When the lid opened with a creak, a heavy, sweetish smell hit the air. One of the policemen recoiled sharply, the other went pale. I stepped closer — not believing, not understanding. Inside, among the garbage and dark bags, a hand was moving.

— Alive! — someone shouted.

We grabbed the edge of the bin together. A woman lay there, half-buried in the trash, with her mouth taped and her hands tied. Her eyes — huge, frightened, but alive.

The boy screamed, rushing to her: — Mom! I told you! I told you!

The police called an ambulance, and I stood aside, feeling everything inside me turn upside down. I could have saved them yesterday. One gesture — and everything could have been different.

As the ambulance took the woman with the child away, the boy suddenly turned to me and quietly said: — Thank you for believing… at least today.

Those words burned me more than any reproach.