“They think this could possibly be linked to the woman from Universal who was murdered a few months ago. I spoke to one of the detectives assigned to the case. Chloe had some important friends who are pressuring the department to solve this case.”

“I wouldn’t have any idea about where to buy a gun. Can’t I just take a Tae Bo class instead?”

Rich’s eyes softened. “Tell you what. Why don’t you let me take you down to the shooting club? I’ll show you.”

“You’ll show me how to handle a gun?” I couldn’t suppress a smile.

“Yeah.”

“It doesn’t scare you, that I would know how to handle a firearm?”

Rich stared at me evenly. He was so serious all the time. “Dani, I’d never be afraid of you.”

He wasn’t scared of me. Knowing this gave me a shot of pure pleasure. “I’ll think about the gun thing. Okay?”

“Okay.” He was smiling just as big as I was. Then he slipped out the door and shut it firmly behind him.

Azita knocked once and then poked her head in. “Hey, there are a couple of police detectives here. They’ve been talking to everybody and they’d like to ask you some questions. Are you cool with that?”

“Sure,” I said, a little caught in the headlights. “Let them come in.”

I took a deep breath and clicked off my laptop. I centered myself, placing my hands on my desk. Then I crossed one over the other— more ladylike. I wanted to make a good impression with the cops.

I was surprised to see Rich enter first. He nodded toward me and moved to take the chair in the far corner. He was followed by a couple of guys who were definitely cops. It was like our casting office had chosen these two: early forties, salt-and-pepper hair, and bad polyblend blue blazers.

“Hello, Ms. Hale,” said one of them as the two men sat down. “I’m Detective Max Robinov, and this is Detective Larry Steiger. Thank you for agreeing to talk to us. We know this is a difficult time for everyone here.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. “I didn’t know it was such a big deal to everyone. I mean, Chloe had only been here a few days.”

The detectives exchanged a look before Robinov continued. “Well, a woman is dead, Ms. Hale, and she deserves justice. We just want to arrest whoever did this.”

“Of course, please, anything I can do to help, just let me know.”