It was settled between them. He came out of the Telefónica building and carried on walking along Born towards the fountain of the Turtles. He turned left, along Jaume III Avenue, and was so deep in thought that everything else escaped his notice. Not a sole shop window did he see, and he did not even realise that, at the crossroads of Aigua Street, two drivers were arguing heatedly and, in the midst of it, they swore viciously at each other. On another occasion, he would have stopped as an onlooker, just for the fun of witnessing a scene in such bad taste, and then to make his own observations. But that day Mosqueiro wasn´t in a mood for such things and walked past as if the Avenue were a desert land. And so, as he kept walking, he crossed over the new bridge known as the Riera, when suddenly he found himself standing in front of the door of the Police Station.

Espurnes de sang (Sparks of blood), 1987

Translated by Núria Cohen.

(Sóller, 1936). Antoni Serra i Bauçà is a writer and journalist. His journalistic career began with his contributions to the weekly magazine Sóller. In 1961 he started to work for the newspaper Última Hora and pursuing a writing career at the same time and participating actively in cultural events. He has published short stories and novels including El cap dins el cercle (1979), El blau pàl·lid de la rosa de paper (1985), Llibre de família (1991) or Espurnes de sang (1987), the latter one of the books in the series of noir novels that were published in the eighties. He has also engaged in literary criticism and essays with studies on Gabriel Alomar and reflexions on art and culture.