CLOSERS Hedgehog, Stein(Photo: Patrick McMullan/patrickmcullan.com)

Linda Stein, property broker to stars like Sting, Billy Joel, and Donna Karan, was bludgeoned to death in her swank Fifth Avenue apartment on Tuesday evening by an unknown assailant. The news has sent nervous ripples across the Upper East Side, and we'd imagine some may well be coming from the direction of Page Six chat-king Richard Johnson.

Before her death, the outspoken Stein had become increasingly press shy, having been burned too many times—most notoriously, Johnson banned her from his column after she implied to the New York Observer that she and the Page Six honcho were somehow "involved." Were Stein still here to monitor his column inches, we're sure she'd be looking with great interest to see how he's gonna tackle this doozy.

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