Chapter 3 All the way from Paris
Cristina's days were nearly always the same. She began
work at the museum at eight thirty and left at four thirty.
Then she went to the gym after work and stayed there for
about an hour and a half. Then she went back home. She
sometimes stopped at the supermarket on her way. Roberto
and Carlos watched her for six days until their plan to kill
her was ready.
Cristina, on the other hand, did not feel that her life was
the same as before. The museum and her hours were the
same but her work was very different. The new exhibition
was keeping her very busy and she was very happy.
Cristina was sitting in her office when the phone rang.
'Hello, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Cristina Rinaldi
speaking.'
'Oh Cristina, hello.'
Cristina knew the French voice. 'Hello Philippe. How is
everything?' '
'Fine thank you. How are you?' asked Philippe.
'Great. When are you arriving?'
'On Wednesday. My plane arrives in Buenos Aires at
nine fifteen in the morning. I'm travelling with Air France.
The flight number is AF602. Will anyone be there to meet
me?'
'Oh yes. I'll be there. I'll meet you and take you to your
hotel. Then, when you're ready, you can come to the
museum.'
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'That's fine. Thank you, Cristina. I'm flying back to
Paris on Monday so I'll have time to look around Buenos
Aires a little — everyone tells me it's a beautiful city — so I'm
going to be a tourist as well as a museum director!'
'Good idea. There's so much to see. I think you'll like it,'
answered Cristina. She liked the sound of this man's voice.
'I'm looking forward to meeting you.'
'Me too. I'll see you at the airport on Wednesday.'
'Have a good flight.'
'Thank you. Good bye.'
Cristina put the phone down and looked at the picture
of the Claude Monet painting she had on the wall in her
office. When she was fifteen years old she went to France
with her parents and fell in love with that painting with its
field of red poppies. She went to see every Impressionist
painting she could find in Paris. She spent hours in the
museums and didn't want to leave Paris. Her parents
understood then that she was serious about studying art at
university. She kept the picture on the wall in her office
because it made her feel good. She had the same picture on
her bedroom wall. She often looked at it when she was
thinking. But today she looked away from it quickly. There
was something strange about the picture today. It didn't
make her feel happy. It gave her a strange feeling inside.
She didn't know why. Maybe it was because she was
thinking so much about the new exhibition. An exhibition
of thirty-seven paintings was a lot of work.
She had a lot to do before Philippe arrived on
Wednesday. She took her notebook and left her office.
She had to talk to somebody about the lights for the
exhibition.
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That afternoon she left the museum a little later than
usual. Carlos Bocuzzi was still outside but he was getting
tired of waiting. 'Maybe she went home early. Maybe she's
ill. Maybe she's working late,' he thought to himself.
Just then Cristina came out of the museum and Carlos
followed her. Cristina walked into Plaza Francia as usual
but then stopped for a moment. She looked up at the white
stone bodies of the monument in the centre of the Plaza.
The French people who lived in Buenos Aires gave this
monument to the city in 1910. This was the monument
she could see from her office window in the museum across
the street.
Now she was thinking about France and the French
paintings that would soon be in the museum behind her.
Carlos stood in the Plaza Francia. Most of the other people
there were students from the university building behind the
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museum. They stood around in groups. They were waiting
for friends and talking. In the park behind Carlos, the dog
walkers of Buenos Aires were taking their dogs for their
afternoon walk. Each girl or boy had seven or eight dogs
that needed a walk morning and afternoon. It was often a
job for young people who wanted to earn some money.
They stopped at the flats in their area to get the dogs and
then took them out to the city parks.
Carlos was watching Cristina and thinking. He was
beginning to feel that he knew this girl and it was more
difficult than before to think of killing her. But he knew
that Roberto had a good plan.
'I mustn't be afraid,' Carlos thought to himself. 'Roberto
is careful. He has thought of everything. Roberto has been
to the gym three times, each time with different colour hair
and different clothes. Now Roberto knew about day tickets
to the gym and knew which machines and weights Cristina
used. This evening Carlos didn't need to stay outside the
gym and wait for Cristina. This evening Carlos could go
home. It was the last time he had to follow Cristina -
Roberto was going to kill her the next day. '1 must not be
afraid. Only a few hours more,' he said to himself over and
over again. Carlos was afraid but he felt sure that his
brother would kill Cristina. Roberto was strong. 'That
w