“Yeah, she liked to pray with her patients. I told Daddy this. We both agreed it was inappropriate.”

“Did Marie ever mention she was doing God’s work, Cindy?”

The teenager paused. “No…no she didn’t.”

“But she prayed with Lourdes?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Did Marie ever say anything about how the baby should be taken away from Lourdes because she didn’t appreciate what Jesus gave her?”

“No.”

“And you never remember seeing Marie being especially attached to Baby Girl Rodriguez?”

“No.”

“Did Marie seem unusually attached to any baby in particular?”

“Not that I can remember.”

“Did Marie ever mention going away very soon?”

“Marge, Marie hardly talked to me unless it was to say I was getting too attached to Hannah. When Marie was around, I minded my own business. I didn’t pay much attention to anyone except Hannah.”

“Your dad better be appreciative,” Jack said.

“Grandpa, he’s very appreciative.” Cindy looked at Marge. “I wasn’t much help to your case, was I?”

“Of course you’ve been a help, Cindy. The fact that Marie was talking about the baby’s mother…hey, that’s something we didn’t know about. It shows that Marie had prior interest in this particular patient.”

“But you’re not any closer to finding the baby.”

“Things take time, Cindy.”

The room was silent. Cindy stood and placed her hands in her pants pockets. “I’m kind of tired. Is there anything else you need me for?”

“No, Cindy, you did great.” Marge folded her notebook. “Thanks for your help. Now kick back and go home. Rina and Hannah will be needing you to take care of them.”

Cindy sighed. “You know what I’m thinking? Who’s taking care of Baby Girl Rodriguez? And who’s going to take care of that poor mother?”

Marge looked at her partner’s daughter and saw something familiar in her eyes—the fire of determination. Decker’s expression to a T. That kind of passion to solve a crime was great for a career detective, but deadly for a nineteen-year-old kid.

“Cindy, you are going to go home and forget about this, right?”

“I can’t forget about something like this, Marge.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t.”

“Okay,” Marge said. “I’ll be blunt. I don’t want you going out and looking for the baby on your own.”

Once again Cindy’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t even thought about that.”

Her expression seemed genuine. It was then and there that Marge realized she had planted a seed inside Cindy’s brain. She stuffed her notebook in her jacket pocket and silently cursed her big mouth.

Decker said, “How’d it go?”