Free The Black Minutes by Martín Solares Page A

they had. There was a minor fire next to the refinery, which was at first kept secret.
    A livestock farmer was kidnapped, and two secret-service policemen liberated him three days later. It was the first time the paper mentioned officers Chávez and Taboada, Cabrera’s long-time coworkers. Remember, he said to himself, that journalist in suspenders, Johnny Guerrero, wrote that the agents following the case were in cahoots with the kidnappers.
    Then a new governor came to office, José “Pepe” Topete, a fan of spiritualism, pyramids, and herbal medicine. He only trusted a few of his staff members: the deplorable Juan José Churruca, his government minister; and Licenciado Norris Torres, member of a dynasty of dinosaurs in the office. The beginning of his term coincided with that of two mayors: Daniel Torres Sabinas in Paracuán and Don Agustín Barbosa, the first opposition mayorof Ciudad Madero. A little while later, the governor would put one of them in prison. That year, 1978, Don Daniel Torres wanted to put on an unforgettable summer carnival, the port’s main celebration commemorating the second founding of the city of Paracuán.
    Kojak
was on television.
    In the movie theaters, 007’s
Live and Let Die, Papillon, The Exorcist, El santo oficio
by Arturo Ripstein, and
El llanto de la tortuga
with Hugo Stiglitz.
    There was a porn movie theater, the Hilda, that had
Emmanuelle, Bilitis
, and
The Story of O
, but most of the time they were showing the same movies over and over again:
Elsa the Pervert; Ubalda, All Naked and Warm; The Gestapo’s Secret Train, College Girls Have Fun, My Lover Is a Puppy
(parts I and II), and other movies that mixed sex and geography:
Asia the Insatiable, Khartoum, Sensual Nights; Samsala, Voracious Tongue
. Understandably, the bishop attacked these movies during his Sunday sermons.
    These are the ads: Rigo Tovar Premieres his New LP; Listen to
La Hora de Roberto Carlos
on XEW; José José and His Friends, Juan Gabriel and Guest Stars; Come to the Cherokee Music Disco Nights and dance to the sounds of the Jackson Five, Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder, and the Bee Gees. Meet the pretty people and dance to the YMCA.
    Social News, January 8: “The distinguished beachgoers in the photo have arrived from Germany. The tanned young ladies have traveled all the way from the Rhine to visit our greatest tourist attraction, Miramón Beach. They are, from left to right: Inge Gustaffson, Deborah Straus, and Patricia Olhoff.”
    Local news: GREAT RISK OF MALARIA INFECTION: VIRUS MIGHT COME IN A TOMATO TRUCK .
    Sports: CASSIUS CLAY SHOWS OFF AT A PRESS CONFERENCE .

    International: KISSINGER THREATENS ECONOMIC EMBARGO. ALARM IN THE MIDDLE EAST .
    Local news: “For four consecutive days, Paracuán PRI supporters distribute pamphlets condemning the stones thrown at President Echeverría at the National University.”
    Social news, airport: “John and Jack Williams travel to our sister city, San Antonio. Family and friends see them off.”
    Local news, blood and gore: QUINCEÑERA ENDS IN BESTIAL BRAWL; DISGRACEFUL MAN BEATS HIS OWN MOTHER; HUSBAND ABUSES WIFE FOR NO REASON; EPILEPTIC MAN RUN OVER BY BUS; SHADY CHARACTER WITH STUNTED MIND SPENDS FREEZING NIGHT IN THE SLAMMER .
    That was the situation in the progressive city of Paracuán, state of Tamaulipas, always interested in the more spiritual aspects of life (while at the same time condemning the more carnal side). But then the port’s two papers begin to take different tacks: in the following days, their coverage was almost identical, except for the tone of the articles and the style of the headlines.
    The first news related to the killer appeared on Thursday, January 12, as a small paid insert, along with the day’s television programming: DIFFICULT SEARCH: A GIRL IS MISSING . A photo was included, taken from a yearbook, and next to it appeared the following text:

The young girl in the picture, Lucía Hernández Campillo, disappeared last Monday while