“A powerhouse like her? A huge producer like Amanda Gilbert’s not going to be happy with an answer like that.”

“I’m not worried about the mother.” I’m getting annoyed with Hollywood this, Hollywood that. “But I am worried about what really happened here because what I’m seeing doesn’t add up. The time of death is a free-for-all. The details are arguing with each other. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything quite so confusing, and maybe that’s the point.”

“Whose point?”

“I don’t know.”

“The high yesterday was ninety-three. The low last night was eighty-two.” I feel Marino’s eyes on me as he adds, “The housekeeper swears she last saw Chanel Gilbert yesterday around four P.M.”

“She swore that to Hyde before we got here. Then she left,” I remind him of that.

It’s not our habit to take another person’s word for anything if we can help it. Marino should have talked to the housekeeper himself. I’m sure he will before the day is out.

“She said she saw Chanel pass her on the driveway, heading to the house in the red Range Rover that’s out there now,” Marino repeats what he’s been told. “So assuming she died at some point after four o’clock yesterday afternoon and was already in bad shape this morning by quarter of eight? That works with what you estimate? Twelve hours or maybe longer.”

“IT DOESN’T WORK,” I say to him as I watch my phone. “And why do you continue to refer to her dying in the middle of the night?”

“The way she’s dressed,” Marino says. “Naked with nothing but a silk robe on. Like she was ready for bed.”

“With no gown or pajamas on?”

“A lot of women sleep naked.”

“They do?”

“Well maybe she did, and what the hell are you looking at on your phone?” He confronts me in his usual blunt way that more often than not is plain rude. “Since when are you glued to your phone at a scene? Is everything all right?”

“There may be a problem with Lucy.”

“What’s new?”

“I hope it’s nothing.”

“It usually is.”

“I need to check on her.”

“That’s nothing new either.”

“Please don’t trivialize this.” I look at my phone and not him.

“Thing is I don’t know what this is. What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know yet. But something’s wrong.”

“Whatever you think.” He says it as if he doesn’t care about Lucy but that couldn’t be further from the truth.