Compiled from the investigation records of the Nerja case. Contains no plot spoilers beyond chapter three.
Dr Alex Marquez
Forensic pathologist (retired, unofficially)
Twenty-two years in the Madrid forensic service, then a resignation nobody was allowed to write down. He came to Nerja for the quiet and found the same wound pattern waiting for him on a beach at four in the morning.
- Age
- 54
- Speciality
- Sharp-force trauma, post-mortem immersion
- Last posting
- Instituto de Medicina Legal, Madrid
- Known association
- Case 09-4471 (sealed)
- Weakness
- Will not sign anything he does not believe
“The body is the only witness that has no reason to lie to you.”
Detective Carmen Reyes
Policía Nacional, Homicide — Málaga province
Born in Nerja, transferred back after twelve years away, which means every witness she interviews once taught her, served her, or married her cousin. She is good at the job precisely because it costs her something.
- Age
- 41
- Clearance rate
- 91% — highest in the province
- Complaints filed
- Six. All by the same office.
- Home town
- Nerja, Calle Pintada
- Weakness
- Cannot walk away from a closed file
“This town doesn't lie to you. It just never finishes the sentence.”
Tomás Oliva
Mayor of Nerja
Four terms, three marinas, one motto. He is not a cruel man; he is a man who has decided in advance which truths the season can afford.
- Age
- 63
- Public position
- "Nothing bad happens here."
- Financial interest
- Carabeo development consortium
- Whereabouts, night of
- Unverified
- Weakness
- Vanity, then panic, in that order
“Forty thousand people arrive on Saturday. Tell me what you need by Friday.”
Elena Sabater
Marine biologist, Maro-Cerro Gordo reserve
She logs the currents along the cliffs every week and knows precisely where the sea puts what it takes. Which is why the place the body came ashore is impossible.
- Age
- 34
- Access
- Restricted cave galleries, Maro
- Statement
- Revised twice within 48 hours
- Known association
- The victim, allegedly not at all
- Weakness
- Loyalty misfiled as silence
“The current runs east. It has always run east. Ask the sea, not me.”
Víctor Núñez
Retired Guardia Civil sergeant
He was the first officer on the 2015 file, the one that closed in nine days. He still walks the promenade every evening at exactly the same hour, and he still carries the keys to a building he handed back years ago.
- Age
- 71
- Service
- 1978–2016, Nerja and Frigiliana
- Case history
- First responder, case 09-4471
- Property
- Storeroom lease, Calle Carabeo (active)
- Weakness
- Habit. He cannot vary the route.
“Some graves are dug by the people who report them.”