Chapter 23 and 24 Summary

Carlos begins to see Teresa's face in the faces of other young women in crowds. Finally, one evening, he asks Benn to tell him what happened to Teresa. From there, he tells Teresa's story and her death. He tracks her pain and torture until finally she is taken with a number of other women to the pampas where she will be shot in the back of the head. Up until the moment of her death, however, she is not afraid because she feels that she might finally be saved after hearing the stories about the Sternbergs and the pampas from her father's stories.

Carlos leaves, taking a train trip to the coast. He cannot escape Teresa's death and cannot stop imagining it. While at the coast, he swims every morning and evening. Each day he swims farther and farther until one...