- On the day of his murder, Santiago Nasar woke up feeling like he's covered in bird poop. His mom, Plácida Linero, remembers that he was constantly dreaming about trees. Unfortunately, even though she's supposed to be a super famous dream interpreter, she interpreted this pretty important dream completely wrong.
- Santiago left his house at five after six, sleepy but in a good mood. Even though it's a Monday, he was wearing his Sunday best because the Bishop was supposed to visit town on that day. Since he wasn't wearing his work clothes, he left his gun and his big armored bullets at home.
- The last time his mom saw him alive, he was searching around in her room for some aspirin. He told her about the dream and she assured him that any dream about birds means good health. Um, not exactly.
- 27 years later, the narrator talks to Plácida Linero about the day Santiago died. At first, she mistakes him for her son. The narrator tells us that Santiago was only 21, loved his parents, and genuinely seemed like a good guy.
- But according to Victoria Guzmán, the Nasar's cook, Santiago was not as wholesome as he appeared. Every Monday he woke up with a hangover from all the partying he did on the weekend. The day of his murder was no different, and Victoria's daughter, Divina Flor, had to give him some cane liquor and coffee in order to chase the hangover away.
- Not only that, while he was drinking his coffee, Santiago tried to molest Divina Flor. The only thing that stopped him was the sharp point of Victoria Guzmán's kitchen knife. Victoria had been seduced by Santiago's father years before, and she wasn't going to let the same thing happen to her daughter.
- Even though Victoria hates Santiago, she feels a wave of fear as she remembers how disturbed he was as she threw rabbit guts to the dogs that morning. While all of this is happening, they hear the bellow of the bishop's steamboat.
- Now the narrator tells us a bunch about Santiago's house. His dad, Ibrahim, bought a warehouse and eventually decided to turn it into a home. It's huge, and it has two doors. Unlike most homes, the main door is the rear one and the front door is almost always locked. Yet, despite everything, that is where Santiago was killed.
- Isn't that just a little too coincidental? Well, everyone in the town thinks so too, but they offer the most boring explanations for these curious aspects of the story. Like: Santiago never left through the back door when he was dressed in his Sunday best. Pshht, that's the best they could come up with?
- Victoria Guzman denies that she ever even knew that there was a plan to kill Santiago. But later on, she admits that she knew it and didn't tell him. She claimed that it was because she didn't believe it was actually going to happen, but Divina Flor has a different story. She says that her mom wanted Santiago dead. Divina Flor on the other hand, says she just didn't know what to do to stop the plan from coming to fruition.
- When Santiago was walking to the front door, he and Divina Flor were alone together again. He molested her once more, and this time she just wanted to cry. She opened the door for him, and left it open so that he could get back in case of emergency.
- A letter that tried to warn Santiago about the murder plot had been left at the foot of the door, but like all other attempts to warn him, it never achieved its goal.
- After he left his house, the first person to see Santiago that morning was Clotilde Armenta. The guys who were going to kill Santiago, Pedro and Pablo Vicario, were sleeping at her milk shop.
- The twins were 24 years old and almost impossible to tell apart. They were totally drunk and hung over, but at least they had shaved. Nothing was able to wake them up until they sensed Santiago coming out of his house. They would have killed him then, but Clotilde urged them to wait.
- Meanwhile, the Bishop was floating right by the town in his big paddleboat. Even though the people of the town had gathered tons of firewood and roosters, he never got off the boat. Santiago had spent a lot of money finding gifts for the Bishop, so he was pretty upset.
- But he wasn't too upset, we guess, because he starts wondering about how much the wedding everyone attended that weekend had cost. It sounds like it was a pretty wild shindig, and everyone in the town was invited.
- After all this thought about money, the narrator's sister Margot invited Santiago to her house for breakfast. He said that he'd be there in 15 minutes, but that was the last time she ever saw him.
- By this time, you're probably wondering how in the world Santiago dies. Everyone in the novel seems to know that the twins are planning to kill him, but no one says anything. Don Lázaro Aponte, a local colonel, says that he thought Santiago wasn't in danger.
- The narrator's sister doesn't learn (at least according to him) about the murder plot until she hears the latest gossip. Angela Vicario, the bride who had just gotten married, was returned to her parents because it was discovered she wasn't a virgin. Not only that, but she blamed Santiago for her deflowering.
- Finally. Now we know why Santiago has to die.
- When the narrator's mom learns the news from Margot, she has a conundrum. She's Santiago's godmother, but she's also a blood relative of the mother of the bride. After a few moments she decides that she has to warn Santiago's mom and rushes out of the door.
- The only problem is, by the time she gets to the square, it's all over already.