‘I have to admit, I was cheering her on. The little one, not Pandora. She had a style to her,’ Jerry mused. ‘Odd, memorable - somewhere between a waif and an Amazon. She was trying to hold her own, but Pandora would have mopped the floor with her if Justin and Paul hadn’t stopped it. Pandora was really strong. She was always in the health club working on muscle tone. I once saw her literally throw a fashion consultant across the room because the poor sap had mislabeled her accessories before a showing. Any’

She waved that off, opened a drawer on the brass table beside her, and located an enameled box. She took out a glossy red cigarette, lighted it, blew out perfumed smoke. ‘Anyway, the woman started off trying to reason with Pandora, make some sort of a deal with her over Leonardo. He’s a designer. My take was Leonardo and the waif were an item and Pandora wasn’t ready to cut him loose. He’s got a show coming up.’

She smiled that cat’s smile again. ‘With Pandora gone, I’ll have to throw him my support.’

‘You weren’t involved in the show before?’

‘Pandora was headlining. I said Pandora and I had done a few projects together. A couple of videos. Her problem was, she had looks, even presence, but when she had to read someone else’s lines or try for charming on screen, she was an oak. Wooden. Just awful. But I’m good.’ She paused to let more smoke stream through her lips. ‘Really good, and I’m concentrating on my acting work. But . . . stepping in on this show, with this designer, will be a nice boost for me mediawise. That sounds callous. Sorry.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s life.’

‘Her death comes at an opportune moment for you.’

‘When I see an opportunity, I take it. I don’t kill for it.’ She moved her shoulders again. ‘That was more Pandora’s style.’

Now she leaned forward, and her bodice gaped carelessly. ‘Look, let’s not play games. I’m clear. I was with Justin all night, didn’t see her after about midnight. I can be honest, tell you I couldn’t stand her, that she was certainly a professional rival, and that I knew that she’d have liked to lure Justin away from me just for spite. And maybe she could have done it. I don’t kill over men, either.’ She warmed Feeney with a glance. ‘There are so many charming ones out there. And the simple fact is, you couldn’t fit all the people who detested her into this apartment. I’m just one of the

crowd.’

‘What was her mood on the night she died?’

‘Razzed and jazzed.’ In a quick change of mood, Jerry threw back her head and laughed lustily. ‘I don’t know what she’d been knocking back, but it sure as hell put a glint in her eye. She was on fast forward.’

‘Ms. Fitzgerald,’ Feeney began in slow, apologetic tones, ‘you believed Pandora had ingested an illegal?’

She hesitated a moment, then moved her alabaster shoulders. ‘Nothing legal makes you feel that good, honey. Or that mean. And she was feeling good and mean. Whatever it was, she was chasing it with champagne by the bucketload.’

‘Were you and the other guests offered illegal substances while you were there?’ Eve asked.

‘She didn’t invite me to share. But then, she knew I didn’t use. My body’s a temple.’ She smiled as Eve’s glance focused on her glass. ‘Protein drink, Lieutenant. Pure protein. And this?’ She waved her slim cigarette. ‘Veggie, with a lace of perfectly legal calmer, for my nerves. I’ve watched a lot of the mighty fall, taking a short, fast trip. I’m in for the long haul. I allow myself three herbal smokes a day, an occasional glass of wine. No chemical stimulants, no happy pills. On the other hand . . .’ She set her drink aside. ‘Pandora was a champion user. She’d gulp down anything.’

‘Do you know the name of her supplier?’

‘Never thought to ask her. Just wasn’t interested. But at a guess, I’d say this was something new. I’ve never seen her so powered up, and though it pains me to say it, she looked better, younger. Skin tone and texture. She had, well, a glow on. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’d had a full treatment, but we both use Paradise. I know she wasn’t in the salon that day, because I was. Anyway, I asked her, and she just smiled and said she’d found a new beauty secret, and she was going to make a pile on it.’

‘Interesting,’ Feeney commented when he plopped back down in Eve’s car. ‘We talked to two of the three people who last socialized with the victim. Neither of them could stand her.’

‘They could have done it together,’ Eve mused. ‘Fitzgerald knew Leonardo, wanted to work with him. Simplest thing in the world to alibi each other.’

Feeney tapped his pocket where he’d slipped the security discs from the building. ‘We’ll run these, see what we find. Still seems to me we’re missing motive. Whoever took her out didn’t just want to kill her, they wanted to erase her. We’ve got a powerful kind of rage here. Didn’t seem to me either one of those two would work up a sweat.’

‘Push the right buttons, everybody sweats. I want to swing by ZigZag, see if we can start pinning down Mavis’s moves. And we need to contact the producer, set up an interview. Can you put one of your drones on the car companies, Feeney? I can’t see our heroine taking the subway or a bus downtown to Leonardo’s.’

‘Sure.’ He took out his communicator. ‘If she took a cab or a private transpo service, we should be able to nail it down in a couple hours.’

‘Good. And let’s see if she made the trip alone, or if she had company.’

ZigZag didn’t do much hopping in the middle of the day. It lived for night. The sunlight crowd were mostly tourists or the harried urban professionals who didn’t much care if the decor looked tawdry and the service was surly. The club was like a carnival that glittered at night, and showed its age and its flaws in the harsh light of day. Still, it maintained that underlying mystique that drew crowds of dreamers.

There was a steady drone of music, which would be cranked up to ear-splitting once the sun set. The open, two-level structure was dominated by five bars and twin revolving dance floors that would begin their circuit at nine P.M. Now they were still, stacked one over the other, the clear floors scarred from the beatings of nightly feet.

The lunch offerings ran to sandwiches and salads, all named after dead rockers. Today’s special was peanut butter and banana on white, with a side of vidalia onions and jalapenos. The Elvis and Joplin combo.

Eve settled with Feeney at the first bar, ordered black coffee, and sized up the bartender. She was human rather than the usual droid. In fact, Eve hadn’t noticed any droids employed in the club.

‘You ever work the night shift?’ Eve asked her.

‘Nope. I’m a day worker.’ The bartender set Eve’s coffee on the bar. She was the perky kind, one who looked more like the front woman for a health food chain than a drink swiller at a club.

‘Who’s on the ten to three who notices people, remembers them?’

Tags: J.D. Robb In Death Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net