in the present time, the narratives reveal that the communications officer is the one who had an affair with edite. talk of killing him emerges among the drunken men. the soldier suddenly stabs the communications officer in the back with a knife. he defends himself and claims it was an accident, but it is implied that he killed the man over odete. the prostitutes begin complaining about the dead body and all have to decide what to do with the corpse.