My husband pushed me down the stairs, and as I lay shattered at the bottom, my mother-in-law called my father and said, “Come get your worthless daughter and take her back.” Dad gave her only one warning: “If she has so much as a scratch, your family will answer for it.” They laughed at him because they had absolutely no idea who my father truly was.

I didn’t attend the interview, and she shared only what she was permitted to share.

Agnes had heard the argument upstairs.

She had heard me say, “Stop, Martin,” and a thudding sound.

Then Celeste had called down for her to stay in the kitchen.

The most important detail was not something Agnes had seen.

It was what Celeste asked her to do afterward.

“She told Agnes to wipe the upstairs banister and the floor by the landing before the ambulance crew arrived,” Ortiz said.

“Agnes refused and left that area alone.”