Not the best effort Ive ever seen on the calm front, Decker replied. Dont jump the gun. Dont make assumptions. This looks bad but we never actually heard Otis linked to a crime on that tape. It cut off before we got anything concrete. And we have no idea who this Marla is. It could all be a scam to blackmail Otis.

Jessie looked at him incredulously.

Do you really believe any of that? she asked.

No. But I have to be open to the possibility that theres an innocent explanation for all this. Tunnel vision is our enemy, Hunt. See the whole field.

She couldnt contain her frustration.

Okay, Coach. Then whats the next play?

He let her tone slide.

Im taking this to Parker, he said.

Gaylene Parker ran Central Stations Vice unit. Jessie had worked with her on several occasions on cases that involved sex crimes. She had always seemed like a competent straight shooter, but this wasnt any old case.

Are you sure? she began.

I trust her implicitly, he said before she finished the thought. Ive known her for a decade and shes the best there is. Ill go only to her to keep the circle tight, no other detectives from the unit.

Thats fine, Jessie said. But I cant tell her where the audio came from either. Now I know why my source was so worried. They must have found out what happened to Shore.

Ill be very discreet, Decker assured her. I wont even say it came from you if you dont want.

Jessie thought he was being eminently reasonable, so she decided to try one more long shot.

Maybe we just bring Otis in on the pretext of talking about the Estrada case, then mention this in passing to see how he reacts.

He looked at her like he shouldnt even have to dignify that.

Come on, Hunt, he said. You know better than that. Bringing him in now would be the worst possible move. We have nothing on him for this. We dont even have a victim. And unless youre holding out on me, you dont have anything on him yet in the Estrada murder either. Were probably only going to get one shot at this guy before his phalanx of lawyers closes ranks. We need to have all our ducks in a row when we make our move. We have to be methodicalno mistakes.

Jessie knew he was right. But she couldnt stop the connections from forming in her mind, even if there was no proof to bear them out.

What if the cases are connected, Captain? What if Millicent Estrada was killed because she knew about this? Maybe the broken neck and missing top are just designed to throw us off and make us think theres a sex component.

Decker closed her laptop for her and put the thumb drive in his pocket, a sign that he considered this conversation over.