"Were you always faithful to him?"
"Always," she replied.
"Was there any man in your past for whom you still felt… affection?"
Stone was a little uncomfortable with this, but he kept a straight face and waited for her answer.
"I feel affection for a number of friends," Arrington replied, "but I was as faithful to my husband as he was to me."
Stone didn't like this answer, and he saw the two detectives exchange a glance.
Arrington saw it, too. "What I mean is, I was faithful to him, and he was faithful to me."
"Mrs. Calder, are you acquainted with a woman named Charlene Joiner?"
"Of course; she costarred with my husband in a film."
"Were you and Ms. Joiner friends?"
"No; we met a few times, and our relationship was cordial, but I wouldn't call us friends. The last time I saw her was when she and Vance cohosted a political fund-raiser at our house."
"Would it surprise you to learn that your husband, while he was filming with Ms. Joiner, was spending considerable periods of time in her trailer?"
"No; I suppose they had lines to read together."
Bryant spoke up. "Mrs. Calder, when did you become aware that your husband was having sex with Ms. Joiner?"
"I was not and am not aware of that," she replied icily.
"Come on, Mrs. Calder," Bryant said impatiendy, "while they were filming together, your husband stopped having sex with you, didn't he?"
They were good cop/bad copping her, and Stone hoped Arrington had the sense to realize it. He made no move to stop them.
"My husband and I had a very satisfactory sex life, and I can't remember any period of our marriage when that wasn't the case," Arrington replied firmly.
"Do you not recall ever telling another woman that your husband had stopped making love to you?"
Arrington frowned. "Ah," she said, "I think I know what you're getting at. A friend of mine once complained to me that her husband had stopped sleeping with her, and I believe I tried to commiserate by telling her that all couples went through periods like that. I think you must have spoken with Beverly Walters."
"Do you deny telling Mrs. Walters that your husband had stopped rucking you?" Bryant demanded.
Stone began to speak, but Arrington held up a hand and stopped him. "I think Mrs. Walters may have inferred a bit more than I meant to imply," she said, and her color was rising.
"Mrs. Calder," Durkee said, breaking in, "if you had learned that your husband was having sex once, sometimes twice a day with Ms. Joiner in her trailer, would that have made you angry?"
"Hypothetically? Yes, I suppose it would have hurt me badly."
"When you are hurt by a man, do you respond angrily?"
"I have a temper, Detective Durkee, but on the occasions when it comes out, I have never harmed another human being."
"When was the last time you fired a handgun?" Bryant asked suddenly.
"I have never fired a pistol," she replied.
"But you know how, don't you?"
"I have never, to the best of my recollection, even held a handgun."