Marshall stayed. He’d gone full cop on me, his eyes as flat as if the notes he was taking were a grocery list. Cops could do it, too, I realized, like lawyers and actors. They could tuck themselves away inside another person. Right now he was someone rock steady, and his calm gaze felt like the only thing that kept me chained to the earth. Forget gravity. If he looked away, I’d shoot up into space. I’d feel my whole body crumpling in that vacuum, imploding into itself.

Because she was not hiding anything or lying or manipulating me now. She was only saying true and awful things. Saying them with my baby in her arms.

“I didn’t scare him, or hurt him. He wasn’t scared for even a minute. I had a cat like that once. Mitzi. Some old mama cat had her in my carport and never came back. I brought her in. Bottle-fed her. She spent her whole life in my house after that, never cold or hungry or sad, not even once’t. This little boy, he was like that cat. When he woke up in my car, I told him I was the new sitter, and he was just as nice as pie. I’d taken him from his mama, at the park. She was in a fuss with someone on her cell phone while he napped, and I moseyed away with the whole stroller. But he was used to waking up with sitters. His mama liked to go about. We followed her awhile, to get her pattern, you know.” I stayed my flat, calm character, but inside I felt a flash of angry joy that Marshall was recording. She’d admitted that her daughter had assisted with a kidnapping, and the daughter was the only thing she cared about. It felt like leverage. “She was always running out to lunch, or getting her hair or nails fussed over, or doing hot yoga, whatever that is. No nanny, so her boy was used to different folks. He couldn’t fathom a bad thing might be happening. When we got back here, I gave him a lot of Benadryl in juice, and he went right to sleep. He never even woke up when I put him in the water. I made sure it was warm, but not too hot. Like you do a bottle.”

She was quiet for a little. It was a mercy. I felt as if she wanted me to say something. It was a waiting pause to see how I would take this. I made my voice stay low and calm and gentle.

“You didn’t call his mother? Didn’t put a gift bag with a phone on her door?”

“Hmm.” She made that noise again. I could also hear Robert stretching, grunting a little. “Naw. I didn’t need her help.”