The tram continued on its way and I was burning with curiosity to
know what had happened to the unfortunate Countess. Had her husband
killed her? I understood how that villain's mind worked. Desirous
of enjoying his revenge, like all cruel souls, he wanted his wife
to be present, without pause in playing, at the death of that unwary
young man brought there by a spiteful trick on the part of Mudarra.
But the lady could not continue making desperate efforts to keep
calm, knowing that Rafael had swallowed the poison. A tragic and
horrifying scene I thought, more convinced than ever of the reality
of that event--and now you'll say that such things only happen in
novels!
On passing in front of Palacio the tram halted and a woman got on
who was carrying a small dog in her arms. I immediately recognized
the dog I had seen reclining at the feet of the Countess. This was
the same dog with the same white and fine fur, the same black patch
on one of his ears. As luck would have it the woman sat down next
to me. Unable to resist being curious, I put the following question
to her:
"Is this nice dog your dog?"
"Who else could he belong to? Do you like him?"
I fondled one of the ears of the intelligent animal to show him
affection, but he, oblivious to my blandishments, jumped and put
his paws on the knees of the English woman, who showed me her two
teeth again as if wanting to bite me, and exclaimed:
"Oh! You are unsupportable!"
"And where did you acquire this dog?" I asked without taking notice
of the latest explosion of righteous indignation on the part of the
British lady. "Can you tell me?"
"My mistress gave it me."
"And what became of your mistress?" I asked most anxiously.
"Ah! Did you know her?" the woman replied.
"She was a good woman, wasn't she?"
"An excellent woman. But may I know how that bad business ended?"
"So you know about it, you've had news of it."
"Yes, madam. I know what happened, including the tea that was
served. And tell me--did your mistress die?"
"Yes, sir. She's gone to a better place."
"And what happened? Was she murdered or did she die of fright?"
"What murder? What fright?" she said with a mocking expression.
"You're not in the know after all. She ate something that
disagreed with her that night and it harmed her. She had a
fainting fit that lasted till dawn."
This one, I thought, knows nothing about the incident with the
piano and the poison or doesn't want to make me think she does.
Afterwards I said in a loud voice:
"So she died of food poisoning?"
"Yes, sir. I warned her not to eat those shellfish, but she took
no notice of me."
"Shellfish, eh?" I said incredulously. "I know what really
happened."
"Don't you believe me?"
"Yes. Yes," I replied, pretending to believe her. "And what
about the Count, her husband, the one who pulled the dagger on
her while she was playing the piano?"
The woman looked at me for a moment and then laughed in my face.
"You're laughing, are you? Don't you think I know what took place?
You don't want to tell me what really happened. There'd be grounds
for a criminal prosecution if you did."
"But you mentioned a count and a countess."
"Was not this dog's mistress the Countess wronged by the butler
Mudarra?"
The woman burst out laughing again so uproariously that I muttered
to myself distractedly: She must be Mudarra's accomplice and
naturally she'll hide as much as she can.
"You're mad," the unknown woman added.
"Lunatic, lunatic. I'm suffocated. Oh! My God!"
"I know everything. Come now. Don't hide it from me. Tell me
what the Countess died of."
"For crying out loud, what countess?" exclaimed the woman, laughing
even more loudly.
"Don't think you fool me with your laughter!" I replied. "The
Countess was either poisoned or murdered. There's no doubt about it
in my mind."
At this juncture the tram arrived at Pozas and I had reached the end
of my journey. We all got off. The English woman gave me a look
indicative of her elation at finding herself free of me and each of
us went in our several directions. I followed the woman with the dog,
plying her with questions, until she reached her home still laughing
at my determination to know better about other people's lives. Once
alone in the street, I remembered the object of my journey and set off
to visit the house where I was due to hand over those books. I gave
them to the person who had asked for them in order to read them, and
I started to walk up and down opposite Buen Suceso, waiting for the
tram to reappear so I could then return to the opposite end of Madrid
again.
I waited a long time and finally, just as it was getting dark, the
tram prepared to leave.
I got on and the first thing I saw was the English lady sitting where
she had sat before. When she saw me get on and sit down next to her,
the expression on her face beggared description. She went as red as a
beetroot and exclaimed:
"Oh! You again. I complain to driver--you are for high jump this time."
I was so preoccupied with my own emotions that, without paying attention
to what the English lady was saying in her laborious utterances, I
answered her thus:
"Madam, there is no doubt that the Countess was either poisoned or
killed. You have no idea of that man's ferocity."
The tram continued on its way and every now and then stopped to take on
passengers. Near the royal palace three got on, occupying seats opposite
me. One of them was a tall, thin and bony man with very stern eyes and a
bell-like voice that imposed respect.
They hadn't been on ten minutes when this man turned to the others and
said:
"Poor thing! How she cried out in her dying moments! The bullet went in
above her right shoulder-blade and penetrated down to her heart."
"What?" I exclaimed all of a sudden. "She died of a shot and not a stab
wound?"
The three of them looked at me in amazement.
"Of a shot, sir, yes," the tall, thin and bony one said with a certain
amount of surliness.
"And that woman maintained she had died of food poisoning," I said, more
interested in this affair by the minute. "Tell me how it came about."
"And what concern is it of yours?" said the other with an offhand gesture.
"I'm very interested indeed to know the end of this horrific tragedy.
Does it not seem to be straight from the pages of a novel?"
"Where do novels and dead people come into it? Either you're mad or
you're trying to make fun of us."
"Young man, be careful what you joke about," added the tall and thin one.
"Don't you think I know what happened? I know it all from start to
finish. I witnessed all the various scenes of this horrendous crime.
But you're saying that the Countess died of a pistol shot."
"Good God. We weren't talking about a Countess, but about my female dog
that we inadvertently shot while out hunting. If you want to make a joke
of it, meet me outside and I'll answer you as you deserve."
"I see where you're coming from. Now you're determined to keep the truth
hidden," I said, thinking that these men wanted to lead me astray in my
inquiries, transforming that unfortunate lady into a female dog.
One of my interlocutors was doubtless preparing his answer, more physical
than the case required, when the English woman put her finger to her
temple as if to indicate to them that my head did not function properly.
They calmed down at this and spoke not a single word more for the whole
of their journey, which finished for them at the Puerta del Sol. No
doubt they had been afraid of me.
I was so fixated on the idea that a crime had been committed that it was
in vain that I tried to calm down as I reasoned out the threads of such
a complicated question. But each time I did so my confusion grew and the
image of the poor lady refused to leave me. In all the countenances that
succeeded one another inside the tram, I thought I might see something
that would contribute to an explanation of the enigma. I felt a frightful
overheating of my brain and no doubt this inner disturbance was reflected
in my face as everyone looked at me as at something that you don't see
every day.