The Time In Between (Sira Quiroga, #1)

by María Dueñas

“Thank you for asking me here, Beatriz. Please, there’s no need to be afraid: no one in Lisbon will ever know about this conversation.” It was a few seconds before she replied. When she did it was with her eyes still fixed on her lap and her voice barely audible. “You work for the English, don’t you?” I lowered my head slightly in assent. “I’m not really sure that this will be of any use to you, it’s not a lot. I only know that Da Silva is in negotiations with the Germans over something related to the mines in Beira, a region in the interior of the country. He’s never had any dealings in that area before. It’s all recent, just over the last few months. Now he goes almost every week.” “What’s it about?” “Something they call ‘the spit of the wolf.’ The Germans are insisting on exclusivity, for him to cut off his dealings with the British altogether. And on top of that he is to get the owners of the adjacent mines to join him and stop selling to the English, too.”