“I brought a witness,” I said. “Dr. Mercer was present for all of it. He can testify to every question I asked and every one I didn’t.”

“That helps,” Reyes said. “It does not fix it.”

Claire Ashford spoke for the first time.

“I told Deputy Barrett all of it in April,” she said. “Twice. Before Dr. Hayes ever found me. It’s in your file.”

Barrett said, without any particular emphasis, “It is. It’s in the second interview. Page eleven.”

Reyes turned a page, read for a while, and something in her shoulders changed.