Friendship between Daniel Sempere and Fermín Romero de Torres

The friendship between Daniel Sempere and Fermín Romero de Torres grows through their work together and the confidences they exchange, becoming a bond tested in public by Inspector Fumero’s violence. Daniel is more than Fermín’s companion in investigating the past: he listens to what Fermín cannot easily bear to hear, entrusts him with private fears, and remains at his side when fear leaves him unable to intervene. Their closeness is most starkly revealed after Fumero’s attack, when Daniel holds the injured Fermín and follows his plea to take him to Bernarda.

Shared Investigations and Private Confidence

Their friendship is also a working partnership, built on the conviction that investigation requires more than politely knocking at doors. When Daniel and Fermín set out to visit an elderly woman at the Hospice of Santa Lucia, Fermín recasts the visit as a covert operation: they will enter by the back door, and Daniel is to prepare for the role. The practical joke and conspiratorial language make the investigation something they undertake together, not merely a task Daniel watches Fermín perform. Fermín’s teasing carries an expectation of trust; Daniel answers that he worships the ground Fermín walks on, and follows his lead.

That easy banter makes room for disclosure. After asking Daniel how things went with the young woman, Fermín refuses to let him conceal anything, and Daniel recounts the episode down to the last detail, dismissing his own anxieties as the worries of a foolish schoolboy. Fermín responds not with ridicule but with an unexpectedly heartfelt hug, recognizing that Daniel is in love and pitying him tenderly. He can turn a confession into a joke, but he also understands when Daniel needs simple acknowledgment. The exchange establishes a pattern: Daniel brings Fermín the feelings he has not shared even with his closest childhood confidant, and Fermín receives them with affection rather than judgment.

The reciprocity becomes especially clear when Daniel speaks of his mother. He admits that he is afraid a photograph would reveal her as a stranger, and wonders whether solving the mystery of Julián Carax and rescuing him from oblivion might restore her face to memory. Fermín does not mock the hope or pretend to know that it will come true. He asks whether Daniel’s pursuit of Carax is tied to that deeper fear; the question helps Daniel recognize a motive he had not fully articulated. Daniel sees in Fermín a rare wisdom, made powerful by the absence of irony or judgment. Their bond is thus not only affectionate or practical: Fermín helps Daniel hear the private meaning beneath his own investigation, while Daniel trusts him with a grief he has hidden from his father and Tomás.

Fear, Memory, and the Cost of Witnessing

Fermín’s vulnerability surfaces when Father Fernando Ramos’s account brings Inspector Fumero into the story. At the sudden mention, Fermín turns white and his hands shake; he tries to cover his distress with a feeble joke about low blood pressure and the Catalan climate. Daniel notices how deeply the revelation has unsettled him. Later, as they walk together along Paseo de la Bonanova, Daniel sees Fermín consumed by anxiety, while dark red clouds gather overhead. The storm-laden walk gives physical shape to what Daniel has already learned: Fumero is not merely a subject of their inquiry but a presence capable of making the past feel dangerously near.

That shared unease becomes immediate when Fumero and two Crime Squad agents intercept them after a visit to the Hospice of Santa Lucia. The agents seize Daniel and Fermín by the neck and hold their wrists; Fumero recognizes Fermín as a man of many faces and threatens to take him to headquarters for another session with a welding torch. He also uses Daniel as leverage, warning Fermín that he will beat the boy if Fermín does not tell him why they are there. Fermín, terrified, nevertheless tries to shield Daniel, swearing that Fumero must not touch him. Daniel is unable to free himself or protect his friend, and the encounter exposes the unequal terms on which their loyalty must operate: Fermín can put himself between Daniel and danger, while Daniel can only witness the threat closing around them.

Bearing the Consequences Together

Fumero’s threat becomes an assault before Daniel can act. The agents hold him fast as the inspector kicks Fermín mercilessly; Daniel remembers the dull impact of each blow and the shame of trembling and shedding silent tears while the policemen’s grip keeps him from moving. When Fumero urinates on the motionless Fermín, the attack strips away the banter and practical confidence that had marked their partnership. Daniel cannot prevent the humiliation, but his helpless witness becomes part of the friendship’s cost: loyalty does not make him powerful enough to protect Fermín, yet he does not turn away from what is done to him.

Once the officers leave, Daniel goes straight to Fermín. Fermín tries to rise and search the dirty puddle for the teeth he has lost; blood covers his mouth, nose, ears, and eyelids. Seeing that Daniel is unharmed, he attempts a smile, while Daniel kneels and holds him, alarmed by how frail he feels. Daniel urges him to go to hospital, but Fermín’s first request is to be taken to Bernarda. He would rather face death in her arms. Daniel accepts that plea and stays beside him, allowing Fermín to choose the comfort he wants. In the aftermath, the friendship is defined not by a triumphant rescue but by this intimate exchange: Fermín’s instinct is still to protect Daniel, and Daniel answers his vulnerability by holding him and carrying out his wish.