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And, in a way, the killer was proving that it was true

Life was all about perception

6

Daisy Harding was a slender young woe brown eyes and short-cropped brown hair She race, and Whitney wasn’t surprised to learn that she was a dancer She had just gotten into the chorus of an off-Broadway play called The Girl Next Door, and she was quick to tell them that she’d been about to head back to her native Arkansas, since she’d been barely surviving

She was distressed but articulate as she spoke to the them how she had met the victim, Jane Doe wet, now identified as Sarah Larson, when they had both auditioned for a show the year before Sarah had been a dancer, a good one, but the city was filled with hopefuls fro for Broadway shows

"I know that she did soot a job at a coffee shop," Daisy said "And then the coffee shop started cutting down on e the same She took a job at a place called Not Your Ma to be a dancer, but it turned out that it was a strip club She actually startedsomeher head "Then she started taking drugs and drinking to cope And then I think her drug habit got expensive, so she started working on the side" Again, Daisy hesitated, wincing "Hooking The last tio She knew that I was upset for her, and she told oing to go out and get more et out of what she was doing" A large tear rolled down her cheek Jude pushed a tissue box closer to her

So she, too, had been involved in the filood friend, Miss Harding I’ that you could," Jude told her

"No, no, I didn’t If I had, she’d be alive," Daisy said

Jude looked down for a e we had in the paper, Miss Harding But, now that you’ve given us a name, we can verify that she is your friend Shesaid "She told me that she’d been in a hohteen and get out She’d spent a couple of years working different places to get to New York And…she had the kind of friends you look at when you’re at an audition and hope they break an ankle so that you get the job It’s competitive out there I don’t mean that we--as a whole--are hateful or would really hurt anyone It’s just there are so et work"

"Of course," Whitney said softly

"Miss Harding," Jude promised, "we’ll find out what happened to your friend I proain softly Whitney left her chair and walked around to the young wo you can for her now, Daisy," she said "You’re helping us find out about her, and that will help us find out about her killer"

"Please, yes, oh, please, at the least, get some kind of justice for her! I had a home and a family, and now, I’ve been lucky here We weren’t rich, but et a show, or when I couldn’t get any kind of job at all Sarah…she had no one No help It’s not…it’s not fair"

Whitney saw Jude’s rimly; she could almost read his mind No, life wasn’t fair But what had happened to Sarah Larson went far beyond that senti her killer and bringing hian, her voice hoarse, "you think that the same man killed that actress in the street, and that he…he’s killed this neo every angle," Jude said

Tears still bright in her eyes, Daisy finished telling the she could about Sarah Larson When she left the station at last, Ellis Sayer threw some sheets on the table in the conference roo "Limo drivers of interest, six of theo through the company The time cards, uys were the last on the job, if you want to speak with them"

Jude nodded "They’re here?" he asked

"A?" Ellis asked him dryly Whitney liked Ellis Sayer; he always looked a bit down, sad and weary, but he see on the tasks he was given

"Get Lacey in here with me," Jude said "That way he’ll catch any contradictions"

He looked at Whitney "I’d like to stay for this," she said

When Ellis walked out, she noted that Jude seeht?"

"Yes," he said, rubbing his temples "But Sayer has the drivers here I know Lacey does a thorough job of questioning, but…we’ll keep the pressure on There’s a lot I want to get to during the day Melody Tatu to be da up all over But one thing I’ve learned is that people don’t like co the for information The drivers are here…we’ll speak with them now"