“Divorce, hell!” Mrs Cool said. “Why should I divorce the worm? He was my meal ticket. I just said, ‘God damn you, Henry Cool, if you’re going to take that peroxided hussy down to Atlantic City over weekends and make me like it, I’m going to eat what I please and make you like it.’ So I dished myself out a big bowl of oatmeal, put so much butter on it that it was simply swimming, poured on thick whipping cream, puts lots of sugar on top of that, and scraped the bowl clean before my husband had got up his nerve enough to try and lie to me.”

“Then what?” Alma asked.

“Oh,” she said airily, “he kept on lying, and I kept on eating. After that, we worked out a pretty good basis of companionship. He kept on supporting me, and I kept on eating. He kept on playing around with the peroxide secretary until she tried to blackmail him. Well, of course I couldn’t stand for that, so I went down and gave the little bitch a piece of my mind, and sent her on her way with her ears pinned back. And then I picked him a secretary.”

“One who offered no possible temptation, I suppose,” Alma Hunter said, with a smile.

“Not at all,” Mrs. Cool said. “I was getting pretty fat by that time, and decided Henry should have a break. I picked him a good-looking little trick that I’d known for three years. I had enough on her so she didn’t dare to blackmail him. And I swear to you, dearie, I don’t know to this day whether Henry ever made her or not—but of course he did. I know that she liked to play around, and Henry just couldn’t keep his hands off a woman. But she was a damn good secretary; and Henry seemed happy; and I ate anything I wanted. It was a wonderful arrangement—until Henry died.”

She blinked her eyes, and I couldn’t be certain whether it was a gesture or if there were tears glinting in the corners. Abruptly she was back to business. “You want a summons served. I’ll serve it. Now what the hell more is there to talk about?”

“Nothing,” Alma Hunter said, “except the matter of fees.”

“This Sandra Birks has money?”

“She’s not wealthy but she has—”