Chronicle of a Death Foretold

A lawyer will conclude that the murder is a case of “homicide in legitimate defense of honor” (48). The twins admit to killing Santiago but say that they are “innocent” (49). After the murder, the narrator says, the Vicario twins would explain to him how they began their search for Santiago. They searched for him at the house of María Alejandrina Cervantes, knowing that he had been there until at least 2:00am. Not finding Santiago, they visited the milk store belonging to Clotilde Armenta as it was “the only place open” (50). The shop is near Santiago’s house, so they waited for him to appear.

After Angela gives Santiago’s name to the twins, they act immediately. They fetch “the two best knives” (51) they use to butcher pigs, wrap them with rags, and have the knives sharpened. A butcher named Faustino Santos speculates as to why the twins are acting so strangely. He assumes they are drunk. When they talk, however, Pablo boldly announces their plan to murder Santiago. With such good reputations in the town, however, no one believes that the twins are capable of murder and dismiss the declaration as “drunkards’ baloney” (52). Nevertheless, Faustino reports the incident to a police officer. At the milk shop, the twins drink cane liquor. They tell Clotilde Armenta that they are waiting for Santiago and that they plan to kill him. When Clotilde tells Don Rogelio de la Flor—her husband—about the twins’ plans, he insists that she is being “silly” (55).

The police officer shares the rumors with Colonel Lazaro Aponte. At the wedding the previous night, the Colonel was called on to settle “so many fights” (56) that he cannot bring himself to attend to another issue. He hears how Angela was brought back to her family home on her wedding night. Piecing this information together with the rumor about the twins’ murderous plans “like two pieces of a puzzle” (56), he realizes that the matter is serious. He goes to the milk store and confiscates the knives from the twins. He tells them to go home, still thinking that they are not serious about their plan to murder Santiago.

After they return home, Pedro and Pablo arm themselves with “two other knives” (59). They sharpen these knives at the market. Faustino is confused. He still believes that these are the original knives, and he cannot understand why they would need to be sharpened again. The plan to murder Santiago was thought up by Pedro, but Pablo is now the driving force behind the plot. He insists that his brother help him. Prudencia Cotes, Pablo’s fiancée, will later praise his actions, claiming that she is proud of him for doing “what a man should do” (63). Pablo will serve three years in jail, and she is waiting to marry him when he is released.

Returning to the milk store with their newly-sharpened knives, the twins hide their weapons in newspaper taken from Prudencia’s home. In the milk store, Clotilde serves them strong rum. She hopes that they will get so drunk that they forget about their plan. At María Alejandrina Cervantes’s brothel, the narrator explains, musicians are playing in the courtyard. People dance to the music, where the celebrations have been continuing for three days. The pleasure house is where many people of the narrator’s age first have sex. Typically, Santiago visited María’s house and dressed up the girls in a certain way, which was “his favorite sport” (66). On the wedding night, however, María refused his request. As a result, Santiago—accompanied by Cristo Bedoya, Luis Enrique, and the narrator—sang a round of songs with the musicians while walking through the neighborhood. They even stopped at the newlyweds’ home, not knowing that Bayardo and his wife were not inside. After the singing, the group went to eat breakfast. Santiago, aware of the bishop’s arrival the next day, claimed that he wanted to sleep for an hour so he did not join the group. This was the “last time that [they] saw him” (68).

Father Carmen Amador has heard about the twins’ plot. The imminent arrival of the bishop causes him to forget about the rumor, however. When he is walking to the dock to meet the bishop, he passes by the milk store. The twins are waiting inside.