“No,” I said. I handed her the total plus ten bucks. “Keep the change.” Big smile.

“Were you working yesterday?”

“Here?” she said. “I think so. Yeah, yesterday I was here.”

“Working two jobs?”

“Three. Here, KFC after five, and then Thursday and Friday nights I babysit for an emergency room doctor at Glendale Memorial.”

“Tough schedule.”

“That’s what my dad says. He keeps bugging me to quit something and have some fun.” She stuck her tongue out. “I’m saving up for fashion school.”

“Good for you,” I said. “Yesterday morning, around nine, did you notice a couple who came in for breakfast? She had long blond hair; he was tall and wore a leather cowboy hat.”

“Them,” she said. “Sure. I served them. I remember him because he reminded me of this actor my dad used to like. Peter . . . Peter something.”

“Fonda?”

“That’s it. There’s this real old movie my dad watches over and over. It’s got Jack Nicholson in it but he’s a lot younger and skinnier.”

“Easy Rider.”

“Uh huh. Jack and some other guy and the other guy— Peter— they’re like biker hippies.” She giggled. “Peter’s kind of a cutie if you go for that retro hippie thing. That’s what that guy— the guy with the hat— reminded me of.”

“Retro.”

“Lost in the sixties. His hair was like down his back and his shirt had snaps on it. Which gave me an idea for a dress. Cowboy Punk thing.”

“Original.”

“Thanks. How come you’re asking about them?”

“I work with the police.”

Her eyes got huge. “You’re a cop?”

“Consultant.”

“Wow,” she said. “They did something nasty?”

“They’re just people we’re interested in.”

“Like witnesses?”

“Something like that. Is there anything you remember about them?”

“Not really. They didn’t talk much.”

“To each other?”

“To each other or me. I’m a real motormouth, like you can’t tell. I’m always talking to the customers, it makes them feel you’re interested in them and it pays off in the tips department. Didn’t work with those two, they just sat there, like they were having a fight.”

“They eat?”

“They ordered but only he ate. Bacon and eggs. She asked for a sweet roll and milk but she didn’t touch it— like that old guy you were with. I figured there wouldn’t be much payoff and I was right. Ten percent tip, which is old. She paid.”

“Overhear any conversation?”

“There wasn’t any that I saw.”

“Have they been here before?”

“Once before,” she said. “Last week. Lauren served them. It was dinnertime and I was going off shift.”

“When last week?”