Page 28 of Wild Idol

“We have no confirmation of that.”

“She’s totally dead,” she said with confidence. “I mean, Sable’s car got stolen and wrecked. Yet Sable is still alive. It’s all over the news. And they’re talking about some kind of drug thing gone wrong.”

“When was the last time you talked to Emily?”

“It’s been a couple of days.”

“Did she express any concerns to you?”

Alyssa shook her head.

“Can you tell me about her drug use?”

Alyssa shifted uncomfortably. “As far as I’m aware, Emily didn’t use any drugs.”

I gave her a flat look. “There’s no need to lie. It’s going to make me question everything you say.”

Alyssa frowned. “Okay, yeah. I mean, that’s one of the reasons we stopped hanging out so much. That and her obsession with Sable.”

“What can you tell me about that?”

“What’s there to tell? She went nuts.” Alyssa paused. “It was weird. People would stop her wherever we went, asking for autographs and pictures. She would just go along with it, signing and posing until there wasn’t anyone left. She ate that shit up.” Alyssa’s face scrunched. “That crap drove me up the wall. We couldn’t go anywhere without getting mobbed.”

“Did she make any money doing that?”

“She didn’t charge anyone for autographs or pictures. But she’d get paid to show up at birthday parties, clubs, you name it.”

“Do you know Ronald, her dealer?”

“I may have met him a few times here and there,” she said, looking away.

She knew him.

“Do you know if Emily owed him money?”

Alyssa shrugged. “I don’t know. We weren’t hanging out as much as we used to. But I think she was making pretty good bank.”

“Can you think of anybody who wanted to harm her?”

Alyssa’s lips tightened as she thought. “Not off the top of my head. Sounds like someone really mistook her for Sable. I heard on the news that Sable pissed off the cartel.”

“We’re looking into everything.”

“Good. If Emily really is dead, you need to catch those fuckers!”

“We will.” I gave her a card. “If Emily gets in touch with you, let me know.”

“Emily’s dead. I don’t know why you won’t just come out and say it.”

“We haven’t made a positive ID yet.”

“Why not?” Alyssa asked, irritated.

“The condition of the remains makes that difficult.”

She winced. “That bad?”

I nodded. “Does Emily have any identifiable features? Birthmarks, scars, tattoos?”