“Yeah, I know Archie. He’s my boss.” Claire rinsed her hands in the sink. “Technically,” she said. “I mean, more of a team leader.” She looked up in the mirror at her own reflection and sighed. She didn’t wear makeup when she was working, and she kept her hair short. It had been a strategy early on, to be one of the boys, to not be a distraction. But sometimes she longed for a nice red lipstick. The stripper met Claire’s gaze in the mirror. Her lips were painted crimson and her eyes were expertly outlined with thick kohl eyeliner and affixed with heavy false eyelashes. The lashes looked uncomfortable. Claire reached for a paper towel, trying to figure out how the hell this woman knew Archie Sheridan. “So, how do you know Archie?” Claire asked, unable to help it.

“I heard about that girl they found near the island,” the stripper said.

Claire tried to react casually. She dried her hands and tossed the wet towel into an overflowing trash can. Then she extended a hand. Claire’s nails were unpolished and clipped short; the stripper’s nails were long and the same fire-engine-red as her G-string. “Hi, I’m Claire,” Claire said. “What’s your name?”

The stripper held her hand out and Claire shook it. “Star,” she said. “I’m Star.”

“Okay, Star,” Claire said. Even with her butt leaned against the counter, the stripper towered above her. “Is there anything you want to tell me about the girl we found dead at the lake?”

“The news says you think Gretchen Lowell killed her,” Star said.

Claire was careful how she phrased it. “There’s evidence that Gretchen Lowell was on the island last night,” she said.

Star crossed her arms under her breasts. The glitter on her collarbone looked like gold dust. “I don’t think she did it,” she said.

“Why do you say that?” Claire asked.

Star hesitated. Then she leaned toward Claire slightly. Her lashes fluttered. She was probably having a hard time holding them up, Claire guessed.

“She wasn’t the only dangerous person out there that night,” Star said.

Something was dawning on Claire. “Were you at that party, Star?”

Star’s lashes fluttered some more and she shrugged and looked at the floor. “I’m just saying, if someone else, someone at that house, if one of them did it, got rough, I just wouldn’t be surprised.”

“We searched it today,” Claire said. “The crime scene had been cleaned up by the grounds crew.”

Star looked back at Claire, the intensity of her gaze palpable. “Did you search all of it?” she asked.

“All of the island?” Claire asked, puzzled. “Yes.” She was missing something, and she didn’t like it when she missed things.

Star’s eyes were still on Claire. “Do you know how it got its name?” she asked.