Daniel spends the morning in the bookshop distracted by thoughts of Bea, while feeling guilty about Fermín’s injuries. Fermín unexpectedly returns to work despite being badly bruised and limping, refusing to rest because he cannot bear being alone; Daniel’s father reluctantly allows it as long as Fermín does not strain himself.

That afternoon Daniel goes early to the Aldaya mansion, letting himself in with Bea’s key to wait and explore. Inside, he lights the candles Bea left and roams the decayed rooms, unsettled by the house’s cold sounds and smells. Searching for fuel to warm the place, Daniel finds a small door leading down to the cellar, and the damp earth smell triggers a childhood memory of his mother’s burial.

In the cellar Daniel discovers a chapel-like space with a grim wooden Christ and a pile of headless female dress mannequins labeled with names including Penélope. Hearing footsteps above, Daniel continues exploring and finds a relatively new boiler and heating system with fuel nearby. Daniel lights the boiler with charcoal, wood, and kerosene, then returns upstairs to confirm the heat is spreading; in a bathroom above the boiler he finds the tiles warming, and Bea arrives to find him there.

Daniel persuades Bea to bring blankets and hide in the warm bathroom, and they make love by candlelight, confessing their inexperience. The intimacy is abruptly broken when a violent blow hits the bathroom door, the candles are blown out, and both sense someone outside; when Daniel looks, the corridor appears empty, but drafts suggest doors and windows have been opened.

As they hurry to leave, Daniel notices the ornate carved door he previously could not open is now ajar. Against Bea’s pleas Daniel descends and discovers a crypt with crucifixes and two white coffins, one a child’s; brushing ash from the larger coffin, he reads Penélope Aldaya (1902–1919). A voice from the shadows orders him out, and Daniel recognizes it as Laín Coubert. Daniel drags Bea out of the mansion in panic, leaving the key in the lock, and the pair flee into the street. In a silent taxi ride Bea turns distant, and when Daniel drops her near home, Tomás watches coldly from the window and does not acknowledge Daniel, signaling growing danger and isolation around Daniel and Bea.