I have to say that this novel is surprising more than I expected. When Monforte goes to Doña Ines with the intention of blackmailing her, the woman makes Calato bring her daughter back from Seville. Once the young woman is there, Ines forces her to kneel down and drink some water because she will have to confess everything. Jimena has no option but confess, and she admits that she and Leandro had been intimate since they were very young. What I didn't expect was the second part of the confession. She tells her mother that Ojeda, the man from Arcos who died, was a labourer in the farmhouse and must have seen something. Then the siblings received a letter from Ojeda demanding money from them or else, he will tell what he had seen. The siblings talk, and Jimena also tells her brother that she had seen Ojeda talking to another local, Higinio, who she had heard was his lover, and a pedler, Heredia. Leandro was of the opinion that they needed to shut Ojeda up by paying what he demanded, and Jimene agreed reluctantly and gave Leandro a linen bag with the money. The siblings met Ojeda and gave them the bag, and when Ojeda saw that what was inside was a bundle of cut out newspaper. Ojeda got angry and slapped Jimena, and then Leandro hit him with a stick. They left him, and they heard the next day that the man had died at home that night. Leandro was very nervous and upset even though Jimena reassured that the man brought it on himself. Jimena was worried about the two other men and his wife, and he used Calato to kill the three of them.
On hearing Jimena's confession, Jimena gets angrier and angrier. Then Jimena feels very tired and realises that her mother has added something to the water she drank. Ines makes Calato cut off all of Jimena's hair, and then he orders to take her away, sentencing that she is lost to her, and she even tells her that Leandro is dead.
Ines doesn't end here. Since three other people know about her children's crimes, she makes sure that the secret remains hidden. So she uses Toto, Monforte's mentally disable child and her godchild, and convinces him to add some salts to his father's food in secret, and that is how Monforte is graduallly poisoned until he dies when he was on his way to a spa where he expected to treat his digestive problems. The second person who knows the secret is Father Ignacio, and the man dies, suffocated by the pressure of his own spiked belt, but so far we don't know if Ines has any part of his death. And Calato, who is loyal and in love with Ines, confesses to all deaths, and Oliver doesn't believe him, but he has to put him in a cell anyway.
I have to say that I didn't expect this part at all, and it surprised me.
Judge Rodrigo goes to talk to Oliver after he hears of Calato's confession, but Oliver tells him that he is now dismissed. Actually, Oliver tells him that he was chosen alongside others to come to the south because they are all ineffective, and he was known to be an addict. That breaks Rodrigo, who arrives at Tana's drunk and asking for some heroin, but Tana gives him just opium. Tana feels she has to do something, so she breaks into Oliver's home and waits for him. Tana has some information about this man; Oliver, who loves zarzuela, has been writing one for years, and in Jerez he has been using some poor locals and prostitutes, to rehearse his work, but blindfolded. Oliver also engaged in some intimate acts with the women, and one of the women had her blindfold loosened and recognised Oliver and told Tana. So now Tana tells Oliver to stay away from Rodrigo, and if he tries to hurt him as when he tampered with the heroin, which almost killed the judge. Oliver reacts by pressing his hands around her neck, but Tana calmly tells him that he has his zarzuela in a safe place. She tells him that if he respects her wishes, he will get his zarzuela back. Tana leaves, but Oliver is already planning his revenge.
El Zagal and one of the other smugglers, Tavira, a Portuguese man, have realised that el Junco is not a reliable boss, so they are trying to replace him as the leader. So they fake a robbery from a gang, who kill one of the men, and they also make a deal with one of el Junco's client, Mordecai Boj.
The girl, El Zagal's sister, is now living with some gypsies after she is saved from Calato. At first, she is made to work very hard, but she becomes close to Candela, who teaches to dance flamenco. The girl likes flamenco dancing, but doesn't seem to find the use of it. Yet, soon the two girls do a show and become very popular. When they get to a farmhouse where the owners had hired them, the girl recognises one of the guests. It is Ricardo, the man who the year before, when she was with her parents and brother, threw them out of his land, and now the girl becomes infatuated. Candela warns her that Ricardo is out of her league and will just take advantage of her, but it seems that the girl just thinks that Candela is jealous.
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