3MGH Mireia disappeared E-Book

Tomás Moscardó

• Herausgeber: Angels Fortune Editions
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 309

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

«Reading 3MGH Mireia Desaparecida is entering a frenetic story where kidnappings, drug trafficking, the deep internet, hackers and hitmen will find their Achilles heel when they come face to face with Sergeant Borrás» Frantic. Only 48 hours to solve such a strange case... Mireia, a teenager who is on a study trip to Mallorca, disappears without a trace. Civil Guard sergeant Antonia Borrás will be chosen to investigate the case that a priori appears to be a disappearance for sexual reasons. When Antonia takes the reins of the case she will face a dark world of hackers on the deep internet, millions of dollars in Bitcoin, hitmen and drug cartels involved in a case where there is no way to put the pieces of the puzzle together. No one is totally innocent, nothing is what it seems and the sergeant will learn that if she wants to solve the case she must base her logic on the principle of Ockham's razor. Frantic. Only 48 hours to solve a case so strange that it will hook you and you will want "one more chapter" Majorca. You will walk around this island where more things are hidden than what meets the eye. In addition to its beautiful beaches, you will discover a world of organized crime that travels between real life and cyberspace. A woman at the head of the investigation. This novel breaks with the scheme of the male detective and shows us a strong woman who you wouldn't want to risk, astute, intuitive and rebellious who will not give up her efforts to find Mireia alive.

Leseprobe

3MGH

Mireia disappeared

A novel by Tomás Moscardó

 

Translated by Laura Buades

 

“First edition: June 2024

© Copyright of the work: Tomás Moscardó

© Copyright of the edition: Angels Fortune Publishing Group

ISBN: 978-84-125103-0-0

ISBN digital: 978-84-125103-1-7

ISBN translation: 978-84-128873-8-9

Legal Deposit: B 8957-2024

Translation: Laura Buades

Translation review: Blanca De La Rosa

Editing by Ma Isabel Montes Ramírez

©Angels Fortune Editions www.angelsfortuneditions.com

Rights reserved for all countries. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, nor compiled in a computer system, nor transmitted in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording. or by other means, nor the loan, rental or any other form of transfer of the use of the copy without prior written permission of the copyright owners.

«Any form of reproduction, distribution, public communication or transformation of this work can only be carried out with the authorization of its owners, except as provided by law.”

Chapter 1

Where is mireia?



That June 2019 morning looked like any other morning at the luxury hotel in Magaluf, Majorca.

Guests poured into the hotel’s buffet dining hall, located just a few metres away from the beach with a sea view terrace, to enjoy the varied breakfast on offer.

Even though most of the guests were British tourists, there was a small group of teenagers on a school trip sitting at the far end of the terrace.

After some back and forth from their table to the buffet displays that contained nonstop supplies of bacon, fruit, croissants and an infinite number of delicacies, the group seemed complete. But really, it wasn’t.

The teachers responsible for the group noticed three students missing: two girls and one boy.

They started asking the rest of the students about their missing classmates’ whereabouts. None of them had a clue.

Gemma and Pep were the teachers responsible for the group and Gemma was also their tutor. They approached Quim, the missing boy’s roommate, and questioned him: “Quim, where is Gerard? When did your roommate get up this morning?” “He didn’t sleep in our room last night,” he answered.

“What do you mean, he didn’t sleep in your room last night?” Gemma cried out.

“He didn’t. I saw him with Tania. After dinner, when we all went to the chill out party, by the large pool, they were snogging as per usual. So, we left them alone and went to get some drinks. We separated into several groups. I went with Xesca, Inma, Roser, Neus, Ferran, Antonio and Lluc. Our other classmates went in their own groups. That’s all I know.”

“I bet Tania and Gerard went somewhere to fuck the hell out of each other!” Lluc added.

“For sure!” added Antonio, high-fiving Lluc.

Both teachers exchanged surprised glances. Their faces were already showing worry. Once again, Gemma asked the group of students.

