The Mistery of Belicena Villca
– Oh , it is not necessary Dr ., I see with the Blood . I know what I always knew --she told me with a candid smile .
Yes , she is sick ! I thought foolishly , thinking that she was alluding to the theory of reincarnation as do the spiritists , permanent clients of our pavilions . Back then I couldn ' t even remotely imagine that one day I would make unusual efforts to remember each of her words to analyze them with great respect .
Chapter V
It should come as no surprise that the police closed the case shortly after the investigation began , because after each step that was taken in pursuit of clarifying it , everything became more confusing , being unjustifiable to deposit so much effort in a crime that , it seemed , no one was interested in solving . First , because Belicena Villca had no known family members who demanded justice ; but , mainly , because of the mystery that surrounded the matter : how did the murderer enter the hermetically sealed cell ?; Why did he use a valuable jeweled rope to kill a defenseless alienated ?; and , the most incomprehensible : which could be the motive for the crime , the motive that made what happened intelligible ?
There was no answer to these and other questions that arose and , to pass time without advancing a hand , the case was prudently closed by the Police .
Two months later , nobody spoke about the crime in the Neuropsychiatric Hospital and there were few who some months later remembered the ill-fated Belicena Villca .
The daily routine , the tiring work , the daily and inevitable problems , everything contributes to the worldly man , immersed in the future of his destiny , becoming impervious to the pain of others or to those phenomena that don ' t permanently affect his concrete reality .
I am not the exception to the rule and , as regards what is narrated here , surely I would have forgotten the horrible crime beset by the obligations of my medical residency , office care , or the American Anthropology classes that I follow as a postgraduate tertiary course .
I say " I would have forgotten " because the story of Belicena Villca invaded soon my own world upsetting everything ; leading me to the edge of the abyss of madness into which she succumbed .
As I said , the Police soon became disinterested in the crime ; after statements of rigor given in the following days , they no longer bothered us more and life returned to its usual rhythm . Belicena Villca ' s corpse was performed an autopsy , which only served to confirm what we already assumed : death was caused by strangulation with the white rope . As she didn ' t have any known relatives , a telegram was sent to her only visitor , a Chahuanco indian , apparently based in the Province of Tucumán ; but after some time without him coming , the remains were buried in a local necropolis .
In those days , mid-January , northern midsummer , my only concern was to plan the annual vacations that began on day 20 and lasted until the end of February . I would certainly have time to do some excursions and prepare the subjects that I ' d render in March .
Precisely , in a visit I made to the Faculty of Anthropology of Salta to enroll in a final exam , I came across Professor Pablo Ramírez , prestigious Doctor of Philology , whom I knew from having attended one of his Amerindian language courses . When I saw him it suddenly occurred to me to make a query :
– Good morning Dr . Ramírez . If you don ' t mind losing just one moment , I would like to ask you something ...
– Good morning Dr . Arturo Siegnagel – he replied as he bowed the bald head politely-- , you ' ll say .
– You see Dr . Ramírez , a few days ago a patient died at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital where I am a Doctor and , before dying , she spoke a word in Quechua , something like " pachachutquiy "; I translate pacha = World , chutquiy = to dismember : that is , to “ dismember the World ”. As this does not make sense , I would like you to tell me if there is any other meaning for that word . --I tried not to give information about the strange death . Professor Ramírez listened to my translation with visible displeasure . – Where was your patient from ? --From the Province of Tucumán ; it seems that she always dwelt in the Calchaquí Valleys , even though lately she had traveled north , even to Perú and Bolivia . But I know very little about such trips because she never agreed to comment on them .
" Good ", Dr . Ramírez said impatiently . As you know , Quechua has many dialects ; but , according to the affiliation you have given me , I suggest considering the following : although pacha is the " World ", or the " Earth ", as in pachamama = Mother Earth , in quechua santiagueño pacha also
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