“I know.” A sigh. “You’re right. She probably did feel like this was her last shot at freedom. She had all the right reasons for doing what she did, but that doesn’t help to ease the pain.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

THE JEWELRY TAKEN from Tinsley’s apartment was neatly laid out atop a clean plastic sheet on Decker’s desk. He explained to Kathy Blanc where they were in the investigation and the purpose of the identification. She became livid when he got to the part about letting Tinsley go. “You let this monster walk out of here a free man?”

“He’s not in jail but he’s under watch,” Decker said. “We can pick him up at any time once we get evidence on him.”

“A woman from the bar identifying him as the man my daughter spoke with isn’t enough? His business card in my daughter’s coat pocket isn’t enough? Finding my daughter dead at his place of work isn’t enough? What do you jokers need to arrest someone?”

The questions were rhetorical, but Decker answered them as if they were sincere. “If we would have found Tinsley’s business card in her purse, I might have kept him under lock and key. The truth is that he told us about the card. Otherwise we wouldn’t have known about it.”

Kathy was coiffed and bejeweled, dressed in gray slacks and a red cotton tee. Her complexion matched the hue of her shirt. “He threw you a bone and you lapped it up.”

“He’s on our radar. I have cops on him. Unfortunately, I need hard evidence. I’ve talked to the D.A. this morning. She won’t take it to a grand jury unless I have more.”

“Then she’s an idiot.”

“Mrs. Blanc, what I have on Tinsley is easily explained away by his story. Plus, Garth Hammerling and Mandy Kowalski are still missing. Why Garth hasn’t shown his face is anyone’s guess, but it sure makes him look bad.”

“You told me that Garth was five hundred miles away when it happened.”

“No, I said that Garth was five hundred miles away when Adrianna went to work at St. Tim’s Sunday night. We know he came back to L.A. What we don’t know is if he saw Adrianna or not.”

“So why can’t you find him? Isn’t that your job?”

“Yes, it’s our job. And we’re doing everything we can to find him and Mandy Kowalski. If he’s with Mandy, that might be worrisome.”

Kathy folded her arms across her chest. “I never trusted that girl.”

“Interesting you should say that. She lied to the police at least once. Can I ask you why you never trusted her?”