“Mr. and Mrs. Leibowitz,” she said. “They made money in the florist business and retired. It started as a hobby for Laura — Mrs. L. They’d travel to Paris each year and she’d bring back great stuff that her friends adored.”

“We talking absentee owners?”

“For the most part. I’m the manager and Kat is — was the assistant manager.” Past tense made her flinch. “Do you have any idea who did it?”

“Not yet,” said Milo. “That’s why we’re here.”

“I can’t imagine who would do something like that.”

“Kat ever get into an altercation with a customer? Or anyone else?”

“No, no, our clientele is sophisticated. Nice women.”

“What about the men in Kat’s life?”

“Never met any of them,” she said, “but from what she said she’d been through plenty of losers and was swearing off men.”

“Anyone in particular?”

“Uh-uh, we never got to the name level. She’d just make remarks. She was a big one for remarks.”

“About men?”

“Men, her job, life in general. Her mother — she talked about her mother a lot. Said there was all kinds of pressure to conform and she hated it. From what I could tell, she had an unhappy childhood. Basically, she struck me as an unhappy person. That’s probably why she drank.”

“On the job?”

Silence.

“Amelie?”

“Sometimes she’d come in with way too much mint on her breath. A couple of times she forgot the mint and I smelled the alcohol. I started keeping mouthwash for her.”

“Partying hard?”

“I guess,” she said. “You know who can answer these questions better than me? Her friend Beth. She works at a jewelry store up the block. She’s the one who told Kat about the job opening.”

“Thanks for the tip,” said Milo.

“Anything I can do to help.”

She walked us to the door, straightening garments along the way.

Before Milo’s hand touched the knob, she said, “This is probably nothing, but maybe there is something I should tell you. About a customer.”

We stopped.

“It’s not really an altercation, but — I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Everything’s helpful, Amelie.”

“Okay… About a month ago, maybe five, six weeks, I was off for the morning and came in after lunch and found Kat was in a real goofy mood. All giggly, which wasn’t like her. I said what’s up and she said the most hilarious thing had happened. A customer — a man — had just come in and started pawing through the sale items. Kat assumed, just like I did with you guys, that he was looking for a gift. Kat ignored him like she always does. The guy kept examining the goods, concentrating on the larger sizes. After a while, it made Kat nervous and she finally went over and asked if he needed help.”

“What made her nervous?”