The man stood at his doorway in Santa Ana, looking nervous. He had rough hands and a laborer's stocky build. He was in dirty work clothes, just back from his shift at Hardy Windows.
Anaheim Police Detective Julissa Trapp had just handed him a card that said homicide. Now she showed him a photo of a tube of acrylic sealant. Could he account for his fingerprint on this particular tube, found near a body at a trash-sorting plant?
The man looked puzzled. This tube? They went through them all day long. When they finished a window-installation job, they trucked the trash to the alley behind their shop in east Anaheim. This must have been castoff from a recent job.
How did he know?
We never throw away trash at a customer's home, he said.
Trapp had another question. The shredded blue tarp around the victim's body _ did he recognize it?
Yes, he said. It was the kind of tarp they used to protect windows during transport.