“Did any of you see Gerard, Tania or Mireia last night, after dinner?”

The rest of the student shook their heads.

Gemma looked at her colleague with a worried look on her face and said:

“We have no clue where three of our students are. And it’s making me very nervous.”

“Calm down Gemma, I’m sure there is a logical explanation to all of this. Let’s ring their mobile phones and check if they just slept in.”

Gemma dialled Mireia’s number first.

“Come on Mireia, pick up the phone Answer it, damn it!”

Pep rubbed his worried face while he waited for Mireia to answer the call.

“Fuck! The phone is off or has no signal,” Gemma told Pep.

“Call Tania’s phone. In the meantime, I’ll try to locate Gerard. I’m sure it is just a classic case of a drunken night out that got out of hand”, he said.

“Nothing, just like Mireia’s it is off or has no signal. Did you manage to contact Gerard?”

“Nothing. Just like the girls’ phone it is off or has no signal. Fuck Gemma! We need to go up to Tania’s and Mireia’s room and check if they were just out late partying and slept in.”

The teachers quickly went up to the fourth floor and arrived at room 412. Pep banged on the door and started calling the girls’ names.

“Tania! Mireia! Wake up, it’s really late! Tania, can you hear me? Mireia, open the door! It’s ok if you drank a little too much last night, just open the door, we’re really worried.”

The distress became increasingly visible on the teachers’ faces. They exchanged glances once again. Their expressions indicated they both knew something was not right.

“Gemma, look, the red light above the door indicates there’s someone in the room. They’re inside. I’m going back down to the reception to ask them to open the door for us,” said Pep.

“Hurry, please. I’ll keep trying the door. If they’re really in there, they are bound to have heard us banging on the door,” said Gemma.

He started running down the corridor on the hotel’s fourth floor and down the stairs so fast that his heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. The minutes it took to reach the hotel reception seemed like forever.

He made his way to the reception desk, panting and out of breath, and addressed the clerk.

“We have an emergency on our hands: two of our students didn’t show up to breakfast and they are not answering their mobile phones. They aren’t opening the door to their room, but their light is red, which means they are inside, right?”

The flabbergasted receptionist responded.

“Just a moment please, I’ll call the Front Desk Manager.”

The young receptionist went inside the office and a few seconds later emerged with the Manager from the counter side door.

“What is going on?” asked the Manager.

“Three of our minor students didn’t show up to breakfast, no one has seen them since last night and they are not answering their phones nor their door. But the signal that indicates someone is in the room is on. They are the two girls sharing room 412 and one boy in room 418, but his roommate is here and confirms he did not sleep in the room. Do you think you can open the room with some sort of master key?”

“Of course, sir, don’t worry. Let’s go to room 412 immediately. Are you the students’ tutor?”

“No, their tutor is Gemma, my colleague, but she is upstairs trying to bang the door down.”

Pep and the Front Desk Manager quickly went up to the fourth floor in the elevator. In the meantime, pep texted Gemma to let her know they were on their way.

They quickly made it to room 412 where Gemma was waiting for them.

“Come on, come on, hurry up, we need to get in the room,” Gemma spat to the Manager.

“Right now.”

The receptionist inserted the magnetic card into the gold lock hole of room 412. The key instantly clicked, and a green LED light indicated the door was now open. He proceeded to open the door and pulled down the door handle with his right hand.

Gemma and Pep pushed the Front Desk Manager aside and entered the room.

As they passed the small corridor formed by the bathroom wall on the right that blocked their view of the room from the entrance, they froze for a second.

In the room, on the left-hand bed, the one next to the door leading to the balcony, Tania lay unconscious, tied to the headboard with a rope, gagged by a piece of grey duct tape.

In the bed on the right, in the exact position, lay Gerard. Both mattresses had been pushed together. The students lay unconscious and naked, covered only by a sheet.

The room was a mess, the girls' clothes had been taken out of the wardrobe and thrown to the floor along with the clothes Gerard was wearing when he entered room 412. Tania’s handbag was on the floor and all of its contents were scattered.

