"I liked his suggestion of playing around with all that gear..." "Leather underwear, studs, suspender belts, stiletto heels." "It's like doing something you've always dreamt of but never dared do." "But the meetings are getting more and more intense..." "Although I try to stop it, because I do, I can't." "I must confess... there's something in all this that appeals to me more and more." "But then my body's covered in marks for days after..." "I feel like a well-serviced whore." "Orange Tree in Bloom" "I always had a lot of energy as a girl." "I was eager to understand the world, life, its mysteries." "But at the same time I was full of fears and insecurities." "I became a moderately successful psychoanalyst while very young." "Curiously, my main professional goal was actually to cure myself." "The condition meant not grasping the essence of a woman's world." "Like combining logic with what conventional wisdom and custom says a woman is." "In other words:" "How to become a lady without feelingstupid." "Besides psychoanalysis, other things helped change my life." "One of them was discovering milonga, a decadent ceremony which ritually brings together the denizens of the Buenos Aires night to allow them to share their loneliness for a while." "The milonga is a therapeutic space in which everyone has a chance to become someone else without having to betray their essence." "I used to go to these unreal evenings simply to watch." "But little by little they became the field of investigation where my contradictions began to change." "And my condition found a cure." "Another decisive event occurred that night, after a long day's work." "All I wanted to do was get home, soak in a bath and take refuge in my own little world:" "In which a woman who didn't believe in any kind of utopia including men, with whom by the way, if ever I came across the man of my dreams, my thoughts were sadly elsewhere." "I was planning on having a long quiet weekend alone, surrounded by my books, records, films." "All those things one holds on to preserve some stability," "as the days and years pass." "Come here, you little bitch." "Stay still." "I'm going to kill you, you bitch." "You'll see who you're dealing with." "You fuckin' bitch!" "I'm going to beat your brains out!" "I'm going to kill you!" " You've done 'im in." "He's dead." " What?" "You've killed 'im!" "I'll call the police." " The cops?" "Don't you dare, girl." " I didn't mean to." "Let's put him in your car." "Come on, move it!" "Get hold of him." "Tighter." "Come on, get hold of him here." " The legs..." "The iron bar, don't leave that there." " Yes." "Just for a moment I felt I was the protagonist in a madman's dream." "With a kind of vertigo trying to take over my will." "Come on, keep your cool." "People die every day and it's nobody's fault." "And this one was a real bastard." "One bastard less..." "I had never imagined anything like this could happen to me." "I was no murderer." " Where are we going?" " What do I know, love?" "It's not every Friday I have to dispose of a corpse." "There must be somewhere round here where he can rot in peace." "Down there." "I wondered if I was doing the right thing or whether it might have been better to call the police." "Come on, girl, move it!" "Get hold of the arms!" "You sure choose yourtime." "Don't let any blood fall." "Come on, let's go!" "Nice car, uh?" "I always wanted one like this, girl." "Stop calling me 'girl'..." "My name's not 'girl'." "No names, right?" "This isn't a party." "Stop here." "Forget what's just happened." "Nobody saw us." "Everything's OK." "It's fine, girl." "I drove for hours headed nowhere, not knowing what to do." "Paralysed between confusion and fear, trying to take in what had happened." "My future was at stake." "Little by little my head was filled with some of my patients'obsessions that they would repeat session after session in all the detail, as if they'd never told me before." "I would say you could only overcome pain or solve conflicts by accepting the truth." "I remembered a patient who after being raped went home and had a bath to remove any trace of what had happened." "But I couldn't stop thinking I'd killed a human being." "But..." "What else could I have done?" "I had no choice but to struggle against a guilty conscience and accept my reality without regrets." "I slowly started to have this strange sensation of relief." "I slept soundly the whole weekend." "Malena Viaggi?" "We're the police and we have to talk to you." "My first thought was to run away... but... where to?" "Do you drive a red Polo?" " Yes..." " Licence number BIK 368?" " Yes." " Where and when did you park it last?" "Last Friday night, on this block, just where I always leave it." "We have some bad news foryou." "Two kids stole your car and held up a restaurant on the highway." "A police carwas following it and they crashed into a tree." "One of them died immediately and the other kid is in a serious condition." "The carwas a write-off." "You're going to have to visit the police station to report it missing." "This is the file number." "Come