Winston pulled his pocket notebook, jotted down bead colors and the author of the table.

 “Sorry I wasted your time with an unsolved mystery.”  He recovered the samples.

“No  not a waste,” Karl said, “and I’ll get you some names, people who are experts on naming minerals.  I’m just a well-studied amateur.  If you write them, say I sent you.”

“I’ll certainly do that, sir,” Winston answered.

His next stop was Rudolph Schudel, Swiss Jeweler.  The sign had ‘Swiss’ in particularly large letters, with a painting of the Swiss flag on each side.

Rudolph Schudel was a short, stocky man with a perpetual smile.

“Welcome to my humble establishment,” Schudel said, “what may I do for you?”

“I’m trying to solve a crime case,” Winston explained, “and I don’t even know if I actually have a clue.  However, I have two pieces of jewelry that were found on the ground near what might’ve been a crime scene.  I wonder what you might tell me about them.”

“I’m always happy to help an officer of the law,” Rudolph said. “I’m not what you would call an expert witness, but I can tell you what I see.”

“One might be an engagement ring, but there’s no sign of the stone. The other might be a wedding ring, but I don’t recognize the metal.” 

Winston pass the two items over to the jeweler, who pulled a loupe from one of his drawers and examined carefully the two rings.

“Considering first the engagement ring,” the jeweler finally announced, “Very odd. Appears to have been a theft.  There’s no sign of the gem. But the braces that should’ve been holding it in place look to be in perfect condition.  Possibly they weren’t sized correctly.”

Then he stared at the other ring, his face darkening.  “Where did you get this ring! I know it very well, since I did the sizing! You can see my store’s seal on the ring’s inner surface. The letters next to it are initials. That metal you didn’t recognize is platinum. But it should still be on the finger of Mrs. Jameson! What was done to her?”

“That’s what I’m trying to solve,” Winston said.  “As I said, I found the two rings on the ground, next to each other, but there wasn’t a body there. But if you’re sure that ring is hers, the sheriff’s office will lock it up until we can find her or her heirs.”