Name: Willie Quintana, alias Negrón. 1.90 meters tall, 115 kilos, 34 years old, black, born in Marianao, Havana. After completing the physical examinations, it can be stated that all his vital organs were in optimal condition when he died of asphyxiation.
Bocanera reworked the autopsy results, its technicalities. Negrón was in impeccable health when he died. Death by homicide, in a process that could be described as torturous.
The deceased seemed to have come from another planet; his family relationships could not be determined. It was learned that a sister was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. He was not married and had no children. He appeared as the owner of an apartment in a microbrigade building located at 14 Calle 62, between 19 and 21, Buena Vista.
The victim, Cisneros García, stated that Negrón had shown his face throughout the assault. For eight months, he inspected the house as a supposed Public Health inspector. Bocanera knew that if you commit a crime of that magnitude with your face uncovered, it is because you are going to kill the person you are assaulting, or you are going to disappear forever.
The report determined death by strangulation. A man of that height and build was not so easy to strangle. According to the coroner, they used a rope made of very resistant material.
The modus operandi was quite imprecise, ruling out traditional hanging; however, extreme pressure was exerted around the neck, the skin in that area was crushed, and the bruises reached the shoulders. There was no blood accumulation in the extremities. Another unusual feature was the cutting of one of the tendons and the skinning of the heels. Cutting the tendon was intended to partially immobilize the victim, but slicing and tearing the skin off the heels, following the previous drawing with a marker, was irrational. Bocanera recalled what W&Q had said at the time about the case of Lieutenant Vigil. Perhaps they had spoken more than they should have, felt comfortable with the Chief’s son, and let it slip.
He would review the possible implications.
The dissemination of a saline component throughout the body, unrelated to the acidification of the corpse, was verified. It was sea salt, concentrated in large quantities in the mouth, nasal passages, larynx, trachea, and lungs.
Remains of textile fibers were also found on the back, arms, and legs, presumably from a carpet or something similar. The task of finding that textile with the corresponding fingerprints was almost impossible.
Something unusual that set off all the alarms came from the blood test results: high concentrations of heroin were detected, and several puncture marks on the arms corroborated the consumption and overdose of that drug.
The W&Q couple arrived at the office on 40th Street with fresh information about Willie Quintana. W was sallow, thin, bald, with a broad forehead, close-set gray eyes, and a hooked nose. He had poor posture, slumped shoulders, and hunched over more than usual. If he hadn’t been a member of the Ministry, he would have liked to be a librarian. He loved books and sought as much information as possible from them for his work. He often got excited reading Russian classics. His sense of self-parody made him a guy with surprising histrionic abilities.
Q was less elaborate, tall, blond, green-eyed, white-skinned, muscular, with regular features, a little bland. He thought he was a born conqueror, easily picking up a certain type of woman. He carried a photo album of his conquests.
Looking at them, no one would believe they were capable of taking the highest risks. They acted like a solution machine; any problem that fell into their hands could be solved. Bocanera trusted them, but their liberal and frank behavior, their tastes and intelligence, set them apart from the military canon of the institution.
Bocanera insisted. Was he sufficiently supported in that investigation? W&Q answered affirmatively. That’s not enough for me, said Bocanera, I need clearer confirmation. I’m not interested in covering my tracks, I want to get to the bottom of this. W took a note signed by the Ministry’s Chief of Operations out of his briefcase. Bocanera read it and stared intently at his colleagues. He folded the paper and went to put it away. Q stepped forward, apologized, and referred to compliance with protocol. That document had to be returned to its place of origin. W remembered Kafka’s The Chinese Wall.
He distributed the most urgent tasks: to investigate the identity of Willie Quintana. W&Q would have to make an inventory of hotels and rental houses on the Playa coast to try to find the fabric on which the body could have rested.
Chapter 8 of My Last Trip in a Lada (Editorial Casa Vacía, 2025).
