And I began to despair, a little, that money and status and a coordinated lie might simply be stronger than the truth.

But they had made one mistake.

They had left a witness in that alley.

Chapter 10 — The Witness

Don Ernesto, the watchman who had found me, remembered something that he had at first thought was unimportant.

He had not simply stumbled upon me in the alley.

Before he found me, he had seen the vehicle.

He described it to the detectives: a large black luxury SUV that had turned into the alley minutes before he found me.