“I know. It’s ridiculous. But the cops are taking it seriously. And that’s why I’m investigating. I thought you could help. Heidi tells me you and SueEllen were best friends.”

“We were.”

The way she said it made me wonder: Did she use the past tense because SueEllen was dead, or because somewhere along the line they’d stopped being best friends?

“Forgive me for asking, but what were you doing waitressing at her party? Why weren’t you a guest?”

She shrugged. In the bright morning sunlight I could see a web of fine lines around her eyes. “I needed the money. Even a place like this charges rent,” she said, gesturing to the small apartment. “I waitressed at a lot of SueEllen’s parties. SueEllen was kind enough to give me work.”

Yeah, right. If SueEllen was so kind, why didn’t she just write her a check, instead of putting her in the humiliating position of being her servant?

“So the two of you were really close.”

“Well, not as close as we used to be, back in the old days. You know how it is. It was one of those friendships that you hold onto because of your shared history. I suppose if we met each other today, we wouldn’t have been friendly. But back then, when we were first starting out, we were like sisters. We shared an apartment, not far from this one, as a matter of fact. I’m afraid SueEllen got bitchier as she got older. I know she was pretty terrible to Heidi. But back when we lived together, she was a lot of fun.”

She shook her head, lost in the memories of a kinder, gentler SueEllen.

“SueEllen was smarter than me, though. She always went for the rich guys. Me, I had a weakness for musicians. I didn’t care about money back then. What a jerk, huh?”

“Do you know anyone who’d want to kill her?” I asked.

“Her caterer, maybe. She drove the poor guy nuts. But seriously, no. It’s hard to believe anyone disliked her enough to kill her.”

Hard for her to believe, not so hard for me.

“You know,” she said, her voice cracking, “I still can’t believe she’s gone.”

And with that, she wiped a tear from her cheek, the first tear I’d seen shed for SueEllen Kingsley since this whole mess began.

“I hate to ask you this,” I said, feeling ashamed of myself for suspecting this lovely woman of murder. “But do you mind telling me where you were on the day SueEllen was killed?”

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m not insulted. The police asked me the same thing. I was working that day.”

“Working? Where?”

“I’m a saleslady at Bloomingdale’s. Hosiery.”

“Oh.”

How the mighty had fallen.

“You ever need an employee discount on pantyhose, I’m your girl.”

Embarrassed by her display of emotion, Ginny reined in any further tears. She got up briskly, straightening the jacket of her pants suit.

“In fact,” she said, “my shift starts in a half hour. If I don’t hurry, I’m going to be late.”