Wow. It was only fifteen minutes since I’d called Sir Speedy. That was fast. I’d have to give the delivery kid a big tip. I grabbed my wallet, and opened the door.

But it wasn’t Sir Speedy.

It was Lance.

“I just heard the news on the radio. They said SueEllen Kingsley was murdered in her tub, and that a freelance writer discovered the body. Was that you?”

I nodded wearily.

“Tell me everything!”

“There’s not much to tell. I showed up for work and found her dead in the tub.”

“That must’ve been awful! You shouldn’t be alone at a time like this.”

He was probably right.

“Actually, I just ordered a pizza. Why don’t you stay and have dinner with me?”

“Fine. Just let me call Jim and cancel.”

“You have a date?”

“It’s nothing. Jim won’t mind.”

“No, no. Don’t cancel.”

“Are you sure? It’s no problem. So what if I’m madly in love with the guy and can’t stand to be apart from him for more than fifteen minutes at a stretch?”

Okay, so he didn’t say the part about being madly in love with Jim, but I knew that’s what he was thinking.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured him.

“Okay,” he said, trying to hide his relief. “We’ll talk later.” And then he dashed off.

I shuffled back to the TV and was watching Emeril slosh some shrimp into a vat of bubbling fat, when the phone rang.

“Omigod,” said Kandi. “I just heard the news. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I lied. “Want to come over for pizza?”

“Oh, gee, I wish I could, but we’re working late tonight. The actress who plays Maggie the Maggot just checked herself into Betty Ford, and we have to write her out of the script. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. The pizza will calm me down.”

And it’s true. I happen to believe that pizza is one of nature’s most effective sedatives. Something in the cheese, I think.

“Well, if you need anything, just call me at the studio.”

I assured her I would, and went back to the TV. By now, Emeril had fished the shrimp out of the fryer. Gad, they looked good. Now I was hungrier than ever. Where the heck was that pizza? And at that very moment the doorbell rang. Exactly a half hour after I’d ordered it. My hero Sir Speedy had lived up to his word. I raced to the door, eager to sink my teeth in a wad of gooey cheese.

But it wasn’t Sir Speedy.

It was Heidi. Standing on my doorstep with a suitcase.

“Oh, Jaine,” she wailed. “The cops think I killed SueEllen.”

I took her suitcase and ushered her inside.

“How on earth did you get here?”

“I took a cab. I was so scared, I didn’t want to be alone.”

“Alone? But what about your dad and your brother? Aren’t they home?”

“Yes,” she said. “They’re home.”

She looked up at me from under her fringe of bangs. Her eyes were red from crying, and at that moment, I realized how very much alone she was in that big house of hers.