Placing the sets of radiographs side by side on the monitor, Annie Hennon studied the illuminated negatives. At that point, Decker realized you didn’t have to be an expert to tell what didn’t match. But he said nothing, watching Annie talk teeth into a Dictaphone, waiting patiently for her to make a diagnosis. Marge was quiet as well. Twenty minutes passed before Annie spoke.

“It’s not the same person.” Her eyes were still on the X rays. “Not by a long shot. The body’s teeth are bigger, more dense in the enamel and dentin, longer rooted. They don’t match the radiographs of Marie’s teeth. So we’ve either got two different people, or the dentist gave you the wrong set of pictures. Did the dentist or an assistant give the envelope to you?”

“My daughter picked up the envelope,” Decker said. “She told me the dentist put the X rays directly into her hands. The envelope was sealed when she delivered it to me.”

“Well, that pretty much rules out an office error.” Annie put her hands on her hips. “So if this isn’t Marie, you’ve got to assume she’s still alive, right?”

“She may or may not be,” Marge said. “The only thing we know for certain now is, she’s not the body in the car.”

“Who are we looking for?” Decker asked.

Annie flipped off the monitor’s light switch. “A big-boned female. Around five-ten, according to the length of the femurs. The anthropologist said the marks on the long bones reflected quite a bit of pull, meaning weight. She was probably heavy as well as tall. And she was probably black.”

“Black?” Marge asked.

“Yep.” Annie sat down. “Betcha the anthropologist says the same thing. Of course, he’d be basing his findings on other things. I’m basing mine on the teeth. Different ethnic groups generally conform to certain tooth alignments—not foolproof, but after a while you detect patterns. I’d be even more surefooted if I had the front part of the face.” She rocked her wrist back and forth. “But with a little imagination, I can extrapolate. I bet I’d find a bignathic configuration that can be typical of blacks.”

“Black,” Marge said. “Nobody we’ve talked to mentioned that Marie was friendly with a black.” She paused. “Then again, you’ve got to ask the right questions.”

Annie stood. “This confirms what I suspected once I found the discrepancy between the finger and ring size. And it complicates the case, doesn’t it?”

Marge said, “Just one more factor.”

“You’ve been great, Annie,” Decker said. “We’ll need your report to file into evidence.”

“I’ll write up my notes from my Dictaphone and fax them to you. Is tomorrow afternoon okay?”

“Fine,” Marge said.

“You two want to take in a couple of drinks before calling it an evening?” Annie asked.

“I’ve got to get home,” Decker said.