Gonzalo’s eyes darkened. « Be careful what you’re implying, ma’am. I have connections. Important connections. I can shut this place down in a week if I want to. You’re threatening me. I’m informing you. I want to see Salomé now. » At that moment, Carmela noticed movement behind her office door. Salomé had heard everything. The girl was pale, trembling, her eyes fixed on her uncle. There was pure terror in that look. Gonzalo saw the girl too.
For a second, his mask of respectability slipped. What Carmela saw in his eyes convinced her of something. That man was dangerous, and Salomé knew it better than anyone. « Leave, » Carmela said. « Leave now, or I’ll call the police. » Gonzalo smiled. A cold smile that didn’t reach her eyes. « This isn’t over, ma’am. I’ll be back. And when I do, no one will protect that girl from her family. » The prison visiting room felt colder than ever.
Ramiro waited handcuffed to the table, but his demeanor had changed. He was no longer the defeated man of two days ago. There was fire in his eyes. Dolores sat across from him and studied him silently. “My name is Dolores Medina. I was a criminal defense attorney for 40 years. I saw your case on the news, and I need you to tell me everything.” “Why do you care?” “No one believed me for five years.” “Why would you be any different?” “Because 30 years ago, I let an innocent man be convicted.”
I couldn’t save him. That haunts me every night. I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. Ramiro looked at her for a long time, assessing whether he could trust this stranger. Finally, he spoke. « That night I drank a lot. I’d lost my job. I was devastated. I fell asleep on the sofa and don’t remember anything else until I woke up with blood on my hands and Sara on the floor. I called 911, tried to help her, and when the police arrived, they arrested me. Did you hear anything? Did you see anyone? »
Nothing, but now I know something I didn’t know before. Dolores leaned forward. « What did he tell you, Salomé? » Ramiro closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were filled with tears. « My daughter was there that night. She saw everything from the hallway. She was three years old, and she saw everything. She told me that someone came into the house after I fell asleep. Someone she knew, someone she trusted. » « Who? » Ramiro uttered a name Dolores already suspected. « My brother Gonzalo, my own flesh and blood. »
Dolores arrived home after midnight. Ramiro’s revelations swirled in her mind. A traitorous brother, a child witness. Five years of silence. Why had Salomé never spoken? What had kept her quiet for so long? She opened the door and turned on the light. What she saw paralyzed her. Her house had been ransacked. Drawers open, papers on the floor, books knocked off the shelves. Whoever had broken in wasn’t looking to steal; they were looking for something specific. The Fuentes case file was carefully wheeled through the mess toward her desk.
The file was still there, seemingly untouched, but on top of it was something new: a photograph. It was an old photo of Sara Fuentes, smiling, young, full of life. Someone had drawn a red X over her face with a permanent marker. Underneath it was a handwritten note: « Some truths must remain buried. Stop investigating or you’ll end up like her. » Dolores’s hands trembled, not from fear, but from rage. Whoever sent this message didn’t know Dolores Medina.
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I didn’t know she had survived a heart attack, a failed marriage, 40 years of facing criminals in court. I didn’t know that threatening her was the worst possible strategy. He picked up his phone and called Carlos. Someone broke into my house. Do they know I’m investigating? That means there’s something they don’t want me to find out. Double your efforts. I want to know everything about Gonzalo Fuentes, about Judge Aurelio Sánchez, and about any connection between them. And I want to know what Sara discovered before she died.
Outside, a black car was parked at the end of the street. Inside, someone watched Dolores’s house with the patience of a predator. The hunt had begun. Ticarlos worked all night and delivered his findings to Dolores at a discreet café far from the city center. What he brought was explosive. Gonzalo Fuentes went from being an office worker to a real estate developer in less than two years, he explained, spreading documents on the table. Right after his brother was convicted, he started buying properties.
Many properties. With what money? That’s the point. He inherited his parents’ land. Land that supposedly belonged to Ramiro as well. But according to this will, Carlos pointed to a document. His parents left everything to Gonzalo. Dolores examined the will. Something didn’t add up. Ramiro’s parents died six months before the crime. And this will surfaced after the conviction. Exactly. And the lawyer who validated it was Aurelio Sánchez. Before becoming a prosecutor, he practiced private law. This was one of his last cases before joining the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
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