“I should have lied. I should have picked out an item at random and told you it belonged to Adrianna.” Her expression was furious. “Stupid of me. Tinsley should be behind bars.”

“Only if he did it.” Decker stopped bagging the jewelry and looked at her. “Kathy, you have to believe me on this one. You don’t want to be responsible for putting the wrong man in jail.”

“I don’t know, Lieutenant.” She smacked her lips. “The way I feel right now, I’d rather have the wrong man than no man at all.”

BACK IN MISSION Control, officially known as Central Security for St. Tim’s, Peter the tech was as mute as ever. But his light eyes twinkled as he nodded to Marge and Oliver, indicating that they were now buddies. Ivan Povich seated the detectives in front of a blank monitor and poured coffee from a glass carafe into four Styrofoam cups.

“Fresh,” Povich said. “Peter just made it.”

Marge took a sip. “It’s good. Is there anything that Peter doesn’t do well?”

The silent tech saluted her.

“It’s Kona,” Povich said. “Less caffeine, less acid. Peter, can you bring up the original tape from the emergency vehicle lot…the one before the enhancement.”

Peter began sorting through the cassettes and slipped one into the machine slot.

“How’d that go?” Marge asked. “Any of the features recognizable?”

“You will see everything for yourself.” Within moments, black-and-white images blossomed onto the monitor. “This is the original.” Povich zeroed in on the lone female figure lurking on the loading dock. With each twist of the dial, she grew in size. “Everything blurs as the image gets bigger, no? Now watch. Peter, put in the enhanced tape.”

When the new images came onto the screen, Marge was delighted. She could see the differences: sharper angles, clearer delineations. “Wow. That makes a difference.”

Povich advanced the enhanced tape until he came to the frame of interest. Again, everyone concentrated on the figure in the corner of the loading dock. He turned the dial until the gray, grainy face came into maximum size and focus.

Marge stared at the screen. “Looks like Mandy Kowalski to me.” She turned to Oliver. “What do you think?”

“Wouldn’t bet my life on it.” Oliver sat back in his chair. “But I’d bet money on it.”

Marge said, “What’s the time on the tape?”

“Eleven fourteen A.M.,” Povich said.

Oliver said, “And Tinsley found the body at one forty-five?”

Marge nodded. “Plenty of time to string up the body at the construction site. St. Tim’s is a hop, skip, and jump away. Ivan, can you back up the tape?”

“How far back?”

“A couple of minutes?” Marge explained, “We’re interested in Mandy because we’re thinking she might have had something to do with Adrianna’s murder and she used the dock to load the body.”