“The Statuette”

Carlos Usín

Translated by: Rhian MacGillivray

Copyright © 2012: Carlos Usín

Copyright © 2012 Carlos Usín

All rights reserved.

DEDICATION

For Katja.

"Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world."

(The Talmud)

CHAPTER 1.

Katja could never have imagined that day would come to be so important in her life. There was no way of knowing what would unfold later. Of course, it wasn’t until a few days after that she was able to fit together the pieces of a tragic, mysterious puzzle with a happy ending.

She walked through the streets on her way to work in the PR department of a five-star hotel in Madrid. Spring had been kind to the city that day, making it perfect for a pleasant, early-morning stroll, even if it was only to go to work.

She arrived on time, as usual, and headed toward the small office she had on the floor beneath the main floor of the hotel. Rather than an office, the most appropriate way to describe it would be to call it a compartment as it wasn’t overly large. On her perfectly tidy desk a photograph of her only sister and parents stood out. She’d recently divorced her husband and they hadn’t had any children so there were no photos like that around. On a shelf of the unit behind her chair there was another photograph where Katja stood alone with the Great Pyramid of Giza in the background. She was a fervent traveller, having always loved learning about other cultures, people, landscapes, customs; the inevitable impact of the many places and countries where she’d spent her childhood as a result of her father’s job. That and an open mind, always willing to accept others with their differences and explicitly because of them. Perhaps it was thanks to the Dutch origins of her family and the myth that every Dutchman is a migrant; perhaps it was due to the Protestant-based education she received, despite not actively practising the religion; or perhaps it was down to a mix of all those things that Katja enjoyed meeting very different people from diverse countries in her job. She was fluent in several languages: Spanish of course, English, French, German and Italian. However, her family spoke Dutch when they were together.

When she entered her tiny office, she bumped into her assistant, Marga. Katja hated pretentious posturing, fake protocol and ridiculously pompous hierarchies in general, so she considered Marga her assistant rather than a secretary.

“Hi, Katja. How are you?”

“Great. It’s a lovely day today, isn’t it?” Katja asked with the enthusiasm that defined her along with her ever-present smile.

“Reception has sent us the list of VIPs checking out today,” Marga said.

They went over them together and Katja began noting the corresponding times in her diary, along with what they would need to do when bidding