Freddy

Freddy is a formerly athletic man now paralyzed from the neck down, whose quiet composure contrasts with the severe change in his body and the turmoil of his former relationships. When Amaia visits him, he not only defends Ros against his mother’s anger but also offers a recollection that complicates what Amaia knows about Anne Arbizu and Flora.

Physical Condition and Appearance

Freddy sits naturally in a wheelchair, so his posture does not immediately reveal that he is paralyzed from the neck down. His body, however, has changed dramatically: the athletic build he had once taken pride in has dwindled to a thin frame beneath thick clothes, which make his emaciation more apparent. The contrast between that physical decline and his still-handsome face gives his appearance a melancholy calm. His pallor is interrupted by red eyes, while his expression seems gentler and more settled than it had been before.

The Visit and His Defense of Ros

Amaia finds Freddy in a rearranged sitting room, where the furniture has been moved to make space for his wheelchair. The television is on but silent. Despite the circumstances, he greets her with a smile. During their conversation, he says he owes Ros an explanation. His mother objects and insists that Ros deserves no consideration, but Freddy refuses to let her insult Ros: he says Ros loved and cared for him, remained faithful, and left only after discovering that he was seeing another woman.

That woman was Anne Arbizu. Freddy says her name quietly, and Amaia can tell that the admission still hurts him months later. His account makes the separation more than a dispute about loyalty: he acknowledges his own affair while maintaining that Ros’s departure followed her discovery of it.

Anne Arbizu and His Suspicions About Flora

Freddy says Anne chose him and manipulated him, and he suspects she deliberately provoked Víctor. He also believes Anne had a connection with Flora, though Amaia replies that Ros had claimed to know Anne only by sight. Freddy clarifies that he means Flora, not Ros, and supports his suspicion with two observations.

Once, when he went to the warehouse to fetch something, he saw Anne leave through the back door after a brief conversation with Flora; the women parted with a warm embrace. The following Sunday, while Freddy and Ros were drinking vermouth, Flora stopped to greet them and said she had just come from mass. Anne then passed along the street. Ros noticed nothing, but Freddy thought Flora concealed her reaction even more carefully than he did. At the time, he let the incident go because he says the matter did not concern him. When he later asked Anne about it, she denied the connection, told him he was mistaken, and became angry. Freddy remains certain of what he saw, but the account establishes his suspicion rather than independently confirming Flora and Anne’s relationship.