The television remained on the music channel that the youngsters must have been listening to before they were attacked, but there was no sign of Mireia.

After that initial second, the teachers’ first instinct was to freeze. Gemma was the first to react.

“Fuck! What the hell happened here?” she screamed.

She then ran to the bed where Tania lay and removed the duct tape from her mouth. She struggled due to the tightness of the tape and her nervous state made her hands tremble.

“Tania, Tania, Tania! Answer me, damn it!”

A tenth of a second later Pep approached Gerard and also proceeded to remove the tape covering his mouth.

“Gerard, Gerard, can you hear me? Gerard, wake up, damn it!”

He turned to face the Front Desk Manager, who stood there perplexed, and shouted in desperation:

“Ask for something to cut the ropes, now!”

The Front Desk Manager grabbed his walkie-talkie, pressed the button and said:

“Maintenance Manager, I need you at room 412 and bring something to cut some ropes, urgently. Hurry!”

“Copy that, on my way to 412,” replied a voice over the loudspeaker.

Once again, the Front Desk Manager pressed the button.

“Doctor on duty, come up to 412, immediately”.

“On my way, room 412,” the doctor responded.

The Front Desk Manager then picked up his mobile phone and called the Hotel Manager.

“Mr. Arnedo, can you please come up to room 412. We have a situation on our hands.”

“What is going on?” the Director responded.

“I think it’s best you come up and see for yourself. There are two teenagers tied up in one room and another one is missing.”

“Heading up there right now. Make sure no staff or customers loiter around room 412.”

Just as he hung up the phone, the Maintenance Manager and the doctor came running down the corridor.

“Come on, come on! Hurry up!” yelled the Front Desk Manager impatiently.

At the door of the room, he said:

“Not a word to any of the staff or hotel guests about what you see in the room, understood?”

“Of course,” answered the Maintenance Manager.

“I am bound by professional secrecy,” replied the doctor.

As they entered the room, Gemma said:

“At last. Quick, release them, help them. God knows how long they’ve been unconscious and tied up like this.”

The hotel staff approached Tania first. The Maintenance Manager took out a pair of sharp scissors and freed Tania's right hand first, then her left hand. He then proceeded to do the same thing with Gerard’s hands.

As soon as they were free of the ropes, they all proceeded to lay the two teenagers on the bed.

At that moment the Hotel Manager arrived at the room and was shocked but said nothing as he waited for the doctor to tell him about the situation.

The doctor started to examine Tania. He placed his fingers on her jugular vein and noticed that her pulse was weak. He immediately took a small torch from his first-aid kit and with his left thumb he lifted the teenager's right eyelid. He then performed the same on the left eyelid and cried out:

“This is very bizarre; she is completely unconscious. Let me check the boy, but we must call emergencies and request two ambulances. The girl is in a catatonic state. They need to see a doctor, fast. I have no idea what might have caused them to be in this state.”

“Oh, my goodness, Tania, Gerard, this cannot be happening. Please, call right now,” begged Gemma as she started to weep.

“I’m calling,” responded the Front Desk Manager.

“112, what is your emergency?”

“I am the Front Desk Manager at Hotel Night Beach, we have two teenagers, a boy, and a girl, and they are both unconscious. Our doctor has checked them, but they are not waking up.”

“OK, Night Beach Hotel. How old are the minors?”

“How old are they?” the Front Desk Manager asked Gemma.

“They are both seventeen,” she stated.

“The minors are seventeen years old,” the Front Desk Manager replied to the emergency technician on the phone.

“Room number, please.”

“Room 412, fourth floor. We will be waiting for you; the vehicle entrance barrier will be open. Please, hurry up.”

“We are sending two ambulances and an emergency doctor immediately.”

“Thank you, we will be waiting.”

The Hotel Manager turned to the Front Desk Manager.

“Marcos, what is the situation? We must report this to local police.”

