As I raced along the 101, he looked out the window. “I keep thinking about the way he described her sex life. Weird.”

“Weird, voyeuristic, and ambivalent,” I said.

“Love her madly, the filthy slut.”

“One minute he’s grief-stricken, the next he’s telling us she won’t be wearing underwear because she wanted to be ready for action.”

“Let’s see if he was right.” He made a call to the crypt. The body had arrived but hadn’t been looked at.

I said, “What’s especially strange is telling us she slept with both lawyers. Something we’d never have known. If it’s not paranoia.”

“Wifey doing the monkey-man.”

“Turning it into a joke,” I said, “was probably his way of keeping Ursula’s sexuality partially under his control. She wasn’t abandoning his bed for another man, she was providing amusement.”

“So maybe he’s one of those guys gets off watching the missus do another dude.”

“Maybe, but that’s always a risky game. Priorities change, all of a sudden the actress wants to direct. Maybe that was the real reason for the divorce.”

“Ursula got too independent,” he said. “He did admit she threatened divorce all the time.”

“But again, he was out for control: reducing Ursula’s threats to impulsive bullshit and claiming the ultimate decision was his.”

“Calling her bluff. That’s nothing but hostility. The more I think about it, the more I’m feeling we just talked to an extremely angry man.”

I said, “What if the choice wasn’t his and Ursula finally made good on her threats? His alibi doesn’t mean much—people at his level hire out. Toss in a few million dollars of additional motive even after estate taxes and you’ve got something.”

“That assumes Ursula willed him her share of the estate.”

“As an ex, she might not have wanted to, but as a business partner she could’ve had no choice. That fits with the two of them repeatedly trying to assess the value of Urrick. If the partnership ever came to an end, both their interests would be protected. But even if Ursula willed everything to the daughters, Richard might figure he could control their share.”

“Daddy knows best,” he said. “Let him continue to run the business and they enjoy the benefits. Sure, makes sense. The only snag I can see in a financial motive is both Fellinger and Richard told us it took both Coreys to keep the business running.”

“Like I said, priorities change. Ursula knew the Asian markets and was creative but what if Richard met someone he felt could replace her? Business-wise as well as romantically.”

“His Buddhist girlfriend,” he said, rotating his neck. “I’ll see what I can learn about that. Meanwhile, let’s get to see how Ursula lived. We’re lucky, we’ll get to meet the offspring created by such a glorious union.”