“Marie and I loaded the body on a gurney and brought it to her car. No one really saw us. At that time of night, hospitals are empty, and no one pays much attention to anybody in an official uniform.”

Decker knew that to be true enough. “Where’d you load the body? Front seat? Backseat?”

“Actually, we tried the trunk at first. But…we couldn’t…the limbs weren’t pliable. So we put the body on the floor of the backseat.”

Consistent with the evidence found. Decker had located Marie’s I.D. ring in the backseat. She’d probably lost it while she was placing the body in her car. “When did all this take place?”

“I don’t know….” McKay closed his eyes and opened them. “Maybe one, two in the morning.”

Decker said, “Leek, how’d you know a hammer did the damage to the body?”

“Marie gave me the hammer. She said get rid of it.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah. I dumped it.”

“Where?”

“In the canyon somewhere.”

“Which canyon?” Marge asked.

“Somewhere in Angeles Crest.” He cleared his throat. “Near where I…I pushed and burned…the car.”

“Why’d you pick the spot you did?” Decker asked.

“It…” McKay let out a bitter laugh. “It was a private spot where Tandy and I used to go camping. We used to do that once in a while. She loved to camp.” He paused. “I didn’t mind. It was a lot less public than her spending the weekend in my place. I hated to be seen with her.”

Decker kept his expression flat. “What was Sondra Roberts doing while you and Marie Bellson were loading the body inside Marie’s car?”

McKay finished his water. “I told you Tandy had taken off. I never saw a baby. I never saw her. I didn’t know anything about the kidnapping until I heard it on the news the next morning. That day, I spoke to Tandy at the gym—to ask about what the hell was going on. I didn’t want to be involved in a kidnapping.”

Decker nodded encouragingly.

“Tandy told me she didn’t know anything about a baby. Why the hell was I bothering her?” McKay shook his head. “She acted like she never even phoned me. Like she wasn’t even there that night. I don’t know who took the baby. All I know is that night, Marie was driving my car, following me up the mountain to get rid of the body.”

“You drove Marie’s car?” Marge asked.