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But he shook his head, clearing out hisin the reception area to see Claire: soal aides and adet control of this situation before it got out of hand

The receptionist knew Conklin, so as soon as he saw hi for you, Inspector Go on in”

Conklin knew his way around the ME’s office and took the main corridor, which led to the autopsy suite in the back

Claire was gowned andher up as she worked on the post boy with a visible head injury She saw Conklin come in and covered the child with a sheet Then she shucked her gloves and put on a clean pair She picked up a large brown paper bag froo into my office, Richie”

As he stood with her in her office, Conklin watched Claire open the paper bag on her desk and take out the large, blood-red leather handbag hat looked to be expensive stitching and details

Claire said, “This purse belongs to Joan I also have bags of her clothes and those belonging to the John Doe But let’s look at the contents of her handbag first”

She began taking ite wallet, a makeup case, keys, and an assortment of other commonplace items

“This is a pricey bag,” Claire told Conklin “It appears that Mrs Murphy is a woman of means”

She handed over the wallet Conklin opened it and looked through the contents

Claire said, “Look at this”

She was pointing to a photograph under plastic of a man and woman at a resort, their backs to the ocean Claire flipped the sleeve over, and Conklin read the inscription “Robert and Me, Cannes, Second Honeymoon, 2016”

Claire said, “Notice the necklace Joan is wearing in the photograph That pendant is a helluva big dia, and the wedding band is encrusted with other precious stones Look at all the glittering bangle bracelets Joan clearly likes her diamonds”

“A girl’s best friend, right?”

“That’s what they say But, Richie, no jewelry was found on her person or in her bag”

“She was robbed”