My wife is taught to obey even if it is in front of her father!

The impact was strong and brutal, like a board falling on cement. Mariana fell sideways against the table where we had the carnitas, the guacamole, the freshly heated tortillas and the glasses of hibiscus water.

Everything collapsed. But what made my blood run cold was not only seeing the blood in my daughter’s mouth, but hearing Esteban, Rubén’s brother, lying in a chair with a beer in his hand, say with a smile:

—It’s about time someone put her in her place.

My wife Teresa screamed. My sister Lupita covered her face. I felt my blood boil, but I didn’t pounce on him. Not yet.

My name is Arturo Salgado. I am 59 years old and worked for almost thirty years investigating insurance fraud in Mexico City.

I saw simulated accidents, falsified documents, bribed doctors, and families destroyed for money. But nothing prepared me to see my own son-in-law beat my only daughter in my own home.

Since Mariana married Rubén three years earlier, something about him never seemed right to her. Too friendly when there were visitors, too controlling when he thought no one saw him. Teresa told me that I was exaggerating, that no man would be good enough for my daughter.

But that Sunday I understood that my instinct was not wrong.

Mariana wore long sleeves despite the stifling heat. He was startled every time Rubén raised his hand. I barely tasted the food. When he quietly commented that the monthly fee for Rubén’s new truck was very high, he clenched his jaw.

—Now are you going to talk to me about money? —said—. You, who can’t even keep the house clean.

Mariana looked down.

—Ruben, I didn’t mean that…

-Calm down.

I was getting up when Teresa grabbed my arm.

—Arturo, don’t make things worse.

Then Rubén grabbed her by the hair and hit her.

Mariana trembled, with her hand on her split lip. I took out my cell phone and dialed a number I hadn’t used in fifteen years: that of Valeria Montes, a former federal agent turned private investigator.

—Arthur —answered—. What happened?

—I need you in my house. Right now. Domestic violence… and I think there is something more.

Rubén looked at me with hatred.

—Who did you call, you nosy old man?

—To someone who knows how to ask questions.

Esteban stood up, huge, with his very expensive watch shining in the sun.

—Mr. Salgado, don’t get involved in relationship matters.

—When a man hits my daughter in my house, it stops being a relationship problem.

Then Mariana whispered:

—Dad… This has been going on for over a year.