“What is it?” she asked.

“Preliminary results came back on the scarf. The red mark was lipstick. You have to cut Collison loose.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Jessie wasn’t shocked.

Each new piece of information had made her less and less confident that the actor was their guy. And despite crushing him moments ago for his total lack of an alibi, she just couldn’t bring herself to buy that he was the perpetrator of this crime.

To her surprise, Decker disagreed.

“We’re going to have him tailed once he gets out,” he said with an edge in his voice. “We can’t keep him any more without causing a meltdown at headquarters. But if he makes a mistake when he’s out, we’ll be all over it.”

“You really think he’s our guy?” Jessie asked, thrown by his certainty.

“Hunt, I may not be a profiler. But the guy had a secret shrine to a woman he’d just proposed to, a woman who turned him down. And he has no alibi for the time of death. I mean, he literally cannot provide a scintilla of proof of his whereabouts. This guy isn’t getting off scot-free just because his smile makes people weak in the knees. Celebrity is not a passport to criminality.”

“It kind of seems like it is,” Dolan said drily.

Decker had to take a deep breath to keep his cool at the FBI agent’s snarky comment.

“Look, the powers that be don’t want a lawsuit if this guy ends up being innocent. And truthfully, I’m happy to avoid the media attention as long as possible. It protects the investigation. And it protects Hunt. Once word gets out that Jett Collision was arrested, how long after that do you think it will be before her name leaks too? That’s the last thing we need.”

“I’m with the captain on that one,” Murph added quietly.

Decker seemed happy to have the support.

“If this guy is guilty, he’s going down, no matter who he is,” he said. “So let him go. But don’t stop looking. We’re one more piece of evidence away from re-arresting him. If we take him down, I want it to be airtight.”

“Yes sir,” Jessie said as he walked off.

She turned to Dolan, who looked as skeptical as she felt.

“I get equal justice for everyone,” she said to him when the captain was out of earshot. “But the question is: do we actually think he’s guilty?”

Dolan sighed heavily.

“I don’t know, Hunt. On paper, this guy is a slam dunk, based on everything the captain just said. But my gut says he doesn’t feel right.”

“Me either,” she agreed before adding, “Of course, sometimes my gut gets me in trouble. I’m trying to rely less on it and more on the evidence.”

Murph, silent as usual beside them, perked up suddenly. He turned away and spoke into his comm. Dolan, who hadn’t noticed, replied.

“I don’t know. In my experience, for people like us, the evidence is secondary. We solve cases based on our ability to read people. I know that’s counter to all the training. But I think it’s true. When it comes down to proof or gut, I’ll go with what’s in my hairy belly every time.”