Los guardaba en su escritorio

[Michael30000]

Hola a todos,

La frase en cuestión es del libro Tinta invisible de Javier Peña.

La imaginación es la esencia del escritor. Roald Dahl había sido piloto de aviación durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Sobrevolando Libia, su avión se averió y tuvo que aterrizar de emergencia. El aeroplano estalló en llamas y Dahl sufrió heridas muy graves. Durante dos meses no pudo abandonar la cama del hospital, tuvieron que recomponerle por completo la nariz, las operaciones en la espalda le dejaron una cojera que arrastró el resto de su vida y le extrajeron tantos huesos que Dahl los guardaba en su escritorio. Cuando recibió el alta, la RAF lo envió a un puesto más tranquilo y, de la noche a la mañana, se convirtió en agregado para Asuntos del Aire en la embajada británica en Washington.

https://www.rae.es/diccionario-estudiante/escritorio

1. m. Mueble que se cierra, con divisiones en su parte interior y cajones para guardar papeles, y, a veces, con un tablero sobre el que se puede escribir cuando se abre. Guarda los libros de contabilidad en su escritorio. Tb. designa otro tipo de mueble o una mesa, gralm. de oficina, empleados para escribir sobre ellos.

https://www.calmview.co.uk/Dahl/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=Ac1%2F143

'Ball joint' portion of Roald Dahl's femur removed during a hip-replacement operation. The bone is scarred with signs of osteo-arthritis.
In 'My Year' (1993) Dahl recounts that the operating surgeon presented the piece to him, saying that it was the largest he had ever seen.
Found on the table in the Writing Hut.

So how should "le extrajeron tantos huesos que Dahl los guardaba en su escritorio" be interpreted? Did he keep his bones on the desk (on the surface of the desk) or in his desk drawer?

Thank you.

[Rusty]

In the narrative, we read that he kept all his bones. The verb that was used (guardar) would imply that the bones were securely stored. The preposition 'en' could mean 'in' or 'on', as you know, but who would keep their own bones displayed on a desk for the rest of their life? I believe that Mr. Dahl's bones were safeguarded out of sight.
The story about the ball joint speaks of a single bone (not several) that seemed more like a trophy piece, it being touted as the largest the operating surgeon had ever seen. Perhaps it alone was set on top of the desk.
It could have been safeguarded with the other bones he kept (out of sight), but at some point he decided to showcase (to only himself, I would believe, and then to the occasional visitor).
Although we really can't say for certain that this one bone was on display, we have to trust what the verb implies. In my opinion, bones on display aren't exactly safeguarded.

[Michael30000]

Thank you very much, Rusty!

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I agree with Rusty.
If the sentence were "los tenía en su escritorio", it wouldn't be clear whether he kept them on top of the desk or inside a drawer.
But since the author says "los guardaba", it should be understood that they were in a drawer. What we cannot know there is if the drawer had a lock. Maybe his sense of humor kept the bones in an unlocked drawer. :D

[Michael30000]

Thank you, Angelica.