“Slated for the lead in Remember Last Tuesday, Anson was given the CHOP in favor of Derek Pullman, who decided to CLAM up and refused to give us a comment. When queried about the last-minute change, a spokesman for Halsey said that Anson had earned the reputation for being difficult on his current project, Crisis in Cherrywood.”

“Remember Last Tuesday,” Hannah breathed. “It’s a movie title!”

Michelle just shook her head. “No wonder I couldn’t find anyone who knew what happened last Tuesday! So that’s what Amber overheard Dean and Burke arguing about!”

“If that isn’t a motive, I don’t know what is,” Hannah pointed out. “Burke must have been convinced that Dean was the one who said he was difficult. What date is that paper?”

Andrea looked down beneath the green-and-black banner. “It’s Wednesday. They mail it from L.A. and I just got it today.”

“Burke wouldn’t have to wait to find out from Variety,” Michelle pointed out. His agent would have called him right away. Burke could have taken the call and then rushed right off to confront Dean in his office. I’m sure he thought Dean wrecked his career by tagging him with the difficult label. That’s the kiss of death, you know.”

“But Amber said Dean denied everything,” Andrea argued. “She heard Dean tell Burke that he didn’t do it.”

Hannah gave a short laugh. “It’s pretty obvious Burke didn’t believe him. He must have thought Dean was getting even for that awful interview he gave on KCOW television.”

“But didn’t Dean say he wasn’t mad about that? That he thought what Burke said on television was funny?” Andrea asked.

“He said it, but I was there and I didn’t believe him for a second. I don’t think anybody did. It was pretty clear that Dean was only pretending to be amused to save face.”

“Do you think Dean told the producers of Remember Last Tuesday that Burke was difficult to work with?” Andrea wanted to know.

Michelle shrugged. “It could have happened that way. Most of the producers know each other and they compare notes. It doesn’t really matter whether Dean did it or not, as long as Burke was convinced he did.”

“That’s why Burke was so lousy in the scene,” Hannah felt a current of excitement as the light dawned. “He’s a great actor. We all know that. And a great actor can play a lousy actor.”

Andrea stared at Hannah for a moment. “You’re right. It’s why he said his back hurt and he couldn’t seem to get the motivation right. He wanted Dean to demonstrate the suicide and pull the trigger on the real revolver.”

“He’s a stone cold killer,” Hannah said, shivering slightly. “He stood there watching, only a few feet away, and he knew exactly what was going to happen.”