by whenever's convenient." "Goodbye." "What if somebody had seen what happened in the park?" "I could be recognised." "Sometimes my thoughts tended to extreme rationality." "I refused to use the typical sly tricks of the female world, just as I refused to dance in the milonga." "Refusing to reveal my feminine side for so long was as absurd and unhealthy as the way millions of mindless women dressed as tarts swarm round the world." "Why couldn't I strike a balance between both options?" "Paradoxically, my new identity could be the answer to an old problem." "The time had come to experiment, to play at being a woman..." "Now I had the perfect alibi." "What's wrong with you?" "Do I look stupid or something?" "Don't wind me up..." "How much longer?" "Look at me when I'm talking to you." "Hello." "How can I help you?" "My car's been stolen and I was told to get this statement signed here." "Fine." "You don't look like you do in the photo." "Malena..." "Are you a psychoanalyst?" "Just what I'm looking for." "I'm very lonely." "What can you recommend?" "A cold showerwould do the trick." "You have to sign this." "Hang on, I've got something else foryou, this..." "If you'd put this on your car it wouldn't have got stolen." "The federal police inspector from the antidrugs department," "Esteban Martínez, missingsince last Friday, was working on the so-called "Operation White Wings."" "What happened to your husband?" "When did you last see him?" "He said goodbye to us on Friday morning as usual, and well, I..." "Are you saying your husband's become a victim of the?" "Sorry, I can't say any more." "Let's go, Jessica." "The situation of the Martínez family in connection with this appalling case of drug trafficking is a true drama." "It's not enough to pay an NGO's monthly instalment." "The caretaker isn't going to answer, you know." "The building could be a raging inferno but he won't answer." " Are you looking for someone in particular?" " Adriana Mistral." " The wife of the policeman?" " Yes" "She came down with her daughter as I was going out shopping." "Go to the park on the other block and you're sure to find her..." "OK, thanks." " Excuse me, are you a journalist?" " No." "It was time for me to face up to the role that fate had reserved for me." "Sorry, could you let me have one?" "I think I've left mine at home." "Thanks." " Thanks." " You're welcome." "When I have no fags on me I go crazy." "I'm terrible." "I puff away like there was no tomorrow, one afterthe other." "Don't know why..." "to have something to do I guess." " Mummy, I'm thirsty" "OK, my love, sit down and have a drink." " What a lovely doll you've got there." " My daddy gave it to me." "He went away but when he comes back he's going to bring me a teddy bear." " What's your name?" " Jessica, and yours?" "Malena." " Are you a friend of mummy's?" " Yes." " You're really pretty, you know." " Go and play." "What sign are you?" "Don't tell me." "Let me guess." " You're Capricorn?" " I don't know anything about all that..." " But are you Capricorn?" " Yes." "See, I told you!" "I'm Taurus." " Got any kids?" " No." " Are you married?" " No, I'm not..." "You're lucky... do you work?" " Yes, I'm an analyst." " Psychologist?" "My hubby says a woman has to stay home to look afterthe house, kids... and husband..." "Especially the husband." "One day I called a radio station, to tell them of my case because I needed to talk to someone, with such bloody luck that he was listening and recognised me." " I still bearthe marks." " Did he hit you?" "Hit me?" "That bastard hit me so hard..." "I shouldn't be telling you all this." "But as you're a psychologist..." " Don't worry." "It always helps to talk." " Yes." " Well, if you're round this way..." " Yes." " A pleasure." " Yes, it was." " See you." " Bye." "Jessica, let's go!" "I feel I'm enjoying my best moments as a woman..." "But the man I'm after doesn't exist." "So I'm lowering my aspirations." "I'm about to be put in the sales." "Life's short and I'm becoming hysterical..." "In the meantime you could perhaps channel your energy into culture..." "Culture?" "Don't talk rubbish!" "You don't get it, do you?" "What I need is something else." "And you too, probably." "Malena!" "Malena!" " Hello, Malena." "It's good to see you again." " How are things?" " This is Carlos, a workmate of my husband's." " Pleased to meet you." "And you." " Malena's a psychologist." " Exactly what was on my mind." "This young lady's a psychologist, I thought, and she wants a new car." "Pay no attention to me." "They're just things I think of..." "I was saying goodbye." "I need to go and have a cold shower." "Whateveryou hear let me know, alright?" " Bye." " Bye." "Esteban's a policeman." "Maybe you've seen him on the telly... and me." "Nothing has been heard of him for days." "His friends think he was kidnapped." "I think it was something else..." "I know him, betterthan they do." "I reckon he went off with some tarts." "It wouldn't be the first time he's disappeared." "Strangely Carlos says that this time they know nothing in the division." "But he also