Audie gawked at him. "Just don't tell me what you paid for it, because I'll just yell at you again."

"Fifty."

"We're talking cents, right?"

"Stop it, you two." Marjorie whipped around in her desk chair and tried to produce a frown of reprimand beneath her laughing eyes. "I swear, I think you two actually get satisfaction out of making each other miserable."

Griffin smirked at Audie.

"And really, Audie. The paints are far more hideous than the vest." Marjorie slowly raised her head to catch Audie's eye, and the two women began to howl with laughter.

Marjorie was right, as usual. Griffin 's purple velvet bell-bottoms were uglier by far than the black suede vest. Audie simply hadn't had a chance to comment on them yet.

Griffin crossed his arms over his mostly bare chest and ignored them both. "You got sixty-seven E-mails to your site yesterday, Audie. You had more than four thousand hits, which was a record. I think it's 'Pet Corner'; I really do."

Audie took another soothing sip of coffee and nodded at him. "Great."

"Pet Corner" was a weekly compilation of pet-related hints and something Audie never wanted in the first place. It had been Marjorie's idea, and like most of her ideas, it had proven an instant hit with the readers.

"You gonna tell her, Marjorie?" Griffin stood up straight and walked toward the large walnut reception desk. His hand reached for the stack of fan mail.

Audie felt her shoulders sag. "Not another one?"

Griffin and Marjorie nodded.

"Oh, crap. Hell."

"Did that detective show up at the television studio yesterday?"

For some reason, Griffin 's simple question startled Audie, and she just stared blankly at her friend. "Who?"

"The police detective."

"Oh! Yes. He did." Audie reached for the letter and cradled it, nearly weightless, in her palm. It was the same white business-sized envelope, the name "Homey Helen" neatly typed front and center, a single generic stamp placed in the corner, covered by a Chicago postmark. It was just like all the others. Her hand trembled slightly.