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He’d taken one bullet here,” he tapped his own head at the right rear, “from about three feet. He was still breathing when the patrol car got there, but dead when the detectives arrived.”
    â€œThe gun?”
    â€œNine-millimeter automatic; Calder owned one, and it hasn’t turned up, in spite of a very thorough search.”
    â€œWhere was Arrington when it happened?”
    â€œIn the bathtub, apparently. They were going out to dinner later. The butler heard the shot and sent the maid to find her. She was still in a robe when the detectives arrived. They noted the strong smell of perfume; there was a large bottle of Chanel No. 5 on her dressing table.”
    â€œAnd that made them suspicious, I guess.”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œBut how would Arrington know that perfume can remove the residue from the hands of someone who’s fired a gun?”
    Rick shrugged. “It’s the sort of thing that pops up on the news or in a television movie. Anybody could know it.”
    â€œDid Arrington say anything to the detectives?”
    â€œShe was distraught, of course, but she seemed willing to talk; then she fainted. By this time, an ambulance had arrived, and the EMTs revived her. When she came to, she seemed disoriented—gave her name as Arrington Carter and didn’t recognize the maid or her surroundings. The maid called her doctor, and he arrived pretty quickly. He had the EMTs load her up and take her to a toney private hospital, the Judson Clinic, in Beverly Hills. After the crime scene team arrived, they went to the clinic to question Arrington but were told she’d been sedated and would be out for at least twenty-four hours.”
    â€œAnything missing from the house?”
    â€œCalder’s jewelry box, which, the butler said, had half a dozen watches and some diamond jewelry in it, and the gun. None of Arrington’s stuff had been taken, according to the maid.”
    â€œSo, Calder could have interrupted a burglary and gotten shot with his own gun for his trouble.”
    â€œThat’s one scenario,” Rick said.
    â€œAnd I guess another is that Arrington shot Vance during a quarrel, hid the gun and the jewelry box, scrubbed her shooting hand and arm with Chanel No. 5 and jumped into a tub, just in time to be found by the maid.”
    â€œThat’s about it.”
    â€œAny other scenarios?”
    â€œNope, just the two.”
    â€œHow’s the voting going?”
    Rick shrugged. “I’d say the burglar is losing, at the moment.”
    â€œAre you serious?”
    â€œI think the detectives would have felt better about her, if she’d kept her head and told them a convincing story. They weren’t too keen on the hysterics and fainting.”
    â€œThey think she was acting?”
    â€œThey think it’s a good possibility. I’d find her a shrink, if I were you, and a lawyer, too. A good one.”
    The two men rode along in silence for a few minutes. Shortly, Rick turned off the freeway and onto Sunset Boulevard. A couple of minutes later he turned left onto Stone Canyon, toward the Bel-Air Hotel.
    â€œIs there anything else you want to ask me, Stone?” Rick said. “Next time we meet, we might not be able to talk to each other so freely.”
    â€œI can’t think of anything else right now. Any advice?”
    â€œYeah, get Centurion Studios involved; they’re equipped to handle something like this, and I understand that Calder was a major stockholder, as well as their biggest star.”
    â€œI’ll call Lou Regenstein tomorrow morning,” Stone replied.
    Rick turned into the hotel parking lot and stopped at the front entrance. “Good luck with this, Stone,” he said. “Don’t hesitate to call, but don’t be surprised if I clam up or can’t help. I’ll do what I can.”
    â€œThanks for all you’ve done, Rick, and thanks for meeting my flight,