says he'll find him so..." "He's different... don't you think?" " I don't know him." " Don't come it with me." "I saw how your eyes met." "They call him "El Sabina"." "He doesn't look that much of a sod." "He's weird but he's a good guy." "But you can nevertell with men, huh?" "When I met Esteban, he was good looking, friendly, affectionate..." "I fell in love." "We got married but he soon began to change." "He became violent." "He made my life absolute hell." "I suppose you get used to it." "Adriana, you're still young and pretty." " You have to take life differently." " What can I do?" "What?" "Off with the lot, you great hunk!" "Take me, I'm yours!" "Do what you want with me!" "Divine comedy, simulating pain." " To you." " No, to us!" " What did you say this was?" " Champagne cocktail." "I love it, yummee!" "Using a tongue to communicate is the best thing that can happen to us." "Learning languages and sharing them, the more the better." "But don't confuse smooth talkers with obscene pigs." "Those who get into your bed, lift your nightie, touch your pussy as if they were connecting a computer, and rub yourtits till they're sore." "They plug in theirtool only to whip it out and dribble on the pillow." "Are there any submissive men left man enough to take orders from a woman only to throw herto the ground and ram it in hard, men with a clear head and a hard dick?" "You need to do it with a trumpet playerfor a good bit of tongue." "I just wanted to introduce you to foul-mouthed Gato Tirante!" "I'm not familiar with the scales you use so you can do as you please and go round saying I've got a tiny one, but if truth be told its size is still ruled by the law of relativity." "And although it is really of no importance whether it's big or small, that's a really cheap rumour." "But as I see you're such a gossip, word's been passed around and now it's famous." "Whether big or small, there's now a survey being held." "Come on, you're too much." "You take the lyrics of a song seriously." "That's the last time!" "You may be used to hearing dreadful stories, but I actually live them." "Yeah, like a fool." " This is the house in Dynasty!" " Don't exaggerate..." "I wish tonight could last for ever." "Me too, but I'm exhausted." " Let's have a drink." " What, another, after all we've had?" "We need a strong coffee." "I'll be right back." "We need something else." "Malena, have you ever been madly in love with a guy?" "According to Lacan, love is a true work of fiction." "But what does that prat know?" "I'm talking about something else." "I mean when you're like a bitch on heat thinking of him all day long." " Has it never happened to you?" " Never, luckily." "What do you mean "luckily." It's the best thing that could happen." "Maybe it is a work of fiction." "What do you do?" "Use yourfingers like me." "I recommend it..." "You shut your eyes and have the best fuck with the world's biggest hunk." "You've really got it all worked out, haven't you?" "I'm going to make a confession..." "I like reading those small ads in the papers, from the French guy, the Thai, the Greek." " Of course, that thing about tongues..." " And cocks." "I swearthat's all I think about." "A different one every day." "You have no shame, Adriana." "So now the young lady's going to tell me she's nevertried one." "Let's go to bed, Adriana." "Come on, let Freud be." "It's very late." "It's beautiful!" "I love it, I love it." "Let's see... can I?" "That's gorgeous." " Lovely." " Here, let me comb your hair." "I comb Jessica's every night." "Poorthing... it's the first time I've left her alone." "She's not alone, she's with the babysitterwho sees to everything." " But who's going to see to us?" " I don't need anybody to see to me." "As Carlos says, Malena, who's robbed you of your spring?" "Nobody's robbed me of anything!" "Seriously, don't you think the man who can make you happy exists?" "Yes, on some desert island, or in some remote land." "Now look at me." "They look better on you than on me." "Here, they're yours." " No..." " They're yours!" " Thanks..." " Not at all." "They look good on you." "So wearthem." "The afternoon I met you in the park you had a very sad expression..." "You're lonely too, aren't you?" " Or do you preferwomen?" " No." " No?" " No." "Not until tonight at least." " Your horoscope says there'll be a big change in your life." " Really?" "Let's see your hand." " Do you read hands?" " No." "I don't believe in horoscopes." "All that about women liking a sensitive, gentle guy is a lie." "Well, it's true to a certain extent." "They use men to tell them how hard life is forthem." "The wife of a friend of mine found him on the sofa with the maid." "Bad, huh?" "So what does she do?" "She sells the sofa and fires the maid." "There's no understanding women, doctor, let me tell you." " Hello!" " Hello." " What's this?" " A surprise foryou." "Let's see if you like it." "Jessica!" "Look at this." " What are you doing?" "Come here." " Mummy." "Malena!" "Hello." "You spoil her." "Come off it." "I've got something foryou as well." "You spoil me too." "How