“It’s fine. I’m up anyway, talking to the kids. We’re having a lot of laughs.”

“And probably most of them at my expense.”

“When do you realistically think you’ll be home?”

“In an hour.”

“I’ll see you at midnight. Don’t turn into a vampire.”

“I’d love to be a vampire. They suck blood; I wallow in it.”

OVER THE PHONE, Oliver said, “You know, there was something in his closet—more like a Halloween costume than an actual uniform. It was army green with bars sewed onto the shoulders, but made out of cheap material. Clearly not standard army issue.”

Decker explained the circumstances.

“It wasn’t a real uniform, but I suppose if you’re in a dark bar, trying to make time with a drunken chick, she might not know the difference.”

“I’d love to bring it for testing,” Decker said. “Can we find a way to get back into his apartment? He’s probably not going to give us access again.”

Oliver said, “I’ll ask Marge and maybe we can come up with something. You know, Tinsley wasn’t wearing a uniform when he was talking to Adrianna.”

“That’s because macho army man doesn’t really fly with the super-edgy L.A. chicks,” Decker said. “Although Adrianna’s murder fits the profile of the two unsolved cases, there are some differences. The two other bodies were found in wide-open spaces—one in a lot and one in a flower field. Not in the middle of a residential area, hanging from a cable cord.”

“So what are you thinking?” Oliver asked.

“Tinsley is definitely a candidate,” Decker said. “But Garth is still missing and Mandy’s in the hospital. I’m wondering if Garth and Mandy murdered Adrianna and Tinsley had the bad luck to find her body. Or it wasn’t luck at all. Garth set Tinsley up because he found his business card in her pocket.”

“So how does Tinsley’s jewelry figure in?” Oliver asked.

“Maybe we accidentally stumbled on a serial killer.”

“If Tinsley’s a serial killer, why did he agree to let us search his house?”

“Because we were looking for things associated with Adrianna’s death and he didn’t kill Adrianna. You know how these guys are. One mold. They’re arrogant as hell. Who bagged the jewelry from Tinsley’s apartment?”

“Marge did.”

“Good move. Wanda and Lee Wang just came into the room. I’ll keep you updated, and you do the same.” Decker hung up and pointed to the chairs. Wanda had rolled up the sleeves on her lime green shirt. Wang was dressed in a black polo shirt and khakis.

After they sat down, Wang said, “Almost all military information sites are off-limits without a password. It’s better to wait until morning to start delving into this.”