She looked away and dabbed her eyes with a Kleenex. Then she returned her gaze on Decker’s face. “This is Pandora Hurst.” She was referring to a woman on her right. “Crystal’s mother.”

Decker offered his hand, which she took. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Ms. Hurst.” The woman looked him over with pale, dry eyes: long nose, thin lips, and a ghostly complexion. She remained silent.

Kathy said, “Will you excuse me for a moment?”

“Of course,” Decker answered. “Please offer my condolences to your husband.”

“I will.” Kathy walked a few steps and collapsed into the arms of Alicia Martin, sobbing on her shoulder.

Decker returned his attention to Pandora Hurst. She wore a long black dress that bordered on a witch’s costume. Her gray hair was in a bun secured with several ivory combs. “If there’s anything that you need right now, Ms. Hurst, please let me know.”

“You can call me Pandy.” Her voice was emotionless. “When are you going to release my daughter for burial?”

“I’ll check with the people who are in charge.”

“I want to take her back to Missouri with me.” Pandy crossed her arms. “They gave me all sorts of paperwork to fill out. I was never good at that kind of thing under the best of circumstances.”

“I’ll see that someone helps you out with the forms.”

“When would that be?”

“Whenever you want. Monday would work best for me, but I can do it sooner.”

“Are they going to release my daughter on Monday?”

“I don’t know. I have to call and find out. Sometimes things slow down over the weekend.”

“No one dies on Saturday or Sunday?”

“The staff is usually smaller. If they can, they’ll hold things over until Monday.”

“So they work at their convenience.”

“I’ll call right away and let you know as soon as they call me back,” Decker told her. “Also, I know this is a very hard time, but it might help me with your daughter’s case if I could talk to you about Crystal.”

“Not now.” She shook her head. “Not now.”

“How about tomorrow or Monday?”

“I suppose on Monday. You’ll help me with the forms?”

“Absolutely.”

“I want to take her back to Missouri.” Pandy rubbed her arms. “She never liked Missouri, you know.”

“I didn’t know.”

“Well, then…there you have it.”

“I thought you raised Crystal in L.A.”

“I did. I moved out here for my husband. Then he left me five years later to chase young men. I was either stupid or in denial when I married Jack. When he came out to me, I told him no hard feelings. But I think it was hard on Crystal.”

“Divorce usually is.”