"Dedicated to:" "The covers of Ignacio Palencia, the comics of Will Eisner and of "El Pantera", and, with affection and sadness, to the memory of Santo "The Silver Masked Man"." ""Lonely the dead remain"" " Carlos Ancira in:" ""Santo in the Vengeance of the Mummy (1970)"" ""That afternoon..." (Page 1)" "Registered letter." " My pension?" " No." " The bank?" " Yes." "Thank you, Rutas." "My Jesús." "They're taking our house away." "What am I to do?" "I know, Jesús." "I know." ""And so..." (Page 2)" "R-O-O-M" "F-O-R" "R-E-N-T" "Furnished/unfurnished room for rent" "Damn." "What have I done now?" "Are you from the bank?" "Don't worry, ma'am." "I showed you my badge because my friend Bienve and I are both policemen." "I thought this would make you feel at ease." "My name is Javier Canero, but you can call me Chato." "My name is Bienvenido Almereida, at your service." "We want to rent a room." "It looks comfortable and clean, doesn't it, Chato?" "This is the last room in the house." "The only one we could furnish." "I hope that it's comfortable." "For our purposes, we would be interested in all of them." "But we will share this room." "Oh, but there's only one bed." "That's all right, we're flexible." "And why do you want to rent the other rooms?" "Ah, for storage." "My friend Bienve and I are going to open a shop." "Our own little pension plan." "Well, there's only one working bathroom in the house." "You'll see, we'll get used to everything." "Come on, let's have a chat." "And later I'll pay for March, just so you won't have to worry." "No, Chato." "I trust you." "But I needed to make sure." "One never knows." "Ah, but now you do." "You'll feel much safer with two policemen to look after you." ""That night... "" "It's going to be fucking awful to sleep in that shitty bed." "I'll never get used to this crap." "I will." "No problem." "Whatever inconvenience we go through, it's worth it for the money we're going to earn." "No, Chatito." "Not whatever inconvenience." "Make sure you stay on your side of the bed the whole night." "I wish we could be together again, Jesús." "That fat guy scares me." "Right now, here, just talking to you, I remember how much I miss you." "Since you went away," "nothing happens here." "As if I'm being punished." "But you'll see." "Soon we'll be together." "This bullet wound here they shot me there just for kicks " "I felt the impact, and knew I had fallen, and I said, "Sweet Mother of God, I'm so fucked!"" "And then Chato entered." "Guns ablaze!" "One, two, three, four, five, shooting right and left, shooting all of them," "even that little brat running around, he shot that little fucker." "But he did it all so elegantly." "He had style." "A lot of style." "Anyway, give me the T-shirt." "And hold this." "And that shirt, make sure you iron it well." "Well, this shirt's either shrunk or I've gained a little weight off those meringues." "Come over here." "Look, I'm going to give you this money so you can go buy fresh beans, 'cause the ones from yesterday were pretty rancid and didn't have enough lard." "Oh, and keep the change." ""The following day..."" "But..." "This is my house, sir." "My house!" "Please!" "Let her in, she's the owner." "Come in." "What happened?" "What did he want?" "Why are you changing all the locks?" "Calm down, Dona Lupe." "We needed new locks." "There will be many guests at tonight's party." "What?" "What party?" "We were just going to invite you." "Yes, but we thought it'd be like a surprise." "What surprise?" "What are you storing in there?" "Bags, don't you see?" "Bags... but full of what?" " Of..." " Parsley." " Of..." " Parsley." "Oregano." "Bags of oregano, don't you remember, Dona Lupe?" "We told you." "Gold, oregano, I don't care, but you can't just change the locks on me." "Abusive, that's what you two are." "I had a hunch about you, but now I know." "I want you to get the hell out of my house." "Look, you stupid old bitch, it'd be best if you shut up..." "LOW ANGLE SHOT - ...because if you don't, the one getting the fuck out of here will be you." "I heard you yesterday, talking to the portrait of your late husband." "And just with that, I can have you committed." "Calm down, Dona Lupe, none of that has to happen." "Now, go to the locksmith, and ask him for a duplicate of the key to the front door." "Look, it worked, all right?" "Keep an eye on that little old lady, you hear?" "Make me a duplicate." "Yes, ma'am, for what?" "The front door." "Yes, ma'am." "And... and also the one to those gentlemen's room, please." "Yes, ma'am." "What's going on, Dona Lupe?" "Are you still angry with Bienve?" "Get up, we're waiting for you." "Peace." "Oregano..." "Motherfuckers!" "There are only two types of women." "Whores." "And dead whores." "Listen, Chatito, this drink isn't doing anything to me." "Come on, let's go back to the room." "Let's snort a line." "Come on, Chato, it's not that hard to get the key in the lock." "Fuck." "Fuck!" "Fucking bitch!" "Calm down, man." "The money, man, the money!" "I agree." "I agree." "But we have to wait until everyone leaves." "And if she goes to tell someone?" "Hah." "Tell who?" "The police?" "Don't kid yourself, we are the police." "Fuck, you're right." "She's gonna get it." "The fucking cunt." "Jesús." "If only we could be together now." "Any which way." "Together." "Us..." "Any which way." "Jesús!" "Hey, hey, hey." "So you keep my record player and my lights." "Fuck off, man, come get them tomorrow." "There's no one left inside." "So let's go?" "I'll cover you." "The light, Chato." "Turn it on." "I told you she would run." "No, no." "I'm sure she didn't leave here." "And if she did, we have the whole night to hunt her down." "Pick up the bills..." "Did you just fart?" "I thought your meringues were mint-flavored." "She left the money." "The peg-legged bitch." "Where the fuck did she go?" "Wings sprouted out of her wrinkled old ass." "Here's your milkshake, motherfucker." "Fucking old bat." "Chato!" "Chato, where are you?" "I can't see a thing." "I know, but let's go." "Let's go." "Crawl." "Out of her room." "Chato!" "Hey!" "Chato!" "Hey!" "In these cold, cold nights" "Of merciless winter wind" "A lament reaches my room" "From the slums below" "Take my life!" "Take it with the last loving kiss!" "Take it" "Take my heart, too" "Fucking old bat." "Son of a..." "God damnit." "Oh, dear God!" "No cheating." "I said, no cheating!" "Guns run out of bullets." "Assholes run out of life." "But you will be properly executed, as you deserve." "Ready." "Aim." "Bienve, it's over." "It's over." "Just like in the movies." "But now, this is for real." "She killed you, and you couldn't even shit before you died." "Don't worry." "You look like shit." "Don't be silly." "What are you thinking?" "Stop..." "Don't you see that you're dying?" "She killed you." "It's going, going, gone." "Last call..." "last round." "And round and round like a carousel." ""Later..." (page 32)" "Very special thanks to" "Rigo Mora, Ferruco Cámara, Emulsión y Gelatina," "Jaime Humberto Hermosillo and Zari." "Without them, making this would have been so much harder." "Guillermo."