“I think you’re terrific.”

He was still thinking about my “friend.” I could hear it in his voice.

“I gave the information to Greg Van Horn, but he’s going on vacation. He told me to check the lead and see if it goes anywhere. If it does, he told me to play it by ear.”

“He’s giving you opportunity to flex your muscles. He’s being nice, Cin.”

“I know that. I thanked him. He’s giving me a chance and I don’t want to mess it up. You wouldn’t happen to have a spare morning, would you?”

His laughter was immediate. “Now, what good would it do if I tagged along?”

“You could poke me in the ribs if I get off track?”

“Go get a pencil.”

“Okay.” I pulled out a pencil and a pad of paper from my night-stand. I always kept them there in case I thought of something inspirational. “I’m armed and ready.”

“Listen up! You want to find out about this girl, but you have to go through the sister. What you don’t want to do is alienate the sister. First you introduce yourself. You ask if you can come in and say that you won’t take very long. That’s important. If they think you’re going to take a long time, it makes them even more nervous. You act casual. You tell them you’ve been doing a little searching that led to the Fordham home. The girl … What’s her name?”

“Sarah.”

“Sarah hasn’t been in school for a while. Is everything okay? The sister may not answer the question. She may ask, ‘What is this all about?’ You say, you’re coming to that. How is Sarah? Now the sister will probably say something about her health. ‘Yes, she’s fine,’ or ‘No, she hasn’t been fine. What’s going on?’”

“Wait, wait, wait.” I was writing so fast that my hand was cramping. “Okay. Continue.”

“When she asks about your business the second time, you get to the point. It should go something like this.

“You say: ‘A couple of days ago, LAPD found an abandoned baby in a Dumpster. Maybe you read about it in the paper?’

“She says: ‘Yes, that was terrible, but I still don’t understand why you’re here.’

“You say: ‘Mrs. So and so—’”

“I don’t think she’s married,” I interjected. “The name is Sanders, by the way.”

“Okay. So say something like … ‘Ms. Sanders, I think you might like to know that we’re actively looking for the mother of this child. It’s very important that we find her, not to punish her, but to help her.’ By now, if she has any brain in her head, she knows what you’re getting at.”

I wrote furiously, then put the pencil down for a break. “Well, then, let’s hope she has a brain.” I laced my fingers together, flipped them around, and stretched out my arms until my knuckles cracked.

Dad continued. “Cindy, it’s very important that you talk to Ms. Sanders and get her on your side before she brings in Sarah. She’s probably used to treating Sarah like a child, so her first reaction might be to yell at her or confront her. … Don’t let her do this. Calm Ms. Sanders down first and then interview Sarah. It’s very important that no one feels threatened—the sister or the girl. When people are defensive, they don’t talk.