“So far, we know three students did not show up at breakfast, two of them are the young teenagers found unconscious, the third is the girl's roommate and we don't know where she is.”

“Alright, I will call the local police from my office. I’ll be right back.”

A few minutes later, the emergency services arrived. Two ambulances entered the loading and unloading area on the side of the hotel, where the hotel doctor waited for them.

Five staffers emerged from the ambulance with the emergency doctor.

“Follow me please, we'll get there quicker than going through the hotel lobby,” the hotel doctor told the emergency services. On the way he explained how they had found the teenagers and his initial examinations.

As they arrived at the room, Gemma, visibly agitated, addressed the doctor.

“Doctor, doctor, please, do something, the kids don't wake up.”

“Calm down, we are going to check on them right away.”

“Check the boy's vitals while I start by checking the girl,” said the doctor on duty to the emergency staff.

Once the doctor was at Tania's side, he proceeded to examine her. As the hotel doctor had done earlier, he placed his fingers on Tania's jugular vein and observed that she had a pulse. He then proceeded to open the young woman's right eyelid with his left thumb and with his small torch he shone light into her eye, making horizontal and vertical movements in search of some kind of reaction, which did not materialise. He repeated the manoeuvre on the left eye, with no such luck.

“Do we know how long they have been unconscious?” asked the emergency doctor.

“We don't know, the last time anyone saw them was last night around 23:00," replied the hotel doctor.

“Doctor, the young man's blood pressure is 111/59, but his pulse rate is only 42,” said one of the emergency staff.

“Take the girl's vitals, start an IV and proceed to transport her urgently to the main hospital. I'm going to check the boy but get him on an IV and get him ready for transfer.”

“Yes doctor, we’re on it.”

The emergency doctor approached Gerard and repeated the manoeuvre he had performed on Tania.

“Does anyone have any idea what this puncture mark next to the jugular vein might be?”

“I’m afraid not. At first glance, it looks as like they have been injected with something.”

“The irritation around the mouth I imagine is due to the removal of the duct tape used to gag them, and the marks on their wrists match the place where the ropes were tied,” added the hotel doctor.

“Doctor, say something, please. What is wrong with them? Will they get better? Say something doctor, I’m desperate and I also have to tell the parents,” Gemma asked the emergency doctor.

“There isn’t much more I can say at the moment. We have to wait to get them to the hospital and examine them further. But it does look like an alcohol-induced coma. Call the parents.”

“The parents are in Barcelona. We are from a high school, on a field trip.”

“Well, let them know, they should travel to Palma as soon as possible. We are taking them to the main hospital.”

“They are ready to go, doctor”, said one of the emergency staffers.

“Let’s go. Let the emergency department know that we have two unconscious 17-year-olds with altered vitals, that we have proceeded to start an IV, and that they be prepared.”

More than an hour had passed when Sergeant Antonia Borrás, who was to be in charge of the investigation, entered room 412.

“Good morning,” the Sergeant greeted.

“Good morning, Sergeant”, responded the local police officers who were already in the room.

One officer was taking photos of the beds while two others were dusting the terrace window for prints. Another officer was checking the broken glass from a bottle next to the bedside table on the right side of the room.

Sergeant Borrás addressed one of them.

“Iñaki, what do we have here?”

“All we know so far is that three teenagers on a field trip, two girls and a boy, did not show up to breakfast this morning. One of the girls and the boys were found approximately two hours ago. They were naked, bound, gagged and unconscious. They had to be rushed to the main hospital. We still haven't heard from the other girl. The room has been turned upside down, there is no sign of forced entry on the front door or the door leading to the balcony. The girl is Tania Cardona. Seventeen years old, a student in Year 12, the same age and year as the boy, Gerard Puig, and the other missing student, Mireia Grau i Moncada. They are from the EIAR Institute, a well-known elite college. Initially, it looked like a robbery: mobile phones, watches and money are missing.”

“Has anything been touched in the scene?”

