AS soon as she heard her mobile phone ring, Ana had a feeling the call was bringing bad news.
 

“Ana,” Mayte began, and the tone of her voice said yes, it was so, “Luis just rang me; there has been a call to the emergency number that a body has washed up on a beach.” She told Ana a German man had phoned to say he and his friends had discovered the body of a woman in the water, in between some rocks in a little cove, around the corner from Cala Blanca. The body fits the description of Sarah, and so Luis had phoned her right away.

 

“I need to go there now with the Guardia Civil officers, and be there when the judge and ambulance arrive; there must always be a judge from the nearest town court present when a dead body is identified. I thought it  best to let you know first.”

 

Mayte thought Ana would prefer to phone Mark herself and ask him to come to the beach to identify the body

 

“You do it whichever way you think is best, what will be the least frightening for your friend, mi querida Ana. It will be hard for him, but  it is better if he comes to the beach because if not, then the identification will have to take place in Alicante,  where they will take the body for an autopsy.” 

 

Ana knew Mayte was right. “It will be less of a shock if Daniel or I phone Mark, and explain what will happen. We can pick him up in the car and bring him to the beach, then we can be with him there. What a terrible thing to have to do.”

Mayte told her how rare it was to find bodies in the water, although there had been suicides near the site of this body, under the steep cliff face. She had posted an officer at the beach to keep sightseers away.  

 

After promising to phone Mayte back after calling Mark, Ana turned to Daniel, who had been listening. He had guessed the news from Ana’s grave expression. 

“Will you ring him, cariño?” she asked. “I imagine either Lynette or Jonathan will answer the phone, and you know them all best.”

 

He must have realised how upset she was, and he put his arms around her. “I’ll ring now and see what’s best for Mark. I’m sure Jonathan will want to go with him for support, and you’re right we should go as well if you can manage it, my darling. Your interpreting skills will be essential tonight.”

 

She went upstairs to their bedroom to brush her hair, and to change her bright sundress for something more fitting for the dark place they were about to visit. When she returned downstairs, Daniel told her that he had spoken with both Mark and Jonathan, and they would appreciate being driven to the beach. Lynette would continue to field phone calls at the house. Ana rang Mayte back, as she had promised.

 

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THEY saw the flashing lights of police cars and an ambulance ahead of them as they drove down the beach road and neared the sea. They stopped in a space right next to the beach, one to be left clear for emergency vehicles. Daniel said he thought he should turn the car and look for a parking place further back when Ana realised that they were, in fact, part of the emergency and they should drive right up to the barrier and stop next to the ambulance. As she spoke a local police officer approached and she wound down the window and said they had been asked to attend, explaining who Mark was. They saw Luis standing close to the barrier. He had obviously been waiting for them, and he guided Daniel to a parking place.

 

Jonathan got out of the car with Mark and Luis led the four of them to a large coroner’s van parked next to the ambulance, where the body had been laid out. He told them a crowd of onlookers had diminished since darkness fell; there was less to see and the smallest children, growing tired and cross, had long since been taken home to bed.

 

Mayte stood with two men by the doors of the white van. She introduced them as the police doctor and the judge from the Denia court. As Ana translated Mayte’s explanation of what would happen, she watched her friend put a comforting hand on Mark’s shoulder. How good that her friend was able to make the very grim official proceedings as human as possible. They would like Mark, Mayte said, to look at the face of the dead woman, which would be uncovered, and to simply say yes or no;  it was Sarah or not Sarah. 

 

Only Mark and the officials climbed into the van, and the door closed to give them privacy from any remaining onlookers. Ana supposed that as many as five long minutes passed before the door opened, and Mark came back down. Ana, Daniel and Jonathan moved together to surround and protect him.  

 

“It is Sarah,” Mark said. “There is no doubt at all. Her face looks so beautiful still,  as if she’s asleep. There are no marks on her face at all, although they had partially covered her head so I expect there are wounds there.”   

 

Mayte told Ana that the body would be taken to a mortuary in Alicante, and that an autopsy would be carried out first thing in the morning. All they needed from Mark was his signature on an official form, to certify he had identified the body of his wife. Mayte said they could all then go home, which she was sure they wanted to do as quickly as possible. She confirmed that she would be in touch with Ana, to arrange to meet with Mark, to discuss the autopsy results. They would need, she explained, to talk to the last people who had seen Sarah alive, on the evening of the twenty-third and during the day of the twenty-fourth of June.  When Mayte added that it would be helpful if they all stayed in the area, at least until it was clear what caused Sarah’s death, Ana was shocked.  The full horror of what had happened was brought home to her.   

 

 

LYNETTE was waiting for them in the kitchen when they arrived back at Mark’s house. There was bread and cheese on the table, and she had opened a bottle of a good red wine. Ana thought Lynette guessed the news from their faces because saying nothing she put her arms around Mark, hugging him tightly. 

 

“Tomorrow is for talking, for now, let’s all sit down and have a drink before we put an end to this awful day.”

 

Ana looked at Daniel to gauge his wishes and seeing what she thought was a positive look said   “That’s such a good idea, Lynette. I am really hungry, and Daniel, cariño, I am sure you could have one glass of that nice wine before we drive home.” 

 

“How much better women are in difficult situations,” Daniel said. “we men would just have gazed at each other in dumb despair, and shuffled around the kitchen, doing nothing useful at all.” 

 

They sat down together, and Lynette poured them each a glass of wine. Mark raised his glass and said, “To Sarah, may her spirit be at rest, somewhere out at sea, I hope; she loved the sea so much.”  They all touched glasses, blinking away tears, and he added, “And to you, my friends, how would I have managed without you?”

 

After they had each eaten something, and their glasses were empty, Daniel stood up, giving his hand to Ana. She too got up and said, “We will see you in the morning, and my advice is to turn off all the phones tonight. The more we sleep, the better we will cope with tomorrow.” 

 

They exchanged kisses and hugs before Daniel and Ana went out to their car.

 

Daniel said “Do you realise that I kissed Lynette, for the first time in I don’t know how many years. How sad that it needed a tragedy to make that happen.”

 

As he drove off he took Ana’s hand and held it close to his chest. She moved closer to him and put her head on his shoulder as he drove. The thought of death brought them closer, she thought, they had a need for reassurance they were still alive, and that no more bad things would happen to them.

She was nearly asleep when they reached home and Daniel had almost to carry her from the car into the house but as they went upstairs she said “I felt for Jonathan today, I know there is a tragedy in his life. Will you tell me what it is, cariño? I could help him more if I knew what happened to him.”