Martha refused to be taken to the police station for a routine statement.

“My son is trapped in a basement right now.”

“We are actively working on locating the exact site,” Detective Miller assured her.

“Then work faster,” Martha insisted.

The detective studied the determined older woman for a long moment.

Martha knew how she appeared to him: an elderly farm woman in dirt-stained shoes, clutching an old photograph and giving orders to law enforcement in the middle of a crime scene.

She did not care how it looked.