I DON’T GO BY THE NAME MY PARENTS GAVE ME

I don’t go by the name they gave me when I was born, but my real name doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t care if that sounds odd to you. But before I get going with my story, let me introduce myself: I’m Paco to my relatives from Muros (my Aunt Castora, who’s over 90, still calls me Paquiño as if I were a little boy) and to my clients I’m Frank, Frank Soutelo. I added the Soutelo part because it sounds good and it’s also in honor of my father, who was from there, you know. It’s the village that’s famous for its bagpipe player. The truth is, and even if it’s too much information, they were both good friends when they were kids. That’s why I still have a one-of-a-kind platter that Avelino Cachafeiro recorded on Pontevedra Radio during the forties, because it was one of my father’s most treasured souvenirs. Getting back to my last name, I have to say I’m really tired of explaining how, in spite of the fact that it’s got quite a lilt to it, it’s not Italian. And oh, by the way, my closest friends call me Big Frank because I’ve got a hefty physique. But I’m not fat, of course.

I’m a private detective and that’s how I’m listed in the phone book, on the mailbox and, of course, on the door to my office. Still, if I’m going to tell you the story of my adventures (that part about telling the story is just to make them sound more important, of course…), once in a while, just once in a while, I say I’m a personal rather than a private detective. That’s because my style and my cases could fall a little outside the norm for what you usually read about in all the novels and see in the movies. My office is in a big wide building, cold-looking, with red brick walls, built in the thirties and really in need of remodeling. I’m sure that won’t ever happen, though, because the real estate people never get around to it. The company is sneaky like that. The point is to get the tenants mad so they’ll stop getting in the way of their money-making plans. The lot alone is worth millions, but the company won’t even bother to make us a decent offer so we might consider vacating the premises.

Now that I’ve told you all this, I suppose that you’re probably a bit confused. I can imagine you’re wondering what a guy like me is doing in a place like that. Don’t be impatient. I have my reasons.