Marge stared at the twisted strands of bread, then wrapped it in a napkin. “Maybe I’ll be in the mood later.”

As Decker stood, a four-by-four pulled up in the fast-food stand’s parking lot. Annie Hennon bounced out of the driver’s side. Her hands were white, but her face and neck were gray from ash and soot. She strolled over to the table, whistling “Working in a Coal Mine,” then sat down.

“And Loretta Lynn thinks she’s the only one who ever got her hands dirty.”

“Your hands are clean,” Marge stated.

“That’s only because I’m smart enough to wear gloves.” Annie examined her nails. “I could really use a decent manicure.” She blew on her cuticles and rubbed them against her blouse. “I suppose you want to know why I’m here.”

“Can’t be for the hot dogs.” Marge made a fist and hit her stomach. “Stuff repeats on you.”

“It’s the sauerkraut, Marge.”

“Good going down, though.”

“You want a hot dog, Annie?” Decker offered.

“Always the gentleman,” Annie said. “No, Pete, I don’t want a hot dog. I want to give you Hennon’s pearls of wisdom.”

Decker unfolded the flap on his notebook. “Shoot.”

Annie pressed her palms together. “First we must recite the Om. Ommmmmmmmm…Gosh, I feel so much better now.” She grew serious. “It’s about the ring. Or what we think was Marie’s class ring. I’ve been doing a little fooling around while what was left of our victim’s jaw was being bleached. I weighed the glob of gold, taking into account the stone. Then I went over to Krechers in Pasadena. Have you ever heard of Krechers?”

“It’s a jewelry store, isn’t it?” Marge said.

“Close. It’s a big-mama place where people buy stones and wax figures and instruments to make jewelry. They have all kinds of wax molds and impressions—earrings, pendants, plaques, figurines—but mostly rings. Lots of rings. I looked through the catalogs and bought five or six wax impressions for different class rings. I also bought gold equal in weight to the glob of gold we found at the smoke scene. My idea was to try to recreate Marie’s I.D. ring. It’s easier to look at a reconstructed model than a chunk of gold. Are you with me so far?”

Decker and Marge nodded.

“All right, so here’s the deal. I cast about four or five different rings from different impressions. Cost me some bucks in gold, and I haven’t even asked the department for reimbursement. How’s that for being a dedicated scientist?”

“You’re A-one, Annie,” Marge said.

“A peach.” Hennon dumped several rings on the table. “These are the rings I’ve come up with. Standard class rings minus the stone. The jeweler sets the rock afterward.”

Marge picked one up. “You do nice work.”