Del Valle slid another document across the table—this time, a maritime traffic report María had never seen. On the day Julián and Laura vanished, a vessel belonging to Navíos Aranda S.A., a fishing company long tied to illegal operations, had been detected working without authorization in the same sector. Two weeks later, the company abruptly shut down, and one of its executives fled the country.
That detail had been completely left out of the final investigation.
“They must have witnessed something,” María murmured. “Or someone made sure the investigation went nowhere.”
Del Valle gave a grim nod.
“There’s more. Your husband had been involved in a project uncovering environmental violations in the region. A colleague told me he’d been threatened.”
The revelation struck María like icy water. Julián had never said a word to her.
The captain placed one final sheet on the table: a log of calls from Julián’s phone. The last signal didn’t come from the sailboat—it came from a point five miles north of where the vessel was found.