Keegan was right. The necklace was gone. There was no sign of the chain at the back of her neck or of the large teardrop stone under her clinging damp blouse. “She had that necklace,” Keegan said. “She always wore it. You had to have seen it.”

The lieutenant frowned and then nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I did. A big, clunky stone—like the size of a cherry. Blue.”

“She thought it was a rhinestone,” Keegan said. “I don’t think it was.” He was assembling the puzzle together in his mind, piece by piece, as he spoke. “She always wore it. Said it had great sentimental value. I think she got it from the dead man.” He tilted his head and looked at the photo again. “I’ve never seen her without it.” Again, he thought of her scorching body rolling away from him in the dark.

The lieutenant flipped through some of the pages in the file until he found what he was looking for. He ran his finger down the page. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s not listed. It wasn’t on her when she washed up.” He closed the file and looked at Keegan. “The fishermen?”

Keegan tugged the other photos from underneath and tapped one with his finger. “They left the watch.” He shook his head and slumped back in his chair. He sat a moment, speechlessly smoothing down the jigsaw he’d assembled in his head. “Merrill found his proof,” he said. “And he’d tried to keep it safe. He thought no one knew about the restaurant.”

The lieutenant leaned in. “What are you talking about, Jimmy?” he said. “What the hell does all this mean?”

Keegan sighed and tried to find the words. It was all so complicated—yet obvious, now that he could think clearly. “That stone was part of the Hesse crown jewels. Merrill found them, and they killed him to keep him quiet.” He shook his head. Eve had told him nothing but the truth.

The lieutenant regarded him grimly and rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re not making sense, Jimmy,” he said. “Back up and take it slow.”

“The man in San Francisco Bay was Eve’s lover,” Keegan said. “They were going to marry after Eve’s mother died. She wouldn’t condone a marriage to a black man. The guy stumbled onto war loot. Probably worth millions.” He watched Moore’s face, to make sure he was making enough sense. “He was going to tell the authorities, but they killed him. Eve had nothing to do with it.” It was all so simple really, and she had told him everything he needed to know.

The lieutenant nodded, brow furrowed. “The stone would have proven it,” he said.

“They were famous jewels,” Keegan said. “They had names,” he added, though he knew it would make no sense to Moore.

“And the gunman wanted it back.”