

“Mister Urwin is a close friend of Sir Weyden ... How foolish. I am agitated. Please! Excuse me!”

“We haven’t even talked,” Martha said. “Nothing has happened here.”

“Thank you.”

“Is it true what Mister Urwin said?” Martha asked. “Did he have dinner here with Miss Cleopatra Gloucester a couple of months ago?”

“Certainly,” he said, pointing to another room.

Martha realized she was in a restaurant with private rooms.

“They both shared that very room. It’s a shame that she refused to marry Mister Urwin. He could have made Cleopatra Gloucester a happy woman. I see your friend is already here.”

“Of course,” Martha murmured.

Severus returned smiling. Martha nodded her head. As soon as the waiter left the room, Severus took her hand.

“I’m also disturbed,” Severus whispered to Martha as he said. “I heard what the waiter said.”

“I’m a conservative woman,” Martha said, “even if I’m not a saint.”

An hour later, they were both walking through the cobbled streets to the Amazon River Riviera. That narrow river did not bear the slightest resemblance to its disappeared terrestrial namesake; the luxurious buildings on the opposite bank were visible through the dense fog that descended from the Benedictine mountains.

“You are unique.” Severus nodded, lighting a cigarette. “Your husband is very lucky. Will we see each other again?”

“I don’t think so,” Martha replied. “Now I feel remorse for having left him alone.”

“It was just a romantic dinner without romance.”

“I accepted your invitation so we could talk about Cleopatra.”

Severus shook his head in agreement.

“Do you really think Cleopatra was killed?” Severus asked coquettishly.

“My husband suspects it. I trust his judgment.”

“Confidence is naivety’s bastard.”

Martha smiled dryly as she dialed her coordinates on her mobile. Her face gleamed with joy.

“Are you thinking of settling on Mars?” Severus asked.

“I’d not like to return to Neptune.”

“Are you working on other cases?” I mean, as private detectives.

“Only in this one.”

“How do you make a living, then?”

Snowflakes fell from the sky.

“Fabio is a professional translator,” Martha sighed as she pulled her coat up tight. She abstained herself from telling Severus that her parents were the owners of a gravimotor company in Neptune.

“I don’t understand how a man can allow his wife to date a stranger.”

“A stranger?” Martha asked. “Is that how you still consider yourself? I thought we were already friends.”

“Oh! You’re right! But, just ... Do you really love him?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what’s the deal between the two of you?”

“You are asking too many questions, Severus. Let me ask you in return, how many times have you been unfaithful to your girlfriends?”

“Many times,” Severus replied after a long pause.

“What’s the problem with being honest? Remember that in the beginning Adam and Eve were happy in paradise. It all ended when they discovered they were naked.”

“Very well,” said Severus. “You two are, I see, morally superior to all of us. I’m very sorry. I am a fool! You just want to know, you were telling me ...”

“About Cleopatra ...”

“Yes ... Of course ... You may be wondering why I wasn’t in the main hall at the time of her death.”

Martha hid her surprise with a stern countenance.

“I was in the reception room with Guillermina,” Severus continued. “I know you loved Cleopatra. She once told me that you two were very close friends.”

Severus saw the gravitaxi descend in front of them. The door opened and a warm wind warmed them up under the gelid wind.

“Is that why you accepted my invitation?” Martha asked.

“Weren’t you both lovers?” Severus asked, inhaling his cigarette.

“I see you were suspicious of her.”

“Cleopatra and I continued to have sex after she got engaged to Herman Sousa,” Severus replied with a hint of pride.

“How did Cleopatra meet her fiancé?”

“Through Anaximandra, who was then dating him,” answered Severus. “I am convinced that Anaximandra never forgave Cleopatra for seducing her suitor.”

“Sisters don’t get along very often.”

“I always got along well with both of them,” Severus replied presumptuously.

“I can see that.”

“I also invited Cleopatra to that restaurant.”

“I knew that,” Martha agreed. “When was that?”

“About six months ago. She told me that she would marry Herman. I tried to persuade her to marry me. But it was useless.”

“What arguments did you give her?”

“The ones that you and your husband protect with such sensuality: fidelity, tradition, visiting her parents from time to time. In order to survive, it’s better to be a conservative. But she was foolish. Nobody celebrated with shouts of joy and fireworks the announcement that poor Cleopatra was getting engaged to Herman Sousa.”