"Sorry. I'll get down to it," I said. "This morning, when Stacey spoke to Cornell, he mentioned a high school classmate of yours named George Baum."

"Sure, I know George. Why was he talking about him?"

"Cornell seemed to think he was involved with Charisse."

"Involved?"

"That's a dainty way of saying he screwed her."

"Oh, for heaven's sake. He did not. George had a girlfriend, a cheerleader named Swoozie Franks. They went together for years, since junior high at least. They got married a month after graduation."

"Swoozie?"

"It's a nickname. I forget her real one."

"Maybe Swoozie wouldn't put out so George got relief from Charisse instead."

Justine made a face. "That's a tacky idea."

"Why? You've all been saying what a slut she was."

"Well, yes, but I can't believe George would do something like that. Did he admit it?"

"Not as far as I know, but he did tell Stacey that Charisse and Adrianne were close. I was curious why no one mentioned that to us."

"That's not true at all. Why would he say that? He's crazy." Dubiously, I said, "I don't know, Justine. He says Charisse had a crush on Cornell and hung out with Adrianne to have access to him. You'd think Adrianne would've volunteered the information as soon as she heard Charisse was dead."

"You said you weren't even sure it was her."

"Well, the ill isn't positive, but now we have her dental records so we're getting close. I would have mentioned it this morning, but it didn't seem appropriate in front of Edna's church group. Besides, that was the first time I realized who Adrianne was. You can imagine my surprise. I see her at Quorum High. I find out she's Cornell's sister, and then I hear she and Charisse were such good pals."

"They weren't pals. George doesn't know what he's talking about. Charisse's so-called pals were a bunch of losers from Lockaby. They were more her speed."

"Really. Your mother said she made a real pest of herself, wanting to hang out with the two of you."

"We took her with us sometimes, but she was an embarrassment."

"Did you know Charisse was so smitten with him?"

"Oh, please."

"Why would George lie to us?"

"I didn't say he lied. I said he got it wrong. The guy's a dimwit. Besides, even if she had a crush on Cornell, what difference did that make? A lot of girls had crushes. He was the most popular guy in our high school class."

"But how'd you feel about it? Didn't it bother you?"

"I knew we'd end up together, so who cared about them?"

"I mean Charisse in particular."

"She was nothing. A pig. I couldn't have cared less about her."

"Geez, that's amazing. When I was in high school, I was insecure. You must have had a lot more self-confidence."