Decker pulled out his Investigate Checklist from the Darcy folder in his file drawer. Under clothing, he’d written for John Doe: jeans—black or blue denim, black boots. Upper body’s obscured by gun blast. Examine after all lab evidence has been collected. He read it to Marge, then said, “Call the lab and see if JD had any upper-body clothes or if he was bare-chested. Also, ask the lab if they found anything identifiable on his pants or boots—a logo or brand name. The M.E. must have cleaned him up by now—gotten all the blood and gook off. Ask him if our man had any scars, birthmarks, tattoos—something.”

“You’ve got it.” Marge took a deep breath. “Now are you ready for the Big News?”

“There’s more?”

“Oh man, you’re gonna love this,” Marge said. “All of them were full of pellets, no surprise. Wadding found was consistent with a twelve-gauger…which means that the sucker was pumped from ten feet or less. But listen to this! After Luke was cleansed of blood and maggots, Path laid him on the table yesterday evening and noticed these bullet holes in what was left of his head and neck.”

Decker sat up in his chair. “Go on.”

“The man’s interest is piqued,” Marge said. “I went back to the scene early this morning and found three thirty-eight bullets plugged into the fridge—”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“You were with your honey, Pete. I didn’t think you’d appreciate the interruption.”

She was right. Decker thanked her, and Marge continued.

“Luke’s body and blood were blocking the fridge, so we missed them first time out. I scoured the place, but couldn’t find bullet number six.”

“Maybe there were only five in the chamber. Or we just missed it. Whichever the case is, someone was angry and emptied the gun in him.”

Marge said, “Unfortunately for us, we don’t have the shotgun or the thirty-eight. Two weapons used, both of them gone.”

“I’ll call up gun registration,” Decker said. “See if a thirty-eight was registered to anyone in the family.”

Of course, he knew damn well how easy it was to obtain an unregistered handgun. Shotguns were even easier to buy, not even requiring a handgun’s fifteen-day background check on the purchase. Legal gun purchases in California had increased by the millions. So what did that say about the illegal purchases? His mind focused on Rina. Last time he’d been to the range with her had been six months ago, when she’d come out on her first visit to L.A. since moving to New York. He’d even remarked on what a good shot she’d been considering she hadn’t used a gun in six months. But now he knew she’d been taking lessons. And Rina had said nothing at the time. That disturbed him.