“She was placed under arrest and taken straight to the county booking facility.”

He uncapped a black marker and drew a bold circle around the case number at the top of his form.

“The formal criminal complaint will go to the judge before noon,” he said.

By half past ten, Kevin and I were sitting together on the thin cushions of the third-floor family room sofa.

My dark cell phone lay on the low wooden coffee table, screen up, next to an empty paper cup.

The phone started to vibrate, buzzing loudly against the hard varnish as it slid a fraction of an inch to the side.