“Thanks. I’ve made some jewelry before, but never have done it for this purpose. It’s kind of exciting to do something new. I can understand why you guys like detection.”

Decker hefted another ring. “They’re not as heavy as the glob was.”

“Some of it may be stone. But basically, it’s the same weight, just different distribution. A small glob feels heavier than a finished ring.”

Annie took out a bag and carefully placed a half-dozen plaster models of breadsticks on the table. “Take a look at these.”

Decker separated them and stared at the shapes carefully. “They’re fingers.”

“What an eye,” Annie said. “I made a plaster cast of the fingers of our victim. Not an easy trick, because the bones were brittle.” She studied one of them. “They’re missing a few anatomical bumps. The alginate picks up the details, but unfortunately the plaster doesn’t.” She waved her hand in the air. “Irrelevant, but it bothers me. What is important is, I got the right dimensions. So what do you see?”

Decker picked up a ring and placed it on the plaster finger. The edge of the gold caught on the second knuckle and scraped it going down. He tried several rings on several plaster fingers.

“So what’s your verdict, Pete?” Annie asked.

“The rings you made are too small for these fingers.”

“What a brain,” Annie said. “Didn’t you say Bellson used to play with the ring, Pete?”

“My daughter said it.” Decker paused. “So did Lourdes Rodriguez, come to think of it.”

“She wouldn’t have been able to slip the ring off her finger if it was a basic class ring. Too tight.” Annie picked up another ring. “Now using the weight of gold we found, this is what the ring would have had to look like in order to fit over any of those fingers.”

The piece wasn’t too thin for an ordinary ring, but thinner than any class ring Decker had ever seen. Most class rings were engraved at the sides. A ring of these dimensions wouldn’t have allowed for more than a little etching. Annie slid the ring over the plaster fingers.

“See how well it fits now.”

“The ring looks way too big actually,” Marge said.

Annie said, “Take into consideration the flesh on the bones, Marge.”

Decker studied the thin ring, then passed it to Marge. “Doesn’t look like any class ring I’ve ever seen.”

“Me neither,” said Annie. “The band’s way too thin for the kind of carving and monogramming they usually do. Plus, with this much gold used for the circumference, there’s not a lot of gold left to support the stone.”

“How about a pinkie ring?” Marge suggested.