The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Contents
The Shadow of the Wind — Chapter 4
Overview
Daniel tries to protect Bea and warn Julin Carax, but Fumero corners him in the mansion’s library, revealing he planted the photograph as bait. Carax attacks and briefly overpowers Fumero, but Lieutenant Palacios arrives, and in the ensuing standoff Daniel is shot while stopping Fumero from killing Carax. Fumero nearly murders Bea too, but Carax shields her and Lan Coubert drags Fumero out to a brutal death, while Daniel fades with Bea’s confession of love.
Summary
Daniel extinguishes the candles and hides Bea in an upstairs room, insisting she stay silent while he goes to warn Julin Carax. Hearing Fumero moving below, Daniel spots Lieutenant Palacios waiting outside in a car, then cautiously descends into the mansion’s darkened ground floor, fearing Fumero may be watching from the shadows.
In the library, Daniel finds a knife pinning a copy of the photograph of young Julin and Penlope, the blade stabbed through Julin’s chest. Realizing Fumero planted the photo as bait, Daniel is immediately caught at gunpoint; Fumero forces the revolver into Daniel’s mouth and demands Carax’s location while taunting him about Nuria Monfort. Daniel claims Carax is in the crypt, stalling for time.
Carax suddenly appears and attacks, overpowering Fumero with brutal strength, smashing his gun arm and pinning Fumero’s wrist to the wall with the same knife, forcing him to drop the weapon. Carax orders Daniel to take Bea away and protect her above all else, but footsteps announce Palacios arriving after hearing shots. Palacios enters, horrified by the scene, and orders Daniel to leave, while Fumero tries to reclaim control and demands Palacios’s gun.
Palacios refuses, but Fumero snatches the weapon anyway and aims at Carax, who stands exposed with no escape. Daniel ignores Palacios’s warning and throws himself at Fumero to stop the shot; the gun fires and the bullet tears through Daniel’s ribs. Daniel collapses, bleeding and fading, as Carax and Palacios bend over him and Bea appears at the doorway in terror.
Fumero uses the chaos to ambush Bea from behind the door and nearly shoots her; Carax leaps to shield her and takes the shot through his right hand. Then the faceless Lan Coubert takes over the struggle, dragging Fumero outside and killing him in the fountain, impaled on the angel’s spear. As Daniel slips toward unconsciousness, Bea begs him to live and confesses her love, while Daniel drifts through visions of those he cares about and finally remembers his mother’s face as he descends into darkness.
Who Appears
- Daniel SempereProtects Bea, confronts Fumero, and is shot while preventing Carax’s execution.
- Beatriz "Bea" AguilarHidden by Daniel; witnesses the violence and declares love as Daniel fades.
- Inspector Javier FumeroCorners Daniel, boasts about Nuria, attacks Carax and Bea, then is killed.
- Julin CaraxEmerges from hiding, savagely subdues Fumero, shields Bea, and is wounded.
- Lieutenant PalaciosArrives after gunshots, hesitates to aid Fumero, then loses his weapon to him.
- Lan CoubertFaceless figure who drags Fumero outside and executes him at the fountain.