“Now you’re thinking, Harvard. If she was attempting to forge Tiffany, do you think she would be good enough to attempt it with just a single course?”

“No, that’s a very good point. Did we find anything in her apartment to suggest she was doing stained glass?”

“Nothing obvious, but the guys are still looking.”

“Do you think she had anything to do with the forgeries?”

“Actually, I’m thinking that if she attempted forgeries, she was probably doing stained glass for a while. And it is possible that Angeline knew that the police had discovered the forgeries with all the action that’s been going on at the cemetery. She might have dumped all her equipment thinking that even if the police came around, she could deny everything.”

“Okay, right. If she’s been doing stained glass for a while, I bet her parents would know about her hobby. We should ask them.”

“And we will do just that when the time is right. If I come in with accusations, they’ll close up and that won’t do anyone any good.” They walked a few steps in silence. “Angeline was a scholarship student, right?”

“Right.”

“And what do you do to get a scholarship besides get good grades and good test scores—the basic requirements to be accepted in these elite schools. What do you do to impress?”

“Besides the essay?” McAdams asked.

“Yeah,” Decker answered. “You’ve gotten your grades, you’ve gotten good test scores, and you’ve written an amusing essay. You’re applying to a liberal arts college with an emphasis on the arts. What would you do to impress the admission’s committee that you’re unique?”

“I dunno. Maybe make your own artisan cheese from a rare species of yak.”

Decker laughed. “How about this? When my foster son applied to Harvard, he sent them several CDs of his playing. Angeline applied to a school specializing in the arts. I’m sure she sent in some kind of portfolio. We should look up her application. See if she mentioned stained glass.”

“Right.” McAdams nodded. “I’ll check with the administration when it opens tomorrow morning. Unless you want to do it.”

“You can do it, Tyler.” A pause. “Just . . . use a little finesse, okay? Cops have different styles. But I’ve always caught most of my flies with honey rather than vinegar. And even when I use vinegar, it’s sparingly.”

McAdams rolled his eyes. “I know you can’t be an asshole if you’re pumping someone for information.”

“See, that’s it, Tyler. You’re not pumping, you’re asking . . . can you help me, please. Try to be disarming. The conversation shouldn’t be adversarial even when you’re trying to get a psycho to confess. When you point out how your suspect has just screwed himself, you may talk emphatically and with confidence, but seasoned detectives talk in a conversational tone.”

“I get it, okay?”