Tormented: Day 7

Word Count: 42,020

Summary of Events:

A man came to Esperanza's room and unpacked her clothes and then tried to do things she had no intent of permitting him to — so she managed to hide from him until he left. Riel had gone to Mar del Plata to confirm Esperanza's case was reopened and then decided to see if he could visit with the Bello Arechovaletos, he managed to get to visit them, but nearly got kicked out when Mrs. Bello Arechovaleto found out he was a lawyer. Esperanza was woken up and got dressed for breakfast, where she was informed much to her displeasure that from here on she was going to be addressed as Aphrodite.

Excerpt of the Day:

"Have you heard the police closed your daughter's case?" Riel asked.

"They told me they'd closed it, they couldn't find anything, but they came today and told me they'd opened it again," Mrs. Bello Arechovaleto replied.

"They opened it again because I made them open it," Riel said.

"And why did you do that?" Mrs. Bello Arechovaleto demanded. "If they couldn't find anything then there's no sense in forcing them to keep trying."

"They didn't look everywhere," Riel replied. "The police spent a year looking for my sister — even looking in the most ridiculous places — before they finally said they couldn't find her. They didn't hardly give your daughter a month, and when I asked them if they'd looked in certain places that the police had looked for my sister, they told me they hadn't looked there."
Mrs. Bello Arechovaleto looked at Riel with disturbance. "But why?"

"Because they couldn't be bothered," Riel replied. "My sister was rich, she was somewhat famous, they looked for her for a long time because she was considered important — and even if she wasn't, my parents were considered important, and the police were afraid that my parents might take them to court if they didn't do everything they possibly could to find my sister. Your daughter, on the other hand, to them, is considered unimportant. Your family won't take them to court if they don't look everywhere for her because you can't afford it. They don't see the need to look for her because she isn't rich, she isn't somewhat famous, she's just another person from the villas miserias. I've even heard for myself them calling your husband a bum."

"A bum!?" Mrs. Bello Arechovaleto exclaimed. "He's not a bum! He works very hard every day and cares for his family! He does not make as much as people like you, but he makes enough money for us to survive! A bum doesn't do anything!"

Riel nodded. "And I don't believe your husband is a bum either, but even if I did, I would still think your daughter needs to be found. She's disappeared, and she needs to be found, because it's absolute torture, like the lake of burning sulphur itself, to be without her, to not know where she is, or what is happening to her."

Mrs. Bello Arechovaleto nodded passionately.

"Using my power as a lawyer, I made them reopen the case and try harder this time," Riel said. "And if they close it again before they've done everything I'll make them reopen it again. Only once they've done everything will I let them close it. And if they refuse to reopen it because they haven't done enough, I will go to every length possible to make them reopen it and do everything they ought to so as to try and find her. She is not a nuisance, she is a human being, and she has a right to be found, and you all have a right to know what has happened to her.""