“How do you know about that?”

Cam smiled. “We do a lot of interviews, Doc. We know she was in Italy filming for two weeks.”

He nodded. “Yes, and she’d been back home for about two weeks. The rest of the filming was set to take place at the studio. It’s all she could talk about when she got that role. I didn’t want her to take it, not with her having to be in Italy for two weeks. But you want to know who she beat out for it? You think there’s some sort of crazed actress or boyfriend out there?”

“It’s a theory,” Daniel said.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. She didn’t include who she beat out in her records.”

Daniel looked through a folder with huge red stars drawn all over it. The Crown Prince was the top sheet. He scanned it, shook his head. “It doesn’t say. We’ll have to get those names from casting.”

Doc was staring down at his hands, clasped between his knees. “We drank champagne, not that night, because I had to be at the hospital. But the next night, we drank a whole bottle and she ate a burger. A big double-decker with all the fixings, just as she liked it. I remember Deb told me it was her last splurge. She had to lose five pounds before filming started. She had to keep herself so thin, it pissed me off.” He paused, swallowed again. “Look at all the red stars. She loved her red stars. She even put them on bills she’d paid off.” He looked down at the sheet of paper. “She had two weeks to prepare before she went to Italy for the actual filming.” He met their eyes. “This role meant everything to her.”

Missy looked like she wanted to say something, but Cam shook her head.

“So she went to Italy,” Cam asked.

“Yes, I knew it meant as much to her as practicing medicine does to me. I knew she’d come back to me, but it was two whole weeks, too long apart.” He stopped, put his head down, and Cam saw his hands were balled into fists.

Missy said, “There are so many parts, they tend to run together, but I just realized I didn’t tell you about a part I lost to Connie, sometime this past March, shortly before she was killed. They called me to offer the role. I have the exact date on my laptop.”

Cam said, “Did you take the part?”

“I couldn’t. I was already booked and couldn’t get out of it. But I was sorry I missed out.”

Daniel asked, “Missy, do you remember what the part was?”

“Sure, it was a small but juicy role as the younger, uptight sister of this biker chick in The Gravy Train. The movie’s out sometime this fall.”

“Doc, do you remember if Deborah was offered that role?”

He raised his head. “Sorry, Agent, I don’t recall her even auditioning for that one. I do remember Deborah getting offered jobs when other actresses couldn’t take them, for whatever reason. It happens all the time.” He looked blindly past Cam. “If there’s a reason you’re focusing on Deborah’s auditions, I can’t see it.”

“Do you remember a party about six months ago at a producer’s house in the Hollywood hills? You took Deborah because she wanted to mix with the L.A. movers and shakers? Like Theodore Markham?”

Doc’s pale face flushed with contempt and anger. “Oh yes, I remember. All those pompous arrogant snobs, feasting on those gorgeous young women. It was like a smorgasbord for them—like a bunch of degenerate sheiks looking over the latest crop of harem girls. I was disgusted, couldn’t wait to get Deborah out of there. I remember Connie Morrissey was there. I didn’t know her well, but she and Deborah were—well, acquaintances. I remember Connie tried to pull me away so this pervert producer could ogle Deborah, probably tell her he could make her a star, all the while hoping he could use his position to get in her pants. Since we’re looking for a murderer, any one of those debauchers would be high on my list.”

“Do you remember Theodore Markham?” Daniel asked him.

“Yeah, he was one of the worst, I could tell by looking at him. He was hanging all over Connie. I remember Deborah said she didn’t know if Connie was sleeping with him, but all I had to do was take one look at him and know he was just the sort to take advantage. He’s probably sleeping with some other young actress now that Connie’s gone.”

Missy said, “Wait a minute, Doc, I remember that party. Sure some of the guys in the business were on the make, and the deeper they’re into the booze the heavier it gets. It’s a professional hazard. None of us like it, but most of us learn to handle it.”

“Obviously she didn’t handle it. Do you know she blamed me? Me! All I wanted to do was protect her from those smug perverts, and she called me a dog in the manger, said she’d never take me with her again. It was all about making contacts, networking, and I was being a nut-job. I should open my eyes because the same thing happens everywhere, including the hospital—haven’t I seen male doctors trying to get the nurses in the sack?” He snorted. “As if there’s any time for that. Or any energy, we’re always exhausted.” Doc rubbed his forehead, and suddenly, tears filmed his eyes. “Yes, we fought about it, but we’ll never fight about it again. Deborah won’t go to any more Hollywood parties, with or without me.” He locked eyes with Cam. “She’s dead. She won’t ever do anything again.”

42

* * *

CADILLAC BAR AND GRILL

WASHINGTON, D.C.

WEDNESDAY, EARLY EVENING

Delsey Freestone had felt like this about a man only once before, so focused and excited about meeting him, simply nothing else in the world mattered. Her palms were damp and her stomach roiled. It didn’t help she remembered the first time she felt this way was about her criminal ex-husband.

She checked her watch for the umpteenth time. Five o’clock on the nose, exactly the time she’d set to meet Rob Rasmussen after their impromptu lunch date the day before that had ended abruptly when Rob had gotten an emergency call from a job site and had to leave. She couldn’t remember what they’d said to each other, it simply didn’t matter.

She had to be careful here, had to be. She wasn’t a stupid kid any longer. She herself had picked the Cadillac Bar and Grill. They would have a beer and talk quietly, see if this insane attraction was real, if it made sense. They would get to know each other a bit, see if they were compatible. She shook her head at herself, wondered what exactly it was about him that made her feel like this.