"Alba ... I have some questions for you."
Alba looked up from her bloody hands clearly beside herself before meeting the impassive gaze of the inspector. She just couldn't put together a single idea with the images of Marina's lifeless body pestering her mind again and again.
Even the mere sight of Polo before joining the gym had left her mind at this stage. All she could think of was Marina's body.
Cold, bloody, pale and motionless.
"She's dead. She's really dead." Alba stammered in panic as she nervously drummed her heel under the table.
They had taken all her clothes. Even her heels. And now she was wearing a simple gray and blue tracksuit. Her hair was still wet from the shower that they had ordered her to take and her nails almost flawless.
With the exception of blood residues still stuck under her nails. The simple sight was enough to make her see again her hands completely stained with blood.
It was already the second phase of interrogation she had undergone since they had boarded her. She had first been listened to when she was still covered with Marina's blood.
She was in a second state as she let the tears run down her chapped lips before meeting the inspector's gaze again in a pleading tone."I didn't kill her. I didn't ... it wasn't me."
"What were you doing in the pool?" The inspector asked, trying to manage her mini nervous breakdown."Alba, answer me. I want to believe you but you must help me solve the murder of your friend."
Alba looked suddenly impassive at the inspector as she shook her head."Marina and I were not friends. More for a long time."
"I see." She agreed, writing the coherence of her remarks between the first interrogation and now."But you still went after her. That had to count for something."
"I wanted to help her." Alba acquiesced, sniffing before using her hand to wipe away the tears running down her cheeks."I just wanted to help her."
"You wanted to help her." Repeated the inspector with a sigh, narrowing her lips before taking a break and giving her a confused look." I don't understand. Why return there the second time? Samuel had already tried to talk to her. You told us she was stubborn."
Alba suddenly raised her eyes in the memory of the woman before opening her mouth a first time just to close it immediately. She swallowed, lowering her eyes on her hands just to start nervously picking her cuticles with her nails.
A gesture that soon challenged the inspector as she suddenly put her hand on hers to get her attention."Alba ... if you've seen anything, it's time to tell us. "
"Polo." She finally whispered between her trembling lips before leaning her head visibly still in shock."I think ... I saw Polo. He was looking for Carla. But he was weird."
"Polo." Repeated the inspector with her eyebrow raised before starting to write on her notebook."Can you tell me about your meeting with Polo? In detail. "
"Why ?" Alba panicked again as she looked up to meet her gaze.
"It's the usual procedure. We must know everything that happened." Confort the inspector with a small smile."Just tell us what you know and it will be over."
"Could I go home?" Alba asked hopefully, immediately receiving a nod from the inspector. She paused, lowering her eyes to her hands again before taking another breath."Polo was looking for Carla. I told him she wasn't there but he seemed weird. Drunk maybe? I don't know. I ... I don't know anymore."
-------------------------
A few days later...
The days that followed the interrogations weren't really better for Alba. Every time she closed her eyes she was attacked by the images of Marina's body. It was like reliving this night in a loop and now that she had had time to think about it again. To tell you the truth, she had only thought about it, she was sure she had seen Polo that night.
Even though he claimed to have returned soon after because he was drunk.
She didn't really remember, but she was still convinced that she didn't feel any alcohol vapor on him. He simply smelled his usual brand scent.
Nevertheless, she simply couldn't conceive the fact that it was one of them who had killed her. But it was not Nano either. She had seen him that night and she knew he didn't do anything. It was a certainty for her.
Unfortunately she was experiencing a slight problem.
It was as if she couldn't talk about this famous night without suffering a panic attack. She had already gone to the hospital twice since the interrogations and she was sincerely beginning to believe that she had been broken during that night.
And yet she was here. In the company of her parents and Niccolò. A black dress bent over her back and a pair of black sunglasses perched on her nose to hide her dark circles. A request from Martika. To tell the truth, it was her mother who had made her presentable for today. She had simply let herself be a mere automaton. A rag doll.
A fact that had the gift of greatly worrying her brother.
Since the death of Marina Alba just didn't show a single sign of emotion. She was simply empty.
