Disappearance of the baby

"Tell me what happened."

Alex immediately forgets the detective's name, or instead, it hasn't registered at all. She only catches. 

"Detective." She looks at him, encouraged by the frank intelligence behind his eyes. He will help them. He will help them get Cora back. She tries to think. But she can't think. She is frantic and numb at the same time. She stares into the detective's sharp eyes and lets Norman do the talking.

"We were next door," Norman begins, clearly agitated.

"At the neighbors'." Then he stops.

"Yes?" the detective says.

Norman hesitates.

"Where was the baby?" the detective asks.

Norman doesn't answer. He doesn't want to say. Alex, pulling herself together, answers for him, the tears filling her face.