“Meaning she was dating. Just not anyone she could be seen with in public. There were rumors, though, I bet.”

“Plenty. Most of them involving married men, not surprisingly. A couple of names floated around. I don’t like spreading rumors, so I won’t give them to you, but I will say that neither of them killed Ginny. One left for the East Coast years back, and the other’s dead.”

We talked about Ginny for a few more minutes, but he couldn’t add any dimension to the picture I’d drawn of her. It was even worse when we got talking about Brandi.

“I barely remember the girl,” Mulligan said. “I felt bad about that, but when I went to the funeral, I remembered why. There wasn’t much to Brandi Degas. Nothing memorable. She was Ginny Thompson’s shadow. I don’t mean in regards to their friendship—Brandi was clearly the leader there. But Ginny was the one you noticed. The prettier one. The louder one.”

“They’d been friends a long time, I heard.”

“Since they were babies. Both had single moms and I think Paula and Carol went to the same support group.”

“Were they friends? Paula and Carol?”

“Close acquaintances more like. Carol was an alcoholic even back then, and Paula didn’t take with that. She helped out, though, looking after Brandi when she could.”

“Is Carol Degas still in town?”

“She is. And you can try talking to her, but don’t expect much. A lifetime of boozing has taken its toll. When Brandi died, Carol couldn’t even sober up for the funeral. She’s doing better, but her memory’s shot.”

“And Brandi’s father?”

“A kid who died in a drunk-driving accident a year after Brandi was born.”

“No dad in the picture for either. Those girls did have a lot in common.”

“Pretty much everything. Never finished school. Were into drugs and booze. Couldn’t hold a job. No kids for Brandi, though.”

“What about boyfriends? Did she have anyone like Cody Radu?”

He shook his head. “Brandi didn’t date. She hooked up with men at parties. Or so I hear. She ... wasn’t an attractive girl. She had a certain kind of smarts, though. Feral cunning, I’d call it. She kept a tight hold on Ginny, wouldn’t let her make other friends.”

“Was she jealous of Cody? Maybe tried to break them up?”

“No. Like I said, she had a certain kind of smarts, and she knew a good thing when she saw it. To her, Cody was a good thing. He had money and, from what I hear, kept Ginny well supplied with alcohol and drugs, which she shared with Brandi.”

“So Brandi relied on Ginny.”

“And vice versa. You never saw the two of them apart.”

Not even in death.