De dokter fronste zijn wenkbrauwen toen hij iets vreemds opmerkte onder Lucia’s losse kleding.
« Sinds wanneer zeg je dat je zwanger bent? » vroeg hij.
Lucía reageerde niet meteen. Haar stilte drukte als een zware last op de kamer.
En op dat moment wist Javier dat Roco gelijk had .
The silence became unbearable. Lucía clenched her fists, breathing rapidly. The doctor, Dr. Andrés Salgado , asked permission to perform a portable ultrasound, a common procedure in airport emergencies.
“Just to make sure everything is alright,” he said calmly and deliberately.
Lucía hesitated. She looked at the officers, then at the ground.
“It’s not necessary… I’m tired,” she murmured.
But Roco reacted again, scratching the ground restlessly. Javier nodded to the doctor. Airport security authorized the test. When the cold gel touched Lucía’s abdomen, she burst into tears.
No fetus appeared on the screen .
The doctor adjusted the device, thought it might be a technical error, and tried again. Nothing. Just irregular shadows, solid objects , too defined to be human.
“This isn’t a pregnancy,” he said softly but firmly.
Lucía began to hyperventilate. The officers exchanged tense glances. Sergio spoke carefully:
“Ms. Herrera, we need your cooperation. What are you concealing?”
Finally, Lucía confessed between sobs. She wasn’t pregnant. She was wearing a special prosthesis, designed to simulate an advanced pregnancy. Inside, attached to her body, were vacuum-sealed packages . They weren’t explosives, as some had feared, but unregistered diamonds from an international smuggling network.
She had been recruited months ago. They promised her enough money to pay for the surgery to correct her real infertility and start a new life. They taught her how to walk, how to breathe, even how to cry like a pregnant woman so as not to arouse suspicion.
“No one checks on a pregnant woman,” she said, heartbroken. “That’s what they told me.”
The prosthesis was removed with medical assistance. The packages contained millions of euros. The terminal was partially closed while the judicial police investigated. Lucía was arrested and taken to a hospital: she was dehydrated and under extreme stress.