“Some broken glass shards had to be removed from the floor on the boy's side where the bedside table is. The clothes that were lying on the floor had to be removed so that the stretchers could move the two young students and the ropes that were binding them were cut by the hotel staff, but we have collected them as evidence.”

“Who found the victims?”

“The teachers alerted the Front Desk Manager. He opened the door for them.”

“The room has two beds, but they have been pushed together. That is unusual for a field trip. They usually use twin beds.”

“Apparently the two students had some sort of relationship. They likely pushed the beds together for comfort. A group of the students saw them leave the party, probably to come up to the room.”

“The missing girl. Do we know when she was last seen?”

“Nobody remembers seeing her after dinner.”

“Interrogate all of the victim’s classmates and the teachers. By the way, this hotel is pretty expensive. How can a group of teenagers afford to stay here on a field trip?”

“The EIAR is an elite college in Barcelona, they are the children of big businessmen, politicians, consuls... Rich kids.”

“I presume those broken glass shards don’t belong to a water bottle.”

“From the label, we can see it is from a rather expensive bottle of whisky and, from the number of empty Coke cans, it looks as if they had set up their own private booze binge. They probably bought their drinks in a souvenir shop in the area or in a Chinese shop that does not require a licence to sell alcoholic beverages to minors. I doubt those white powder traces on the coffee table are chalk from the classroom.”

“These wealthy kids, it doesn’t really make sense to me that they would come to Magaluf on a field trip. I mean, I love Magaluf, but it’s not Monaco or Dubai. Come on, they could have gone to other more high-end destinations, right?”

“Yeah, but Magaluf has something those other chic destinations don’t have,” responded Iñaki.

“What do you mean?”

“Punta Ballena, you know. Nine hundred metres where thousands of people gather and where they can roam freely among hooligans and other drunken tourists doing whatever they want. What's fucked up is that people think Magaluf is Punta Ballena, Magaluf is much more than that, but the madness is what makes the news. Some people even tell their children: ‘Go to Punta Ballena, become a man.’”

“But these people already do whatever they want, you know what happens in those private parties. Even if they are minors, they have access to anything they want: alcohol, hash, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, unrestrained sex... I don’t understand, what else could they want?” the Sergeant insisted.

“You said it. Their private parties know no limits. But there is a caveat.”

“What do you mean?” asked Antonia.

“The problem is that they are their private parties. Reserved for people with their status. They don’t associate with people who are not in their own class. They're just tired of getting drunk with the same people, getting high with the same people, fucking the same people. And coming to Punta Ballena provides the opportunity to get drunk with other people, get up to their asses in coke with other people and fuck as much as they want with other people,” Iñaki reaffirmed.

“But if they don't want to associate with people not in their own class, why should they want to do it here?”

“Because what they don't want is to relate to people who might recognise them or who might turn up in their lives later on, people who would know their secrets. That’s why they won't associate with regular people in Barcelona. But here, in Magaluf, they will encounter a ton of people who won’t even remember what they’ve done by the next day,” explained Iñaki to Antonia.

“This hotel uses very modern locks in the rooms, the kind that can be opened with a mobile phone and a swipe card. I'll talk to the Hotel Manager to get the lock opening log and have forensics pull everything they can”, said the sergeant.

“They have been working on it for a while now, but the hotel staff, the teachers, the emergency staff, they’ve all been here: the scene has probably been contaminated.”

“Well, let’s just collect whatever we can. Right now, the only thing we know for sure is that two teenagers have been assaulted and one teenage girl is still missing. And on top of that, they are rich kids. Do we know if they have spoken to the parents?” asked Antonia.

“Gemma Roca, their tutor at EIAR, is in charge of the minors. We have contacted her, and she has confirmed that she has arranged to speak to the parents of the three students. They will arrive in Palma on a private jet today and will head to the main hospital.”

“Well, that is one less thing we have to worry about. Bearing bad news to parents is always unpleasant. Anyway, I want to talk to them as soon as possible, I'm going to the main hospital now to see what else they can tell us.”

