After an intense search, Elizondo, the most reputable detective in town, found a clue that made his skin crawl.

“Lucia; come, look at this!”

The beautiful young woman, with short hair and wide hips, turned to her boss and mentor, carrying in her hands the evidence collection bags, and the cell phone: the new instrument for the investigation in fashion.

“Leave the bags, and take a picture with the downloaded app. Let's see if it was worth what we paid for it!”

“The fingerprint grooves are barely visible.” She exclaimed with an almost imperceptible frown on her lustrous complexion, as she carefully focused the smartphone's camera designed for such purposes.

“Apply all the filters, please.”

Elizondo denoted perplexity combined with a certain concern.

“Chief, ready. I've already requested comparing the images in the online database.”

Almost instantly, a warm voice emerged from the cell phone and specified the manufacturer's shoe series that printed, as an unmistakable signature, that diffuse trace to the untrained eye, but clear to the vision of an avatar of the sophisticated artificial intelligence agent assisting the detectives at that moment. As well as the trace of their journey until their sale.

“Wow, there are only ten pairs of this type of shoe in the world with such a trace! This one corresponds to the left foot and is coded with the B shape of the QR.”

“Yes, that's right, Lucia.” Answered Elizondo bitterly, adding. ”I bought them for Dalia.

The light illuminated Lucia's face, and the fire enlivened the reflection of the emeralds in her eyes. Malice sprang up in a superfluous gesture of victory.

“Chief!” She paused briefly to place her gaze on the brown eyes of her mentor, and, with a boldness, She sentenced: ”We must deliver her to justice! Of course..., you must think of an alibi, I'll back you up!

He looked at her without seeing her, in a tris he went through his mind everything he had lived with Dalia. He knew her since she was a child: pure and honest. The day he married her, he felt he had reached nirvana. And although their life together was different from the fairy tale, where they all lived happily ever after. He was content with the intermittent worldly joy, bearing, without complaining, the stones of the road. Now, the misfortune of an ill-fated hour put him at a crossroads.

“My dear Lucia! You're right, we need an alibi. I don't know how to save you?”

“What?” she replied startled, and immediately stammered, lowering her eyes: ”I don't understand!”

Elizondo drew the gun and pressed the trigger without hesitation. The dry whirring sound preceded Lucía's crashing fall. She seemed dead. However, she lived after the incapacitating electric shock. That action, instinctive and hasty, hurt her soul. It articulated as in a puzzle the hidden intentions of the young woman. Beyond the professional, he crossed the line into transmigration from the platonic to the emotional, perhaps, sentimental. One that was not allowed.

At the same time, the veteran, meditated on the case: the sudden disappearance of the emblematic jewel of the city. On how the evidence incriminated Dalia, its curator. He thought: “Perhaps, I should have inhibited myself. My judgment and credibility, now, are on the line.” He looked at her with compassion.

“Why did you do it, precious? Taking Dalia out of the game won't give you any chance with me. I love that woman madly... And you, like the daughter I never had. I must fix this mess. Seeing Dalia's shoes in your locker, was so revealing. She only wears them for special occasions. Like tomorrow, on her birthday. She never wore them to work.”

Elizondo slipped on some silk gloves. He took the precious jewel out of his work briefcase and placed it in a pile among the objects on the large counter at the back of the room. He pointed the camera of his cell phone at it, and the same warm voice exclaimed excitedly: “Eureka, an object found”.

“Watson, please close the case as a reporting error. Certify it with my authorization code. Document the finding and add the comment: Carelessness in handling the objects.”

“For a fact!” Replied Watson, the artificial agent he trained for the police department. A very suspicious one, but also very loyal, as far as he could tell. It was difficult to distinguish if he was artificial.

Elizondo, without taking his eyes off Lucia, thought of the thousand and one ways to teach her. A more than arduous task, and there was no guarantee of success. It would be easy for him to hand her over, but to save her from herself, from the vicissitudes of the heart and its crazy actions, was another matter. He wondered if it would be worth it. Resignedly he mused, “Only time will tell.”