embarrassing the other night!" "I'd never done anything..." "But we didn't do anything wrong." "That's him." "Whenever I see him I feel like a taxi in motion." "That animal is never going to leave me in peace." "One of those who wouldn't give me a penny despite what the judge says." "If I could I'd take my daughter and go." "I'd get a job or open a shop." "A kids' clothes shop, that's my dream." " How much would you need?" " Forget it." "No way with this bastard around." "I hope they find him dead." "If it were on active service, even better." "He'd get some medal or other and I'd get a good pension and compensation..." " What are you saying, Adriana?" " What?" "Let's see..." " Look who's come to visit!" " Hello." "How are you?" "Fine?" " What's that?" " His name's Tomato." "Malena gave him to me." " Now I'm off to play." " Bye, Tomato." "How are you?" "I came to see how you were..." "Very well, actually." "Malena is very good company for us." "We meet again." " Any news?" " No, unfortunately." "We need to be patient." "Patient, just what I'm not." " I have to go, Adriana." " What do you mean you have to go?" "Now?" "You haven't finished your coffee." "A bit more?" "It's very late and I have a pile of things to do." "I have to go, too." "I have a lot of work and I just came by to see how you were, so I'm off." "Go on, leave me, I don't care." "I'll go and see The Simpsons with my daughter and then little have a cry." "Bye." " Did you know Esteban?" " Were you close friends?" " Workmates..." "When I met Adriana, Esteban had already gone missing." "Well, for a moment I almost thought you were going to say dead." "Well, with no news for so long." "Nobody can disappear just like that, overnight." "If somebody killed him I'm going to find out who it was." "What proportion of crimes is ever solved?" "If the victim is a policeman almost all of them." "I don't know about Esteban at work but as a husband he's no big deal." "He's no saint." "But nobody has the right to kill, even if he is a cop." " That's your line is it?" " Yeah, why?" "I haven't killed anyone." "Look, to give you an idea, I only work on robberies, rapes, murders." "I don't go afterthose who do drugs or ideological crimes." "Nothing that curtails individual freedom." "What a surprise!" "So laws mean nothing to you?" "Some things are too important to be left to the law." "I'll be honest..." "I went to Adriana's flat because I knew you were there." " What?" " I'm investigating anyone who has anything to do with Adriana." " Are you watching me?" " It's my job." "Well, at first it was a job." "Now it's something personal." "Don't ask me why." " What do you want?" " To take you for a drink, get to know you better." "But I'm not one of those guys who'll take you to a Japanese restaurant and then go on about adoring a walk in the rain." "Hard to believe this was one of the most important ports in the world." "The boats used to come in here carrying people and all their hopes," " like your parents or mine." " The Argentines descended from boats." "Now their grandchildren fly back on Air Comet." "It's still hard to have to leave your country to live with dignity." "As long as Buenos Aires has the best ice cream in the world there's hope." "Hang on..." "Hello?" "Yes?" "OK." "I'm on my way." "Bye." "For a moment you made me forget reality." " Did you know him?" " A little." "The Uruguayan Benavides." "Now he was done in by keeping bad company." "He was a friend of Esteban's." "They were partners actually." "The workshop is a front where they hide all the stolen goods." "The one who did it evidently didn't find what he was looking for." "Yes, yes, do what you have to do." "The Bishop." "Wait." "Yes, mate, I'll wait foryou." "I knew it would end badly sooner or later." "If you keep bad company..." "They say he hanged himself..." " How do you see it?" " You tell me." "Fine, fine, you're learning." "You'll go far." "I hope so... to go farthat is." "A word of advice, Sabinita." "Never grab the toilet brush at the wrong end." "And who's she?" "Another of your tarts?" "You're not like El Cucharita, are you?" "All words and no deeds..." "Are you?" "No, no." "Don't worry..." "The smallerthe mobile, the bigger the bastard who uses it." ""Vinegar"" "A cop's life is a hard one." "Little money, despair, loneliness." "Every time I come across a dead body, I need tango and sex." " In what order?" " First one has to know suffering, then how to love, depart and, finally, walk thoughtless roads." "In the night, indoors, trembling with sadness and wallowing in pain, since you left me near that alleyway." "I began wasting my life on the worst vices I could find." "The morphine was my sister who darkened my thoughts." "And all that sort ended up in the gutter." "With my hands in my tears, trying to find something, however pathetic, to console me." "Harassed by fate once again." "Come in." "Except this time..." "Make yourself at home." "I'd be the one taking up the gauntlet volunteering to stick my head in the lion's mouth." "What a surprise." "I never imagined a cop's place could be like this." "Some