Sergeant Borrás arrived at the main hospital in the capital, Palma, entered through the emergency room door, approached the counter and took out her local police ID.

“Good afternoon, I am Sergeant Borrás from the Local Police Force in Palma. Two teenagers have been brought in from the Night Beach Hotel. Tania Cardona and Gerard Puig.”

“Good afternoon. They have been admitted to the ICU. Go up to the first floor and as soon as you exit the lift, on the right-hand side, there is a counter. You can go up now, I’ll let them know you are on your way.”

“Thank you so much.”

Sergeant Borrás entered the lift and went up to the first floor. As the doors opened, she approached the ICU desk, where the doctor in charge was already waiting for her. Once again, she produced her ID.

“Good afternoon. Sergeant Borrás from the Palma police force. I need to speak to the doctor who treated the teenagers brought in from the hotel in Magaluf.”

“I am Dr. González; I treated the young teenagers. Let’s go to the ICU office so we can talk privately.”

The doctor opened the door to the ICU area, escorted Sergeant Borrás to the office and showed her in. Dr González sat at the desk; in front of the desk stood two more chairs for visitors.

“Please, take a seat”, indicated the doctor.

“How are the students?”

“They are safe, their vitals are practically normal, but they are still in a state... how can I put it. They are in some sort of induced coma, which should not be possible because of the amount of alcohol and cocaine we have found in their bodies. The mark on their necks is undoubtedly from something they have been injected with.” “What with?” “We still don’t know. What I can say is that we are definitely befuddled. Whatever it is, it is something that has put their brains, on idle speed, so to speak. Just enough to keep them breathing. At the moment, the only thing we can do without endangering their lives is to feed them saline solution through an IV. I have already ordered more extensive blood tests, but they will take a few hours. These hours that will be critical. The body will gradually cleanse of the toxins, and we will be able to do more, but right now I wouldn't dare estimate when they might wake up. It might be a few days or maybe a few months. It is impossible to say without knowing what the hell they have been injected with.”

“They were bound and gagged; did you find any defensive wounds?”

“No marks are visible on the girl; it seems that she was tied up without resisting and there is no evidence of her trying to free herself. The boy has some marks that show resistance to being tied up and from trying to get loose.”

“Are there any signs of sexual assault?” asked the sergeant.

“There is evidence of recent sexual intercourse, but no sign of assault. I would say that they had consensual relations.”

“Did you observe anything else strange or out of place?”

“Nothing else, there are no signs of abuse.

Only the ones I mentioned on their wrists and the irritations on the lips caused by the tape glue used to gag them.”

“Doctor, please, I will need to talk to them as soon as they are up for it. None of this makes sense. Have the parents said when they will arrive?”

“They are flying in in a private jet from Barcelona. In theory, they should be on the island within an hour at the latest.”

“Thanks, doctor. If you don't mind, I'll stay in the ICU waiting room. When they get here and have a chance to talk to you, I would like to ask them a few questions. May I use this office? It will only take a few minutes.”

“Of course. As soon as we tell them about their children's condition, I will let them know that you want to talk to them.”

Sergeant Borrás stood up and moved to the ICU waiting room.

Approximately an hour and a half later, Sergeant Borrás observed the arrival of Tania and Gerard's parents, whom Dr. González showed into the office.

No more than twenty-five minutes had elapsed when Dr. González left in search of Sergeant Borrás.

“You can go in; the relatives are waiting.”

“Thank you doctor, I will try to keep it brief.”

Sergeant Borrás went back into the ICU office.

“Good afternoon, I am Sergeant Antonia Borrás from the Local Police Force.”

“Good afternoon, we are Artur and Joana, Tania’s parents.”

“Good afternoon sergeant, we are Miquel and Julia, Gerard’s parents.”

“Dr. Gonzalez must have already updated you on your children’s medical situation. I know this is a difficult time, but I have to ask you some questions.”

“What can we do for you?” asked Julia, Gerard’s mother, in an anguished voice.

