I Found Two Babies in a Cardboard Box on Route 66—Then Their Missing Mother’s Warning Named the Man Asking to Take Them Home

“I never threatened her.”

I had asked a specific question.

He had answered a broader one.

I asked again.

“No,” he said.

He moved the paper cup so its printed seam faced the table’s edge.

Then he asked whether I intended to use abandonment in the report.

“I’ll describe what we establish.”