Leonardo Padura - Havana Gold

The Count took Candito by the arm and gently forced him to walk along.

“And what do I do to buy some size-five sandals from you?”

“Well, you can take the sandals now, and then start counting the two years you won’t see me…”

“And in all that time you won’t invite me for a drink?”

“Piss off, Conde.”

“What have you stirred up now, Conde?” asked the Boss not stirring from his seat behind his desk.

“I’ll tell you in a second. Just let me say hello to our comrade,” he raised his arms, as if appealing for respite from a demanding judge of good manners, and shook hands with Captain Cicerón who was sitting in one of the big armchairs. They greeted each other with the usual smiles and the Count asked: “Does it still hurt?”

“Just a little,” replied the captain.

Three years ago Captain Ascensio Cicerón had been designated head of the Drugs Section at headquarters. He was a dark-skinned mulatto, with a constant smile on his lips and a widespread reputation as a good person. The Count only had to see him to remember that fateful baseball game: they had met in their university days and played together in the faculty team in 1977, and Cicerón had become famous as the result of a fly that had dropped on his head, the only day they gave him a glove and he went out to cover second base, with more enthusiasm than skill. There were never enough baseball players in their faculty of artists and thinkers, and Cicerón accepted the role assigned to him by his rank-and-file committee: he’d be a member of the team for the Caribbean Games. Luckily, when the wretched fly-ball fell on Cicerón’s head they were already losing by twelve to one and their manager, resigned to the inevitable, just shouted at him from the bench: “Get up, mulatto, we’re catching up”. Ever since the Count had greeted him with a smile and the same question.

The lieutenant sat in the other armchair and looked at his boss: “It’s looking good,” he commented.

“I imagine so, because on this particular Sunday I’d not intended putting in an appearance, and Cicerón started his holidays yesterday, so make sure it is really good.”

“You tell me… Let’s go from the simple to the sophisticated, as the song goes… We checked out the head teacher’s alibi and it’s just as he said, but it could be total fabrication. According to his wife, he spent the whole night at home writing a report while she watched a film. And the report in fact exists, but he could easily have drawn it up the day before and then dated it Tuesday the eighteenth. It is true, however, that this fun will cost him his marriage. The man’s fucked himself. Well, when I was talking to Pupy it slipped out that Lissette had a Mexican boyfriend a few months ago. The detail seemed significant as people reckon the marijuana isn’t Cuban. Now this afternoon one Mauricio Schwartz, the only Mexican Mauricio doing the tourist bit in Cuba these days is going back to Mexico. We’ve organized a photograph so Pupy can identify him. If it’s the same man it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’d come back to see Lissette… What else… Best of all I have a name and a lead that may be real dynamite,” he said looking at Cicerón. “The report on the marijuana that appeared in Lissette Núñez’s house says that it wasn’t any ordinary dope, that it must be Mexican or Nicaraguan, am I right?”

“Yes, I told you that. It had been affected by water, but it’s almost definite it’s not local.”

“And you caught two guys with joints from Central America, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but I haven’t been able to find out where they got it. Their so-called supplier disappeared or the guys invented a ghost.”

“Well, I’ve got a flesh-and-blood ghost: Orlando San Juan, alias Lando the Russian. I heard a whisper he’s got some really strong stuff and I bet it’s the same that’s round and about in town.”

“And how do you know, Conde?” asked Major Rangel, who’d finally got to his feet. Like every Sunday he’d gone to headquarters not in uniform but wearing a tight-fitting pullover so he could show off his swimmer/ squash player pecs intent on keeping autumn at bay.

“The word was passed on to me. A whisper doing the rounds.”

“Ah, a whisper… And you got the file on this Russian?”

“Here it is.”

“Do you want Cicerón to help you?”

“That’s what friends are for, aren’t they?” replied the Count looking at the captain.

“I’ll help him, Major,” Cicerón agreed with a smile.

“Good,” said the Boss and made a gesture as if frightening hens away, “exercise keeps the cold at bay. Find that Russian and see what you can get out of him and don’t stop until I tell you to. But I want to know every step you make, you listening? Because this is going all black as ants. Your antics in particular, Mario Conde.”

Casino Deportivo seemed varnished by the Sunday sun. All clean, painted and gleaming in technicolour. Pity I don’t like this barrio anymore, the Count told himself now in front of Lando the Russian’s house. They were barely five blocks from where Caridad Delgado lived and he thought how he’d like to deduce something from that proximity. Caridad, Lissette and the Russian, all in the same bag? The lieutenant took his glasses off when Captain Cicerón came out of the house.

“Well? Turned anything up?”

“You know, Conde, Lando the Russian is no smalltime dealer. A man with his record isn’t going to walk the streets selling joints to dopers. And someone who deals in quantity won’t keep his stock under his bed, so searching this place any more is a waste of time. I’ll put out a search-and-arrest order, but if what his aunt says is true and the fellow rented a beach house, the Guanabo folk will track him down in two or three hours and don’t worry because I need to get my hands on this guy more than you do. This marijuana trade is pissing me off and I need to know where it fucking came from and who brought it. I’ll send Lieutenant Fabricio off right now to liaise with the Guanabo folk.”

“So Fabricio is with you now, is he?” asked the Count, remembering his last encounter with the lieutenant.

“It’s been a month or so. He’s learning.”

“Just as well… Hey, Cicerón, could the marijuana be from one of those lost consignments that gets thrown overboard?” asked the Count as he lit up and leaned against Captain Cicerón’s official car.

“It could be, anything’s possible, but what’s strange is that it’s fallen into the hands of people who know how to move it. And the other problem is it’s not South American, which is what they sometimes try to ship past Cuba. I can’t imagine how it got here, but if it was set up, they can get anything in through the same channel… that’s why we’ve got to catch Lando with the goods…”

“Yes, we’ve got to, because Manolo called me on your radio to say the Mexican is a no-go. It was his first time in Cuba and Pupy says he’s not the one who went out with Lissette. So Lando is the man of the moment. And the case is over to you, right?”

Cicerón smiled. He was almost always smiling and did so now as he placed a hand on one of Conde’s shoulders.

“Tell me, Mario, why did you hand me this case on a plate?”

“I told you just now, didn’t I? What are friends for?”

“You know you’re never going to get anywhere if you throw cases around like confetti.”

“Not even if I go home and start washing all my dirty clothes?”

“You have such high aspirations.”

“Well, I don’t. Washing clothes is a pain in the arse. If anything crops up, you’ll find me between the sink and the clothes-line,” he said, shaking his friend’s hand.

In the car, on his way home, the Count reflected that Casino Deportivo was a good place to live after all: from deputy ministers and journalists to marijuana dealers it had a bit of everything, like any other stretch of the Good Lord’s vineyard.