Summary

For years the townspeople seem to be unable to get the thought of Santiago’s murder and all of the random coincidences that lead up to it out of their minds. Many people who knew of the murder plan but did nothing spent the years trying to justify their inaction.

Twelve days after the murder, the investigating magistrate arrived in town. A huge crowd assembled around his office to give testimony they had not been asked for. The narrator never knew the magistrate’s name but later tracked down the case files the magistrate had written. From these case files, the narrator found out some information about the magistrate’s character. It seemed, from his notes, the magistrate was unable to find a single clue affirming Santiago had wronged the Vicarios. According to Angela’s friends, she had mentioned she had lost her virginity well before...