Biddle answered. “He’s never served any time, but he was arrested once during his fifth year in high school for jerking off in the stands while watching cheerleader practice. It happened again during his one and only semester at Pierce College. Both times no charges were filed and he was sent into counseling.”

“Did you say fifth year of high school?” Duncan said.

“I did,” Biddle said.

Garvey spoke up. “I checked with the credit reporting agencies and Social Security to find his current employer. He’s a plumber with Mr. Plunger in Canoga Park.”

That struck a chord with Eve, who started swiping through the kitchen crime scene photos on her phone.

“We had a patrol car roll past their office,” Garvey continued. “His Toyota Corolla is parked in the lot. But he’s probably out in the field in one of their vans. You know, the ones with the huge plunger mounted on the top.”

“The ‘I’ll Never Get Laid’ mobile,” Biddle said.

“Their bread and butter is handling residential service calls for warranty companies,” Garvey said. “He’s probably out on calls until the end of his shift.”

Eve found what she was looking for. There was a Mr. Plunger magnet on Tanya’s refrigerator.

“Okay,” Duncan said. “So we know where to find him and we can keep him under surveillance. That’s nice. But we don’t have anything on him. All we know is that he bought the same trash bags and cleansers at Walmart on Wednesday that we found in a Walmart bag in Tanya’s house . . . and that he drives a white Toyota Corolla just like one that was parked at the Topanga State Park trailhead on Thursday. Lots of people buy those same things at Walmart and drive Corollas. It’s all circumstantial and it doesn’t put him in the house. I’m not sure we have enough probable cause for a judge to grant us a search warrant.”

“I am,” Eve said. She held up her phone to show them the picture of the plunger-shaped refrigerator magnet with a local phone number on it.

“I got one of those on my fridge, too,” Duncan said. “It doesn’t mean Coyle has been in my house.”

She lowered her phone and started dialing a number. “We can clear that up right now.”

“Who are you calling?” Duncan asked.

She held up her hand in a “hold on” gesture and put the call on speaker.

“Hello, you’ve reached Mr. Plunger, what can I do for you?” a cheerful woman said.

“I’m hoping you can help me out,” Eve said. “My neighbor is looking for a plumber and I wanted to recommend the nice young man you sent us a while back . . . but I’ve lost the invoice with his name on it.”

“Sure, I can help you,” Cheerful said. “What’s your name and address?”

“Tanya Kenworth, 728 Saddleback Trail Court. It’s down in Topanga.”

“I love that area,” Cheerful said. “Here it is. The plumber was Lionel Coyle.”