The Last Call from Radio Horizonte

—Do not open Cabin B.

The voice sounded from inside the cabin again.

Vera stepped back. Tomás slammed the door shut and stood between her and the hallway.

—We have to leave —he said.

—Why?

—The police need to examine this.

—The police have already examined the cabin.

—Then don’t go back inside.

Vera studied his face. Tomás was frightened, but not because of Álvaro’s body.

He was afraid of something else.

—What’s inside? —she asked.

Tomás did not answer.

Vera returned to the control room and called Inspector Salvatierra. She explained that a new file had appeared on the computer and that the voice in the recording was hers.

While she was speaking, she saw a blue light shining inside Cabin B.

It was not coming from the ceiling.

It was coming from an old tape player.

—Inspector —she said. —Someone has turned on a piece of equipment inside the cabin.

—Do not go in. I’m on my way.

Tomás approached the door.

—What did you tell him?

—Enough.

—You don’t know what you’re doing.

—I know Álvaro was afraid of you.

Tomás stared at her harshly.

—Álvaro was afraid of everyone.

—Even Lucio Ferrer?

Tomás’s silence was enough.

Vera entered the cabin again.

The tape player was on. The tape was turning slowly. Someone had written a number on its casing with black ink:

9

Tomás tried to take it.

Vera stopped him.

—Don’t touch it.

—That tape doesn’t belong to Álvaro.

—Then you know what it contains.

Tomás pressed his lips together.

The tape player began to play an old recording.

First, they heard a door closing. Then came Lucio Ferrer’s voice.

—I copied the documents, Tomás. If anything happens to me, the police will receive a copy.

Vera looked at the producer.

The recording continued.

—You can’t keep using the guests’ calls to blackmail them.

—No one will believe you —a younger man replied. —No one listens to a technician.

—Álvaro will listen to me.

There was a удар.

Lucio fell to the floor.

His breathing became irregular.

—Tomás…

—You should have left when I told you to.

The recording ended with a sharp noise.

Vera understood what had happened.

Lucio had never left the city. He had been murdered inside the station.

—Where is his body? —she asked.

Tomás did not answer.

The cabin door closed behind them.

—Give me the tape —he said.

Vera stepped back.

—Álvaro found it before we did.

—Álvaro didn’t know what he was listening to.

—That’s why you killed him.

Tomás moved toward her.

—Álvaro wanted to broadcast this recording. He thought it could destroy me.

—And you used my voice to frame me.

For the first time, Tomás smiled.

—Your voice was in hundreds of recordings from the station. I only had to cut out a few words.

—The new recording?

—I scheduled it from the server. The file appeared afterward because I set the timestamp myself.

Vera looked toward the table.

—And the broadcast?

—Álvaro had recorded part of the program before entering the cabin. I used the station’s delay system. While everyone was listening to his voice, he was already dead.

A noise from the hallway interrupted them.

The door opened.

Inspector Salvatierra entered with two officers.

Tomás turned too late.

—We heard the confession —said the inspector.

Tomás tried to escape through the cabin’s back door, but one of the officers tackled him to the floor.

Vera remained beside the tape player.

—Does the tape prove that Lucio died here?

—Yes —Salvatierra replied. —But we still need to find the body.

Tomás closed his eyes.

That reaction confirmed what was missing.

The police searched the station throughout the night. They found a trapdoor beneath the old staircase leading to the transmitter. Under it was a narrow space covered with fresh cement.

Inside, they found Lucio Ferrer’s remains.

They also found a box containing documents, recordings, and the names of people Tomás had blackmailed for years.

Álvaro had discovered the box and tape number nine.

That was why he had died.

Before leaving the station, Vera returned to the control room. The file containing her voice was still open on the screen.

She played it one last time.

—Do not open Cabin B.

This time, she noticed something she had not heard before.

Beneath her voice, there was another breath.

Álvaro’s.

Vera opened the original file and found a fragment added at the end.

The host’s voice whispered:

—If you’re hearing this, you already know who did it.

Then there was a pause.

—But we still need to find out who helped him.

Vera looked at Salvatierra.

—Was Tomás acting alone?

The inspector picked up tape number nine.

—We’ll find that out during the investigation.

The red light in Cabin B went out.

Radio Horizonte remained closed for three months. When it went back on the air, Vera took Álvaro’s place.

She did not host a program about unsolved crimes.

She talked about Lucio Ferrer.

And before she began, she placed tape number nine on the table inside a transparent box.

So no one could hide it again.