He hadn’t asked for a lawyer, but he had come close to the line. If he crossed it, all communication would cease and they would have to walk away. They didn’t have enough to arrest him or search his house, not without Sadie’s identification. They could still do the photo lineup, but it would give Spencer time alone in the house, where he’d be able to clean things up.

Seeing no point to dragging things out, Niki asked the question she had come to ask. “There was an incident involving one of the bridesmaids. A witness thought you might have some information. We were hoping you’d be willing to talk to us about it, maybe come down and do a lineup so we can rule you out. It’s routine. Won’t take long.”

“A lineup? I didn’t do anything that would warrant a lineup, but…if it might help, I’ll do it.”

Niki exchanged another glance with Matty. Spencer hadn’t bothered asking what had happened to Sadie. His demeanor and the slow cadence of his speech were odd, almost unnerving. Where was the nervous twitching? The shifting eyes? Gavin Spencer seemed as calm as a man feeding his fish.

Matty said, “You want to follow us down—”

“I’ll take an Uber,” he said.

They’d hoped to get a look into his garage, to see if he had the black Bronco parked there. Had Spencer seen through that?

“We can give you a lift,” Matty said. “That is, if you don’t mind riding in back.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I’ll need to pat you down, though. Rules.”

“Fine.” Spencer lifted his arms and turned his back to Matty, who patted him down thoroughly.

The three of them walked to Matty’s squad car and put Spencer in the back. After securing his door, Niki and Matty convened at the rear of the car, where they spoke in whispers.

“This is weird, right?” Matty said. “What’s with the bald head?”

“A bald man wouldn’t go to Queen Bebe’s for a haircut. And did you notice, he hasn’t yet said a single word with the letter S in it?”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“He knows why we’re here.”

“So why is he willing to do the lineup?” Matty said. “You barely got the words out and he was on board.”

“Because he doesn’t look like he did when he went to the salon.”

“He’s playing us?”

Niki considered it and could find no better explanation. “If Sadie can’t pick him out of a lineup…”

“We got no search warrant,” Matty said. “Maybe we should cut him loose. Go with a photo lineup.”

Niki looked at Gavin’s head in the back of the unmarked car, giving thought to various scenarios. “We can get members of the wedding party to verify that he changed his appearance between Sunday and today. We can argue it shows his consciousness of guilt.”

“What about the lineup, though?”

“We do it in person. If Sadie picks him out after all he did to change his appearance, it’ll be catnip for the jury.”