Inma Herranz

Inma Herranz is Judge Markina’s secretary and a minor but consequential figure in Amaia Salazar’s investigation. Her connection to Yolanda Berrueta brought Yolanda’s request to the judge and, in turn, raised questions about how Markina had guided the case.

Identity and Introduction

Inma first enters the investigation through material in Jonan Etxaide’s files. Among the photographs Amaia finds is one apparently taken inside a café, showing Inma speaking with Yolanda. The image is filed with information concerning Judge Markina’s secretary, making their meeting a detail Amaia cannot dismiss as incidental.

Amaia later sees Inma in person at a café near the courthouse. Inma is having coffee with two other women at the bar; Amaia watches her closely enough that Doctor Takchenko notices and asks whether she knows the woman. The encounter confirms that Inma is not merely a name or photograph in Jonan’s records: she is moving through the same public spaces as the investigators, while the reason for her contact with Yolanda remains unclear to Amaia.

Connection to Yolanda Berrueta

When Amaia asks Yolanda about the photograph, Yolanda explains that she had written to courts, the ombudsman, and the president of Navarra in an effort to obtain permission to open her children’s tomb. Inma contacted her and arranged a meeting in a café. Yolanda told her the details of the case, and Inma secured an appointment with Judge Markina.

This account gives the photograph a specific context. Inma was not simply seen talking with Yolanda; she had become a channel through which Yolanda’s appeal reached the judge. The exchange also places her between a grieving mother seeking access to her children’s graves and the judicial process that could authorize or prevent that access.

Relationship with Judge Markina and Amaia

Yolanda says that Judge Markina told her to approach Amaia discreetly, as if by chance, because otherwise Amaia would not take an interest in the case. He also praised Amaia’s ability and asked Yolanda not to reveal that he had recommended her. Inma’s meeting and appointment-making therefore form part of a route through which Markina’s recommendation reached Yolanda, although the evidence does not establish that Inma knew the full purpose of the judge’s instructions.

The revelation leaves Amaia uncertain about Markina’s intentions. He had helped bring Yolanda’s case to her attention, yet he had also stopped the exhumation at the cemetery in Ainhoa; Amaia cannot reconcile that intervention with his apparent wish that she help. Inma’s role is consequently important as a link in the chain of contact, not as an independently explained participant in Markina’s motives.

Narrative Role and Limits

Inma’s appearances are brief, but they change the meaning of an otherwise unexplained photograph and expose an indirect connection between Markina, Yolanda, and Amaia. The narrative gives her a concrete function—secretary, meeting partner, and facilitator of an appointment—while withholding any account of her private motives or broader involvement. That restraint matters: her presence makes the investigation’s network of personal and official contacts visible without, by itself, proving wrongdoing.