The Color of Death

Judge Martin Weber speeds to a salon in a mobile home owned by his mistress, a young hairdresser named Rachel Simone. She’s furious with him, having only recently discovered that he’s married. She confronts him about a recent night when he got drunk, used drugs, and, to hide his infidelity from his wife, forced Rachel to walk three and a half miles to retrieve her car after she drove him home. Martin apologizes and offers to take her to Paris, but Rachel rejects him. He then threatens to use his judicial influence to sabotage her child-custody case, prompting Rachel to imply that she’s recording their conversation. 

When another client arrives, Martin leaves abruptly. Panicked by the realization that a recording could destroy his career, he resolves to get it from her. He returns home and isolates himself in his office with a drink, ignoring his wife, Tiffany Weber.

On the night before he plans to resign from his job, Colm is called to examine a possible homicide at a beauty salon. At the scene, he meets the lead investigator, Detective Travis Hendrick, and Sheriff Lloyd Fuller, who is displeased by Colm’s presence. 

The victim is Rachel Simone, a 26-year-old hairdresser who was brutally murdered with a pair of scissors. Her hair was cut and scattered, and there’s a bloody shoeprint on her face. While examining the body, Colm spots a glinting object in the blood and directs a crime tech to retrieve the item: a broken gold clasp. 

The situation escalates when Rachel’s ex-husband, Macon Greer, arrives at the salon drunk and aggressive. When Colm prevents him from entering the crime scene, Macon punches him in the jaw.

Martin awakens on his office couch with a severe hangover and no memory of the previous night. He finds that his hands are covered in a sticky, dried substance. Tiffany and his son, Lucas Weber, question him about having taken his car out, which he denies. 

In the garage, Martin discovers that his car is indeed parked outside. Inside the car, he finds a half-empty pint of whiskey on the passenger seat and a sticky steering wheel with a metallic odor. Consumed with worry about the incriminating recording that Rachel has on him, he gets in the car and leaves, determined to retrieve it.

Colm meets with his friend and veteran detective, Captain Rick “Bones” Denton, for breakfast at a diner called The Junction. Bones reveals that he’s considering an offer to join a federal drug task force and asks for Colm’s advice. Colm encourages him to take it for the better lifestyle, to help colleague Kim Lewis who just joined the US Attorney’s Office, and to move closer to retirement. 

Colm and Bones are served by a kind waitress named Belle Atkins, who gives Colm a free side of bacon. Deeply impressed after seeing her help an elderly customer, Colm leaves her a $100 tip for her compassion. Belle tries to return the money, but he insists that she keep it. As Colm is leaving, he’s startled when he thinks he hears someone whisper his name.

While driving toward Rachel’s salon, Martin sees that it’s surrounded by police officers and crime-scene tape. He immediately speeds away and calls Sheriff Lloyd, who confirms that Rachel has been murdered. Lloyd informs Martin that his name appears multiple times in Rachel’s appointment book for suspiciously long “haircuts.” As a favor, Lloyd agrees to remove the pages but insists that Martin establish a solid alibi. Martin lies, claiming that he was home all night with his wife and son. After hanging up, Martin looks in his mirror and is horrified to see that his face and hands are smeared with a substance resembling blood.

Colm returns to the courthouse and discovers that his office has been given to a new prosecutor, Dillon Bickler. Colm has been demoted to a small, windowless office in the basement. 

While unpacking, he finds a box containing photos of his late daughter, Jaci, and his late wife, Ally, along with a small set of scales, which was a law school gift from Ally. He receives a text from Detective Travis Hendrick, asking him to attend the interview of Macon Greer. A fleeting memory of Ally strengthens Colm’s resolve to find justice for Rachel Simone, and he leaves for the sheriff’s department.

At the Sheriff’s Department, Colm learns from Sheriff Lloyd that Frank Hastings, a defense attorney, has been reported missing by his brother. Colm then joins Travis to interview Macon. He’s frustrated to learn that deputies failed to administer a sobriety test on Macon after his arrest, weakening the case against him. 

Travis’s aggressive questioning nearly causes Macon to request a lawyer, but Colm de-escalates the situation by offering to drop the assault charge in exchange for his cooperation. Macon claims that he was fishing alone at the time of the murder and admits that he believed Rachel was having an affair.

Martin attempts to clean the blood from his car at a self-serve car wash but quickly realizes that the mess is too significant and that his effort won’t fool a forensic investigation. He abandons the effort and drives to a professional auto-detailing shop owned by his friend Beau Landry. 

Using a fake name, Martin tells the clerk a cover story about a bloody nose to explain the stains. After a direct call to Beau, the shop agrees to perform an intensive cleaning and provides Martin with a loaner car. With the evidence in his car being handled, Martin turns his focus to finding the recording that Rachel claimed to have made.

Colm and Travis interview Shauna Phillips, who was a mentor and friend to Rachel. Shauna’s name appeared in Rachel’s appointment book, circled in red at 3:30 pm, as the only listed appointment on the day of the murder. 

Shauna tells the investigators that Rachel was happy that day and that there weren’t any other cars in the salon’s parking lot. When asked about valuables, Shauna recalls Rachel wearing an expensive diamond tennis bracelet that was inconsistent with her financial situation. This new information leads Travis to reconsider the possibility that robbery was a motive in the murder.

JD and Knox drive to Colm’s quiet neighborhood. While Knox waits, JD enters Colm’s backyard and replaces the batteries in a hidden trail camera aimed at the house. She then uses a hidden key to enter the home, goes to the main bedroom, and plants a box of .38-caliber ammunition in a nightstand drawer where an empty holster sits. Before leaving, JD steals two photographs from the refrigerator: one of Colm with his wife and daughter and another of Colm with his friend Bones.

Colm returns to the crime scene, where Travis informs him that Rachel was planning to hire another stylist. Colm emphasizes the need for meticulous police work to avoid any more errors. Travis reports two new forensic findings: Bloody tissues discovered near the back door have been sent for DNA analysis, and the bloody shoeprint on Rachel’s face was made by a men’s size-12 Doc Martens shoe. Colm instructs Travis to obtain any surveillance footage from the nearby storage facility and to organize a wide search of the roadside for the murder weapon.

Travis goes to the storage facility across from the salon to look for surveillance footage. After an encounter with a guard dog and the armed owner, Ethan Hill, he secures a promise that Ethan will call his nephew, who manages the system, and that one of them will bring the footage to the Sheriff’s Department. Ethan also mentions having heard Rachel and Macon arguing in the past. 

After finding no leads in the neighborhood, Travis investigates a trash can at a nearby abandoned gas station. Inside, he finds a pair of bloody gloves and a metal object underneath them, which he believes may be the murder weapon. He immediately calls for a forensics team.