Act 2, Scene 5 Summary

Three days after the tragedy, the factory workers sit at their tables. Marela still wears her coat. Ofelia complains about the silence, saying that it is much louder than after their last lector died. Marela proposes to write Juan Julian's name on a piece of paper and place it in a glass of water and brown sugar as a sign that his spirit is welcome in the factory. She anticipates her mother's objection to this superstition, and she counters that the living must look after the dead in order to be able to count on their help when the living, in turn, cross to the other side. Conchita says that someone must continue the reading. She would do it, but she knows it would make her cry. Marela says that crying would be wrong because tears concentrate attention on the killer...