Jorge Luis Borges: Death and the Compass
“Death and the Compass” is a short story by Jorge Luis Borges, first published in May 1942 in the magazine Sur and later included in the collection Ficciones (1944). Dr. Marcelo Yarmolinsky, a delegate to the Third Talmudic Congress, is found dead in his room at the Hôtel du Nord. At the crime scene, a mysterious message is discovered, linked to the first letter of the Name of God. Convinced that behind this death—and those that follow—there lies a mystical and symbolic pattern, the detective Erik Lönnrot ventures into a sinuous labyrinth of clues, determined to uncover who, or who all, is responsible for these murders.