“At the moment we are gathering as much information as possible and, as I said, I know it is a sensitive time, with your children in the ICU. I know you also had to rush from Barcelona on a private flight. But let's not forget that, apart from your children, a girl is missing.

Do you know where Mireia's parents are?”

“They went straight to the hotel. We will all stay there for as long as we stay on the island,” Artur replied.

“Are you and Mireia's parents well-placed people, do you have any idea of anyone who might want to harm you in any way? Do you have any known enemies?”

“We are businessmen, many people would want to hurt us or blackmail us, but I have no idea who it could be,” Artur answered again.

“Mireia is your daughter's roommate, I understand they must be good friends,” the sergeant asked Tania's parents.

“My daughter and Mireia have been friends since childhood, they are the best of friends,” Joana replied, Tania’s mother.

“Excuse me, sergeant, but I think that instead of wasting your time asking absurd questions, you should be out there looking for the bastard who did this to our children,” said Miquel, reproaching the sergeant in an unkind tone.

“I assure you that we will find him, her or them, but we need your help, anything you can think of will help, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. The smallest detail can be the start of a thread to pull on.”

“We will, I assure you. We are desperate to catch the scoundrel who did this to some kids,” replied Joana.

“I have to go to the hotel now to talk to Mireia's parents. We need any information that may be useful to us in the case.”

Sergeant Borrás left the hospital, got into her car and set off for Magaluf. When she got on the motorway, she called Agent Iñaki, who was still in room 412, on his hands-free phone.

“Good afternoon, sergeant,” Iñaki responded picking up the call.

“Any news?”

“We continue to collect all the samples and clues we can find, but we have nothing definitive for now.”

“Mireia’s parents just arrived at the hotel. Please find out which room they are staying in and tell them I am on my way. I need to speak to them as soon as possible.”

“Sergeant, there is a detail that we haven’t been able to confirm so far with so many clothes and such a mess. We noticed that Tania's purse was lying on the floor with all its contents strewn, we could not find Mireia's purse. It is strange that someone would forcibly take a minor from a hotel room and bother to take the purse.”

“It is quite strange. If you want to take a girl and hold her for ransom, you wouldn't waste your time taking the purse. Although, it could be that the girl was holding onto it so tightly that she wouldn't let go. Assuming she was taken from the hotel room.”

“We haven’t found anything to corroborate or rule out this theory, so we will keep looking for clues”, Iñaki assured.

“OK, I am getting to the hotel to talk to Mireia's parents. Finish gathering as much as you can and talk to Forensics so that they can provide us with all the information they have been able to process as soon as possible. Has the girl's photo been distributed to all law enforcement agencies?”

“Yes, we have distributed several photos to all the usual units, as well as the airport, airfields, ports and marinas.”

“We will study everything we have at eight o'clock tomorrow morning at the precinct. I know it's a pain, but I need you to process everything you can by that time and let me know what you have so I can have a first look at it tonight.”

“It's going to be a caffeine kind of night, Sergeant.”

“Whatever you can think of whatever time it is, call me. We know the first twenty-four hours are crucial.”

“Don't worry, Antonia, I swear on my own grave we will solve this case.”

“OK, I’m hanging up now, almost there. Find out the room number and meet me in the lobby.”

Sergeant Borrás arrived at the hotel within a few minutes of the end of the call.

She went to the hotel lobby and met Iñaki.

“Have you spoken to the parents yet? Did you tell them we need to them to answer some questions?”

“Yes, they are in room 815.”

“Let’s get a move on then.”

They both walked towards the side of the luxurious and modern hotel. The lift doors opened as some chill out music played on the PA system. They let some guests out before climbing in.

Iñaki pressed the button for the 8th floor.

“Don’t expect them to welcome us with open arms,” he said, whilst the lift slowly moved upwards until it reached number eight.

“I’m not expecting that at all,” responded the sergeant.

As they exited the lift, they walked on towards room 815.

When they reached the cherry-coloured door, officer Iñaki and the sergeant looked at each other. The sergeant frowned, raised her fist and rapped her knuckles three times.

