“Someone was making phony stained glass. Even if it has nothing to do with the theft, we need to get a team out there to start questioning friends, teachers . . . her classmates. Find out more about who Angeline Moreau was.”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “This is going to be an issue, Pete. It’s not that I don’t have faith in my staff. I think we’ve got a great bunch of guys and gals here. And if this was a homicide that had to do with a bar fight or a domestic or even burglary, I’d feel good about assigning any one of our people.

“Problem is, handling the colleges is a delicate situation. We need a seasoned guy. I know you can’t be two places at once, but I can supervise the techs once they get here. I can talk to the coroner. Maybe you should do the interviewing.”

“That’s fine. Just give me a few minutes to think. Do you have a tablet?”

“You mean like an iPad? Not on me, but I suppose I can authorize the money.”

“I was thinking low tech: a notebook and something I can write with.”

Mike smiled and handed him his pad and a pencil. Decker took it and squatted next to the body.

Angeline Moreau was fully clothed and wasn’t positioned sexually: Her pants hadn’t been pulled off and although her top had flipped up, Decker could see that her bra was clasped. There was nothing to suggest sexual assault, but a rape kit would be ordered anyway. Sometimes the killer orders the victim to put her clothing back on. Or maybe she had recent, consensual sex and that could be a lead.

Since it was wintertime and the windows had been closed tight, there was no insect activity. No flies, no maggots, and no way to date the body using the critters. The flesh hadn’t been eaten up by external factors, but the body gases were exploding from the inside out. She had a bloated, eggplant-colored face that was shedding skin. Eyeballs had sunk into her sockets. Because of the swelling, it was hard to decipher things like ligature marks and bruises. Even things like knife wounds close up with the swelling. But Decker could discern dried blood that had leaked from the nose and a split lip. As he examined the face further, he noticed dark spots that could have been bruises.

“Looks like she might have been punched hard in the face.” Decker stood up. He ripped out a few blank papers of the tablet and started scribbling. “This is your department and your call. But this is what I’d suggest.”

“Please.”