Caray, Caray!

Vero goes to Alma's place, supposedly to pick up Valentina for an impromptu and unauthorized visitation, but actually to provoke a fight with Alma. First, however, she has an altercation with Marta, who proudly admits to being La Loca and warns Vero not to mess with her. Chatita hears the scuffle outside the door, but by the time she gets there, Marta is gone. Vero is still gasping, but claims to be merely out of breath after talking on the phone. Vero asks Chatita what she thinks of Marcia. Chatita says she gets a bad vibe from her.

Once she's in the apartment, Vero overhears something about Vale's "novio" and chooses this as the topic of her fight with Alma. She claims to be there for visitation, but of course Alma doesn't let her take Vale. Vero hurls every insult she can think of at Alma, who stands her ground and doesn't lose her temper. They do threaten one another, however. (Actually, the real highlight of this scene is when Vero admits that she made a mistake. She's wrong about what the mistake was - she thinks she never should have let Chucho meet Valentina - but at least she admits to being fallible. Too bad Eli couldn't hear her say that. And Marta too, for that matter. They both told Vero that she should admit when she's wrong.)

Anyway, Vero tells Valentina "OK, I'm leaving now." Some visit. Valentina says, "I love you, Mommy." Vero replies, "Me too." I'm so touched, I dab at my eyes with a lace hanky.

Flustered after arguing with Vero, Alma discovers that her jugs have run dry, and she'll have to go to the store to get some formula. Normally Chucho would pick it up for her, but he's tied up in the vendor meeting and not answering his phone.

While Alma's out, Chatita remembers that it was Marta who pushed her down the stairs. She calls Alma to tell her. They agree that it's likely that Marta swapped places with Marcia. Alma says she'll try to get in touch with Marcia.

Alma pulls into a parking space; a car that was driving behind her pulls up alongside. There are two men in the other car.

Finally Chucho gets out of his meeting, and Chatita calls him to tell him the same thing. It sure is taking Alma a long time to come back from the drugstore, and nobody can reach her on her phone. Chucho picks up some formula at the store on his way home.

Around the same time, Marta goes to some vacant-looking area, wondering why Alma asked to meet her there. A shadowy form wearing Alma's dress (not just any Alma's dress, but her today-dress), her bracelet, her hair, and even her nail polish that we got a good look at when she was fighting with Vero earlier. At first, in the shadows, it just looks like a mannequin; but Marta sees this figure spring to life, raising a gun and firing three shots. As Marta falls to the ground bleeding, the figure steps into the light, swirling her hair around to reveal her face: it does look like Alma. But Marta's "seen" people before, so... anyway, as her life seeps painfully away, drop by drop, she struggles with blood-soaked fingers to write Alma's name on the ground. (A better sister's last words would have been "I'm Marta.")

Her handwriting (finger-writing) is nearly illegible; we see it again in the avances at the end of the episode. It looks like "[blob]MA MIA," which any detective would recognize as heartfelt praise for the hit Broadway musical Mama Mia.

At the manicomio, Marcia wakes with a jolt as her sister dies alone on the ground.

Alma is still in her car in that parking lot. There's a bag with the formula in it on the seat beside her. She is groggy and can't remember anything. More than an hour has passed. She drives home, still groggy, doesn't remember anything, and can't wait to go to bed. (To sleep.)

Back at the warehouse, or vacant lot, whatever it is, the CSIs are investigating the scene. Apparently they received an anonymous tip. In addition to Marta's corpse, a passport identifying her as Marcia, and a cell phone with a couple of recent texts supposedly from Alma, they also find Alma's bracelet and a few strands of blond hair. Marta's handwriting has mysteriously cleared up quite a bit to a legible "ALMA MONT." I hope that's enough clues!

Chucho calls the manicomio. The Only Nurse in Monterrey assures him that there's no way Marcia swapped places with Marta... except... well, no, Marcia would never push an old lady down the stairs, so maybe.

Chucho goes to the manicomio in the morning, where he is greeted by that very same nurse. Does this woman work 18-hour shifts? Is she a robot? A twin or clone? Never mind. The doctor's not there yet, but the nurse agrees to let Chucho see the patient. First, however, he must sign in, show his identification, and leave his cell phone at the desk in accordance with their very strict and effective security procedures. The nurse then leads Chucho to Marta's room, leaving the front desk and Chucho's phone totally unattended, but that's no problem because we've seen how this place is like Alcatraz.

Alma wakes up and tells Chatita she still feels as though she was hit in the head with a sledgehammer. She probably was. Still recalls nothing. Ding-dong, Chatita answers the doorbell. It's the po-po! They have an arrest warrant for Alma Montemayor. They Mirandize her and give her not one, but TWO new bracelets, not as nice as the one she lost, but much shinier. They show not the least interest or concern as to whether there are any children or invalids in the household who require supervision as they haul her away for the murder of Marcia Ferrer. (They've got the wrong victim AND the wrong suspect. That's quite a gaffe!)

Other tidbits:

- Paty moves in with Rogelio and doesn't get any sleep that night because of the baby's crying. She ends up holding the baby all night long to keep him quiet. In the morning, she is exhausted, but I think little Fernandito finally wins her over. (Rog refers to the baby and the dog as "the two eggs in our nest that you didn't open." I only remember one unopened egg. Juárever!)

- Despite falling asleep at her desk, Xochi manages to prepare for the meeting with the vendors. The fertility hormones, which she has been taking for four months, are taking a toll on her, but she insists that she really wants to have a baby. I say, if Fernando wants something that cries constantly, he already has Xochi. What does he need with a baby?

- The deal is that Avon will pay all of their vendors according to a specified schedule, plus a 3% penalty. The vendors aren't thrilled that they have to wait longer to receive the full balance of their overdue payments, but the 3% certainly sweetens the deal.

- Speaking of money, Ricardo is enraged when the online poker site puts a hold on his credit card. He's out of credit. (Not just cash, but credit.) "So much fuss over a few million," he complains. He tells Vicki he's going to the bank tomorrow and get a new card. Eh, not so fast, Stoli-breath!

- Julio and Aida are getting it on whereever and whenever they can.

Next time:
Vero gloats: Alma will spend the rest of her life in prison. OR WILL SHE??

Labels: Manda