Tom Knox: The Marks of Cain

'Oh my God.'

The old woman's mouth was torqued into a loud yet silent scream, the last frozen expression of her suffering, as the top of her head was twisted off, and popped away.

It was too much. Simon stiffened, and dropped the folder of photos on the sidetable; he turned and walked to the marble fireplace. It was empty and cold, with dried grasses in a vase, and a photo of some old people. A kitsch plaster statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary smiled from the centre of the mantelpiece, next to a small ceramic donkey. The yawning image of his brother, his hands coated in blood, came unbidden to his mind.

He purged it, and turned.

'So…Detective…judging by that broom handle…it looks like…They twisted and twisted the hair, until it ripped off the top of…of her head?'

Sanderson nodded.

'Yep. And it's called knotting.'

'How do you know?'

'It's a form of torture. Used through the centuries, apparently.' He glanced at the door. 'Tomasky did his research, like a good lad. He says knotting was used on gypsies. And in the Russian Revolution.'

'So…' Simon shuddered at the thought of the woman's pain. 'So…she died of shock?'

'Nope. She was garrotted. Look.'

Another photo. Sanderson's pen was pointing to the woman's neck; now the journalist leaned close, he could see faint red weals.

It was puzzling, and deeply grotesque. He frowned his distaste, and said:

'But that's…rather confusing. Whoever did this, tormented the old woman first. And then killed her…expertly…Why the hell would you do all that?'

'Who the fuck knows?' Sanderson replied. 'Bit of a weird one, right? And here's another thing. They didn't steal a thing.'

'Sorry?'

'There's jewellery upstairs. Totally untouched.'

They walked to the door; Simon felt a strong urge to get out of the room. Sanderson chatted as they exited.

'So…Quinn. You're a good journalist. Britain's seventh best crime reporter!' His smile faded. 'I'm not kidding, mate. That's why I asked you here — you like a bloody mystery story. If you work out the mystery, do let us know.'

When he came to, groggy and numb, they were both outside, by the door to the bar. In the mountain sun. The girl was bleeding from her forehead, but not much. She was shaking him awake.

A shadow loomed. It was the barman. He was standing, nervously shifting from foot to foot, wearing an expression of compassionate fear.

He said in English, 'Amy. Miguel — I keep him inside but but but you go, you must go — go now — '

She nodded.

'I know.'

Once more the blonde girl grabbed David's hand. She was pulling him upright. As David stood, he felt the muscles and bones in his face — he was hurting. But he wasn't busted. There was dried blood on his fingers, from where he must have tried to protect himself — and protect the girl.

'Crazy.' She was shaking her head. 'I mean. Thank you for doing that. But crazy.'

'I'm sorry.' David was wholly disorientated. She was British. 'You saved me first anyway. But…I don't…don't understand. What just happened in that bar?'

'Miguel. It was Miguel.'

That much he knew already. Now she was tugging him down the silent Basque street, past little restaurants advertising raciones and gorrin. Past silent stone houses with towers.

David regarded his rescuer. She was maybe twenty-seven, or twenty-eight, with a determined but pretty face, despite the bruise and the blooding. And she was insistent.

'C'mon. Quick. Where's your car? I came by bus. We need to get out of here before he gets really angry. That's why I tried to pull you away.'

'That wasn't…really angry?'

She shook her head.

'That was nothing.'

'Sorry?'

'You've never heard of Miguel? Otsoko?'

'No.'

'Otsoko is Basque for wolf. That's his codename. His ETA codename.'

He didn't wait for any further explanation; they ran to his car and jumped in.

David stared at her across the car. 'Where should we go? Where?'

'Any village that's not Lesaka. Head that way…Elizondo. My place.'

David gunned the engine and they raced out of town. Amy added:

'It's safe there.' She looked his way. 'And we can clean you up, you're still a bit of a mess.'

'And you?'

Her smile was brief. 'Thanks. Go this way.'

David twisted the wheel, his nerves tautened by the idea of Miguel, 'the Wolf'. The barman and the drinkers had obviously dissuaded Miguel from further violence: but maybe the Wolf would change his mind.

The Wolf?

David sped them urgently out of the little town, past the Spanish police, past the last stone house; he was agitated by all the puzzles. What had happened in the bar? Who was Miguel? Who was this girl?

He realized, again, that her Spanish had been spoken with a British accent.

What was she doing here?

As they raced down the narrow road, through the sylvan countryside, he sensed that he had to inquire, that she wasn't just going to tell him too much, unprompted. So he asked. Her face was shadowed with dapples of sun — light and dark shadows that disguised the bruising on her face — as she turned. His first query was the most obvious of all.

'OK. I guess we go to the police. Right? Tell them what happened.'

He was astonished when she shook her head.

'No. No, we can't, we just…can't. Sorry, but I work with these people, live with them, they trust me. This is ETA territory. And the police are the Spanish. No one goes to the police.'

'But…'

'And what would I say anyway? Mmm?' Her blue eyes were burning. 'What do I say? A guy hit me in a bar? Then they would ask his name…and I would have to say the Wolf. And there, that's it — then I've betrayed an ETA hero, a famous ETA fighter.' Her expression was grimly unamused. 'That would not be good for my longevity. Not in deepest Euskadi.'

David nodded, slowly, accepting the explanation. But her replies had triggered more questions: she worked with these people? How? Where? And why?

He asked again, outright, about her situation. She turned away from him, to stare at the mellow green fields.

'You want to know now?'

'I've got a lot of questions. Why not now?'

A pause, then she said:

'OK. OK. You did try to save my life. Maybe you deserve to know.'

Her slender face was set in determined profile, as she offered her answers.

Her name was Amy Myerson. She was Jewish, twenty-eight, and from London, where she'd been educated, taking a degree in foreign languages. She was now an academic at San Sebastian University, teaching Eng Lit to Basque kids. She had fetched up here in the Basque Country after a couple of years backpacking. 'Smoking too much hash in Morocco. You know.'

He managed a smile; she didn't smile in return. Instead she added: 'And then I found myself here, the Pays Basque, between the forests and the steelworks.' The spangled sunlight from the trees was bright on the windscreen. 'And I also got involved in the struggle for independence. Met some people from Herri Batasuna, the political wing of ETA. I don't support the violence, of course…But I do believe in the goal. Basque freedom.' She was looking out of the window again. 'Why shouldn't they be free? The Basques have been here longer than anyone else. Maybe thirty thousand years. Lost in the silent valleys of the Navarre…'

They were at the main Bidasoa highway; huge cement lorries were thundering past. Amy instructed him:

'Turn right.'

David nodded; his lip was still throbbing. His jaw ached where the pistol butt had smashed across it. But he could tell he clearly had no broken bones. A life of looking after himself, as an orphan, had made him a good judge of his physical condition. He was going to be OK. But what about her?