Isidro De Saldanha

Isidro was a mortal captain Porfirio Diaz's federal police. He kept the poor from bothering the rich. He recognized that some laws do not apply to some people, and he received money in return for his discretion.

Isidro had a wife, a mistress and several stout children. Then his children died, his wife left him for a button-maker. His mistress gave him gonorrhea:a she was the mistress of several other men as well. Captain Isidro's scowl grew fiercer and prisoners in his precinct did not always his interrogations. His men trembled when he walked by.

At last the author of his misery revealed himself. Don Vicente tested a dozen other policemen that year, and only Captain Isidro had not broken. As compensation, Don Vicente let his new child vent his frustration on his former wife and mistress, held ready for Isidro's first meal.

Later Isidro mastered the arts of memory-manipulation, bureaucratic snafu and making evidence disappear. As Mexico City grew, Isidro recruited assistants to help with the workload. The consistory rewarded him with the title of ductus, and then, bishop, but he still prefers "Captain".