THE CSIs GATHERED AROUND THE BODY,
LIKE MOURNERS AT A WAKE.

Novak’s bloodshot eyes stared blankly at the ceiling; a thin film had already formed over the lifeless orbs. Catherine looked at David, curious to hear his conclusions. “David?”

“COD appears to be a single GSW to the chest.” He pointed at the hole in the wall she had noticed earlier. It was right by the door, about six inches to the left of where they had entered the office. “Possibly a through-and-through. Rigor and body temperature puts the time of death at approximately eleven p.m.”

Brass nodded. “Which agrees with the initial reports from the witnesses.”

That makes life easier, Catherine thought. Maybe this would prove to be a straightforward case of death by misadventure. She put herself in the place of the alleged shooter, suddenly finding herself face-to-face with a masked, chainsaw-wielding assailant. Catherine could see why she might have shot the actor in self-defense. Under the circumstances, I might have fired, too.

“Do we have a weapon?”

Brass produced a Smith & Wesson revolver, already sealed inside a plastic evidence bag. Catherine raised an eyebrow. “You doing our job for us now, Jim?”

He shrugged apologetically. “One of the witnesses, a tech guy on the film crew, had already taken possession of the gun before we arrived. He turned it over to the first officer on the scene.”

Catherine frowned. She would have preferred to have collected the weapon herself from its original location, but she couldn’t blame the bystanders for not wanting to leave a loaded weapon lying around. Especially after what they had just witnessed. Maybe it won’t matter, she thought. From the sound of it, there was little question as to who pulled the trigger.

“Anybody else touch the victim?” she asked. “Aside from David, that is?”

“’Fraid so,” Brass answered. “A couple of crew members tried to help Novak before he kicked the bucket. Took off his mask and everything.” He knew this wasn’t what Catherine wanted to hear. “Sorry.”

It was starting to look like half of Las Vegas had handled the evidence before they’d got here.