Free City of Secrets by Kelli Stanley

were starting to make her head hurt. The words came out sharp and staccato.
    â€œFuck the police report. You know something, goddamn it, you and this kid you’re trying to protect. What you don’t know is that another woman was killed today, just like Pandora. Same word on her body. I’m not getting anything out of this except a headache, and my patience is running out. Talk now or in court.”
    Ozzie shrank in his chair. Lucinda stood up to the onslaught, skin reddening. Miranda took a few deep breaths, trying not to choke on the remains of the Life Savers.
    â€œI suppose big-mouth Sheila told you.”
    â€œYour friendship isn’t exactly a secret.”
    â€œNo. But…” She motioned with her head toward Ozzie “His was. Ozzie was Pandora’s boyfriend. And he’s a Jew.” Lowered her voice. “Same as me.”
    Miranda turned to the boy. “Was Pandora Jewish, too?”
    He shook his head. “She wanted to convert. Said she was always interested in it. Her family was Presbyterian.” Eyes filled with water. “We were gonna get married when the Fair was over.”
    Lucinda patted his arm. “Ozzie’s an Aquadonis for Billy Rose. He and Pandora met about six, seven weeks ago, after we started rehearsals. You know what young people are like.” She smiled benevolently at Ozzie, shooting a warning glance in Miranda’s direction.
    Ozzie didn’t pick up Lucinda’s cue, and Miranda twisted her mouth into half a grin. She opened her purse, absentmindedly taking out the second-to-last Chesterfield from the pack still inside. It was in her mouth before she realized it. She shrugged, lit it with the Majorette. Grabbed the Chadwick’s Street Guide and the pencil.
    â€œI need your full names.”
    â€œOzzie Mandelbaum.”
    Miranda looked up at the woman across from her.
    â€œLucinda Gerber.”
    She wrote it down on the William Rudko ad page and asked, “That your real name?”
    Lucinda was defensive. “Certainly it’s my real name.”
    â€œDid Pandora have any family?”
    Emotion clouded the woman’s hard face, softening it momentarily. “Poor kid. Came out here from Ohio. I think her mother’s still back there—she used to get cards. Maybe a brother, too, but nobody out in California. You know how it is—came out all starstruck, figured she’d be the next Paulette Goddard.”
    Lucinda shook her head, stiff waves of her hair trembling flat against her scalp. “She was a good kid. A sweet kid. There’s some real bastards on this island, but I can’t think of anybody rotten enough to do something like this. Especially to Pandora.”
    â€œWhat about Henry Kaiser, at Terrell’s place?”
    â€œWhat about him?” Ozzie asked the question.
    â€œI hear he likes to beat up girls.”
    Lucinda studied her nails. “Dumb animals and dumb women. No offense to Pan—she didn’t know any better, and if she did, she wouldn’t listen. Always picked the wrong kinda guy. He asked her out the first day we started rehearsals, about eight weeks ago, and she only went with him twice. A real sonofabitch. He might be rotten enough, but I don’t think he’s got the balls to kill somebody. He goes for the safe play, the ones who don’t fight back. Pan was through with him before she met Ozzie.”
    The young man was holding his face in his hands. Miranda inhaled, making it last. Spoke to Ozzie, her voice gentle. “Anything else you can tell me?”
    Face red, cheeks wet. Glanced at Lucinda, met Miranda’s eyes. Deep breath.
    â€œI got—I got a little packet of her things. She was staying with me to save money. I didn’t want—didn’t want to turn it over to the police.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, voice cracked. “It’s all I got.”
    â€œWhere do you live, Ozzie?”
    Hotel Shawmut.