'No,' she said. 'Tape. Sit down, Chief Inspector. I have news.'
Silva sat.
'Want a beer, Senhorita Pelosi?' Arnaldo said, recovering from his surprise.
'Or maybe a guarana?' That was Hector.
Arnaldo was beaming. Hector was straightening his tie.
'A beer would be nice,' Vicenza said.
Arnaldo and Hector bumped into each other on the way to the refrigerator.
'Muniz called me,' she said to Silva.
'Did he?' Silva tried to sound uninterested. He didn't think it fooled her.
'Thanks,' she said to Hector when he placed a beer on the coffee table in front of her. Arnaldo got a smile and a nod when he put a glass next to it. She opened the beer, poured it, and took a ladylike sip before she continued.
'Muniz,' she said, 'is offering a reward, a big one, for anyone who comes to him with information about who killed his son.'
'How big is big?'
'A hundred thousand reais.'
Silva sat back in his chair and frowned. 'That's going to be a problem,' he said.
'Yes, I know,' she said.
A hundred thousand reais was more money than a landless man could earn in twenty years of working the soil. People would come forward for sure. Most of them would be telling lies that Orlando Muniz would be all too happy to believe.
'Muniz had it all worked out,' she said. 'He wanted to do it through me.'
'Through you?'
'People trust me. He thought people would be more likely to come forward if I was the intermediary.'
'What did you tell him?'
'I refused, but it didn't stop him. He had a backup. Says I can use the story on the midnight news if I choose to.' She took another sip and seemed not to wet her lips. 'He's asked me to come up to his suite and tape an interview.'
'What are you going to do?'
'Go, of course. It's news, isn't it?'
'People are going to get killed, Vicenza. As soon as he gets information he finds credible, he'll turn loose his capangas.'
'I suspect he will. That's why I thought you should know.'
'Why didn't you just tell him you wouldn't do it?'
'Because it wouldn't change anything. He'd go to another network.'
'Who's his backup? Who's going to be the intermediary?'
'A priest. Some guy called Gaspar Farias. He gets to tithe ten percent for the new church. The informer will clear ninety thousand.'
'Jesus Christ,' Silva said, 'Doesn't that priest realize what he's doing?'
'Apparently not,' she said. She put the glass down on the table and stood. So did Hector and Arnaldo. Silva didn't move.
'Sit down,' he said.
'I have an interview to do.'
'Please.'
She sank back into her seat.
'I need your help,' he said.
She picked up her glass and waited.
'There's a young man I have to get in touch with,' Silva said. 'He's gone into hiding. I want you to broadcast an appeal for him to turn himself in.'
'Why?'
'I think he may know something about the death of the bishop.'
'What?'
'I have no idea.'
'Meaning that you really don't know, or that you won't tell me?
'I really don't know.'
'Tell me more.'
'Not now. It's a long story.'
She put the glass back on the table.
'What do I get out of it?'
'A story, of course.'
'What's this kid's name?'
'Edson Souza. He's a street kid.'
'How did you-'
'I can't tell you anything else. Not yet.'
'But you will?'
'Yes.'
'And to me, exclusively.'
'Yes.'
She picked up her beer. This time, she drank off half the glass and left a mustache of foam on her upper lip. She took a paper handkerchief out of her purse and used it like a napkin.
'You've got a deal,' she said.
'I told you she was hot,' Arnaldo said after he closed the door behind her.
Silva grunted.
Arnaldo pretended not to notice.
'Why didn't you tell her the rest of it, chefe? About Ferraz and all?'
'First of all,' Silva said, 'because I can't prove it. Second, because she'd start digging, and if Ferraz thinks she's digging, he'll kill her just like he killed Diana.'
Arnaldo thought about that for a moment, then nodded. 'You want another beer?' he asked.
Silva shook his head.
'You, Hector?'
Hector nodded. Arnaldo went to the refrigerator, fetched two cans, and handed one to Hector. 'You made up your mind, then? You're sure Ferraz killed Diana?'
Silva nodded.
Hector took a long draught, wiped his mouth and said, 'So how do we nab him?'
'We start by finding that kid,' Silva said.
'You think Ferraz had anything to do with what happened to the bishop?' Hector asked.
'Do you?'
Hector thought about it. 'No,' he said at last. 'How about the murder of Muniz's kid? You believe Pillar when he says he didn't have anything to do with that?'
'Actually, I do,' Silva said. 'He's been doing his thing for years without killing anyone. Why should he start now?'
'Maybe because nobody ever nailed one of his people to a tree.'
'Maybe. But they've done things just as bad. Don't forget, they've killed more than fifteen hundred of his compadres.'
'But if it wasn't the league…'
'I didn't say it wasn't the league. I said I didn't think it was Pillar.'
'Oh. So maybe that local guy, Pereira, and a few of his friends?'
'That would be my guess.'
Hector tossed his empty beer can into the wastebasket. 'So that gives us suspects for Diana and Muniz, but
