“Fine,” the husband said. “Things are picking up at work, so that’s a bit stressful.”

“And I’m juggling clients and the kids.” The wife glared at him.

“You both have demanding careers and a lot on your plates, which makes it difficult to carve out space for one another. How has that—”

A buzz from Imani’s pocket interrupted her. She reached inside and, without looking, sent the call to voice mail. “Were you two able to have any focused time together this week?”

“I tried the other night,” the husband said. “I brought up drinks to the bedroom.”

“You brought scotch for yourself.”

“I brought the bottle. You could have had one.”

“I don’t drink liquor before bed.”

Imani cleared her throat and directed her attention to the husband. “So, you wanted to initiate some intimacy and feel your signals didn’t register with—”

“Oh, you knew what I wanted. You were just busy reading.”

“I offered to watch something.”

“You only like that true crime stuff where everyone kills their spouses.”

“That’s not true.”

“She’s obsessed. Even during the cab ride over here she was talking about a murder that’s on the news.”

It took a beat for Imani to realize that the husband was now addressing her rather than volleying another barbed comment at his wife. “Well, we all have interests,” she said. “Our partners don’t need to share every one of them. Perhaps if true crime doesn’t appeal to both of you, you two could—”

“I thought you’d be into it.” The wife was back in the game. “You were all googly-eyed for that actress when we met. You saw all her movies.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to know all the gory details of how she killed her husband.” The guy pointed at Imani. A smile glinted in his eyes. “Put it on record, my wife has a penchant for mariticide. If I end up with a bullet in the brain, and there’s some suspicious note…”

Imani knew her patient didn’t fear his wife. He was trying to curry favor by flirting while diminishing his partner’s interests. Imani shifted her knees so that they pointed in Mrs. Halstead’s direction. “True crime is very popular right now. What are some topics that you believe would interest both of you?”