Sarah glanced at her sister. Louise said, “It’s okay, Sarah. You can answer the question.”

“Yes.” She bit her lip. “I’m sorry, Louise.”

“What are you sorry for?” Louise asked her.

“’Cause I liked David. You said to stay away from black people. That they do lots of bad things. But David was nice. He wasn’t mean … except he did the sex. But he was nice about it.”

By this time, Louise was bright red. After all she’d gone through, I decided to give her a little solace. “Everyone makes judgment calls, Louise.”

“I’m just trying to keep her safe. …” She let out a mirthless chuckle. “I haven’t done a very good job.”

“Walk a mile in my shoes,” I said.

She laughed loudly. “You should have been a therapist.”

Sarah said, “Is my baby okay?”

“The baby is fine,” I told her.

“Can I see her?”

Louise said, “We’re working on it, Sarah.”

I said, “Louise, is it possible for you to bring Sarah down to the Hollywood Station tomorrow just to make a statement? That way we could get something going.”

Louise said, “I don’t think so, Officer Decker.”

“No mug books,” I told her. “Just let her repeat her story to Detective MacGregor, because he’s in charge. We’ll worry about identifying the perpetrators later on.”

Her sigh was heavy. “Lunchtime—twelve-thirty. I’ll give you twenty minutes. Then I have to get back to work.”

“Thank you so much,” I said. “I’ll clear it with Detective MacGregor and call you if there’s a change in plans.”

“Your cooperation will be favorably looked upon by the judge,” Decker told her. “This is not for pressure, Ms. Sanders, just to let you know.”

“Right.”

The sarcasm was evident. We all stood except Sarah. Dad extended his hand to the girl. “Thank you for talking with us, young lady. Tomorrow, Louise is going to bring you to the police station to talk with Detective MacGregor. Do you remember him?”

Sarah nodded.

“You’ll need to tell him exactly what you told us.”

“Okay …” Sarah was tentative.

“Don’t worry,” Decker said. “It will be easier the next time you talk. I promise. You’re a very good girl, Sarah.”

“Mr. Man?”

We all smiled. Louise said, “His name is Lieutenant Decker.”

“I thought her name was Decker.”

“We both are Decker,” I told her.

“Oh … you’re married.”

“Father and daughter,” Dad explained. “Was there something you wanted to tell me?”

She nodded.

“What, honey? Tell me anything you want.”

“Are you sure it’s okay to tell bad secrets?”

“Positive.” My father regarded her face. “Do you have another bad secret you want to tell me?”

“No.” But Sarah responded way too quickly.

“It’s okay,” Decker soothed. “If you want, you can whisper it in my ear.”

“Is David dead?” she asked.

“I don’t know, Sarah,” I told her. “I’m going to find out.”

“Will I get into trouble?”

“No, sweetie. It’s okay. You did the right thing by talking to us.” Decker gave her his card. “Anytime you have a bad secret, you can call me, okay?”