regular wing of the hospital. Since her new room was only a few doors away from Jose Reyes’s new room, many of the people Sister Anselm met in the corridor and in the new waiting room were familiar faces.
Shortly after the move, when the Fox family left for dinner in the cafeteria, Sister Anselm turned to her charge. “There’s someone else in the waiting room who would like to speak to you.”
“Who?”
“Detective Ariel Rush, a homicide detective from Phoenix, and Al Gutierrez, the Border Patrol agent who found you.”
“Do I have to talk to them?” Rose asked. Her mumbled words were understandable, but just barely.
“You don’t have to,” Sister Anselm said, “but they’d like you to. Detective Rush needs your help.”
“Why? Who’s dead?”
Sister Anselm had noticed that during their brief visits in the course of the day, Rose’s parents and sisters had all managed to avoid any discussions of Rose’s life as Breeze Domingo. They also hadn’t mentioned anything about Chico Hernandez’s murder, leaving it up to Sister Anselm to break the bad news.
“A friend of yours,” Sister Anselm said. “Chico Hernandez.”
“He’s dead?”
“Detective Rush is investigating his murder. She seems to think his killer may also be responsible for what happened to you. So if you’ll speak to her, you may be able to help.”
Rose thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “All right.”
Sister Anselm went out into the corridor, caught Detective Rush’s eye. “You can come in now,” she said. “Do you want me to leave?”
“Not necessary,” Detective Rush said. “This is a preliminary interview only. With Agent Gutierrez and me here, she’ll probably be more comfortable with you here as well.”
As they entered the room, Rose’s eyes followed Al, who was carrying an oversize briefcase. “You found me?” she asked him.
It seemed to take him a moment to understand her. When he did, he nodded.
“Thank you,” Rose said.
That sentence was entirely understandable. Al’s face broke into a wide grin. “You’re welcome,” he said.
During this exchange, Detective Rush was busy placing her open computer on the movable table next to Rose’s bed.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Ventana,” she said. “Ariel Rush from the Homicide unit of Phoenix PD. I’d like to record this. There’s a video device loaded into my computer. If you don’t mind, we’ll be using that to record this session.”
Rose nodded. “It’s okay,” she said.
After listing the time, place, and people present, Ariel Rush launched off on her questions.
“With the help of Agent Gutierrez here, I’m currently investigating the homicide of one Chico Hernandez. Since you and he were both reported missing by your roommates on Saturday, I assume you know him?”
Rose nodded.
“I also have a slide show that I’ve loaded onto my computer,” Detective Rush continued. “I’d like you to take a look at the photos and let me know if any one of those individuals is someone you recognize.”
The montage contained ten photographs in all. Watching from several feet away, Sister Anselm noticed that most of them were mug shots and some were simple head shots. Two of them had a grainy texture that looked as though it might have come from some kind of security video. As Detective Rush clicked through, Rose watched the photos; Sister Anselm followed them while also watching Rose. The young woman’s eyes widened in shock at the third photo in the group, and again several shots later.
“So do you recognize anyone here?” Detective Rush asked.
The answer was obvious, and Rose didn’t try to deny it. She nodded.
“I’m going to go back through the photos one at a time,” Detective Rush said. “You’ll notice each photo in the montage is numbered. If you recognize one of them, please tell me the appropriate number.”
Rose stared at the computer screen while the photos reappeared. “Three,” she mumbled a few seconds later. “And eight.”
“You recognize two of them?”
Rose nodded again. Nodding was clearly easier for her than speaking.
“And can you tell me how you know these gentlemen?”
Rose’s eyes sought out Sister Anselm, asking for guidance on whether she should answer the question. During Rose’s time in the ICU, a remarkable bond of trust had grown between the patient advocate and her charge.
“You need to tell her,” Sister Anselm said gently. “You need to tell Detective Rush all of it.”
“Those men in the pictures. They took me to the desert,” Rose said. “Left me.”
“They’re the ones who dumped you?”
“Yes.”
“Did they do anything else?”
“Hit me; kicked me.”
“Anything more?”
This time Rose said nothing.
“Tell me about Mr. Hernandez,” Detective Rush continued. “Was he your employer?”
Rose hesitated but finally nodded.
“Your pimp?”
Again there was no answer forthcoming.
“Ms. Ventana,” Detective Rush said. “As you are no doubt aware, girls on the street often don’t bother reporting rapes. They think they won’t be taken seriously by the law enforcement community, but that’s not true for me. Just because you may have worked as a prostitute in the past doesn’t make you fair game. So tell me about the two men in these photos-number three and number eight. In addition to beating you and kicking you, did they do anything else? Did they sexually assault you, for example?”
There was another long pause before Rose’s whispered answer. “Yes.”
“Earlier today, Mr. Gutierrez, the Border Patrol agent who found you, and I visited the crime scene near Three Points. We came away with trace evidence that may include DNA from one of your assailants. Unless you want to, you can’t be compelled to give me any information about your medical condition or the course of treatment, but it would be a huge favor to me and to my investigation if I were to know some of the details of your treatment. For example, at the time you were admitted to PMC, do you know if a rape kit was taken?”
Rose looked questioningly at Sister Anselm, who nodded.
“Yes,” Rose said finally. “It was.”
“And if we can identify your attacker, is it your intention to press charges?”
Again Rose looked to Sister Anselm for confirmation. Another nod.
“Yes,” Rose said. “It is.”
“I’ll need your signature on an actual police report to make that official,” Detective Rush said. She took possession of the briefcase, opened it, and dug out a piece of paper. For the next several minutes, she scribbled on it before handing it over to Rose. “I know signing with your hand in a splint is tough. If you can make an X at the bottom, we’ll have Sister Anselm and Mr. Gutierrez sign as witnesses. That way, I can make sure the kit is sent along to the crime lab so they can start processing it.”
When the paper was properly signed and witnessed, Detective Rush returned to the interview. “Now, please tell me about the last time you remember seeing Mr. Hernandez.”
“Thursday. Going to Fountain Hills.”
“To Fountain Hills?” Detective Rush confirmed. “Why there?”
“Client,” Rose replied.
“What client? Did you know his name?”
“No.”
“Was the client in the photo montage?”
“No.”
“So you went to a house in Fountain Hills to see a client. What happened there?”
