context: (Note: in this summary, last names describe the characters in the fictionalized novel of the 1970's history of law enforcement officer BenjamÃ­n "EspÃ³sito", first names describe the people in retiree "Benjamin" EspÃ³sito's modern world.)
  Retiree BenjamÃ­n EspÃ³sito is having trouble getting started on his first novel. He pays a visit to the offices of Judge Irene MenÃ©ndez Hastings to tell her about his plans to recount the story of the Liliana Coloto case, the one they both worked on 25 years before, when Irene was his new department chief and he was the federal agent assigned to the case. Irene suggests that Benjamin start at the beginning.
  The beginning marks the discovery of Coloto's body, raped and murdered in her home in 1974. EspÃ³sito promises her widower, Ricardo Morales, that the killer will do life for his crime. Morales states that he opposes the death penalty. EspÃ³sito's investigation is joined by his alcoholic friend and assistant, Pablo Sandoval, and the Cornell Law School-educated Hastings. Before the three can start, their rival, Romano, tries to show them up by having officers beat a confession out of two innocent laborers, who had been working near the couple's apartment. EspÃ³sito has the confessions overturned and lashes out at Romano in a justice building hall. EspÃ³sito threatens to file a complaint as Romano racially insults the construction workers.
  Back on the case, EspÃ³sito notices that pictures from Coloto's home town of Chivilcoy frequently show a man named Isidoro GÃ³mez whose eyes never leave her. Although Irene is skeptical, BenjamÃ­n insists all of a young man's feeling for a woman is spoken there. Seeing that GÃ³mez has disappeared, EspÃ³sito and Sandoval travel to Chivilcoy and sneak into GÃ³mez's mother's house, where they find his letters to her. Sandoval steals them but they contain nothing useful and, when their supervising judge learns of the illegal action, the case is closed. Over an evening review of the manuscript, BenjamÃ­n reminds Irene that it was only one week later that she announced her engagement. He also recalls backing out of a conversation with her in which he was about to shut the door. The memory is poignant, and Irene decides that she cannot revisit the past through his novel anymore.
  The case is reopened after a year when EspÃ³sito sees that Morales maintains daily surveillance of Buenos Aires railway stations looking for GÃ³mez. After receiving Hastings' approval, Sandoval studies the letters and notices references to the players of Racing Football Club in Buenos Aires. EspÃ³sito and Sandoval attend four matches of Racing until they are able to spot GÃ³mez in the crowd. GÃ³mez leads the police through a chase before being arrested. Hastings is able to break GÃ³mez by making taunting remarks about him being too weak to commit the crime. Feeling emasculated, GÃ³mez exposes his penis and shouts a confession. Late one night, while contemplating the sacrifice of his lost friend Pablo, BenjamÃ­n gets a call from Irene asking to see the rest of his book.
  In 1975, the widower sees his wife's killer on television, included in a security detail for the president of Argentina, MarÃ­a Estela MartÃ­nez de PerÃ³n. Hastings and EspÃ³sito quickly establish that Romano, now working for a government intelligence agency, released the murderer out of spite. Romano claims that GÃ³mez has violent talents that should be used to combat left wing guerrillas instead of being squandered in prison. Romano insults them both, taunting EspÃ³sito for being beneath Hastings. Undeterred, she later invites EspÃ³sito to offer his objections to her impending marriage plans later that night. Before they can meet, however, he has to leave a very intoxicated Sandoval in his living room to fetch his wife. When they return, they find Sandoval murdered. EspÃ³sito assumes he was the target of either Romano or GÃ³mez and accepts the remote isolation of Jujuy Province. Hastings takes him to the train station for a disconsolate goodbye.
  When Irene finishes reading, she and Benjamin still seek inspiration for a suitable ending. They are able to locate Ricardo Morales leading a quiet life in a rural area of Buenos Aires Province. Although the widower apparently has relinquished his obsession with the murder case, BenjamÃ­n has to ask him how he has lived without the love of his life for 25 years. When BenjamÃ­n repeats Pablo's final promise to get Isidoro, Ricardo hesitantly confesses that in 1975 he kidnapped Isidoro and shot him dead. Feeling that something is not right, BenjamÃ­n follows Ricardo to a small building near the main house, where he is shocked to find Isidoro living in a makeshift cell, undetectable from the outside. Isidoro begs for human contact and Ricardo reminds BenjamÃ­n of his promise that Isidoro would never go free. BenjamÃ­n pays his respects at Pablo's grave, then goes to see Irene with an evident sense of purpose. She notices something different in his eyes, reminds him that it will be complicated, and asks him to close the door.
question: Who beats the two innocent laborers?
answer: Romano