ANSWER: I did no such thing. I did not take her from that sanatorium. She wanted to come to San Rafaela. She signed herself out. She was dying already. Ask her doctor at Las Palomas. Ring him up and ask him. He will tell you. She was dying. And she didn’t want to die there in the godforsaken desert. And, yes, she made me Kat’s legal guardian, because she knows I love her daughter. How dare you suggest I had anything but the best of intentions for Candace and for Kat?

QUESTION: Mrs. Hocking, as I said earlier, I am only after the truth. That is what I am seeking here.

ANSWER: And that is what I am telling you.

QUESTION: Are you, though? Tell me again why you waited six weeks to report Martin Hocking missing.

ANSWER: He travels for his business. I didn’t know he was missing.

QUESTION: Are you saying he habitually travels for extended periods of time for his job?

ANSWER: Some of his times away are longer than others.

QUESTION: Has he ever been away for six weeks?

Interviewee doesn’t respond.

QUESTION: Mrs. Hocking, was your husband ever away from home for his job for six weeks?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: Five weeks? Four?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: Was he ever away from home for three weeks?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: Two?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: I want the truth, Mrs. Hocking. Why did you wait six weeks to report your husband missing?

ANSWER: Because I didn’t care that he was missing, all right? I didn’t care. He is a horrible person. I have documents at home that prove what a horrible person he is. He abandoned Candace, stole her child from her, told Kat her mother was dead, married me falsely, married Belinda under a bogus name, stole from her mine, and he murdered that woman in Colorado. I know he did. Maybe her mother, too. Look into that, if you want to see the kind of person Martin is. Look into how Candace’s father died while you’re at it. Look into why that man’s automobile went off the road. I didn’t report that Martin had gone missing because I was in Tucson with Kat, reuniting her with her mother. That’s what I was doing instead of worrying about where Martin Hocking was. I didn’t give a damn where he was. And I still don’t.

QUESTION: Thank you for telling me the truth. That is all I want from you.

ANSWER: That isn’t all you want from me. You want me to confess to you that I’ve been a partner to Martin’s crimes and offenses.

QUESTION: Only if it’s the truth.

ANSWER: Well, it’s not.

QUESTION: And yet how can I believe you, Mrs. Hocking, when I know for a fact you have lied to me with regard to other matters?

ANSWER: I haven’t.

QUESTION: But you have. You’ve been lying to me since the moment you sat down.

ANSWER: That’s not true. I—

QUESTION: Since the moment you told me your name.