“Well, she did. She said she did it for the money.”

“But Sabrina has been so good to us! How could Candy deceive her that way? It’s the same as stealing.”

“That’s true, Ethel, but weren’t you ever tempted to-?”

“Never!” she exclaimed. “I’d rather starve than steal from Sabrina. She’s dearer to me than my own mother. I would never hurt her in any way.” Her words were a bit effusive, I thought, but I believed them just the same.

“Well, then, did Sabrina ever fix you up with Hogarth or Corona or any other of Melody’s clients? Either before or after she was killed?”

“I met with Oliver Rice Harrington a few times,” she said. “Next to Melody, he liked me best. I liked him, too. He’s a real gentleman. Very nice and considerate.”

Ha! Either my ex-boss has a split personality, or there are two Oliver Rice Harringtons in this town.

“Have you seen him since the murder?”

“No. I asked Sabrina about him, but she said he hasn’t called to make any new appointments.” Ethel stopped talking for a second, then added, as an afterthought, “But the man I was with tonight used to date Melody, too. Actually, he dates all the girls.”

I almost swallowed my tongue. “What did you say?” I gasped. “Who are you talking about? What’s his name?”

“Umm… er… I can’t tell you,” she stammered, voice suddenly turning wary. “He’s the one john Sabrina doesn’t want me to discuss with you, and I forgot. I’m sorry, Paige. I made a big mistake. I shouldn’t have mentioned him at all.”

“But why?!” I screeched. “Why is this guy such a well-kept secret? Why didn’t Sabrina tell me about him herself? And why can’t you tell me his name?”

“I’m sorry,” she said again. “You’ll have to ask Sabrina those questions.”

I SAID GOOD-BYE, BUT I DIDN’T HANG UP THE receiver. I quickly clicked the button with my finger, got a new line, and dialed Sabrina.

“It’s Paige,” I croaked, as soon as she answered. “I just got back from the Copa.”

“That was fast,” she said. “It’s not even midnight. What happened? Did Tony give you the boot?”

“No, he just dismissed the class early.” Deciding to save my questions about Ethel’s mystery date for later, I gave Sabrina a full report on the tumultuous events at the nightclub- beginning with Jocelyn’s surprise appearance and confession in the ladies’ lounge, and ending with Dan’s and Abby’s and my hasty exit from the premises.

“What a nerve-racking night,” she said when I finished.

“That’s a placid way to put it,” I mumbled. “What do you make of the whole mess?”

She sighed. “I’m so disappointed in Candy, I could cry.”

“You really had no idea?”

“None whatsoever. In fact, I thought Candy was one of my most trustworthy girls. A real straight talker. I knew she loved money-she was very honest about that, at least-but I chalked it up to good business sense. I even entertained the notion that if she failed to reach her goal of marrying a millionaire, I might make her my partner someday.”

“Well, at least she came forward when the chips were down.”

“But it was far too late!” Sabrina cried. “If she had revealed her feelings about Sam and Tony to me earlier, I would have dropped them both as clients before the murder. And then poor Melody… might still be… alive.” I couldn’t see Sabrina’s face, but I knew her thin mouth was contorted and her soft gray eyes were brimming with tears.

“I know, Sabrina,” I said. “It’s a sad twist in a terrible tragedy.” I paused for a moment to let her compose herself, then collected my thoughts and went on. “But all we can do now is try not to make the same mistake again. We’ve got to do everything in our power to see that the killer is caught before he kills somebody else. That’s why you have to give me the name of another client, Sabrina. The one you chose not to tell me about. The one who dates all the girls. The one you fixed Melody up with in the past… and sent Brigitte to meet with tonight.”

Sabrina remained silent, but I could hear the wheels spinning in her sly, secret-keeping brain.

“Oh, come on, Sabrina!” I cried. “Haven’t you screwed with me long enough? You’re withholding crucial information! You’re purposely impeding my progress in the case. What the hell is going on? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had something to do with the murder yourself.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she huffed. “I resent the implication.”

“And I resent the fact that you’re keeping a major suspect secret from me! Who is this man, and why are you protecting him? I want his name, and I want it right now!”

“Okay!” she hissed. “I’ll tell you who he is. But he is not a major suspect. He’s not even a minor one! You have to trust me on this, Paige. Promise me you’ll guard his identity as carefully as I have.”

“I’m not promising anything. Not until I have all the facts.”

“Oh, all right!” she said, with a loud groan of surrender. “The client’s name is Casey O’Connor.”

I almost choked. “You mean Detective Sergeant Casey O’Connor? The top detective in the Midtown North Precinct? The one who’s in charge of Melody’s murder investigation?”

“The one and only,” she said. “Now do you understand why I didn’t tell you about him?”

“No, I don’t!” I screeched. “I don’t understand it at all. O’Connor’s personal connection to both the case and the victim seems awfully suspicious to me! What makes you so damn sure he’s not the killer?”

“O’Connor is a raving sex maniac,” Sabrina replied, “but he’s not the murderer. The night Melody was killed, he was holed up in the Waldorf Astoria with three of my other girls- Mitzi, Gabriella, and DeeDee. They swore to me that O’Connor was with them all night-from early that evening until late the next morning-and they have the signed room service receipts to prove it. Also, the manager of the Waldorf, a personal friend of mine, confirmed their report.”

“But why didn’t you tell me about this?” One decibel louder and I would have shattered her eardrum. “It’s important information! It could have helped me in my investigation, given me a better grasp of the situation. Why the hell did you keep me in the dark?”

“It was necessary,” Sabrina said. “I had to protect O’Connor so he would continue protecting me.” She took a deep breath and went on. “When I first started the agency, he was in Vice, not Homicide. And he had informers all over his precinct- especially in the posh restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels where my wealthiest clients liked to meet with my girls. Within weeks of my going into business, O’Connor was tipped off that there was a ritzy new escort service in town.

“Next thing I knew he showed up at my door, flashed his badge in Charlotte ’s face, muscled his way into my apartment, and demanded to speak with me. Shaking in terror, Charlotte showed him to my study, where he proceeded to stomp around in all his ugly, pudgy, red-faced glory, threatening to have me, Charlotte, and all of my girls arrested, and to close down my agency for good. There would be a huge scandal, he promised, and we’d all be sent to prison… Unless, he was quick to add, I chose to play the game his way.”

“And what way was that?” I had a pretty good idea how the game was played, but I wanted to hear the rules.

“It was a simple trade agreement,” she said. “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. He said he would protect me and my girls and my agency from the authorities if I gave him free, unlimited access to the merchandise-all of the merchandise-whenever and wherever he wanted it. He was a very virile man, he said. He needed a lot of sex and a lot of variety, and if I would take care of his needs, he would take care of mine.”

“So you shook hands and became friends.”

“There was nothing friendly about it,” she grumbled. “I totally despise the man, and he thinks I’m a pompous bitch. We’ve each kept up our end of the bargain, though, and we’ve both benefited from it.”