_ Dafne Campresi, sales_ executive said the card held out the inspector Dortmund that sunny winter afternoon in 1993.
_ You do not have a scheduled appointment and insist to talk to you immediately. He says it's urgent_ I explained to my friend.
_ Since when does someone need to have an appointment arranged in advance to consult me? Pass it on, doctor_ Dortmund ordered me, gently.
A few moments later, the woman in question was standing in front of my friend, a bundle of nerves. She was tall, with sweet features and an affectionate look. His emotional state could not dim his beauty. She was a really beautiful woman.
The inspector invited her to take a seat with a gesture and a smile drawn on her prominent mouth.
_ How can I help you, Miss Campresi? _ The inspector questioned her kindly.
_ First I want to know if you are trustworthy_ she said with a withdrawn and involuntarily discourteous attitude .
_ I have a long career that supports me. And, to be honest, if you did not really trust me, I would not have come.
The girl wrung her hands fraught with anxiety.
_ Maybe you are right in that regard. But I want to be sure I can tell you my problem with total freedom and under the strictest confidentiality. When it is narrated, it will say that the matter does not have a transcendental interest. But for me, it's something of life or death.
_ I give my word of honor that discretion is my most valuable virtue. What you tell us, will not leave these four walls. And, besides, no case is more or less insignificant to me than another, but I treat everyone with the same seriousness and importance they deserve.
Dafne Campresi felt more relieved and did not hesitate to report her problem with a very natural fluency and ease.
_ I am ashamed to tell you my case_ she confessed._ But I am already here and I can not help telling you since you kindly received me kindly. My best friend , Patricio Fernández, is going to marry tomorrow with a beautiful lady who undoubtedly corresponds in all aspects. Her name is Laura Otero and she is a wonderful woman. Patricio bought him as a wedding gift a diamond ring that he secured for 50 thousand dollars. The fact is that since he was afraid that Laura would find the ring by chance, he gave it to me to keep until the day of the wedding. He intends to give it to her in the middle of the party, which is going to be held in a rented room, located in the center of Pilar. Up to here, everything normal. I deeply admire the trust Patrick has in me.
_ How long have you known him? _ Wanted to know Dortmund.
_ Ten years, "replied Miss Campresi. And he continued with his story. But at this point the problems begin for me. The ring was stolen . I was assaulted yesterday afternoon returning from work for my house and they took it from me along with a series of personal effects that I had with me at that time. Desperately, T alk with an acquaintance of mine who has a jewelry store and explained my situation. He told me he could help me by making a fake one, but that I should give him a very accurate and detailed description of the real ring. So I did it. Helo here.
He extracted the jewel in question from one of the jewelery cases and handed it to Sean Dortmund with extreme delicacy. With my friend, we watched her in awe. It was an excellently well-crafted work. The inspector looked carefully at the diamond inlays of the ring for a long time, then analyzed its structure and finally scratched one of the glasses on the table with it. Then he looked at Miss Daphne Campresi with an eloquent smile and left the ring subtly in her hands.
_ Why are you here and what kind of help do you need from me? _ The inspector asked expectantly.
_ I am very afraid_ our guest answered_ that both Patricio and Laura realize that the ring is false. I'm afraid she blames him for that and he gets mad at me. I fear that you can not forgive me and I do not want to lose your valuable friendship for so many years and even less , ruin your happy marriage. What I want is for you to search among the pawnshops for the royal ring and return it before the party tomorrow, as far as possible . And then, during the event, make the substitution of the false for the true one. I know I am asking for something very risky, but I am willing to pay whatever you ask of me as long as I solve this problem successfully.
_ He asks me for something very difficult, with a very limited chance of success and very much against the clock _ said Dortmund, thoughtfully._ However, I know some very sophisticated pawnshops that are the temptation of many renowned thieves. And I bet whatever it is that one of them is what you are looking for.
_ So, accept to help me? _ Dafne Campresi replied, excitedly.
_ There is no case that can not solve_ concluded the inspector, ameno.
_ I will go to the party, I will give the ring and then I will be absent with some convincing pretext. When you have made the change favorably, I will rejoin back to the celebration. It scares me to be there when this happens. Do you agree with me, inspector?
_ Perfectly agree. I have your card, so I will notify you as soon as I have the genuine alliance again in my hands.
