She drank her Fresca. "Not a coincidence, I suppose. Part of her sermon was, 'If you're going to be pigheaded and make a fool out of yourself, Sandy, at least drink vodka, it'll keep your breath fresh, no one will know you're a reprobate.'"

I said, "You avoided each other but she found time to lecture."

"Exactly. My best years were the two after she graduated, I could finally be myself. Did she do anything else high-risk?"

Milo said, "The coroner found opiates in her system."

"Like heroin?"

"Or something similar."

Sandra Stuehr placed the flat of a hand against her cheek, as if propping her head. "Unbelievable."

"People change," said Milo.

"There's change and there's charade," she said. "All this time I've seen her as the smart one. Are there any other crushing insights you want to give me about my sister?"

Milo said, "You lived near Pimlico. Any sign Elise played the ponies?"

"She gambled?" said Sandra Stuehr. "This is like meeting her for the first time. No, I never saw her wager on anything and I sure spent some time at Pimlico. She was the smart one, guys. Summa cum laude at Blessed, Hopkins offered her a scholarship to go to grad school in English. I, on the other hand, barely passed the teacher's licensing exam. Though that was 'cause I was distracted by my relationship with Frank. She went to the track?"

"No, but she did go to Reno and play blackjack."

"Must be genetic. He played the ponies. Nothing serious that I knew about, he'd take twenty, thirty dollars to the track, rationalize his losses as 'recreation.' Otherwise, he was a total cheapskate. How often did Elise go to Reno?"

Milo said, "We know about once. She went with her boyfriend, guy named Sal Fidella."

"Sounds like a Mafia type."

"He's an unemployed salesman. He and Elise won a five-thousand-dollar jackpot in Reno, lost it the same day."

"Like Father, like daughter," said Sandra Stuehr. Her mouth turned down. "Hope that doesn't end up applying to me. I can't see how it would."

I said, "What else can you tell us about Elise?"

"She enjoyed lying."

"Lying about what?"