Rubem Fonseca: Crimes of August

But the alert that Rosalvo gave him, shortly afterward, was that the doorman from Mattos’s building had just called, saying there was a small fire in his apartment and that Alice was all right.

“Who’s Alice?” asked Rosalvo.

Mattos didn’t answer. He rushed out in search of a taxi.

The building’s doorman went up with Mattos in the elevator.

“Did anything happen to Dona Alice?”

“No. . I mean, she was a little upset. . But it wasn’t necessary to call the fire department. I put out the fire myself with the extinguisher. Annoying, isn’t it, sir?”

“How did it happen?”

They got to the floor where the inspector lived. The burnt smell was evident from the corridor. The apartment door was shut.

The doorman took the inspector’s arm.

“Look, sir, it was the girl who set the apartment on fire. I think she had an attack. . I wanted to have my wife stay with Dona Alice until you arrived, but she threw my wife out.”

“Thank you. I’ll take care of everything.”

The table and chairs were partially burned. The books on the shelves, the records and the player were singed by the flames. Mattos saw all this at a glance as he went toward the bedroom.

Alice was sitting on the bed. Her head was covered with black residue from burnt paper, which was spread about her face.

Mattos sat down beside her. He delicately took her ash-stained hands.

“I burned my diary,” Alice said. She seemed sleepy.

“It doesn’t matter. You can write another.”

“I don’t want to write another. I want to forget.”

Mattos picked up the pill bottle, open on the bed. It was almost full.

Mattos put the bottle in his pocket. “How many pills did you take?”

“Two. . Three. . Two. .”

“All right if I call Dr. Arnoldo?”

“I want to be with you.”

“You’re going to be with me. I just want to call Dr. Arnoldo. Stay there while I call him.”

Dr. Arnoldo asked Mattos to take Alice to the Dr. Eiras Clinic on Rua Assunção, in Botafogo and ask for Dr. Feitosa. He, Dr. Arnoldo, would leave at once for the clinic.

“If she resists leaving, it’s best not to force her. Call me back.”

Mattos got a damp towel and cleaned Alice’s hair and hands. She sleepily allowed Mattos to exchange her dress for a clean one. Before they left, the inspector put Alice’s toothbrush in his pocket.

AT THE SUGGESTION of General Humberto Castello Branco, the chief of the general staff of the armed forces, Marshal Mascarenhas, held a meeting of the Joint Chiefs. Mascarenhas listened apprehensively as the chiefs of the three armed forces — army, navy, and air force — said only the resignation of President Vargas could end the crisis.

“THE BEST THING is to let her sleep,” said Dr. Arnoldo. “Alice isn’t well. She’s deeply depressed. I’m going to call her husband.”

“She’s separated from her husband,” Mattos said.

“Legally?”

“Not yet.”

“I always take the precaution of communicating with the family, in case of certain treatments—”

“What treatments?”

“Electroshock. This isn’t the first time it’s been considered in Alice’s case.”

“But can’t electroshock cause harmful effects, like loss of memory?”

“You just told me she said she wanted to forget, and that’s why she burned the diary she was writing. Don’t you find that significant?” Pause. “In any case, any amnesia provoked by the treatment is always transitory.”

“Don’t do it, doctor, I’m begging you, please. When she wakes up, maybe she’ll be better.”

“This state of depression and melancholia only tends to get worse.”

“She wasn’t depressed this morning when I left. Please, promise me you’ll wait a few days.”

“All right. I’ll wait a bit. In fact, as a rule that’s the procedure I adopt. In any event, I’m going to have to advise the husband. They’re still not legally separated. She doesn’t have any relatives, understand?”

“Can’t I be responsible for her?”

“You’re not anything to her — you’re a good friend, I know — but she has a husband.”

“I’ll come back later.”

“Come tomorrow. She’s going to sleep all afternoon and all night. She’ll be well taken care of, don’t worry.”

“No shock treatment, please.”

“That’s a layman’s prejudice, sir. Historically, every medical advance meets hostile objections based on ignorance and superstition. There are people who for religious reasons refuse to accept blood transfusions. Others, out of ignorance, refuse to take allopathic medicines. Et cetera.”

“Doctor, I go on duty tomorrow at noon. But I’ll stop by here first.”

IT WAS ELEVEN AT NIGHT when General Zenóbio asked Marshal Mascarenhas to come to the War Department.

“The situation has gotten worse,” said Zenóbio. “More than forty army generals signed the brigadiers’ manifesto. I’ve asked Mendes de Morais to go to the Catete to speak with Alzira. I’m waiting for the general to return.”

The two sat, downcast, in the brown leather armchairs in the secretary’s office. They had served together in the FEB. Mascarenhas, then a three-star general, had commanded the 25,162 men of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force sent to Italy in 1944. Zenóbio, then a two-star general, had commanded one of the five echelons into which the Force was divided.

“In Italy it was easier to make decisions,” said Zenóbio, rising impatiently. “I think we’d better go to the Catete and speak with the president. I’m going to ask Denys to go with us.”

It was past midnight when they arrived at Catete Palace. The children and other relatives of the president were at the palace. Vargas received Mascarenhas and Zenóbio in the presence of Secretary Oswaldo Aranha. In silence, he heard Zenóbio say that he, the president, had lost the support of the military.

“Tomorrow I’ll call a cabinet meeting,” said Vargas.

Mascarenhas proposed calling the meeting immediately, and the suggestion was accepted by the president.

A little after two a.m., all the cabinet secretaries were in the meeting room of the palace. Only the secretary of foreign affairs was absent.

Vargas sat in the dark, straw-bottom chair at the head of the table in the meeting room. The secretaries were in their places, silent. All the lights were on, but at meetings held at night the room was always dark, gloomy. Vargas contemplated, for moments, the painting by Antonio Parreiras on the opposite wall, an oil in tones of gray that the artist had titled “A Day of Sadness.”

In a tired voice, the president, after recounting the information given him by his military secretaries, asked those present for their opinions. The military secretaries confirmed that the navy and air force were united in wanting the president’s resignation; the army was divided. The military secretaries advised resignation.

While they were speaking, Alzira Vargas came into the room, along with Deputy Danton Coelho, the president’s son-in-law Amaral Peixoto, and others.

The president then asked the civilian secretaries for their opinion. The acting labor secretary, Hugo de Faria, said that the Constitution must be respected and maintained, and that the president should not resign. Oswaldo Aranha and José Américo shared the opinion of the military secretaries, favorable to resignation. The rest were hesitant, none of them offering an objective view.

At that instant, Alzira came from the back of the room and stood beside the president’s chair.

“What about you, General Caiado? I want your opinion,” said Vargas.

“Mr. President. Don’t accept any imposition. I favor armed resistance. The army, even divided, as the secretary claims, will prevent any subversion.”