Destroyed Clue

Inspector Arlindo, who had left the Department headquarters, arrived at the incident’s scene. He looked around and his intuition, based on years of experience, made him suspect that no major conclusions could be drawn from there. The body of the alleged sorcerer lay on the floor in a pool of blood, with multiple injuries, any of which could have caused his death. All the work involved in detecting and locating the suspect had been destroyed in the blink of an eye!

Official Ambrósio – known in the service by the nickname The Dull – waited, embarrassed, for the inspector to finish his examination of the scene. Arlindo surveyed the dark compartment: the bottles, containing traditional medicine, lined up on the shelves, the various utensils that looked like they had come straight out of an alchemist’s laboratory, and the table with papers and books, some of them open, which would have to be examined by the Analysis Section, but his instinct was telling him that they would find nothing of relevance. The suspect, now deceased, was smart enough not to put compromising information in writing. And the interrogation that could have provided valuable information would never take place.

He sighed and turned to his subordinate, who displayed the bovine look that justified his nickname.

“Agent Ambrósio! Report.”

The Dull began hesitantly, but his voice grew firmer as he spoke.

“Inspector, as instructed, I entered this house and waited for the suspect to arrive. He came in, sat down at the table, reading papers, books, and writing, and as he wrote, he spoke aloud. And he began to say terrible things against the Monarchy and against our Holy Mother Church, and I, anger rising within me, couldn’t control myself, and I hit him on the head with a cudgel, and, thinking that it might not have been hard enough, I stabbed him a few more times…”

“And you screw up a lead that took us weeks to build and that could have led us to the Republican resistance! Return to the station and tell them to send a team from the Analysis Section.

Arlindo began to mentally organise the report he would write about the incident:

First point: the selection of agents would have to be much more rigorous – a insinuation to his immediate superior, who had brought several young men directly from his farm in Minho to work in the Department, including this Ambrósio!

He remembered something his father would have said if he were alive and had met Ambrósio: “Once a dunce, always a dunce”.

Second point: it was necessary to ensure adequate training, which had recently been reduced to almost nothing due to budget cuts. If one wanted competent agents, they would have to receive training.

He went to the door to smoke a cigarette and wait for the Analysis staff to arrive.