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good customer at the east-side store for a while.’
    â€˜Well, if you knew her in the store you knew her as well as anybody did. Lois cared about the business and her family, and that was about it. She had one hobby, quilting with her sister on Sunday afternoons. Well, and Bingo at the church Wednesday night. She did that with her sister too – and slept over at her sister’s house after, so she wouldn’t have to drive home in the dark.’
    â€˜Kind of narrowly focused?’
    â€˜Tunnel vision, all the way.’
    â€˜All those messages you exchanged, were they pleasant? Or was she on your tail about a lot of things?’
    â€˜Not mine. She could be rough with employees who screwed up, but I knew how to please her. She was a hound for details, I suppose everybody’s told you that? She wanted answers, fast. And not just stats, but “what do you think of this? How is that working . . . ?” Thought all the time about the business, never stopped.’
    â€˜Do you remember the last message you got from her?’
    â€˜Let’s see.’ Phyllis recrossed her legs and thought. ‘Saturday afternoon about quarter to six, she called and said, “What’s with blush all of a sudden?” I said, “You mean somebody’s embarrassed, or are you talking about the color?” and she said, “The color, why does everybody want it this week?” I said, “Lois, how many orders have you got for blush?” She said, “One yesterday and one today. We can mix the paint, but we don’t stock tile in that color. I had to special order it.” See, two orders, that couldn’t just be a coincidence, that might be a trend, and we’d be way behind the curve if we didn’t climb right on top of it, tell people about it, sell the hell out of it. That was Lois Cooper.’
    â€˜So, a little obsessed?’
    â€˜Fair to say.’
    â€˜But you were used to it?’
    â€˜Totally. Lois and I,’ Phyllis said, with a smug little smile, ‘got along like two turtle doves.’
    â€˜Was anybody in the stores bearing a grudge?’
    â€˜Not that I know of. In the east-side store you either got along with Lois or you were gone.’ She tapped her glossy nails on Sarah’s desk a few times. ‘She was right, too. Consistent service has been the biggest reason for Cooper’s success.’ After a couple of heartbeats she gave a funny little half-laugh and added, ‘And besides Lois liked being in charge so much she probably couldn’t stop even if it was bad for business.’
    Sarah turned a page in her notebook. ‘Was Frank as focused on the business as his wife?’
    Phyllis Waverly stared into the middle distance for a few seconds and her lips moved a couple of times before she answered.
    â€˜In a different way. They both liked being in charge but they went about it differently. She just did the chores, one day at a time. He was always thinking ahead, innovating. Didn’t want to be bothered with store-keeping routines any more, wanted to talk about was the next big thing.’
    â€˜You saying he wanted out?’
    â€˜What? No! He wanted to be a tycoon! A mover and shaker.’
    â€˜Well, he was getting there, wasn’t he?’
    â€˜Yes. He was on several boards and a city planning commission and so on.’ She uttered what was evidently meant to be a good-natured chuckle. ‘Which left him plenty of time to keep three women busy!’ Sarah watched, fascinated, as Phyllis Waverly described her dead boss’s brilliance. ‘He got about three more bright ideas every day than we could possibly get around to trying.’ Is she composing her funeral tribute? ‘Always wanted the latest hot thing in the store. Then Lois and Nicole and I had to figure out the details – how to display it, advertise it, turn a profit on it. You know how easy it is to go broke selling Corion