Decker rubbed his burnt nose. “You might think of hiring a lawyer to represent you.”

“Right, man. And just give away like thirty, forty percent of the settlement. They’re all rip-off artists.”

“I’d still consider hiring a lawyer.”

“Yeah, that’s cause you’re the lawman. They don’t fuck with the lawman. But they see me, they see some stupid choelo. They rip me off right and left.”

“I don’t care about money,” Lourdes whispered. “All I want is my baby.” She looked at Lopez. “Our baby!”

“Yeah, chica, I want our baby, too. But we might as well play the system for all the trouble they gave us. We deserve something for all the pain, querida.”

Lourdes sighed. “Maybe we should get a lawyer. That’s what Mama says.”

“Your mother? You look for advice from your mother?”

“Matty—”

“I know what I’m doing, man.”

“Lourdes,” Decker said, “you met with Marie Bellson several times, didn’t you.”

“Yes.”

“Describe her to me.”

“Describe her? Like what she looked like? What she wore?”

“Yeah, that kind of thing.”

Lourdes fluttered her eyelids. “She was a tall, skinny white woman. She wore white pants and a uniform shirt. Sometimes she’d have a mask around her neck.”

“Did she wear anything on her shirt?”

“Like a scarf?”

“I was thinking more like a name tag.”

Lourdes paused. “Yeah, she did. Marie Bellson, Charge Nurse. And she wore a little gold cross. She was religious. Once we even prayed together. I’m not real religious, but I didn’t mind.”

Decker took out his notebook. “Did she wear any other jewelry besides the gold cross?”

“She wore a ring. A big ugly gold thing with a blue stone. Only ring she wore. It was ugly. She was always pulling it on and off.”

“You’re sure?” Decker asked.

“Positive. I wondered why she wore it. If she was going to bother wearing a ring, she should wear something pretty. I was gonna tell her that. Then I thought it was none of my business. I just wanted to take my baby and go home.” Her eyes became wet. “That’s all I want still.”

“I’m sorry, Lourdes.”

She just shook her head. “Anything else? I’m tired. I want to rest before my family shows up. They was real mad at your questions, you know. Like they had something to do with it.”

“We have to question everyone,” Decker said. “It’s part of the job. Lourdes, you said that Marie wore only a big gold ugly ring with a blue stone. Do you remember her wearing any other type of jewelry?”

Lourdes closed her eyes. “Her ears were pierced. She wore gold studs, I think. Maybe they weren’t gold. But they were studs.”

“Necklaces?”

Lourdes shook her head. “I can’t remember.”

“Marie was nice to you, Lourdes?”