Page 66 of The Bookshop of Forbidden Books

“The late, lamented Prosecutor Salinas. A tragic case – and unusual enough to be of real public interest. People barely know anything about him.”

“And neither do you, apparently, or you wouldn’t be using the term lamented,” the clerk snapped. “Please don’t put that in your article,” he added quickly.

“You can count on me – if I can count on you to fill in the gaps in my knowledge,” Anna coaxed.

“What do you want to know, exactly?”

“Exactly? Well, rumour had it he was a ruthless man.”

“His job was to obtain convictions,” the clerk said smoothly.

“Even when the defendant was innocent?”

“I’m a clerk, not a judge.”

“Did his colleagues like him?” Anna asked. The clerk looked decidedly uncomfortable.

“Salinas was intelligent. Cultured. Demanding. A brilliant speaker and a perfectionist. Meticulous, tireless. He prepared his cases down to the last detail, leaving nothing to chance. So yes, he was fearsome – and feared – and not only by his opponents.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.” Anna let the silence between them draw out.

“He was always polite to me,” the clerk said at last.

“Did he have enemies?”

“Name a prosecutor who doesn’t? What exactly are you trying to find out?”

“Who might have wanted him dead. From what I hear, the investigation isn’t moving.”

“He’s only been dead a few days,” the clerk countered. “A man of his status… whoever did it is bound to be caught soon.”

“If you were the one murdered, would the killer have a better chance of getting away with it?”

The clerk leaned back in his chair and gestured for them to sit.

“He must have had some redeeming qualities,” Anna pressed.

The clerk shrugged, the vague air of a student bluffing an exam he hadn’t studied for.

“Our sources are always kept anonymous,” Mitch offered, speaking for the first time.

The clerk rubbed his mountain of a nose, weighing his options.

“Most of his colleagues stuck close to him for the favours he could pull,” he said at last. “But nothing came free. If he wanted something in return, he never had to ask twice.”

“Can you be a bit more specific?” Mitch asked, his expression tightening.

“The more important the cases he won the higher he climbed – and the more powerful he got. He used that power to help certain attorneys who, in exchange, threw in the towel before they even entered the ring.”

“You’re saying the trials were rigged?” Mitch asked, his eyes fixed on a file jutting from a nearby stack.

“No – the verdicts were always up to the jury. But if you’ve got Salinas delivering a crushing indictment and no one pushing back… well, the verdict’s a done deal.”

“Were the judges aware of these little arrangements?” Anna asked.

“Let’s just say they weren’t unaware. My job’s to record every word in the courtroom, and I’ve been doing it a long time. Gruelling work – but it gives you one hell of a memory.”

He looked straight at Mitch. “Now let’s drop the act and stop treating me like an idiot. The second you walked in, I recognized your face. When you turned white looking at that file”— he gestured toward the stacks – “I remembered exactly who you were. Not a journalist – you’re a bookseller. I remember your case well. I’m a big reader, and that trial got under my skin. Fortunately, times have changed, and I’m glad you’re out. If you ask me, Salinas didn’t need anyone’s help to end up the way he did. The poison was in his blood.”