(2 of 2)
A Choice of Virginias. It took a couple of days for the wire services to find out what had become of "Heiress" Virginia Hill, in whose house Bugsy was murdered. They finally reached her in Paris for her opinions. Sample: "It looks so bad to have a thing like that happen in your house." The United Press found her looking pretty chipper, with a new French boy friend and a pair of silver slippers. But Hearst's I.N.S. had her afloat in tears of grief. Both apparently neglected to ask Virginia how Bugsy happened to have a golden key to her house.
The New York Daily News's Ed Sullivan, who likes to remind his readers that he knows all about everything long before it happens, solemnly reported: "Bugsy Siegel, problem child of the mobs . . . hit Page 1, as expected." He quoted one of his 1941 columns: "Secret of the unlimited cash of Virginia Hill, mystery girl who tossed bales of dough around Miami Beach this winter, is a Chicago bookmaker." The AP, however, gallantly continued to refer to her as an heiress.
Earl Wilson began a column: "I want it understood that I am one newspaperman who knows absolutely nothing about Bugsy Siegel's murder." But he couldn't resist the urge a few paragraphs further to be on the inside too: "Word was passed around about three weeks ago that he was going to get himself into a lot of trouble."
Getting anything straight was obviously pretty tough. Said a headline over a United Press story: BUGSY'S BLONDE EX-WIFE GIVES CLUES TO HIS KILLERS. Said a headline over the I.N.S. story: BUGSY'S EX NO AID IN HUNT. Even the details of Bugsy's funeral became a matter of disagreement among the romancers. The New York Mirror had a picture identified as $5,000 SILVER-PLATED COFFIN FOR BUGSY. Said New York's Daily News: BUGSY'S WOOD COFFIN FOOLS 'EM AT FUNERAL. Where the truth was, no one seemed to know—or care—but a wonderful time was had by all.