The prosecution built the rest.

Tired wife.
Previous arguments.
Money.
Jealousy.
A vague witness and a court-appointed lawyer who already seemed defeated before the trial.

Ramira swallowed.

—Salome… why didn’t you say so before?

The girl glanced down at her own worn-out shoes for a moment.

“Because he saw me hiding behind the curtain,” she whispered. “And he told me that if I talked, they would kill you too. Then Aunt Clara told me to stop making things up, that it was best to forget. That you had done something wrong and that I should behave.”

The entire room seemed to shrink.

Ramira felt a wave of cold rise up her arms.

Clara.

Esteban’s sister.

The woman who took Salomé in after the arrest.
The same one who cried at the trial like any other widow.
The same one who insisted that Ramira had always been “nervous” and “capable of anything when she got upset.”

Ramira brought both of her cuffed hands to the girl’s face.

—My love… listen to me carefully. Have you seen that man before?

Salome nodded.

“Yes. Twice. Once he came when you weren’t there, and Dad let him into the study. I brought him water. He had a big, gold watch with a snake’s head on it,” she said, touching her wrist. “And he smelled strong, like cigarettes and cologne. Dad was scared when he came. I knew it because afterward he always yelled even more.”

Colonel Méndez, from the doorway, stopped breathing normally.

He didn’t move.

He said nothing.

But something in the way the girl spoke—without drama, without seeking attention, with the raw clarity of someone who holds onto an image for years—made the old discomfort in his chest transform into something else.

Alarm.

Ramira leaned in even further.

—Did you hear any names?

Salome closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating.

—Dad called him “Attorney Becerra” once. And then that night… when I was hiding, I heard him say, “I already told you I wasn’t going to sign.” Then there was a bang… and then another.

Ramira felt her body sag to one side.

Mr. Becerra.

Esteban’s business lawyer.

External partner.
Frequent visitor.
Elegant man.
Dinner friend.
One of those who testified, under oath, that Esteban and Ramira had serious financial problems and that he feared for their safety in the house.

Ramira never trusted him.

But he couldn’t prove anything either.

Méndez opened the door completely.