She told them everything from the moment that Philip had ordered her into his car at gunpoint and demanded that she drive to what she now knew was his restaurant—though, at the time, she hadn’t been sure of anything. It had been a dark night, and the city had looked so strange with all its empty streets, bereft of the markers by which she’d usually navigated—the recognizable restaurants and storefronts. She’d only known that Philip had forced her out of the car into an alley and then dragged her through a door into a darkened space leading to the pitch-black abyss where she’d spent her captivity. Melissa also explained the impetus for Nate inviting Philip over to discuss business. Hours earlier, she told the detectives, she’d asked for a divorce. She’d learned from Tonya’s friend Micky that her husband had been sleeping with female actresses, and she’d decided to leave him.

“I’d always known that Nate was a flirt, but I’d never thought he was cheating.”

Melissa was surprised at how easily the news rolled off her tongue. Before her kidnapping, she would have guarded the information. She’d resolved to tell the paparazzi that her marriage was ending because of the standard “irreconcilable differences.” But being held in darkness had added value to bringing things into the light.

“The prospect of dividing our wealth in half spurred Nate to reexamine his financial dealings,” she explained. “He thought Philip owed him the unused part of his investment. I don’t know if he did or not, but that’s clearly what they’d been arguing over. Nate had been drinking since I’d told him my intention to leave. My guess is that he’d invited Philip over for more booze, things got heated, and he pulled this stupid gun I’d gotten in a drunken machismo power play.” Melissa shrugged. “He pulled it on the wrong guy. Philip took it and shot him. After, he panicked and kidnapped me.”

Detective Powell wrote furiously in a notepad as she spoke. Meanwhile, Detective Calvente kept her hand around the play button of a tape recorder.

“So you think it wasn’t premeditated?” Powell asked.

“I think he only wanted to talk—at first,” Melissa cautioned. “But after you guys seemed to be pointing the finger at me, he thought maybe it would be best to let the search die down. He couldn’t bring himself to kill me, so he was allowing me to starve to death. I assume he thought he’d ultimately get rid of my body and pin the murder on me.”

Detective Calvente exchanged a guilty look with her partner. Their quickness to blame the spouse had contributed to her entrapment. “So, why bring Tonya into things?” Calvente asked.