“I told myself she was just an old-fashioned teacher, but I should have looked in that garage weeks ago.”

Noah twisted the bottom hem of his dusty striped shirt in both hands.

“Grandma said Lily was being bad because she wouldn’t take her nap,” Noah said.

Mariana looked at Noah, her hands falling away from his knee.

“Did she do anything to you, Noah?” Mariana asked.

“No,” Noah said.

“She turned the radio up loud in the kitchen so nobody could hear Lily screaming, then she locked the back door and drove away.”

Mariana closed her eyes for three seconds, her breathing shallow and fast.