“Maybe you will later.”

I folded the audit report and put it in my bag.

“Right now,” I said, “I mostly want the hotels to pay their suppliers on time.”

Simone smiled.

“That’s a goal I can help with.”

PART 24: WHEN THE POLICE CALLED BACK

Months after the night in my bedroom, Ortega asked me to come to the station for another interview.

By then, I had learned not to mistake a call for a guarantee of imminent resolution.