women start war by signing the peace." "Not me." "Some women can't tell the truth even when they're lying." "Sabinita, I haven't escaped from a song." "Someone else can always express your feelings betterthan you can." "Sábato, Rousseau, Sabater, for instance..." " Chlorohydrate, high quality." " Not for me." "Freud used to take it and he didn't do too badly, did he?" "Poison in small doses is medicine." "And medicine in big doses is poison." "It's a question of doses." "Who are you?" "One of those guys that a girl who is still a little curious about life can find interesting." " What interests you about me?" " Freud says everything's related to sex." " And what are you doing here?" " Find out foryourself, aren't you a cop?" "I am for now." "Good, efficient and almost honest." "Like Serpico... who ended up hiding out in a Swiss village so as not to play the game." "I plan to hide in a town by the sea." "I've always dreamt of sailing." " What's this?" " It's my town." " Were you born there?" " That's where I plan to die." "I have a husband, two daughters." "Everything was fine... until he appeared and my life changed." "A different, unknown woman emerged from within me." "I'm not the same." "Do you believe you can change overnight?" "What I do know for sure is that I don't want to go back to being that idiot who watches soap operas and makes the best desserts." "I'll do what it takes not to miss out on what's happening to me." "Then afterthe coup I went to Spain, to the Basque Country." "That's where my folks were from." "They always dreamt of returning, but what with Franco and nationalism..." "They'll end their days here." "Did you know it was a Basque who brought psychoanalysis to Argentina?" "Shame, he should have left it over there." "My dad had a theory about the Basques:" "That the Basque problem will be over once they discover curved lines." "Perhaps they need some good psychoanalysis as much as we do." "That's right, less nationalism and more psychoanalysis." " I belong to a generation of idealistic prats." " Do you think so?" "Yeah, we dreamt of a world that wasn't to be." "I've got loads of friends who fought in good faith, risking their lives to defend that world." "But they got it wrong." " What?" " Almost everything." "They supported dictatorships... opposed the Yanks while drinking Coca-Cola and dancing rock'n'roll." "Actually, none of my friends would have been any good as a president." "Well, you're wrong there." "Even the biggest prat is of some use." "I agree with yourfriends as far as the Yanks are concerned." "You have to be sick in the head to kill people and invade countries..." "This old-fashioned, sassy, 19th- century Steve McQueen... was stirring the most unexplored threads of my being." "How can an intelligent woman think like that?" "You need to change some of your ideas, like you changed your look." "What do you mean?" "I'm a cop, I'm watching you, as I told you, it's my job." "Yeah, you're none too friendly." ""For saying what I think, without thinking about my words, more than one kiss I received, and more than one punch in the face"." "The same sort of thing happens to some of my patients." "I don't want a civilised love with receipts and scenes on a sofa." "I don't want you revisiting the past and coming home from market wanting to cry." "I don't want neighbours with long faces, I don't want to sow or share." "I don't want any Valentine's Day or happy birthday." "I don't want to carry your luggage, or you choosing my shampoo." "I don't want to move planet, retire or drinkyour health." "I don't want Sunday afternoons, or a swing in the garden." "What I want, craven heart, is for you to die for me." " Jessica, eat something, please." " Don't want to." " But you've got to eat!" " I'm not hungry." " Malena." " Hello." " Hello, Malena." " Hi." "Look at me on the slide." "Where have you been these last two days?" " I've been very busy." " I imagine..." "Jupiter crossed the moon and Capricorn's path." "It's very clear." "Something important is about to happen to you with a gentleman." "Come on, tell me." "There's something about him I like, don't ask me what." " Have you got a light?" " Yes." "He's very intelligent." "Whatever he wants he gets." "And it looks like he likes you." "The stars are with you, make the most of it." " You know he called me this morning?" " Yes, and what did he say?" "No news." "He's trying to arrange forthem to give me Esteban's salary." "It's not much, but I'll get by." "I need an end to this." "I can't cope any more." "My head is going to explode, Jessica keeps asking about him." "Doctor, I need treatment." "I don't know who I am." "Well, actually, I do." "My name has always been a source of conflict." "My name's Carlos Goyeneche, but in Madrid they call me "The Basque."" "In the Basque Country I was "South American scum", but here I'm Sabina." " No, don't laugh, doctor." " Sorry." "I believe you're in a serious state." " I have other concerns." " I'm listening." "I'm curious to know why some women get dressed up in high heels, and ear-rings, daub on make-up, shave