“Yeah, that’s why I like it here. You get your privacy but there are neighbors.” She sighed. “Sorry about the temperature. AC is on the fritz.”

“We’re fine.” Decker waited in silence. Then he said, “I’m very sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.” Again, the faraway look. “She was my baby sister.”

Marge said, “How many siblings in the family?”

“Five,” Marion said. “Three girls, two boys, plus a worn-out mother and an alcoholic father. He sold insurance up north.”

“Where up north?”

“San Luis Obispo area.”

Marge said, “How’d you get from there to here?”

“Marriage. Thank God it’s been a good one. Joe manages several big farms in the Santa Paula area. For years, we’ve talked about having our own farm, but it’s too much responsibility. We’re happy here with our trees and our chickens and our goats. We make our own cheese.”

“Sounds ideal,” McAdams said.

“After coming from my family, it’s as close to heaven without seeing Saint Peter himself.”

“Are you close to your siblings?” McAdams asked.

“I’m close to my brother and my older sister. We all live within an hour from each other. My brother’s a farmer and has about fifty acres. My sister is a lawyer and lives in Ventura.”

Marge said, “I’m with Ventura PD. Great community.”

“Yeah, she loves it.” Marion paused. “Then you’re not with them?”

“Detective Decker was once Lieutenant Decker from LAPD. I worked with him in Homicide for years.”

“And you?” She was referring to McAdams.

“I work with Detective Decker in Greenbury PD on the East Coast. It’s a small police department, but we’re determined to find justice for Pauline.”

“Thank you,” Marion said. “My older sister and I were obedient children. Pauline was always a spunky kid. At loggerheads with my father. He hit her several times. Not as bad as he hit my mother, but he wasn’t shy with his hands. I could never get her to understand that if she just buttoned up when he was in those moods, she wouldn’t get hurt. But she was like a moth to a flame. Whenever he was mean, she’d provoke him further.” A sigh. “It was no wonder she started with drugs.”

“In her adolescence?” Decker asked.

“Yes, but it continued way past.”

“How way past?”

“Pauline would have been …” She tapped her foot. “Forty-three. We didn’t have much contact for the last four years. She’d text me on my birthday … Christmas. I’d text her back. Couple times she asked for money.”

“Did you give it to her?” Marge asked.

“Sent her fifty bucks two … maybe three times.”

“Do you have the address where you sent it?” Decker asked.

“Yeah, but it’s not current. My sister moved around a lot.”