Lourdes came back out and placed a roll of Fujifilm beside the recorder. Now he spoke very meekly, as though the presence of the film made him ashamed.

“I found him in the upstairs bathroom. It was unspeakable, unspeakable.” He shook his head. “When I found him like that, I knew I’d answer for him one day, so I took these pictures. I’ve never had them developed. I didn’t think I could face it, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“Take it,” he said. “Put it in your pocket.”

I took the roll off the table. Lourdes relaxed and lit another cigarette.

“What happened next?” I said. “Did you call the police?”

“We don’t break laws here, but we’re very cautious about bringing police into the house.”

“So what did you do?”

“I didn’t have to do anything,” Lourdes said. “A paramedic arrived.”

“Did you call him?”

“Not me, but somebody did. The medic, he wrapped the body, then came in with a couple other people and took him down to the ambulance.”

“Was the ambulance purple?”

Lourdes nodded. “A couple days later, I found out a charity from Retreat had been looking for Zeke, asking about him all over Manatee. We protect our own here at the house, but when one of the brothers found out he was dead, he called them. I guess there was some money involved. It was their ambulance.”

“Common Dreams.”

“Right, yeah.”

The back door swung open and a man came out with a watering can. He nodded to us, lit a cigarette, and topped up the can with a garden hose. Then he gently poured the water around the roots of a pink oleander.

“Could you describe the medic?” I said.

“White guy about my height, going bald. It’s hard, my memory’s not so good for faces. I like to draw them to remember. I didn’t draw him.”

“What about his name?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Was it Rainer?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I never knew.”

I asked if I could see where Zeke had stayed. Tori watched me take notes as Lourdes went inside to check with the brothers. When he came out, he said it was okay but asked that Tori stay outside. She walked over to the gardener, who was plucking weeds from the flower bed. He lit her cigarette.