Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with a frantic phone call. Abel Urueta, breathless and agitated, tells Montserrat he is at a watch shop near the Angel of Independence and believes he is about to be killed. He claims he has foreseen his own death at 2:29. Montserrat, keeping her composure, instructs him to walk to a nearby shopping mall and wait for her in the food court, reasoning that a crowded public space is the safest place for him.

When she arrives, she finds a very different Abel from the polished gentleman she met weeks earlier — a nervous, trembling old man. He explains that Alma Montero called him the previous night, demanding he return the nitrate film and any other objects that belonged to Wilhelm Ewers. Alma threatened that he would be sorry if he didn't comply. Abel suspects José tipped her off, noting that José had financial troubles years ago and may owe Alma a favor.

Montserrat confronts Abel directly about the book and the nitrate print he took from Ewers's apartment after the director's death. Abel initially denies stealing anything, but Montserrat produces the mangled copy of The House of Infinite Wisdom — the book that was meant for Clarimonde Bauer, with a hidden letter inside its binding. Under pressure, Abel admits the truth: he took the book and the film reel from Ewers's apartment hours after the director was shot, not out of any magical ambition but out of anger. The film had collapsed, Clarimonde had been cheating on him with Ewers, and he wanted something to show for his losses. He calls them mementos.

Abel then describes his vision: standing before a mirror, he saw someone slice his throat at 2:29. Montserrat points out that it is already past 2:30 — the predicted time has come and gone. Abel is momentarily relieved but still shaken. As they leave the mall, he throws nails on the ground, explaining it's a counter-spell to prevent being followed. Montserrat notices a stranger in a trench coat watching them from behind a shop window, though she can't make out the face.

Back at Abel's apartment, Montserrat makes coffee and they talk. Abel insists his experience was a vision, not a hallucination, and explains that clairvoyance was once his talent — he used to win bets on horse races when Ewers was alive. When Ewers died, the talent atrophied. Now it seems to have returned. Abel asks Montserrat to retrieve the film and the letter so he can hand them over to Alma. Montserrat hesitates, feeling a preservation instinct — a desire to hold onto the material — but ultimately agrees, noting the vault at Antares is locked and she'll need to arrange access on Monday.

That evening, Montserrat calls Abel to check on him. He's watching a Ninón Sevilla film and seems calm, even apologetic for troubling her earlier. He confesses he kept the nitrate print locked away for years because he was afraid to test whether it still held magic — if he opened it, it would be like exposing a negative to light. He wanted to believe there might still be a little magic left.

Later that night, the phone wakes Montserrat. It's Abel again, frantic: *