Ashes Learned Human Names novel · Chapter 10 of 24
Chapter 10: Pink Tissue Paper
The interview room had a steel table, two chairs and a camera in the corner.
Lucia sat in a wheelchair with a fresh dressing on her cheek and a blanket over the graft on her thigh.
Rafael stood behind her with both hands on the handles.
The man across the table was twenty-two, thin, with a shaved head and a county jumpsuit.
He looked at the dressing and flinched.
"You're her," he said.
"I'm her," Lucia said.
The detective sat down beside him.
"You asked for her, so say it," she said.
His eyes filled, and he stared at his own cuffed hands.
"I didn't know it was a face," he said. "They told me it was a car. I thought I was going to splash her car."
"With acid," Lucia said.
"They said it was a cleaning chemical. Just for the paint." He wiped his nose on his shoulder. "Then I saw the news. I haven't slept since."
"Who are they?" the detective said.
"A girl texted me," he said. "I never saw her. She sent your name, the library, the time, and a picture of you from behind. She said you'd come out at ten past ten."
"What number did she text from?"
"It was saved in my phone as P."
Lucia felt Rafael's hands tighten on the chair.
"How were you paid?" the detective asked.
"A bag. Left behind a trash can at the Greyhound station. Five thousand in cash, wrapped in tissue paper." His voice cracked. "Pink tissue with gold letters. Some boutique."
"What did the letters say?"
"Ibarra and Daughters."
The detective's pen stopped.
Paulina's mother owned a boutique on Westheimer, and she had sold half the quad their formalwear.
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