After José Montiel dies "as a result of a fit of anger" (115), the town can't believe he has "indeed died" (115). In death, he looks "so well" (115) he might as well be alive. Only after José's burial in "the showy family mausoleum" (115) does the town believe he is gone. While the townspeople are surprised José died of natural causes, his wife is not. She hoped he would die of old age "painlessly, like a modern-day saint" (115). José's wife also hoped that the whole town would come to José's funeral and their flowers would fill the house. However, only "members of his own party and of his religious brotherhood" (115) attend his funeral. José and his wife's daughters, living in Paris, and their son, serving in the German consulate, send letters of regret.

José's wife, despondent over José's death, can't "find the direction of her new life" (116) after losing her husband. José hadn't left the combination to his safe before dying, so the mayor comes to the Montiel'shouse with two police officers and begins shooting rifles at the safe's lock. Lying in bed, trying to "summon death" (116), José's wife hears "a tremendous explosion" (116) when the mayor finally uses dynamite to open the safe.