“Sadie, my name is Niki Vang. I’m a detective. I’d like to ask you a few questions about what happened. Would that be all right?”

Sadie calmed at the sound of Niki’s gentle voice.

“I know you already talked to some other detectives, but I want to have you go through it again in case we missed anything. Let’s work backwards. So do you remember the ambulance ride here?”

“A little.” Sadie’s voice cracked as she worked the sleep out of it. “I was so tired.”

“What do you remember before the ambulance?”

“I was in water, and I swam to some rocks. A man laid me in the grass. He put his jacket around me.”

“He was a security guard,” Niki said. “He’s the one who called the ambulance. What do you remember about being in the water?”

“Swimming. The water tasted like mud, and I couldn’t move my arms right, but I was swimming. There was a current. I tried to swim against it. Where was I?”

“You were in the Mississippi River.”

“I don’t understand.” Sadie looked at Niki as if something in the detective’s face might hold an answer that eluded her. “How’d I…get in the river?”

“Let your mind relax,” Niki said. “What happened before you were swimming? Were you with anyone? Do you remember anyone talking to you or holding on to you?”

“No. Nothing.”

“Take your time, Sadie. Just let your thoughts come to you.”

She closed her eyes. “I was in the water. I couldn’t see. It was dark, and I had water in my eyes. And it was loud. I could hear…I could hear the water.”

“What about before that?”

“I think I remember falling. The water was so cold.”

“Describe the fall. Do you remember what was around you?”

Sadie closed her eyes, pinching them tight at first, then relaxing them. When she opened her eyes again, she seemed brokenhearted. “I just remember the water. This is so confusing. How’d I get in the river?”

Niki shared a look with Matty, not seeking permission so much as letting him know that she would answer Sadie’s question.

“Sadie, when was the last time you had sexual relations?”

“What?”

“When was it?”

“My boyfriend and I broke up in April, so…not for four months.”

“The doctors found evidence of sexual trauma. We’re running tests to see if you had anything in your system—like a date-rape drug.”

“I was raped?” Sadie’s face paled with fear and anguish.

“We’re not sure at this point, but…I’m sorry.” Sadie’s eyes filled with tears and Niki rubbed her arm to try and soothe the blow. “What’s the last thing you remember before the water?”

“I was at the shop—my hair salon, Queen Bebe’s—and this guy came in for a haircut.”

“Was he a regular?”

“No. He wanted an appointment after hours. He offered me…” Something seemed to be shifting around in Sadie’s memory. “I don’t think he paid me. I don’t remember.”

“Do you remember him leaving?”