their legs, change the colour of their hair just to hide theirtrue personality." "I suppose that with intelligence, sensitivity and a sense of humour some jesters can even become queens." "You seem to understand me very well, doctor." "I love a blonde dyed brunette." " You need intensive care." " Really?" "Freud or Lacan?" " I've got mine." " I'm off to Colonia forthe weekend..." "There's a guy who may have information on Esteban..." "I can no longer feel sorry for what I did and I don't want to either." "Any news on this matter could jeopardise my relationship with the man I loved." "I couldn't afford to let down my guard, not for one minute." "Yes, I'll be there in half an hour." "OK." "Yes, yes." "I know how to get there." "Bye." " Are you sure I can't go with you?" " Quite sure." "It's dangerous." " There's no reason why it should be..." " Therefore it's dangerous." "It's simply anotherworld." "And you don't belong to it." "Rest a little and dress up for dinner." "I won't be long." "Some things are too important to be left to the law." "No way could that guy have information that could compromise me." "My fear at that moment was for Carlos'safety." "What if they were setting him a trap?" "Maybe I should..." "She's with me!" " Sorry, but I'm uneasy." " You're so stupid." "Have you found anything out?" "It seems the guy was a partner of Esteban and the Uruguayan." "Someone kept the change in a large- scale drugs deal on the international market." "There's a million dollars out there and everyone's looking for it." "We've buried the Uruguayan, but I don't know about Esteban..." "He's probably in Brazil with the dosh..." "But I'm worried about the others... the ones from the Inquisition." "A real bunch of bastards." "Connections with different mafias:" "Kidnappings, drugs, money laundering." "You can't imagine how farthe chain goes." "For the first time I felt part of nature, like a wild plant." "I was discovering the sensuality of the curved line." "He claims to have some clues." "He insists I have to be strong and trust him." "I believe him but can't cope any more." "I think I'm about to explode." "Pills don't calm me down any more, I'm chain-smoking... and my daughter's getting more and more difficult." "She's always asking about her father, she feels something's wrong." "She doesn't want to go to school now." "Malena, I have nightmares." "I dream he's going to appear at any time and... and that he's going to take it out on me, that he's going to beat me to death, kill me." "I'm very scared, I can't go on." " He's dead, Adriana." " What?" "I killed him." " I knew you were hiding something." " What could I do?" "Sorry, Adriana, really." "Sorry about what?" "Killing him or lying to me?" "I'm not surprised with what he tried to do to that girl." "He could have done a lot worse." "The sod used to put the gun between my legs as if he was raping me." "I should have done what you did long ago..." "The important thing now is that they find the body, otherwise I won't see a peso." "Yes, you're right." "Adriana, I have something else to tell you..." "I'm not Capricorn, I'm Virgo." " Hello." " Hello." " Come in, it's good to see you." " Thanks." "These days beauty is a scarce commodity." "Vulgarity and bad taste rule the world." "But suddenly... an unfamiliarface, a scar and the miracle happens." "You're terrible." "You take me out to dinner and don't say a word." "I've been investigating you too, you know." " Happy birthday." " This is a form of provocation." "I don't want any Valentine's Day or happy birthday." "I don't want to carry your luggage, or you choosing my shampoo." "Nor do I, don't worry." "I've brought you a present." "Something special." " But if you don't want it..." " What's the present?" "Well, if you ask like that..." "And die with you if you kill me and kill myself if you die, 'cause when love don't die it kills and loves that kill never die." "She was softer than water, than soft water, she was fresher than the river, orange tree in bloom." "And in that summer street, lost street, she left a piece of life, and left..." "First one has to know suffering, then how to love, depart and, finally, walk thoughtless roads..." "Perfume of a flowering orange tree, useless promises of love that escaped in the wind." "Afterwards... who cares about afterwards?" "All my life is a yesterday that detains me in my past, eternal, ancient youth that has left me intimidated" "like a bird without light." "WE GET PISSED ON AND THE PAPERS SAY IT'S RAINING." "What can they have done to leave so much pain in my chest?" "Pain of an old grove, song on a street corner with a piece of life, flowering orange tree." "As the Spanish guy sings:" "Blood rushes through my veins." "When I wake each morning, I like to resuscitate." "For whoever would like to join me, I exchange verses for sorrows." "It's strong." "It's hard to find a good coffee." "As hard as finding a missing policeman." " Do you know the story about the cup of coffee?" " No." "When I was a kid to make it with a bird you had to go out togetherfor a while." "Today kids do things