That summer midday, Alberto Sáenz , heir to one of Málaga’s wealthiest families, was driving slowly along a deserted coastal road. In the back seat was his mother, Doña Elena , paralyzed for two years after a stroke. Beside her, with his head resting on her legs, was Bruno , the dog who had been with the family for over a decade.
The press and his family had always seen Alberto as an exemplary son, but inside he seethed with resentment. Since his mother’s illness, the management of the family businesses had been placed under the guardianship of a lawyer she had appointed. To regain full control, Alberto needed his mother to die; he could no longer bear the thought of continuing to depend on her permission and supervision.
He parked at a remote viewpoint, where the cliff dropped almost vertically into the wave-battered sea. He approached the back seat, feigning friendliness.
“Mom, look at this view…” he whispered, knowing that she could barely move her eyes.
Bruno perked up his ears, restless. The dog had always had a special sensitivity for detecting tension.
Alberto opened the door roughly. He took the folding wheelchair, placed it near the edge of the balcony, and gently pushed his mother toward it. After a few seconds of silence, he took a deep breath and, with a cold gesture, pushed Doña Elena into the void .
The sound of the fall was lost in the constant crashing of the sea. Bruno began to bark desperately, running to the edge, sniffing the air, whimpering. Alberto, his pulse racing, went back to the car. Only then did he realize he had forgotten to put the dog in.
“Damn…” he muttered, looking around.
Bruno was still there, looking at him as if he understood that something terrible had happened. And at that moment, as the biting wind whipped against his face, Alberto saw something he hadn’t expected:
a couple of hikers were walking along the path that hugged the cliff edge, heading straight for him…
The hikers, a middle-aged couple named Javier and Marta , were surprised to see the dog barking incessantly by the edge. Alberto, trying to regain his composure, gave them a stiff smile.
“Excuse me, my dog got agitated by the wind,” he said, trying to sound natural.
But Bruno kept staring into the abyss, moaning, and turning back toward them, as if he wanted to guide them. Marta frowned.
—It seems like he’s trying to tell us something. Is everything alright?
Alberto felt a cold sweat run down his back.
“Yes, yes… only my mother…” He paused for a second, improvising. “My mother went ahead along the path. The dog is restless because he can’t see her.”
Javier noticed the abandoned wheelchair a few meters away.
“Does she walk on her own?”
Alberto swallowed.
“Well… he’s in the process of recovering.”
The couple exchanged a doubtful glance. Before Alberto could react, Bruno darted off toward a small, safe ledge from which part of the cliff was clearly visible. The dog barked desperately, staring down at the drop.
Marta took a few cautious steps and looked around too. Her face paled.
—My God, Javier… there’s someone in the water!
Alberto felt like the world was crashing down on him. Without thinking, Javier was already calling emergency services.
“112, we’ve seen a possible cliff fall in the Mirador del Faro area…”
Alberto tried to approach and intervene, but Marta looked at him suspiciously.
“Are you sure your mother is okay?” he asked, noticing that his hands were trembling.
The siren of a Civil Guard vehicle began to wail in the distance. Panic gripped Alberto. He had to flee, but the presence of witnesses complicated everything. Besides, if he left his car there, it would be irrefutable proof.
Bruno returned to him, growling. He had never seen him like this. The dog, who had always treated him with affection, now seemed to recognize something in his gaze: guilt.
Alberto took a step back, glancing at the hikers, the dog, and the access road where the official vehicle was already approaching. He couldn’t escape without drawing even more attention.
“It was all an accident…” he murmured, although no one had asked him yet.
The sound of the siren grew closer and closer, and the waves of the sea continued to crash against the spot where her mother had fallen.
The Civil Guard officers arrived within minutes. After hearing the couple’s account, they immediately went to Alberto’s location.
“Are you the son of the woman who fell?” the sergeant asked.
Alberto felt his legs weaken.
“I… yes… but… it was an accident. The chair moved by itself.”
The sergeant observed the position of the chair, too far from the car and too close to the edge.
“Could your mother move her arms or legs? We need to understand how this happened.”
Bruno began barking again, moving closer to and further away from the sergeant, as if trying to drag him to the edge.
One of the officers approached the dog.
“It seems to be pointing at something. Dogs often react when they see an accident.”
The arrival of a rescue team added to the tension. While they prepared the descent with ropes, Alberto tried to remain calm. But everything became complicated when one of the hikers mentioned, without meaning any harm:
—She told us her mother was walking along the path… but then we saw the chair by the edge…
The sergeant looked up at Alberto.
“What exactly did he mean by that?”
Alberto was speechless. The contradiction was obvious.
Half an hour later, rescuers reported finding Doña Elena’s lifeless body. Meanwhile, on the nearby road, a traffic camera had partially captured the car stopped at the viewpoint at the estimated time of the fall.
The sergeant approached Alberto.
—You need to come with us to give your statement. There are inconsistencies in your story.
Bruno sat down next to the officer, as if he approved of the decision. When Alberto tried to approach the dog, it backed away, letting out a low, pained growl, as if it knew exactly what it had done.
Hours later, at the police station, under the pressure of the evidence and the questioning, Alberto finally broke down. He confessed through tears, not out of remorse, but out of fear. And it was precisely Bruno who, unintentionally, had set off the entire chain of suspicion.
The case shocked the public. The loyal dog was adopted by the hiking couple, while the trial dragged on. Many wondered how someone could go so far out of ambition.
And you, reader…