They were welcomed at the door by Oriol, Mireia’s father.

Sergeant Borrás reached into her back pocket and pulled out her identification as a local police officer.

“Good afternoon. Sergeant Antonia Borrás from the local Palma police force. I am responsible for the investigation into your daughter's disappearance. Here with me is agent Iñaki Suengas. We need to ask you some questions.”

“Come in, we were waiting for you.”

The three of them walked down the corridor of the luxurious suite until they reached the small living room where Aina, Mireia's mother, was sitting on the couch.

“Sit down, please. I’m Oriol, Mireia’s father.”

“I’m Aina.”

“Sergeant Antonia Borrás and Officer Iñaki Suengas. As I just told your husband, I am in charge of the investigation into the disappearance of your daughter and the assault on her two classmates.”

“Do you have any idea where my daughter could be?” asked Aina, weeping.

“We don’t, unfortunately, but I need to ask you some questions.”

“Of course, Sergeant, we are at your disposal for anything we can contribute to the investigation that can help recover our daughter.”

“You are well-off people, just like Tania and Gerard's parents. Has anyone contacted you to for a ransom?”

“Not at all, nobody has contacted us,” responded Oriol.

“Do you have any idea who would want to hurt your family?

What motivations could anyone have to kidnap your daughter?”

“Are you joking? We are one of the most influential families in Barcelona, a lot of people envy or hate us, but what they want the most is our money. No doubt these people want money, and we’ll give it to them if we have to, whatever it takes to get our daughter back.”

“Listen to me, if they contact you for ransom, you have to let me know immediately. Don't even think of paying without letting us know, you have no guarantee that when the payment is made, they will release her,” insisted the sergeant.

“She is my daughter! I will decide what is best when the moment comes. I won’t just sit around waiting for a sergeant and a local police agent to find my daughter. I have private investigators working for me. Whoever those people are, they don’t know who they’re messing with,” Oriol angrily yelled.

“We advise you not to intervene Mr. Grau i Moncada, it will only make things worse. Although we can see that we are not going to agree. I’m warning you that it could also be considered a criminal offence.”

“Are we done, sergeant?” yelled Oriol, letting Antonia know that he was not going to wait around to see what could happen.

“For now. Good afternoon. Let’s go Iñaki, we have nothing else to discuss. For now.”

The sergeant and the officer left the room and headed down the corridor back to the lift.

“That wasn’t that bad, was it?” commented Iñaki.

“Could have been worse.”

“The cherry on top of a fucked-up June day.”

They rode the lift down to the lobby and made their way to the hotel car park.

“Are we still on for tomorrow at eight o'clock? Because I'm going to have to sort through a lot of this shit,” asked Iñaki.

“Fuck, it’s not like it’s a date. And yes, tomorrow I'll see you at eight o'clock with sleepy eyes. It's cases like this that really piss me off. A child is missing and all we can do is try to fit the puzzle pieces together to save her life.”

“See you tomorrow, Sergeant,” said Iñaki in a joking tone.

The sergeant got into her vehicle and drove away. Iñaki also left the hotel.

On her way home, Sergeant Borrás couldn’t stop thinking about the events that had taken place that day. She thought about the complexity of the case on their hands. She drove her vehicle with a blank stare, on autopilot. She ran her right hand over her head, massaging her forehead backwards to the nape of her neck.

As she arrived home, she removed the shoes that were killing her feet. She went to the bathroom, took a hot shower and made a sandwich in the small island-shaped kitchen of her tiny flat in a popular Palma neighbourhood that overlooked the Cathedral.

The sergeant sat cross-legged on the sofa, placing the plate with the sandwich on the blue upholstery.

She extracted her laptop from her black backpack and placed it on the coffee table that sat opposite the sofa. She fixated her black eyes on it, holding a beer bottle her right hand’s index and middle fingers. She stayed still for a few seconds and then opened the laptop, and said out loud:

“I’m coming for you, you bastard!”