Pillar shrugged and smiled. The smile was surprisingly gentle. 'Because policemen, when I meet them, almost always do. Arrest me, I mean.'
Pillar wasn't exaggerating. He'd been arrested tens of times. He'd been convicted, too, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Policemen and judges often worked handin-hand with vengeful landowners. Juries often were vengeful landowners.
'You have nothing to fear from us, Senhor Pillar. We work for the federal government,' Silva said.
'I know who you are, Chief Inspector. Your reputation precedes you.'
'Yours, too. Now, will you sit down?'
Pillar sank into the offered chair.
'What brings you to Cascatas?' Silva asked.
'League business. You?'
'Murder. Initially, the murder of Dom Felipe Antunes, the Bishop of Presidente Vargas, and of your colleague, Aurelio Azevedo. More recently, the probable murder of a landowner by the name of Orlando Muniz.'
Pillar's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
'Senior?'
'Junior.'
'Too bad.'
'You mean too bad it wasn't his old man?'
'Isn't murder a local matter?' Pillar asked, as if he hadn't heard Silva's question.
'Normally, yes. But the minister asked us to help the local police with their inquiries.'
Pillar smiled again. 'Assisting Colonel Emerson Ferraz with his inquiries? And is the colonel grateful?'
'Not particularly.'
'No. I wouldn't think so. Still, your presence means that he's probably working harder to find the murderer of the bishop.'
'But not to find the murderer of your colleague?'
The smile vanished. 'No,' Pillar said. 'The colonel doesn't give a damn about what happened to Aurelio. What do you want from me, Chief Inspector?'
'There's been a suggestion that members of the league might have been involved in the murder of the bishop.'
'Ridiculous.'
'How about in the murder of Orlando Muniz Junior?'
'Now, that one I could understand. But I deny it, of course.'
'Of course. You knew him?'
'Not personally, no, but I knew the bishop. He was misguided, but he was a well-meaning man, true to his convictions. I can't say I liked him, but I certainly didn't hate him, and neither did anyone else in my organization. That's not the case with Muniz. We all hate his guts. He's an exploiter of the worst kind.'
'You just told me you didn't know him.'
'Personally, I said. I'm basing my opinion on things I've heard.'
'Heard from whom?'
'People who worked for him. Other people who knew him.'
'You think he's dead?'
Pillar shrugged. 'Dead or alive, I had nothing to do with it. His father won't believe that, of course. The old bastard will probably come after me next.'
Silva took in a breath and let it out slowly. Before he uttered his next words, he already knew they'd be wasted but he said them anyway. 'There's no end to this. Whenever you kill one of them, they're going to come right back and kill one of you. You know that, don't you?'
'I know more than that, Chief Inspector. I know that when one of them is murdered they go out and kill fifty or even a hundred of us. They've killed more than fifteen hundred of us in the last ten years.'
'Yes, I know.'
'But we're still going to win.'
'What makes you so sure?'
'Because we have the numbers on our side. There are less than fifty thousand of them. There are almost five million of us out there.' He pointed at the window as if all of them were just outside the hotel. 'Five million landless workers. We've got them outnumbered by a margin of more than one hundred to one. We can't lose.'
'There are laws in this country, Pillar-'
'Laws?' Pillar snorted. 'We occupy unused farmland to force the government to do their duty and expropriate it. Is that a crime?'
'In fact, it is. It's called trespassing.'
'Trespassing. And that serious offense, that major crime, merits the attention of the Federal Police?'
'Spare me your sarcasm. How long have you been in Cascatas?'
'What you're really asking is: Was I here before the disappearance of young Muniz?'
'Yes.'
'When did he disappear?'
'Sometime during the night before last.'
'Then the answer to your question is yes. Yes, I was here in Cascatas.'
'Sleeping here at the hotel?'
'Yes.'
'And last night? Did you sleep here last night?' Silva asked, already knowing the answer.
Pillar didn't hesitate. 'No,' he said.
'Then where did you sleep?'
'I didn't sleep at all. I've been up all night.'
'Doing what?'
'Helping my brothers from the league to cut through Muniz's fence and occupy a part of his fazenda.'
'A part of his-'
'Less than ten percent of his holding. Land he's never used, but the greedy bastard doesn't want to part with any of it. We're going to stay where we are until our demands are negotiated.'
'That's senseless.
'You're referring to the new law, I presume, the one that blocks appropriation in the case of occupation?'
'I am.'
'The government hasn't been enforcing that one. Not since the new president was elected. He can't come right out and say it, but he's on our side.'
'In his heart he may support you, but in practice, he won't. He has to enforce the law. You're pushing him too far.'
'I don't think so. I think time will prove me right.'
'My God, Pillar, do you have any idea who you're dealing with? Old man Muniz is one of the most powerful men in this country. You think he's going to think it's a coincidence that his son disappears one day and that you occupy his fazenda the next?'
'I don't give a damn what he thinks. He can't prove a thing.'
'Proof? You think he needs proof?'
'That's the law.'
'He's the kind that picks and chooses his laws, just like you do. You mentioned Ferraz-'
'The best cop money can buy. If he was an elevator operator, you'd have to bribe him to let you off on the right floor.'
'Very funny. But this isn't a joke. The two of them, old man Muniz and Ferraz, are going to come after your people, and I won't be able to do a thing about it.'
'Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.'
'Are you crazy?'
'No, Chief Inspector, I'm not crazy at all. Think about it. Right now, this town is full of reporters. They didn't
