1
THE NIGH OF THE WILD BOAR
"Literature is a dangerous craft"
Roberto Bolao
She come's in today, right?
She is going to bring us bad luck
that woman.
Work is work.
How did the hunt go?
-Ma'am.
-Good morning, Mr. Mario.
Good morning.
I would like to offer my condolences
on the death of Mr--
That's okay.
Who is this?
Benno, the town's rat.
Good morning, Ms. Claudia.
Ms. Claudia, this is the town's policeman.
Welcome to the south of the world.
-Is there something wrong?
-No, not for now.
I simply wanted to let you know
that we are doing everything possible
to investigate Mr. Guillermo's death.
His death?
He committed suicide a year ago.
Don't worry, Ms. Claudia,
he is new in town.
He likes making up theories.
He wants to get famous.
It will be better if I come back later.
That way we can talk calmly.
Say hi to your wife for me, Mario.
Everything is ready in the house, ma'am.
Water and electricity are ready,
and the generator is on.
I am here only for a few days, Mario.
The keys.
Let me know if you need anything.
GUILLERMO SAN ROMAN
THE HUNTER AND THE SNOW
THE HUNTER AND THE SNOW
Who is it?
Who is out there?
Hello.
Hello?
Hello.
Thank you...
but I can do it myself next time.
Mr. Mario!
Mr. Mario!
Mr. Mario!
Yes?
-Who is that guy chopping wood?
-Sebastian?
He is helping me with the heavy work.
Truth is
I haven't been feeling very well lately,
so he is taking care of the houses.
-Family of yours?
-No.
Why? Is he bothering you?
Ms. Claudia?
What are you doing here?
Come with me.
Is that a body?
We found her body
on the river this morning.
Her parents thought she had run away
from the house a while back.
That's horrible.
Yeah, it's horrible. Poor kid.
You'd never seen a body before, right?
No.
Did you get to read Guillermo's work?
I mean, they are very graphic,
they are full of details.
And how do you get inspired
to write your little novels?
Do you remember your boyfriends?
-Or your relationship with Guillermo?
-That's enough, Benno.
This degenerate is guilty
of those killings.
And the body of that girl on the river
is going to help me prove it.
-You have nothing to say about this?
-Get out of my house.
Here is my phone number.
I mean, in case you remember something.
Or just to get... inspired.
You bastard! We told you it was him!
You did nothing!
Hello, Claudia.
I think you know why I am calling.
The company has decided
not to represent you anymore.
Romantic novels are not really in line
with what we're looking for these days.
And... well, you should have been nicer,
Claudia.
Well, take care, Claudia.
-Mr. Mario.
-Ms. Claudia.
I came by to see if everything was okay.
Is there a problem?
Last night I came by
and you had a visitor.
And?
That cop is asking questions
about me in town.
Listen.
It's better not to talk to him, okay?
I am sorry if I was bothering you.
Who is there?
Who is out there?
-Claudia, what happened?
-It was you downstairs, right?
No. I just came by
and wanted to check on you.
-Were you downstairs?
-Who's downstairs?
-You were down there, walking around.
-Who's downstairs?
It was you, right?
No?
Did they take something of value?
I don't know.
Papers, Guillermo's documents, I guess.
Was there something in those documents
that you didn't tell me about before?
No.
Are these San Roman's notes?
What are you doing here, Benno?
Can't you see that I am the victim?
Calm down, Claudia.
I'm just trying to understand why someone
would come here looking for documents.
Aren't you the cop?
Yes, that's why I want to help.
I don't believe a thing you say.
Do you have a warrant to be here?
Down here, warrants don't do much good.
Piece-of-shit town.
The town has nothing to do with it, man.
How's your wife?
Your sister will never forgive you, man.
You know that, right?
Why the hell did you come back?
After everything,
they will never let me be, right?
You wanted them to let you be?
It would have been better
not to come back then.
Could be. After everything I did
for those sons of bitches,
they sent me back to this shithole again.
A puppet, right?
They used you and threw you away.
Aren't you at the same place, man?
Where you started?
No, man, you are worse,
because now no one likes you.
Do you remember when we used to play
on these grounds, man?
Do you know who else plays here?
Kids, man. Our kids.
The kids of the men that are not with us
anymore. They play here.
And your kids?
Do you have kids, man?
I am going to solve this case
and I will get the hell out of here.
Once and for all.
I just hope you are not in on all of this.
Be careful.
You might get hurt.
You need to hold the stick with strength.
And chop the wood in smaller pieces...
with this one.
That's how you cut up a body.
Did you understand?
Get in.
-Am I under arrest?
-No.
Not yet.
Do you know what's down there?
Clothes belonging to a girl...
and this glove.
We showed it to her parents...
and... it belonged to the girl
we found in the river.
But the girl we found in the river
was naked.
Does this tell you something?
How do you know it was Guillermo?
"Protector-girl,
white in her skin and in her death.
Red in her gloves and in her past."
