Defeated, I laid my head down on my desk and closed my eyes. It all seemed very RFK/JFK to me. Didn’t the brothers pass Marilyn between them? John tired of Marilyn and handed her off to Bobby. Jackie was not pleased about all the attention Marilyn attracted after singing her breathy “Happy Birthday” to the president. Marilyn’s phone records from the night she died were “lost” by the phone company, so there was no record of whom Marilyn spoke to on her last day. Depending on whom you talk to, they say Marilyn spoke with either Bobby or John on the phone that afternoon; one of them may even have come to the house that night.

Things weren’t supposed to be like this.

I was still slumped over my pile of papers when Steve buzzed me in my office. This was strange. He never called me; he’d just yell for me or stick his head in my office door.

“Hi, Dani, can you come in here for a second?”

“Sure,” I replied. What now? This was shaping up to be a tough day.

I closed his office door behind me and sat ramrod straight in the chair across from his desk. He looked a bit cockier and smugger than I’d ever seen him. Something was definitely brewing with him.

“Okay,” I prompted.

“Well, I’ve got news and it’s actually something I’m really excited about and I hope you will be as well.”

I gazed at him, waiting for him to go on.

“The network wants to make Chloe a series regular.”

“What?” I practically choked it out, trying to make it sound like a laugh. “That’s impossible. Steve, I told you I had reservations about this whole idea of her being exonerated for murdering Norma Jean. I already think we’re asking for a lot from the audience. To totally exonerate and make her a series regular is just too unbelievable.”

Steve cut me off. “Dani, this is what we’re going to do. Assistant Number Two is going to be grateful to Maggie and everyone in the lab for ‘doing the right thing’ and letting justice prevail to get her out. The character is a Hollywood insider, so it will make sense that she’ll help the team out occasionally. Now do you understand?”

“And she comes to work at the lab?”