And he as she sincerely doubted that it was a good idea that she was there with them today.
Nevertheless she followed them without a word in the house of Nunier Osuna to present their homage.
The twins and their parents crossed the entrance of the villa ignoring the many looks cast on them as they stepped proudly into a united forehead. With the exception of Alba who looked more like a ghost than the teenager she was once.
She remained stony as her parents offered their condolences to Guzman's mother while Niccolò was surprised by an impromptu embrace of Guzman. This left Alba standing in the middle of the living room filled with guests in a choking feeling.
Worse still, she felt her blood freeze at the sight of Polo standing beside Guzman and Lucrecia.
She suddenly made eye contact with him through her sunglasses. This simple contact was enough to freeze her on the spot. Despite the fact that she wanted to believe with all her strength that he had nothing to do with the assassination of Marina, he was the only one who saw her alive last.
She swallowed as the time suddenly seemed to slow down during their eye contact before she felt the air again fail her. She shook her head briefly before rushing to the first exit onto the garden in the hope of catching her breath.
As the last iime, tears fluttered down her cheeks without her permission leaving Alba to remove her sunglasses to wipe the salty traces along her cheeks with the back of her trembling hand.
However, her attention was soon again called inside at the agreement of the breakdown of Marina's mother. She snorted, striving to erase all traces of her own break before making her way inside again, suddenly appearing to come back to life.
She was still cold and impassive, but she could feel her thoughts again. It was as if Polo's sight had shocked her.
Marina wasn't dead by accident. She knew it now.
"Where is Marina?" Mrs. Nunier Osuna exploded in complete disarray "Why don't we have her body? I just want to say goodbye." Ventura tried to appease his wife, but it only had the opposite effect as she leaped from the sofa in anger and pain."But I don't care what they have to do! I just want my daughter, Ventura."
A heavy silence fell on the whole room as the guests just stared at her leaving Alba to act on her own as Marina's mother screamed at the guests.
Honestly she couldn't care less about these people, but she cared about the pain of her former friend's mother. She didn't deserve that.
"Mrs. Nunier?" Alba cautiously intervened as she approached the woman with her coat to cover her shoulders before remaining totally motionless as Marina's mother threw herself on her neck to hug her in tears.
"Alba! "
She finally gave her a hug before straightening slightly as she saw Guzman heading towards them to take over. He supported Alba's gaze without taking his eyes off once as his mother threw herself at him, pleading for her daughter.
All the while, Alba didn't look away once.
It was only when she felt Niccolò's hand close around hers to pull her with him that she looked away. Her twin hurriedly put his arm around her shoulders before squeezing her against him with all his strength.
"Such an event challenges everything, right? "
Alba just stepped into the entrance of the living room as Martika dropped heavily on the couch before removing her shoes to massage her feet. Conversely Salvaro took out four tumblers from the liquor cabinet before filling them with the glass whiskey bottle.
"Niccolò?" He handed the first glass for his son before passing the other glass for his wife. He stopped with the last drink in front of his little girl before suddenly taking her by the neck to give her a long kiss on the forehead."I love you, Alba."
"Me too." Alba answered in a whisper before simply shaking her head to refuse the glass he offered her.
Instead she joined her mother on the couch before sitting on the leather in a numb feeling. She remained a moment without moving with her eyes on the ground. Her thoughts a whirlwind of questions and doubts.
She was so immersed in her own little world that she didn't even realize that the boys had left them. It was only when she felt Martika's cold hand on her forearm that she abruptly raised her eyes from the ground to look at her.
"I know I made mistakes." Martika said with such alien emotion in her eyes that Alba found herself completely taken aback by her mother's mea culpa."I have never been the mother you needed. But I want you to know that despite everything... I love you. You're my little girl."
Unfortunately Alba was far too overwhelmed by all events to react to this surge of affection.
Instead she just looked at her mother on the verge of tears before pushing her back as she got off the couch without a word.
She was halfway up the stairs when Martika tried again to get her attention."You know I wish I could ignore you like you ignore me, Alba."
She blinked as she could feel the tears running down her eyelashes again before continuing her way impassively.