She clasped her hands together. "Sammy, tell me. Is there any chance I'm wrong about Ted? I was not mistaken about the time, and if he pushed Leila off that terrace he has to pay for it. But is it possible he was trying to hold her? Why was she so upset? Why was she drinking? You heard her talk about how disgusted she was with people who drank too much. That night, a few minutes before she died, I was nasty to her. I tried to do what she used to do to Mama-shock her, make her see what she was doing to herself. Maybe if I'd been more sympathetic. Sammy, if I'd only asked her why!"

In a spontaneous gesture they moved together. Dora's thin arms encircled Elizabeth, felt the trembling in the slender young body and remembered the teenager who had so worshiped her big sister.

"Oh, Sparrow," she said, unthinkingly using Leila's name for Elizabeth, "what would Leila think about the two of us going on like this?"

"She'd say, 'Quit moaning and do something about it.' " Elizabeth dabbed at her eyes and managed a smile.

"Exactly." With quick, nervous movements, Dora smoothed the thin strands of hair that always wanted to slip out from her bun. "Let's backtrack. Had Leila started to act upset before you left on the tour?"

Elizabeth frowned as she tried to focus, to weed out extraneous memories. "It was just before I left that Leila's divorce had come through. She'd been with her accountant. It was the first time in years I'd seen her worried about money. She said something like 'Sparrow, I've made an awful lot of loot, and honest to God, now I'm on thin ice.'

"I told her that two deadbeat husbands had put her in that bind, but I didn't consider being about to marry a multimillionaire like Ted being on thin ice. And she said something like 'Ted really does love me, doesn't he?' I told her to, for God's sake, get off that line. I said, 'You keep doubting him and you'll drive him away. He's nuts about you. Now go earn the four million bucks he just invested in you!''

"What did she say?" Dora asked.

"She started to laugh-you know that big, gorgeous laugh of hers-and she said, 'As usual, you're right, Sparrow.' She was terribly excited about the play."

"And then when you were gone, and I was sick, and Ted was traveling, someone began a campaign to destroy her." Dora reached into the pocket of her cardigan. "Today the letter I wrote you about was stolen from my desk. But just before you phoned I found another one in Leila's mail. She never got to read it either-it was still sealed-but it speaks for itself."

Horrified, Elizabeth read and reread the uneven, carelessly pasted words:

Leila,

Why won't you admit Ted is trying to Dump you? His new girl is getting tired of waiting. That four million Dollars was his Kiss-off to you. And more than you're worth. Don't blow it, honey.

The word's Out it's A Lousy Play. And you're Ten years too old for the part Too.

Your friend.

Dora watched as Elizabeth 's face turned stony pale. "Leila hadn't seen this?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

"No, but she must have been receiving a series of them."

"Who could have taken the other one today?"

Briefly Dora filled her in on the explosion over the expenses for the bathhouse and about Cheryl's unexpected arrival. "I know Cheryl was at my desk. She left her bill there. But so could anyone else have taken it."

"This smacks of Cheryl's touch." Elizabeth held the letter by the corner, loath to handle it.

"I wonder if this can be traced."

"Fingerprints?"

"That, and typeface has a code. Even knowing what magazines and newspapers these words were snipped from could be helpful. Wait a minute." Elizabeth went into the bedroom and returned with a plastic bag. Carefully she slipped the anonymous note into it. "I'll find out where to send this to be analyzed." She sat down again and folded her arms on her knees. "Sammy, do you remember exactly what the other letter said?"

"I think so."

"Then write it down. Just a minute. There's paper in the desk."

Dora wrote, crossed out, rewrote, finally handed the paper to Elizabeth. "That's pretty close."

Leila,

How many times do I have to write? Can't you get it straight that Ted is sick of you? His new girl is beautiful and much younger than you. I told you that the emerald necklace he gave her matches the bracelet he gave you. It cost twice as much and looks ten times better. I hear your play is lousy. You really should learn your lines. I'll write again soon.

Your friend.

This letter Elizabeth read and reread. "That bracelet, Sammy. When did Ted give it to Leila?"

"Sometime after Christmas. The anniversary of their first date, wasn't it? She had me put it in the safety-deposit box because she was starting rehearsals and knew she wouldn't be wearing it."

"That's what I mean. How many people could have known about that bracelet? Ted gave it to her at a dinner party. Who was there?"

"The usual people. Min. Helmut. Craig. Cheryl. Syd. Ted. You and I."

"And the same group of people knew how much Ted put into the play. Remember, he didn't want it publicized. Sammy, have you finished going through the mail?"

"Besides the one I started this afternoon, there's one more large sack. It may have six or seven hundred letters in it."

"Tomorrow morning I'm going to help you go through them. Sammy, think about who might have written these letters. Min and the Baron had nothing to do with the play; they had everything to gain by having Ted and Leila together here, with all the people they attracted. Syd had a million dollars in the play. Craig acted as though the four million Ted invested was out of his own pocket. He certainly wouldn't do anything to wreck the play's chances. But Cheryl never forgave Leila for taking Ted from her. She never forgave Leila for becoming a superstar. She knew Leila's vulnerabilities. And she would be the very one who'd want the letters back now."

"What good are they to her?" Elizabeth stood up slowly. She walked to the window and pushed back the curtain. The night was still brilliantly clear. "Because if some way they can be traced to her, they can ruin her career? How would the public feel if it learned that Leila had been driven to suicide by a woman she considered a friend?"

" Elizabeth, did you hear what you just said?" Elizabeth turned. "Don't you think I'm right?"

"You have just conceded the fact that Leila might have committed suicide."

Elizabeth gasped. She stumbled across the room, fell to her knees, and put her head on Sammy's lap. "Sammy, help me," she pleaded. "I don't know what to believe anymore. I don't know what to do."