She took a long drag on the cigarette. It’s on the recording. It sounds like she smoked the whole thing. Then, she sat up straighter on the bed.

“Juan betrayed me and exchanged my daughter for his son. He handed her over. He saved his own child. In exchange for mine. Though sometimes I think he also saved her, in a way. When she disappeared into that house, he saved her. My family won’t have her anymore, they can’t use her. They hate him for that, too. There were plans for Adela. But where is she? And his son gets to live a peaceful life. It’s not fair, Olga. Can I call you Olga? It’s not fair.”

“Was your daughter kidnapped?”

“Olga, you don’t want to know. You don’t want to know! You’re already in danger because of me. I ruin everything I touch. I didn’t know how to take care of her. But Eduardo has to know that I wanted to save her and I couldn’t, I couldn’t, but it’s their fault and the fault of the black god who guides them. The black god, Olga. They called him the golden god, but it is dark. Juan was afraid of the god. He was decent, in the end. I would have handed over his kid in exchange for mine too. That’s why he kept his plans quiet, because he knew how I am. He played dumb. Pretty handy, huh, playing dumb. He knew he was no one. The god lives in the shadows. Be careful, it sleeps, but it lives.”

She went running out of my room and into hers, locking the door. I heard her scream and cry, beg forgiveness, and, I think, hit herself. There was a dry pounding like a head hitting the wall. Then, silence. The concierge decided to go in and check on her and she found Beatriz asleep. Passed out drunk.

“It’s not the first time,” she told me, and clucked her tongue. “Poor thing can’t hold her liquor. She’s not the only one, it happens to some of the others who come here. Plus, she eats like a bird.”

“Has she stayed here before?”

“Twice. I think she lives nearby, although I haven’t asked. Once, they brought her to me because she got too close to the pit. I don’t know how she got past the guards. The police brought her here. She left and I didn’t think she’d come back, but she did.”

I wanted to tell the concierge who that woman was, what had happened to her, but I kept my mouth shut. Beatriz had never asked me for discretion or secrecy, but I didn’t want to spread her story. I considered I had her permission to write it, though, as I’m doing now.

Although I didn’t think I’d be able to fall asleep, I slept soundly that night, with no nightmares that I remembered, though I woke up sweating. The electricity had gone out and the ceiling fan had turned off. I took a long shower. The hot water ran out soon, but the cold, after the first shock, lifted my mood.