"It's tiring having always to move in the shadows, having to watch without being seen", thinks Victor, who leaves Marta dead on her bed as he lets himself out of her Madrid apartment -- an unexpected end to what was supposed to have been an evening of passion while her husband was away on business.

While Marta's elderly father is disconsolate that his daughter died alone, the rest of the family is all too aware that someone was sharing her bed that night. Dean, the widower, is determined to find out who it was. All might have remained undiscovered, but Victor cannot endure living with a secret. And so one man's secret leads to another man's -- and to the startling conclusion of an exquisitely told story.