“That’s right. She suspected he was, but she wasn’t sure. She told us she’d pass the flyer to the vice squad when they came back to the station.”

“We know more than we did this morning,” Hannah said, noticing that Mike still looked disappointed.

“Yes, but we don’t know anything for sure. I really thought we could wrap this up today.”

Hannah felt a bit like chiding him for being unrealistic, but perhaps that was a trait all detectives had. The desire to wrap up a case quickly might be the reason Mike was so successful and worked so tirelessly.

“How about Doctor Jones, the dentist?” Norman asked him. “Did you get a chance to talk to him?”

“No. His office was closed. I called and got a recorded message that said he only takes patients by appointment.”

“Did you make an appointment?” Delores asked.

“I left my name and cell phone number. If he calls back, I’ll make an appointment.”

“So you don’t really know much about him?” Hannah asked.

“Not really. I’m waiting for his call to find out more.”

“I know something about him from that phone message,” Norman said. “If Doctor Jones only takes patients by appointment, he’s either independently wealthy, or he’s receiving money from a secondary source. A dentist can’t support a practice if he’s only open by appointment. If your office is a storefront, you have to take walk-ins.”

“Did you meet Doctor Jones at the dental conference last year?” Delores asked Norman.

“Not that I can remember. All I know about him is that he took a seminar in tooth embellishment.”

Mike turned to Norman. “And you didn’t take that seminar?”

“No. I did embed some tooth jewelry when I worked at the clinic in Seattle, but there’s not much call for it here in Lake Eden.”

“Unless some college student asks you to play a joke on her older sister,” Michelle said, and Hannah knew she was reminding him of the removable caps with rhinestones he’d made for her.

“True,” Norman said, smiling at Hannah and then turning back to Mike. “I might have run into him at the conference. There were over eighteen hundred dentists there. But if I did, he must not have made a lasting impression on me.”

“We drove past his office,” Lonnie said. “It was really small, just a storefront.”

“That’s right,” Mike took up the story. “The plate glass window in front has heavy curtains and we couldn’t see inside. It’s in a high crime area, very close to the area where Stella thinks she saw the man on the flyer. It all fits together, especially if Jones is the dentist who put that diamond in the tooth.” Mike turned to Norman again. “You said you took the diamond to a jeweler to have it appraised?”