Summary

In Chapter 7, the narrative skips ahead in time slightly. Irimiás and Petrina have arrived in the village, and Esti has been discovered dead next to a box of rat poison. Irimiás makes a speech to the villagers. In the speech, Irimiás lists the various possible explanations for Esti’s death, such as murder, accident, and suicide. Irimiás then states why each explanation is unlikely, and yet one must be the truth. Irimiás encourages the villagers to grieve Esti’s death and to be content without an explanation for what exactly caused it. Irimiás then encourages the villagers to use this time of grieving as a time of reflection as well. He urges the villagers to pursue the future vitality of the estate with renewed vigor, and he says that he has a long-term plan for how to achieve...