“When did you see him last?”
Angélica’s voice was clear yet sweet, and in the blue of her eyes was reflected the huge window of the new and still unfinished building. The window looked to the gorgeous and endless mountains.
“I told you that last time.”
The witness’ smile made Angélica uncomfortable, who couldn’t help but look out to the mountains. The interrogation room had yet to be built, so they sat in the meeting room’s comfortable chairs.
“Don’t let my partner’s question annoy you. You see, at home, when something is lost, we’re so worried about finding it that we make a mess, but we’ve found that it works best if we just try to remember the last time we saw it.”
It was Gaël’s first interrogation. He was excited. The witness sighed, nodded, and stopped smiling.
Angélica kept looking at the mountains. She had enjoyed staring at them since she was a child, trying to imagine what the lovely, paradisiacal country was like from which her grandparents had come just before the earthquake.
“Isn’t that right, Angie?”
“That’s right.”
The witness looked up and stroked his thick-bearded chin.
“We had that family gathering…”
“The one at the altar?”
“Yes, that’s the one. I haven’t seen him since.”
“When did he leave?” Gaël was thrilled to apply the things he had learned.
Angélica was once again engrossed in the mountains. She had heard her grandparents tell the story, and she had read it in their books.
“After lunch.”
That pulled her back in.
“Your daughter and nephew told us that they saw you talking to your brother just as the sun was setting.”
The witness remained calm.
“Oh… yes. That’s true. I spoke with him. I had been trying for a while to convince him into a business deal with me, but he was always out watching over his cattle, so I since I had the chance, I approached him.”
“And did you make some sort of deal?”
“He said he would think about it.”
“And was that a good or a bad thing for you?”
The witness gave Gaël a look like that of a father who wants to reprehend his teenage child. Angélica was quick to break it off: “Never mind that. What happened after you two talked?”
“He and his family spent the night at my father’s. I gathered my family, and we took off.”
“The next day, your brother’s entire family left for their property. Did you know that?”
“Yes, Father told me that they had to stop to rest and that when they woke up, they couldn’t find him.”
“That’s right. So, you never saw your brother after that?” Gaël felt that something didn’t quite add up.
“No.”
Angélica decided to bring the interrogation to a close: “Just to make sure, do you have any idea where your brother might be?”
The witness raised an eyebrow, smiled, and leaned forward: “Am I his bodyguard?”
The officers sighed. They were about to stand and let the witness go when the door startled them. Lieutenant Bishop entered and sat right across from the witness.
“So, you don’t know a thing about your brother’s whereabouts?”
“I already told you that’s it’s not like I’m his guard.”
Bishop placed three photographs on the table and slid them to the officers so they would put the images in front of the witness.
“We found your brother’s body on the higher grounds of his property, where the Inhospitable Zone begins. You know what that means?”
The witness examined the photos but did not react.
“That a snake bit him?”
“It means that that this is now a homicide investigation. The wounds point to an execution.”
The witness stood up.
“Only if he was ‘executed’ by one of his sheep.”
“I wish it was that simple,” Bishop said as he placed a fourth photograph on the table. “Are you at all involved with the Mahan criminal group?”
The witness froze and stared at the photograph. It showed a metal ring engraved with two letters M on the outside and an inscription on the inside.
“Do you recognize this ring?”
The witness turned pale.
“Of course not.”
Angélica noticed the witness rubbing the beginning of his ring finger. Bishop went on.
“You’ve been seen wearing the ring at different times. If the one in the photo isn’t yours, then where is yours?”
“I must’ve left it at home.”
“That’s impossible. You’re supposed to wear it always. You’re to never take it off. Those are the group’s rules.”
“Where did they find it?” the witness gave in.
“In your brother’s hand. We’re searching your property as we speak, looking for proof that you killed him.”
The witness attempted a forceful escape, but Gaël and Angélica subdued him. Bishop explained to him his situation: “Kane Adams, you are under arrest for the murder of your brother Abel Adams.”
A couple of officers dragged Kane out to take him to his cell.
“What does the inscription on the ring say?” inquired Gaël, eager with curiosity.
“I won’t say, not here. Good work, officers,” said Bishop and walked out.
“In a profane language, it says ‘To murder and get gain,’” Angélica whispered. She read this in one of her family’s many books.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“Oh, nothing. Just that I wish I had known the paradise beyond the mountains.”
— & —
R. de la Lanza is a Mexican LDS writer. His debut novel Eleusis (2016) won the 2022 award for best novel by the Association for Mormon Letters. He currently spends his time training new writers in his Spanish-language Literary Training Workshop (patreon.com/FormacionLiteraria).
This work’s translator, Gabriel González, is an Associate Professor of Translation at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He is the author of twelve children’s books (Penguin Uruguay 2019-2024), a short story collection titled Rumbos (Jade Publishing 2021), a poetry collection titled Ese golpe de luz (FlowerSong Press 2020), and a bilingual digital chapbook titled El ciclo / The Cycle (Center for Latter-day Saint Arts 2020). He is the author of the book Book of Mormon Sketches (self) and a member of the Cofradía de Letras Mormonas, the Spanish-language association for Mormon letters that publishes El Pregonero de Deseret. González was born in Montevideo, Uruguay.
