“A very good point,” I told him. “You’re here and he isn’t.”

Brill said, “So if you talk to us, you’ve got to sign this paper saying that we told you about your rights in English and you read your rights in English and Spanish and agree to waive them.”

“Wha’ paper?”

“This paper.” Brill showed him the card. “You’ve got to sign it right here. That says you agree to talk to us without an attorney. And you also understand that what you tell us could be used against you in court.”

“And it also says that if you want an attorney, you can ask for one at any time,” I said. “But like Detective Brill told you, once you’ve asked for an attorney, it’s out of our hands.”

“I don’ need no lawyer,” El Paso said.

Brill took out a pen. “Sign here.”

El Paso signed the waiver card.

“Germando, I need the pen back.”

El Paso returned the pen, unhappy because he’d lost a potential weapon. Brill pocketed the card. “What happened with Sarah Sanders?”

“The retard muchacha.”

“Yes,” I said. “What’d you do to her?”

“I don’ touch dat muchacha. Juice do her, I no do her.”

“Who else?” Brill said.

“Leo.”

“Leo who?”

“Leo dat’s Juice’s friend.”

“Last name?” I asked.

El Paso shrugged.

“Do better,” I told him.

“Leo Shithead … I call him dat.”

Leo’s last name was Chatlin. I let it go. “Who else?”

“Pepe Renaldes.”

“I don’t think so. Try again.”

“Wha’?” El Paso said. “Wha’ you mean?”

Brill looked at me with confusion. I raised my eyebrows, feeling my heart take off. I had met El Paso and I had met Pepe Renaldes and I knew in my gut who was the rapist and who was the lookout. I was taking a tremendous chance, because I hadn’t cleared any of this with Brill for obvious reasons. I couldn’t tell him that I’d met with Renaldes behind his back. I said, “One more time. Who raped her?”

“Dat’s wha’ I say,” El Paso replied. “Joey Fedek, Leo Shithead, and Pepe Renald—”

“No, no, no,” I said louder. “If you’re going to give me bullshit, El Paso, I’m going to walk from this.”

“I don’ know wha’ you want!” El Paso yelled. “I tell you the truth!”

“Let’s start from the beginning,” I tried again.

Brill said, “A word with you, Decker?”

“In a minute,” I told him. My heart was pumping out of my throat. Abruptly, I pounded the table. “You think I’m dumb, Ger-mando? You think I don’t do my homework? You think I don’t talk to other people including you-know-who to get their side of the story before I come up here to this hellhole?” I was trying to avoid Brill’s burning eyes. “One more time, El Paso, and this time I want the truth. It’s going to come down to that if you want a deal. I want to know who raped Sarah Sanders.”

I locked the man in eye-to-eye combat. He finally got the point. He rubbed his forehead and sat back in his chair. “I don’ say nothin’.”