“As I said, I knew her mostly from the show.” I sighed. “This whole thing is so unbelievable. I’m sure you’re aware that the network was planning a big future for Chloe. They were thinking about developing a show around her that would be based on a character I created. And now, with her dead, the spin-off show is too, got it? It’s all kaput.”

“We’re trying to get in touch with Mr. Gallagher. Apparently he’s on a plane to New Zealand to begin directing a movie of the week for FX, so we haven’t been able to speak with him. We’ve left word and are expecting a call back.”

“Good, good,” I said.

“Ms. Hale, when was the last time you spoke with Mr. Gallagher?”

I bit my lip, doing Chloe doing her Angelina. I thought about the answer carefully. “We spoke not that long ago. He called to tell me he was getting married.”

Detective Steiger raised his eyebrows. “So you two had a good breakup?”

I shrugged. “What breakup is ever good?”

“May we ask, Ms. Hale, why the two of you broke up?”

I had to end this. “Detective Robinov, please, do we have to go there?” I let my voice tremble. I was thinking of a show I’d written last season called “Deadly Deception.” Paula Magnus was a woman who seemed to have it all, but when her wealthy doctor husband was diagnosed with hepatitis B, he had to leave his job. After their money ran out, he contracted diabetes, and Paula found him one morning, dead. The autopsy showed he had a paralytic agent in his system, one used in surgery. This particular drug immobilizes the patient, making their breathing dependent on a respirator. Paula said her husband used it to commit suicide, but at her trial an expert testified that the police had found no needle near the body and that the husband wouldn’t have been able to inject himself and then get rid of the needle, because he would have been paralyzed instantly. By the way, Paula was in line to inherit two million dollars in life insurance upon his death. When her guilty verdict was read, Paula sat stoically and a single tear slid down her cheek. She shook her head and whispered, “I loved my husband. I’m innocent.”

Now, with these men in the room, I thought of Paula’s one tear. My bottom lip began to tremble and I gripped my hands together tightly, trying to compose myself. I looked directly at Robinov and my single Paula tear slid down my cheek.

“With the shock of Chloe, and now your bringing up Dave Gallagher, this is just a little much for me to take in, okay, guys?”