The Midnight Broadcast

The cold open

High above the rain-slicked avenues on the fourteenth floor of the Zenith Tower, the red ON AIR light glowed like an open wound. Behind the triple-paned soundproof glass of studio A, syndicated talk-host Roland Beaumont sat slumped across the mixing console, a single gunshot wound piercing his chest while an automated jazz record spun silently on repeat. The studio mic was still hot, but the city's most famous midnight voice had been permanently silenced.

The victim

Roland Beaumont, 55, syndicated late-night radio broadcaster and studio director

The lineup

• Declan Pierce
• Saffron Wu
• Donald Paige
• Renate Vogel