Ultimate Concealer, A Toni Diamond Mystery: A Toni Diamond Mystery (Toni Diamond Mysteries) by Nancy Warren Page A

you?”
    “Thank you. I would like a Stoli on the rocks with a twist.” She raised her eyebrows at Toni.
    Knowing she couldn’t attain intimacy with this woman if she drank soda, Toni asked for a vodka tonic. It was barely noon. She only hoped the pancakes would sop up some of the alcohol.
    When their drinks arrived, Loretta Forstman took a grateful gulp then placed her glass on the table with a tap. “You said you wanted to speak to me? How can I help you?”
    “My name is Toni Diamond.”
    At the sound of her name, Loretta’s dark brown eyes widened and her head jerked slightly. “Diamond? As in Dwayne Diamond?”
    “He’s my ex-husband. Long time ago ex. Do you know him?”
    The woman took another sip of her drink. Motioned the bartender for another. “Of course I know him. He works—worked for my husband. He is one of the acts in the show lounge.”
    A beat passed. Toni sipped her own drink. “He’s also accused of your husband’s murder.”
    “Look. I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what you want with me.”
    “Neither do I,” Toni answered honestly. “It’s not me, it’s my daughter. She’s Dwayne’s daughter too. She wants to find out what she can about the murder. See if there’s anything we can do.”
    Loretta Forstman fished a pack of cigarettes out of her white leather designer handbag. She ripped the cellophane off the package. “I haven’t smoked a cigarette in five years.” She shook her head. Opened the package and pulled out a single cigarette with long, French-manicured fingers. There was a single package of matches in an ashtray in the middle of the table. The matchbox was rectangular. Like a coffin, Toni thought idly. The woman struck a match and lit her cigarette then dropped the package into her purse. She took a long, luxurious drag of her cigarette, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. “You never lose the longing. Never.”
    She looked over at Toni once more. “You ever smoke?”
    “No, thank goodness.”
    “So, Dwayne has a daughter. How old is she?”
    “Sixteen. Her name’s Tiffany.”
    The woman smiled. “Tiffany Diamond. Nice. She could get a job here in Vegas without having to think up a new name.”
    “How did you meet your husband?”
    The woman took another long drag, as though she were kissing a long-lost lover. “Exactly the way you think I did. I was working — not here, on the strip. And Grant came in one night. He watched the show. He said he fell in love with me from the legs up.”
    “How long were you married?”
    “Almost four years.”
    “How did you find out your husband was, you know. Dead.”
    “The police came to the apartment around nine this morning. They told me.”
    “Apartment?” Toni had pictured Mr. Bigshot and his third missus in mansion somewhere.
    “We live upstairs. Grant never wanted to be away from this place. He was a workaholic.”
    “Weren’t you already pretty worried? I mean, he didn’t come home all night.”
    Loretta sent her a glance that spoke of long experience with a certain kind of man. “Toni, I was his third wife. Let’s just say if my husband didn’t come home once in a while, I wasn’t going to make a federal case out of it.”
    “Did he make a habit of not coming home?”
    “You mean was he seeing someone seriously?” She sipped her drink. “I don’t think so. He was busy with work and I kept him satisfied at home. Like I say, it was the odd night he didn’t come home. I didn’t get too worked up.”
    She could dance around all day or she could cut to the chase. “The police have Dwayne in custody. Do you have any idea why Dwayne would kill your husband?”
    “Toni. Do you really want to do this? Dwayne’s a big boy who made some big mistakes. Let the law handle it.”
    “Oh, believe me, I’d love to. I want to tell my daughter something that makes sense.”
    Loretta stubbed out the remains of her cigarette. “No. I can’t think of a reason why your ex-husband would kill my