I might not know much about writing,
but he seems to be talking
about our girl and that glove.
This is why you brought me here?
Are you ready to go to jail?
Are you ready to get locked up
defending him?
Defending a guy that's dead?
I don't know what power
you think you have in this town,
but for me... you have nothing.
Get me out of here.
GUILLERMO SAN ROMAN
SUBMERGED
TOP SELLER: THE BRUTAL WRITING
OF GUILLERMO SAN ROMAN
"THE HUNTER AND THE SNOW"
NEW NOVEL BY GUILLERMO SAN ROMAN
CLAUDIA:
"IS THIS THE PEOPLE'S MUSEUM?"
Yes. Do you want to come in?
It's nice to have you back here,
Ms. Claudia.
You're not having dinner?
No.
Are you sure? Tonight we have wild boar.
Keep it for the tourists.
Excuse me?
Maybe you have noticed
that locals don't eat wild boar.
You know why?
No, I am not from around here.
The wild boar is an omnivore.
That means it will eat anything.
Literally anything.
And in this town many years ago...
things happened that...
it's better... not even to talk about.
And they used the animals
to make several bodies disappear.
Can you imagine finding out later on
what you had been eating?
I'll stick to the whiskey.
Thank you.
As you wish, Ms. Claudia.
Hello?
Okay.
Let's talk.
So, why am I here?
I know you think Guillermo is guilty.
But I have been looking in the books
and I haven't found any text
that could be linked to the disappearance
of those women in town.
Ages, places, nothing matches.
Except for the description of the red
glove that he put in one of his books.
What if there's someone who wants
to make us believe it was Guillermo?
Did you know Mario hired a helper
a few months back?
Yes. His name is Sebastian.
I followed him to his cabin.
And he had a wall filled
with information about Guillermo.
Maps, papers, photographs.
He even had a red glove.
I know you think it was Guillermo,
but you need to go see it for yourself.
He even had a picture of me.
Okay, I will go.
But you're coming with me.
Clear skin and dark hair.
Big black eyes...
I'll tell you something, Claudia.
I met Guillermo when he helped
the military across the mountains.
At that time, I wouldn't have been
surprised if he was a murderer.
But to accept that this little leech
would go on to become a famous writer?
No.
No.
I didn't do it.
I swear.
What is it you didn't do?
I barely knew him.
Whom? San Roman?
Yes.
The murderer of women and girls?
I didn't know what he was up to.
-You didn't know?
-No.
You didn't know he killed women and girls
and then wrote books about it?
-You didn't know?
-No.
-No?
-No.
You didn't know he butchered my sister?
-That's a lie! A lie!
-No, I swear.
-You knew everything.
-No.
Yes. You were hiding my sister's glove.
This is not what we agreed upon.
You should have killed him last night!
Do you realize
what he could have done to me?!
Yes, I realize.
But he wasn't stupid.
He found the body and left it by the river
for the police to find it.
If you had done your job accordingly,
none of this would have happened.
Don't you forget that.
Don't forget?
I will never forget.
You made us do horrible things,
things that can't be named.
Just for the money!
We're covered, Mario.
This idiot will not be able to rat on us,
neither will the cop.
You are a cancer.
Will you ever stop?
The cop had your fingerprints, Mario.
It was only a matter of time.
You should be thanking me.
Tell me, ma'am. Why did you come here?
Couldn't you just let us be?!
Mario... I will go away.
I will go away.
I will go away forever.
No, you will never go away,
and the things we did will never go away.
Shoot, man! Shoot!
It won't be the first time
you kill an unarmed man.
What's he talking about?
Old stories
that this idiot keeps repeating.
I see you know nothing
about your little friend.
The informer. The murderer.
And you, did you know
Guillermo San Roman never wrote a book?
San Roman--
San Roman was just a little puppet
for this whore!
Tell him! Tell him why
you don't put your name on the books!
I already knew!
Yes, very interesting.
San Roman's papers had your handwriting.
Tell me.
Tell me one thing, Claudia.
Is it very hard to become a writer?
What if you look for the victims...
and I tell you their stories?
It's better than rotting away in jail,
right?
"Benno."
I like that name for a writer.
Cute couple.
A woman killing women
and a friend that rats on his friends.
Do we have a deal?
Kill him. Kill him.
Too bad.
We could have started with this one.
Yes, but San Roman only killed women.
That was his choice.
Too bad the idiot always kidnapped them
in the same town,
and was surrounded by
mediocre losers like this one.
Help me. Help me!
Told you, man.
I told you I was going to get out.
We are going to make a great team,
Claudia.
You just worry about making me famous.
You know what happens now, Benno?
I think I don't need you anymore.
Not you...
nor any other man
that publishes on my behalf.
It's terror they want?
Terror I will give them.
Stories about men...
that disappear in the end of the world...
persecuted by their women.
You wanted to be famous?
Talk to me.
Talk to me, I'm listening.
Carrie Duplessis