differently." "This story occurs in the middle of an orgy." "There's a guy fucking a bird he's just met, and he asks her:" ""Do you have anything to do later?" "Shall we have a coffee?"" "She looks at him and says:" ""Don't you think you're going a bit too fast?"" "My problem's a question of instinct." "I like all women, especially the easy ones." "That's the quality I most admire in a woman." "But they don't understand." "Question of instinct." "Shall we talk about my childhood now?" "That's what we're here for, isn't it?" "INSPECTOR MARTINEZ IS IN THE ABANDONED FACTORY ON ROUTE 21" "ITWAS AN ACCIDENT." "What are you doing here?" "No, my love, go and play in your room and we'll be right there." "Go on." "Go on, we'll be in in a minute." " Go on, Jessi." " Go and play for a while." "So, what do you think?" ""Inspector Martínez's body is in the abandoned factory on route 21." "It was an accident."" "In an old film by Truffaut the guy had a legion of lovers." "All togetherthey made up an abstract woman." "Something like a jigsaw puzzle." "You could be one of my patients." "The analyst and the cop." "The Spaniard could write a good song with all this material." "I prefer a tango." "Life is a tango, princess." "Like you." "Hello..." "Is that you, Sabinita?" "Yes." "The key's appeared, understand?" "I understand." "Do you understand?" "Yes, I understand." "It was at the Uruguayan's." "Someone has one just the same and together they open the safe." "Do you see what that means?" "I see!" "I'm busy right now, it's very late to be calling." "Let's talk tomorrow." "OK?" "We need to take a trip." "I have to find Esteban first." "The Bishop is getting angrier and angrier." "It has to end now..." "I feel like a bullfighter on the other side of the steel curtain." "I have a hunch that everything is going to work itself out very soon." "But I'm not satisfied, I don't know." "My husband, for example." "I can't bear him." "He's so correct, so boring." "If he hit me at least I could hate him." "I don't know, I need a bit of adventure..." "I'm going to make a confession." "Sometimes I go for a walk in Palermo woods, and see those women offering sex and I'd like to know what it's like to be one of them, weartheir clothes, be the dirtiest of the lot." "I could have killed you." "I'm being watched." "Get dressed." " How did you get in?" " The caretaker gave me the keys." "Bastard." "With all the tips he gets from me." "Stop it, Malena, I can explain, please let me explain." "I'm swimming in shit, I can't smell of perfume." "So I guess the failure won't go to your head." " Wait, wait." " Clear up this mess, please." "Come on, come on." "They're leaving." " Bye." " Bye." "If you want to see me again, you know where to find me." "Bye, my love." "What about me?" "What part of the jigsaw do I play?" " You are the jigsaw." " And you're a real bastard." "You're right." "Let's go, where nobody can judge us, where nobody can tell us that we're doing wrong." "Let's go, far from the world... where there is no justice, laws or anything, just our love." "PARADISE ATARM'S REACH" "Yes?" "Hello." "We know where Esteban's body is." "Someone is very interested in having the case solved." "Adriana insists she wants to come and identify him." "I'd askyou to go with her." "Fine." "I know it's unpleasant but she shouldn't be left alone." " Hello!" " Adriana, you're crazy." "Don't worry." "When you have to cry, cry." "Hey, Malena, do you reckon the body will have decomposed by now?" "That's enough, Adriana." "OK, sorry..." "I promise I'll behave." "But then you and I are going to have a champagne cocktail." " Adriana Mistral?" " That's me." "Not at all." " My condolences." " Thank you." " The bosses want to offertheir condolences." "Excuse me." " Yes." "What a thrill." "It's the first time I've received condolences." " How's Adriana?" " Fine." "I'm going to take your intuitions into account in the future." "We've been quite lucky despite the time that's passed and the rain... there were still traces." "Let's hope the autopsy will tell us more." "OK, wait for me." "Sabinita... you take over." "I have to go." "Be very discreet with anything you hear." "Don't you go messing it up." "Get it?" "Those at the top reckon the time for promotion has arrived." "Understood." "With yourtart again?" "It looks like you've screwed her now." "I always trusted you." "Malena's going to stay with you, OK?" "Esteban was a good man, an exemplary policeman, this and that..." "Come off it." "Obviously they weren't married to him." "Please, Adriana, keep quiet, they'll hearyou." "Excuse me, are you up to identifying the body?" "Yes." "An unidentified body was found this morning." "The police can't tell us anything." "We're waitingfor the chief of police..." "We're waitingfor details..." "A relative's arriving." "It could be the widow." "She'll come and identify the body..." " Are you OK?" " Yes." "He was hit overthe head with a blunt, red object." "Why don't you stay with Adriana?" "It'll hit her sooner or later." "I've got to get rid of all this shit." "I don't want any of it." "Out!" "And