“Stunned disbelief. Troy is dead, Dustin’s a suspect, Courtney’s in custody. Everyone is trying to get their head around the fact that our revered director raised a kidnapped child as his own, and we’re holding our breath waiting for that to become public. Do you know when that’s going to happen?”

“I expect to see Detective Watson and Mr. and Mrs. Rollings sometime today when they arrive to see Taylor. We’ll work with Watson on a joint statement once we’ve had a chance to speak with Jacoby and Mrs. Hamilton.”

“He’s hired Tim Russo to represent him,” Avery said.

“I like that guy. I remember when he refused to represent Elle Jestings in the Vasquez case because she owed his firm fifty grand. She was so mad.” The memory made Sam smile months later. She loved when arrogant murdering assholes got their comeuppance.

“At least he’s a straight shooter, unlike our old friend Bill Springer.”

“That’s true.” The name Springer alone was enough to give Sam nightmares, so she shook off the reference and focused on the updates to the murder board Malone had kept in her absence. He’d done a good job, but he was no Sam Holland. She filled in the new information that’d come in overnight and tried to ignore Avery to the best of her ability.

“Lieutenant.”

Sam turned to face Detective Carlucci.

“Nice to have you back.”

“Nice to be back.”

“Gigi and I finished going through the phone records, and we found something interesting.” Dani laid some papers on the table and pointed to the highlighted outgoing call recorded on Jacoby’s personal cell phone on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. “That’s the landline number for Courtney Hamilton’s mother’s house.”

“And the call came in roughly one hour before Troy Hamilton was murdered.” Sam’s body buzzed from the burst of adrenaline that came from pulling threads that led to connections. “Excellent work.” She added the information to the murder board under the photo of Courtney Hamilton and drew a red line with an arrow on it to Jacoby.

Malone came into the room, looking sharp-eyed and well rested. “Courtney Hamilton’s attorney is here, and she’s ready to talk.”

“Excellent,” Sam said. “I love to talk.”

Malone rolled his eyes. “Welcome back, Lieutenant. I’d say we missed you but you didn’t give us the chance to miss you.”

“Aww, Captain.” She dabbed at her eyes dramatically. “You’re so sweet.”

“Let’s get the AUSA here,” Malone said, “and then see what’s on Mrs. Hamilton’s mind.”

Chapter Thirty-One

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE