“All these documents still have the old numbering. The system changed in 1944, with the introduction of the national identity document. You’re in luck, because a lot of the prewar files were lost, but the period between 1939 and 1944 is all here in a separate section that we finished putting in order a couple of years ago.”

“Do you mean to say that all these certificates are from shortly after the war?”

Luisa nodded. “Stirring up the past, eh?” the civil servant hinted. “I applaud your bravery, though I’m not so sure about your prudence. There aren’t many people who have the interest or the desire to rummage around there.”

While they waited for the return of the two assistants with the requested books, Luisa studied Vargas with clinical curiosity. “How long since you last slept?”

He checked his watch.

“Just over twenty-four hours.”

“Shall I ask for a coffee? This could take a while.”

Two and a half hours later, Luisa and her two assistants had navigated through oceans of paper and finished the voyage by placing a small islet of volumes in front of Vargas, who could hardly keep awake.

He considered the task ahead and sighed. “Would you do the honors, Señora Luisa?”

“But of course.”

While Vargas drank his third cup of coffee, Luisa sent her assistants away and proceeded to organize the registry books into two slowly increasing piles.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what all this is about?” Vargas inquired.

“Should I?”

He smiled.

After a while, Luisa let out a sigh of relief. “Well, it should all be there. We’ll go through the list again. Let’s see.”

Checking the numbers, she selected one volume after another. As she examined them, Vargas noticed that she was frowning.

“What?” he asked.

“Are you sure these numbers are correct?”

“They’re the ones I have . . . Why?”

Luisa looked up from the pages and gazed at him in surprise. “No, nothing. They’re all infants.”

“Infants?”

“Children. Look.”

Luisa placed the books in front of Vargas and compared the numbers, one at a time.

“Do you see the dates?”

Vargas tried to decipher that numerical mishmash. Luisa guided him with the tip of a pencil.

“They go in couples. For every death certificate there is one birth certificate. Issued on the same day, by the same civil servant, in the same division, and at the same time.”

“How do you know?”

“Because of the control code. See?”

“And what does that mean?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is it normal for the same civil servant to issue two documents simultaneously?”

“No. And even less normal when they’re from two different departments.”

“What could have caused such a thing?”

“It’s not standard procedure. At the time, certificates were noted down by districts. These were all processed in the central registry.”

“And is that an irregularity?”

“Very much so. Moreover, these documents, if what is written down here is true, were all issued in a single day.”

“And that’s odd.”