‘Meet any interesting people?’
‘Some, yes.’
‘Did Mrs Vinge at any point mention her neighbours to you?’
‘Yes. She said there was an ongoing legal dispute with the French neighbours to do with beach access. It sounded stressful.’
‘And did she mention the son of the neighbours at any point?’
‘No.’
‘Are you under the impression that Charlotte knew Maxime Dubois-Joseph?’
It occurs to Bianka that the police must already know they were at the party. ‘No, but she met him at one of the parties we went to. At their property.’
‘Sa Capricciosa?’ Fuentes’ eyes twinkle at this information and Bianka senses he is a man of deep and intuitive intelligence.
‘Yes.’
‘On which day did you go there?’
‘I think it was the night of the twenty-second.’
‘And you met Dubois-Joseph at the party.’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you speak to him?’
‘Yes.’
‘At length?’
‘Yes.’
‘Who was Dubois-Joseph with at the time?’
‘Two guys. I think he said they were brothers. Pretty sure they were Italian. They had the same tattoos on their necks, big ones and very noticeable, of interlinked “o”s. I believe one of them was called Matteo or Marco.’
‘What did you talk about?’
‘I… I made up a story. About me and Charlotte being a couple. He seemed to enjoy hearing about it. He asked several questions about us. How we met, where we live, that kind of thing.’
‘And did he tell you much about himself?’
‘A little. He said that he lives in Paris. And that he likes to come to Ibiza because his father puts so much pressure on him to achieve, but on the island he feels free.’ Bianka is careful to keep any mention of Maxime in the present tense. She once watched on TV that many murderers reveal themselves by referring to their unfound victims as though it was a given they were dead.
‘What kind of pressure?’
‘He didn’t say.’
‘Were you aware of who he was at this time?’
‘No.’
‘Did Mrs Vinge know, do you think?’
‘No.’
‘Did Dubois-Joseph mention any future plans, such as what he was planning on doing next?’
‘He said that he wanted to go to Sardinia with some friends the following week. No, Corsica. Oh, wait. Sorry, no, I think it was Sardinia. Or maybe it was Sicily?’
‘Did he mention who he was planning on going with?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘This is very important, Mrs Langeland. It is our theory that Dubois-Joseph left or attempted to leave Ibiza the day after the party in question. We’ve been unable to establish where he went after that but any little bit of information might contribute to shining some light on what has happened and where he went.’
‘I think… I think he said that he and the guy called Marco had planned to go somewhere on a yacht. Yeah, that’s it. He definitely said that. Sorry I can’t be more specific, I’d had quite a lot to drink.’
‘How did the conversation end?’
‘It didn’t, really. It changed nature, rather.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Charlotte and I had sex with him.’