_ I prefer to contact him personally to avoid scandals.
_ I await your call, then. He already knows where to find me. I will have news to him at the last minute of the day_ and he extended one of his personal cards to him by the doubts. Miss Campresi took it gently and put it in her wallet.
_ Thank you. This night I can sleep more peacefully knowing that tomorrow everything will be over.
Sean Dortmund accompanied her to the door and when she came back to meet me, I looked at him reproachfully.
_ Why did you accept the case , Dortmund? _ I questioned him with disapproval.
_ The girl was in trouble. I see no reason to deny him any kind of help. Also, the case goes out of the ordinary. And we need a change of scenery, do not you think, doctor? _ Replied my friend with enthusiasm and benevolence.
_ Yes, I think you are right in that_ I exclaimed unconvinced._ What is the campaign plan?
_ There are two pawnshops that could have the stolen ring in their possession. Captain Riestra spoke to me on one occasion about them. He is sure that they are burrows of stolen objects. But the police can not proceed because until now there is no clear and conclusive evidence that warrants a search. But the suspicions are based on concrete bases, and I believe in the words of a friend, as is Captain Riestra. We will go, offer an irresistible sum to give us the ring without objections, play during the party the role of a half-clumsy waiter, fake an accident with drinks and take advantage of the moment of distraction to make the change. I will go out normally without attracting the attention of the guests, I will return the ring to Miss Campresi and resolved business.
_ Interesting_ I conceived with little enthusiasm. If you think it will work, do it then.
_ Cheer up, doctor. Everything will be more than good.
Sean Dortmund picked up the phone and called Captain Riestra.
"Captain Riestra!" The inspector shouted euphorically. "Are you available to accompany me to do a series of diligences for the city ?" You will be of great help in this mission that I have to undertake ... The issue is as follows. A young lady named Dafne Campresi came to see me ...
***
Dortmund was successful. He found the stolen ring in one of the two stores he alluded to earlier. Although the owner of the establishment jealously refused to grant the ring, the sum offered by my friend in return made him retract his decision without v acylations. The offer exceeded five times the real value of the jewel. It sounded like a delirium, but the inspector did not mind paying that exuberant amount of money to satisfy the requirements of his client. When he showed it to me, I lost my breath. Both pieces were exactly equal to each other and it was practically impossible to determine at a glance which was the authentic ring and which was the false.
That same night, Miss Campresi contacted Dortmund by phone and gave her the news . She was overjoyed and the inspector was pleased to have been able to help someone who needed him, even though the work was not finished. The part of the restitution was still missing.
The night of the next day finally arrived and the party started promptly at 10:30 p.m. Dafne Campresi was uneasy because my friend did not arrive. But Dortmund's silhouette suddenly emerged from some bushes in the living room patio and she jumped with excitement at seeing him approach.
_ Perdo ne the tardiness, Miss Campresi_ apologized my friend in a whisper and talking to her in a low attitude extreme reserve .
There was no danger of being discovered by anyone since they were in a relatively isolated place from where the main scene was developing.
_ Did everything go according to plan? _ My friend asked again, in a more sophisticated tone.
Until now, everything is going perfectly, Camposi replied, a little anxious. I handed the ring to Patricio at a moment's notice. huge fury. He saw it and thanked me with a smile from end to end. He is convinced that he has the legitimate ring.
_ Did you see where you kept it?
_ In the left outer pocket of his tuxedo.
_ Very well, Captain Riestra_ said Dortmund loudly. And after a signal from him, our friend was present along with two other officers who escorted him. The girl paled terribly, looking at Dortmund with blindness and coldness. The inspector, on the other hand, watched her with arrogance and arrogance.
_ Miss Mariana Antúnez , alias Dafne Campresi, is arrested for robbery and fraud_ said Riestra to stop her.
And then the click of the handcuffs was heard.
_ What's going on? What's happening, Inspector? " Cried the lady in question, uneasy and confused.
