“Oxnard. I looked up the case when this came through. She went out drinking and never came back. Her body was discovered a day later by a homeless man named Burt Barney, a chronic alcoholic, who died a year ago from cirrhosis of the liver. He had always been the primary suspect, but police had never amassed enough evidence to charge him with the crime. There was no shortage of suspicious characters. It’s an agricultural city, but it’s pretty big—around two hundred thousand people.”

“A big city and parts of it are very tough. Lots of migrants, lots of day laborers.”

“Lot of construction people who probably like to go out drinking…like our friend Mr. Tinsley.”

Decker studied the picture. “How’d you get hold of this?”

“I ran through statewide homicides linked with jewelry. This popped out.”

“Did anyone find out the name of Tinsley’s mother?”

“I did. It was Julia.”

“Interesting. Have you contacted Oxnard PD?”

“Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first. I can do that right now, if you want.”

“Right now, what I want is an increased watch on Tinsley.”

“Done. Sanford and Wainwright are on him.”

“Good.” He drummed the table. “Okay. Playing devil’s advocate for the defense, I would say that there must be hundreds of necklaces out there like this one. Just because Tinsley has the jewelry doesn’t mean he killed anyone.”

“But it makes him a liar since Julia doesn’t start with an R.”

“It’s also possible that Tinsley’s just a thief. He stole a necklace that looks like the one Roxanne wore. He could be a fence.”

“If he’s a fence, why is the necklace still in his possession and he’s still holding on to eight pieces of jewelry?” Wanda licked her lips. “I’m not locked into anything, but we’d have to be idiots not to consider that these are trophies.”

“We could bring Tinsley in. And we could question him.” Decker’s head was spinning. “But it would be hard to hold him on something.”

“What about the marijuana you found in his apartment?”

“That’s a misdemeanor possession. He’s out in an hour. When I say ‘hold him,’ I mean hold him. He gave us a buccal swab. Let’s get a DNA profile. Is this the only piece that you found on the computer?”

“So far, yes.”

“All right.” He thought a moment. “Has Tinsley lived in the area all his life?”

“I have him paying taxes in California for the last ten years.”