as soon as I can I'm getting out of this house." "I'm going for another champagne cocktail." "Malena!" "Come here!" "Come and see..." " Malena!" " What's up?" "Come here, look." "We don't know anything." "Not a thing." "There's no suspect, no clues." "No letter or note." " No..." "Poorthing, I could have been an actress, couldn't I?" "This is morbid." "Morbid?" "Do you think this morbid?" "Now he was morbid!" "What are you doing?" "Jessica's sleeping, Adriana, calm down." " Alright?" " Wonderful." "Cheers." "Were you expecting to see me in tears?" "You know that's not my style." "You know I'm happy." "Or are you going to tell me it's a crime for a woman to be happy because herfucking husband is dead?" "That's enough, Adriana, please, enough." "Give that to me, please." "You know I've been keeping a secret from you." "When Esteban disappeared or hit me," "I always called Carlos for a bit of consolation." "His personal effects." "They were in his desk." "I'm not interested in his personal effects." "He was an absolute bastard." " Why don't you calm her down a bit?" " Yes, come here, Adriana." "Nobody really knew him." "You don't know what he was like." "I don't want anything more to do with the police, you, him or anyone." "You're all a load of bastards." "Hello." "Hello." " Hello." " What's this?" "Mummy says that Daddy is not coming home again." "Is that what she says?" "What a lovely teddy bear." "Is the teddy beartired?" "Does he need his mummy to put him to bed?" "He does, doesn't he?" "Are you going to put him to bed?" "Go on." "I gave her a sleeping pill, she's fast asleep." " What about you?" " I'm off home." "I'm exhausted." "You can stay and look after her if you want, she needs comforting." "It's been a tough day." "I wander through the city, don't ask where." "I search for an encounter to brighten my day, and find nothing more than doors that deny what they conceal." "The chimneys spew out smoke" "into a more and more distant and higher sky." "Down the ochre walls trickles the juice of a blood fruit which has grown from the asphalt." "The fields are green, it must be spring, an endless train crosses my line of vision," "the neighbourhood where I live is no meadow, but a desolate landscape of antennas and cables." "Don't you have anything to say?" "All I need is a motive and the puzzle's solved." "I'm going to ask you a favour." "Look afterthis for a few days." "They're important documents." " There's no security, let alone in a cop's house." " Fine." "Hi, lovely." "Remember me?" "You and me have got to talk, girl." " I've got nothing to say to you." " But I have something to say to you." "I'm in it up to here and you're going to help me out." "Open up, for God's sake!" " OK, stop shouting." " Come on!" " How did you find me?" " It wasn't hard." "I made a note of the number plate of your car." "I have good friends, see." " What do you want?" " Well, now I'm here, to know your house." " This must have cost a fortune." " What do you want?" "I was just having a coffee this afternoon when suddenly I saw you on the telly with all the filth." "I recognised you." "You're a real blabbermouth you are." " I didn't say anything." " Oh, no?" "How did they find the stiff?" "And what were you doing there?" "Do you think I'm soft in the head or something?" "Esteban didn't want to rape me..." "he was my boyfriend." " He was afterthe money." " I don't know what you're talking about." "Don't piss me off, girl, and get me a beer." "Do you hear me?" "A beer." "Remember?" "Esteban, the Uruguayan, and me were partners." "The Courier of the Czar." "Get it, girl?" "The old sod wanted to rip us off and said the dosh had disappeared from the workshop." "Esteban thought it was me and wanted to kill me." "But someone double-crossed the Uruguayan and took all the dosh." " And you know who it is..." " No, you're wrong there." "I don't." "You always got it wrong, see?" "Hi, princess." "Time to take the tram, and this time we're going to do it together." "Hey, your man wants to go away with you, and not exactly to Colonia." "Look, I'll probably get a couple of years." "But you, girl, you'll rot in jail." "I have a journalist friend who would give me good money for a story like this." "Think quickly." "It's your last chance." "You decide." "Ah, good." "You give me my share," "I'll piss off and everything's over and done with, for good, girl." "Some things are too important to be left to the law." "Police headquarters." "Carlos Goyeneche, please." "Who, El Sabinita?" "Yes, El Sabina." "Hang on a sec." "That day Carlos went to the police station to collect Esteban's things." "Yes, who is it?" "Carlos?" "It's me." "We have to go back to the factory." "What?" "I'll be waiting foryou at home." "As the Bishop was away." "He decided to search the office thoroughly." "By chance he found what everyone was desperately lookingfor." "Since then, Carlos and I have been utterly complicit" "And together we sail distant seas in search of lost time." "As Oscar Wilde once said:" ""If we resist our passions it is more because of their weakness than our strength.""