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himself put on the policy as beneficiary. But that still left Ivy with the funeral expense.
Then, we ll see about doing that, Stuart said after a minute. But first things first. We ll go to the
morgue, then we ll find a funeral home. After we ve made the arrangements, we ll go back to her
apartment and see what needs doing there.
You make everything sound so simple, she remarked.
Most things are. It s just a matter of organization.
She sat up on his lap, dabbing at her eyes. Sorry. I just lost it when I saw you. I thought I d have to do
all this alone.
He pulled out a white handkerchief and put it in her hands. Dry your eyes. Then we ll call your
sergeant and get the process started. Okay?
She smiled. Okay.
Stuart tried to keep her from looking at Rachel, but she insisted. She wanted to see how her sister
looked.
It was bad. Rachel was gray. There was no expression on her face, although it was pockmarked and
very thin. She looked gruesome, but it was definitely Rachel.
Stuart and Sergeant Ames escorted her back to Ames s office, where they sat around his desk
drinking cups of black coffee until Ivy was fortified enough to talk.
We re going to have an autopsy done, Ames told them, but the medical examiner says it s pretty
conclusive that she died of a massive overdose of cocaine.
Is that why she looks the way she does? Ivy asked, dabbing at her eyes with Stuart s handkerchief. I
mean, her face looks pockmarked.
That s the crystal meth she d been using, he replied. It s the most deadly drug we deal with these
days. It ravages the user. A few months on it and they look like zombies.
Why? she asked suddenly. Why would anyone use something like that in the first place?
People have been asking that question for years, and we still don t have an answer. It s one of the
most addictive drugs, the detective told her gently. Once it gets into their systems, people will
literally kill to get it.
How horrible, she said, and meant it.
How long had she been using? he asked Ivy.
Since she was in high school, she told him dully. I told my father, but he didn t believe me. He said
Rachel would never do drugs. She laughed hollowly. She d come to see us when she was high as a
kite, and my father never even noticed.
Her father drank, Stuart interrupted solemnly. I don t think he noticed much.
Ivy grimaced. I never imagined she d end up like this.
What about her boyfriend? Stuart wanted to know.
Ames shrugged. We ve managed to get a couple of convictions against him, but even so, he gets out
of jail in no time, and goes right back to his old tricks. A couple of his clients are powerful figures in
the city.
On all the best television shows, the drug dealers go away for life, Ivy pointed out.
Ames chuckled. I wish it was that way. It s not. For hundreds of reasons, drug dealers never get the
sentences they deserve.
When will they do the autopsy? Ivy asked.
Probably tonight, Ames said. They don t have a backlog, for the first time in months. Once we
have a cause of death, we can decide where to go from there.
What about her apartment? Ivy asked. Is it all right for us to go there?
Yes, he replied and, reaching into his middle desk drawer, produced a key. This is a copy of the
key to her apartment, which we have in the property room. I thought you d need access, so I had this
one made. We ve already processed her apartment.
I ll need to clean it out and pack up whatever little family memorabilia she kept, so I can take it home
with me, Ivy said dully.
How well do you know Jerry Smith? the detective asked her.
I ve seen him a few times, she replied. I never liked him. I have migraine headaches, she added.
He came home with Rachel when our father died. I had the headache and he switched my medicine
for some powerful narcotics. I realized he d substituted something for my prescription pills, and I
refused to take what he gave me. He thought it was funny.
Stuart looked murderous. You never told me that, he accused.
I knew what you d do if you found out, she replied. That man looks to me like he has some really
dangerous connections.
I have a few of my own, Stuart replied curtly. Including two Texas Rangers, an FBI agent and our
local sheriff. You should have told me.
She grimaced. I was glad when Rachel and Jerry went back to New York.
I m not surprised, the sergeant said. I have your sister s effects in the property room. If you ll
come with me, I ll get them for you. You ll have to sign them out.
All right. She stood up, feeling numb. Thank you for being so kind.
It goes with the job description, he assured her.
Stuart had hired a limousine. Ivy found it fascinating. She wished she wasn t so transparent to him. He
seemed amused that she wanted to know everything about the expensive transportation.
He had the driver wait for them at Rachel s apartment building. He escorted Ivy up the stairs to the
second floor apartment and opened the door. It was just the way Rachel had left it, except for the white
outline that showed where her body had been.
Ivy was taken aback at the graphic evidence of her sister s death. She stood there for a moment until
she could get her emotions under control. I don t know where to begin, she said.
Try the bedroom, Stuart suggested. I ll go through the drawers in the living room.
Okay.
She wandered into Rachel s bedroom, her eyes on the ratty pink coverlet, the scattered old shoes, the
faded curtains. Rachel had always told everybody back home that she was getting good parts in
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