“Marie, you’re not helping Tandy by protecting her,” Decker said. “Marie, she’s sick! She needs medication. She needs help! If you take the heat for her and allow her to go back into society, it’s a sure bet she’s going to do more damage!”

Silence.

Decker scratched his head. “Don’t you give a solitary damn about Lily Booker?”

Still staring at the window, Marie finally spoke. “I care.”

“Then how can you allow her murderer to go free? Even if the murderer wasn’t in her right mind?”

“I am the murderer.”

“Taking the rap because you feel guilty about a twenty-year-old affair won’t change the past, Marie. It won’t help Tandy, either. You want to help her, stop trying to atone for your sins. Your prodigal-daughter bit won’t play well in the courtroom.”

“I killed Lily Booker.”

Decker felt his blood boil. “We’re bringing Tandy to trial, Marie. No one is going to believe you murdered Lily, then dropped the baby off with the Robertses…or Robleses. Because Leek never saw you with the baby.”

“Leek’s an embezzler and a liar. His testimony is tarnished.”

“Marie, no one will believe you murdered Lily Booker, given Tandy’s history. So save everyone some grief and tell us what really happened.”

“I went crazy,” Marie said. “My hormones went out of control and temporarily blocked my rational senses. Everyone knows what hormones gone awry can do.”

“So that’s your brilliant defense, huh?” Decker bit back sarcasm. “I talked to your doctor. Your hormones were in check. There was nothing wrong with your mind that a cat couldn’t take care of. Tandy was the one out of control. Tandy’s voices weren’t in check. Tandy was hearing voices, do you hear me? She was delusional!”

Marie didn’t answer.

Decker began to pace. “The high voice, the low voice, telling her to do things. Shrink says they were probably her punitive parents or something like that. I’ve got to read the report. I’m not a shrink. I don’t claim to know all the technical mumbo jumbo. But I do know this. Tandy is a sick girl! We’ve got lots of professionals who’ll testify to that, Marie. Why? you ask.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“I’ll tell you anyway. Because everyone wants Tandy treated! Because everyone truly cares, except you.”

“I care.”

“If you truly cared, you’d want the same thing.”

“I did the murder,” Marie stated flatly. “I took the baby. I was old and childless, and I wanted a baby.”

“So you’re telling me you pounded poor Lily Booker with a hammer to get a baby?”

Marie was quiet.

Decker said, “It was Tandy who walked into the nursery with a hammer, Marie. You know it. I know it. She was probably out to get you. She never forgave you for screwing her father, breaking up her parents’ marriage.”