Blood Red

Eight

I asked Angel for his father’s address, but he told me that there was no point in giving it to me, since I wouldn’t get to see him there. He said that he had a video entry system on his gate, and that he’d never open it to a stranger. . although, he added, undoubtedly he’d know who I was. It seemed that I was a hell of a lot better known in the town than I realised. That came as something of a shock, but maybe I was being naive, given my surname, and given the hornets’ nest that Oz and I had disturbed during our final stay there.

My best plan, I was advised, was to run him to ground in one of his haunts, of which there were five: the town hall, where he had an office that he used occasionally, the restaurant in Hostal Miryam, where he ate most evenings, a bar in Carrer del Port (‘Carrer’ means ‘street’ in Catalan) that his grandfather had opened eighty years ago, another, on Avinguda Girona, that he had founded himself, and the estate agency that had been owned and run by Angel’s mother, until her death.

I talked over the options with Ben, after I had unloaded my new table, and moved its predecessor down to the garage beneath the house. Ingrid was looking after the shop while he and I, and Matthew Reid, walked the three dogs along the passage that links St Martí and L’Escala. I’m told that it used to be a dirt track, before millions were poured into the area to prepare for the arrival on the beach of the Olympic torch for the games of 1992, in Barcelona.

‘What do you think, guys?’ I asked. ‘Where should I face up to the old lizard?’

‘I think you should let me tackle him,’ said Matthew, ‘since he hates women. . or at least he has no respect for them. Given the history, there’s no way that Ben should do it, but he might be more responsive to a man-to-man chat.’

‘Thanks for the offer,’ I murmured, ‘but I’ve never backed down from a man in my life.’ Not even from one who was holding a gun at the time, I thought. ‘I’m not about to start now.’

‘Well,’ he continued, ‘you don’t want to get yourself barred from the Miryam, since it’s one of the best restaurants in town. Starting a barney in a Catalan bar might not be too clever either. That leaves the town hall or the estate agency.’

‘I’d have to make an appointment in the town hall. I’m known there, since I more or less forced my way into Justine’s office, so I couldn’t use a false name, or anything like that.’

‘The estate agency then,’ Ben declared, before a frown crossed his face and his manner seemed to change. ‘Unless. .’

‘Unless what?’

‘Unless we forget the whole thing?’

Matthew took a deep breath, but said nothing. I took a deep breath, then said plenty. ‘Are you saying that you’d fold this project because of the blind, stupid, antediluvian prejudice of a vicious old man? Is the village behind the wine fair? Yes it is. I know this because I’ve been talking to people myself. Everybody supports it. Are you going to let them down?’

‘But. .’

‘How many wine producers have you signed up?’

‘A dozen,’ he admitted. ‘As many as I can handle, all my targets, the best in Emporda.’

‘And you’re going to let them down too? Ben, why did you come up with the idea for the fair?’

‘To promote the shop and make it known outside St Martí, to promote Empordan wines, and of course to make money.’

‘Noble motives all, and worth standing up for. So don’t even think about scrapping it. And even if you do. .’

‘What?’

‘I won’t. You brought me into the fair’s organisation, you gave me a job and I’m going to do it. This is personal now: I will not let this fail. There are other venues.’

He frowned. ‘Where?’

‘My house was my original thought, but I’ve had a better idea. The car park beside the village. It’s vast; I can rent as much land there as we’ll need, for as long as we’ll need it. And it’s flat, so we can hire a big tent, as insurance against rain.’

‘But all that will cost.’

‘And I’ll underwrite that, if it comes to it. But that’s still second choice. The fair should be within the village walls, not beneath them, and it should be in Plaça Petita. It’s public land, the people’s land, the people want the event and they’re fucking well going to have it, or my middle name isn’t Eagle. . and now you know that, I’ll have to kill you both,’ I added.

Matthew laughed, as he tugged on Mustard’s lead, diverting his attention from a Dalmatian bitch. ‘The snowball’s rolling, Ben, and the further down the hill it goes, the bigger it’s getting. Better off behind it than in front.’ He looked down at me; he’s quite a big bloke, six feet or so, and chunky with it. ‘So it’s the estate agency, Primavera?’

‘Looks like it.’ I frowned as a truth took hold. ‘But I’ll need to make an appointment there too, and if I’m as well known in L’Escala as people say I am. .’

‘However,’ said Matthew, ‘my son’s been talking about buying an apartment out here. He’s asked me to look around for him. If I call Planas’s office, say he’s been recommended as the best-connected agent in town and ask for a personal appointment, I’m sure I’ll get it.’

‘I want to see him myself,’ I insisted.

‘And you shall, Cinderella, you shall; you’ll be coming with me.’