When Morales interviewed Sofía in the children’s care room, the girl answered with the trembling sincerity of someone who still doesn’t understand the gravity of what happened.
” Yesterday, Dad was very nervous… he was talking loudly on the phone and said he ‘couldn’t pay anymore.’ I was on the stairs and I heard… I heard someone tell him he had until today.
” “Did you see that person?
” ” No…”
“Does your dad usually have visitors at night?
” ” For the past month, men have been coming. Mom says it’s ‘grown-up stuff.’”

The officer wrote down every word. What the girl described sounded dangerously similar to extortion by illegal loan sharks. It wasn’t uncommon: indebted families resorting to quick loans, with no contracts, no collateral, just threats.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Sofia’s parents remained intubated and in critical condition. Doctors confirmed that the poisoning had been severe and prolonged, meaning the leak had occurred several hours before the report.