_ I will tell you a small but interesting story_ said Dortmund , _ very similar to the one you told me yesterday afternoon when he went to my apartment to consult me. Once, a beautiful young woman named Mariana Antúnez , coincidentally like you, fell in love with a young man named Patricio Fernández, who claimed to be best friends. And yes, they were very good friends. But only that, friends. However, Mariana never saw Patricio as a friend, but as something else. One day, defeated by his desire for resistance, he falls into the temptation of confessing to him what he felt. But Patricio Fernández rejects her politely. Mariana does not give up and insists on her intentions to have an affair with Mr. Fernandez, but he does not change his mind, he remains firm in his position, and she feels hurt. One and a thousand times Mariana Antúnez insisted, and once and a thousand times Patricio Fernández said no. And here is when the story becomes interesting. Patricio Fernández meets Laura Otero and falls in love. They leave for a few months until he proposes marriage and she happily accepts. If the relationship that Patricio Fernández started with Laura Otero devastated Mariana, the marriage proposal ended up sinking her into a deep depression. She was distressed, melancholy because she felt betrayed.
< Patricio Fernández buys a diamond ring from Laura Otero, his future wife, as a wedding gift . But he has nowhere to keep it without fear that Miss Otero might accidentally find him. So Mr. Fern Andez thinks that his best friend, Mariana Antúnez , will keep it until the day of the party. She accepts, I suppose, not very pleased, and then draws an infallible plan to take revenge on Mr. Fernandez, without him suspecting that she was the one who conceived it . >
< With the real ring in his possession, Miss Antunez goes to a pawnshop after making all the pertinent inquiries and asks to falsify the diamond ring, and also put it on sale as if it were genuine. For an additional sum, he would ask the seller to sell him the ring for a large sum who bears an exact copy thereof and adujese in the records that the commission was entrusted po r Mr. Patricio Fernández>.
< That poor and unsuspecting, let's call him Sean Dortmund , believes that he has the false ring and that he is going to make a transaction to obtain the true one, but in reality it is the opposite . >
< Mariana Antúnez chooses the poor unfortunate who knows pawnshops to find the real ring without problems. And to justify this stratagem, he invents the story of the assault. And of course, that poor wretch has to be someone from the police. S ean Dortmund was the perfect prey. Or at least, that's what Miss Antunez thought > .
< Visit the inspector with a false identity, he poses the inconvenience and he agrees to help her. He knows that he can not show up to the party openly, so he is clear that in order to substitute one ring for the other he needs to assume a false identity. And the waiter's was the perfect disguise. She thought about it as well as Dortmund also came up , look how interesting coincidence>.
< The humble inspector would locate the particular pawnshop without delay, offer a large sum for a fake diamond ring, believing that it was the original and go to the party disguised as a groom to replace one ring with another , everything just as imagined . When Laura Otero discovered that the ring that her husband gave her was false, they would remember the clumsy and inexperienced waiter who accidentally spilled the drink on Mr. Fernandez's bag and helped him clean himself, and that would take her directly to the catering company hired by her own husband. And he would say that he paid a little more for them to send a waiter less>.
<I would track with a little extra help, because as every woman about to get married is distrustful and cautious, the steps of the i mpostor, that would be Dortmund; that data would take her to the pawnshop and everything together would take her to the same point: Patricio Fernández . The husband designed a skilful plan to escape marriage. And Laura Otero course not marry him>.
< Mariana Antúnez would discredit her best friend out of jealousy, but he would never suspect her because she does not know any Dafne Campresi. Bright, extraordinarily bright > .
_ Disgrace! _ Said in a scream, Miss Antunez. _ How did you discover me?
_ If the ring you gave me yesterday was really fake, I would not have scratched the glass on the table when I slipped it. In addition, I noted that there was no complaint for the alleged assault and robbery of the ring, apart from the fact that no one with the name of Dafne Campresi existed. All the data on the card was false. And why did all the trick have to be consummated in the middle of a wedding party, precisely? Then, I guessed it after making some more inquiries. It was not difficult, as you can see.
The two officers accompanying Captain Riestra were taken captive to Mariana Antúnez while they read her his rights.
_ The agents of Robberies and Thefts will do the instruction of the case in conjunction with the Prosecutor's Office that intervenes. They will make the formal accusation before the judge_ said Riestra.
And then he added with a more relaxed tone and with special sympathy.
_ It's weird to hear him refer to you in the third person, Dortmund.
At that moment, Miss Antunez shouted something from inside the patrol car that we did not understand well, but that it was addressed without hesitation to the inspector.
_ What did he say? _ Asked Sean Dortmund with concern.
_ He said he loves him very much and that he will miss him, "Captain Riestra replied sarcastically.
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