Aldo Franz

Aldo Franz is a psychiatrist whose accusations against Padre Sarasola become newly urgent shortly before Franz is found dead at the University Clinic of Navarra. His case turns on a sharp contrast: he had publicly signaled that he intended to confront Sarasola, yet when his body is discovered, the identity of his killer remains unresolved.

Accusations and the Final Warning

Franz sends Amaia Salazar emails accusing Padre Sarasola without qualification. He restates his case in terms that strike her as both more plausible and more desperate than before, prompting her to call him. Franz takes the call as a possible sign that Amaia is beginning to believe him; he reasons that she would not contact him otherwise. He then attacks Sarasola’s reputation as a manipulator and dismisses his mystical talk of exorcism as something that should not persuade a woman he regards as logical.

Franz’s conflict with Sarasola had also become public enough to attract attention. On the morning of his death, he had warned several people that he would not let matters rest with Sarasola. When Amaia later relays the news to Judge Markina, she identifies the dead psychiatrist as the same man who had made that warning. The statement gives investigators a concrete lead, but it does not establish who killed him or prove that Sarasola was involved.

Death at the Clinic

Franz is found in the parking lot of the University Clinic of Navarra as darkness gathers over Pamplona/Iruña. Iriarte identifies him to Amaia through a bloodied wallet containing his documents. Franz’s body is slumped against a car; his shirt is torn, and his tie is caught in the wound to his abdomen.

Doctor San Martín’s examination indicates that Franz was stabbed repeatedly in the abdomen first—he counts eight wounds without moving the body—and then cut deeply in the neck, apparently to stop him from shouting. Franz had time to press a hand to the neck wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding, but the hemorrhage would have weakened him rapidly. These details establish a violent killing and its sequence, but do not identify the attacker.

Investigative Significance

The investigation links Franz’s death to the dispute he had been pursuing without treating that connection as proof of guilt. When questioned, Padre Sarasola denies knowing that Franz wanted to meet him. Amaia judges the denial overlong, while Iriarte points out that Franz’s recent calls can be checked. The exchange places Sarasola under scrutiny but leaves the accusation open to verification rather than resolving it by suspicion alone.

Franz’s role in the story is therefore both evidentiary and incomplete: his emails and warning sharpen the conflict around Sarasola, while his death turns that conflict into a murder investigation. The available evidence establishes what Franz alleged, what he threatened to do, and how he died; it does not settle the truth of his accusations or the identity of his killer.