The Color of Death

Colm arrives at The Junction, distracted and driving erratically. He finds Belle outside on a break, and she thanks him for his help with her parents’ application for disability benefits. Belle confides in Colm, expressing doubt about her business major and her desire to find a career where she can help people. Colm shares his own journey to becoming a prosecutor and advises her to combine her passions with her skills, suggesting that she consider law school. Belle is taken aback, knowing nothing about the law. When she reveals that she has a 4.0 GPA, Colm is impressed and offers to lend her old LSAT prep books so that she can explore the possibility. She happily agrees.

Travis visits a third car-detail shop searching for the silver Audi coupe. The shop manager is initially hostile but cooperates after Travis threatens a full-scale investigation involving the Internal Revenue Service and Probation Department. The manager claims to find no record of the car and goes to his office, leaving a blank computer screen behind. Travis tries to access the previous screen but finds it password protected. 

While looking into the service bay, he makes eye contact with a heavily tattooed employee, Ronald “Chew” Ward, who immediately drops his vacuum and flees. Travis gives chase, pursuing Chew over a fence and tackling him at the bottom of a hill. During a search, Travis discovers Rachel’s missing diamond tennis bracelet in Chew’s pocket.

At the Sheriff’s Department, Travis shows Colm the bracelet found on Chew. Colm devises a bluff, treating Chew as a murder suspect to make him anxious to clear himself and volunteer where he found the bracelet, eliminating him as a suspect while turning him into a witness. 

In the interrogation room, Colm places a thick, fake case file with Chew’s name on it on the table. Travis questions Chew about his alibi, and Colm implies that a witness placed him near the crime scene. When Travis reveals the bracelet, Chew panics and admits that he found it wedged in the driver’s seat of a silver Audi he was cleaning. Before he can say more, the sheriff and a lawyer, William Richner, interrupt and terminate the interview. A frustrated Travis realizes that the file was a prop, but Colm assures him that they got the admission they needed before the lawyer arrived.

The next morning, Colm’s new investigator, Darrel Branson, provides a report on cell-phone data that impresses Colm. Soon after, Colm meets with his boss, Cindy, who is shocked when he names Judge Martin Weber as the prime suspect in Rachel Simone’s murder. 

Colm presents the evidence: Martin’s phone was at the salon for hours on the day of the murder, and a text exchange with his wife, Tiffany, proves that he lied about being home. Colm reveals his theory that Martin and Rachel were having an affair and asks for a warrant to search the judge’s home, fearing that he’s destroying evidence. He also directs Cindy to page 14 of the report, which alarms her and leads Colm to warn her against talking to the sheriff about the case. Cindy cancels her appointments and agrees to pursue the interview and warrant, telling Colm to have Travis bring the judge in.

In an interrogation room, Colm and Travis question Martin. Martin is arrogant, waiving his right to an attorney and preemptively admitting to a short romantic relationship with Rachel that he claims ended amicably. 

During the interview, Colm notices Martin’s large school ring and texts Cindy to add it to the search warrant. Martin states that he was at the salon close to three o’clock in the afternoon on the day of the murder but claims that he returned home and remained there throughout the night, insisting that his wife and son can vouch for his whereabouts. As Martin grows impatient to leave for a planned trip to Paris, a flustered Travis abandons their strategy and blurts out their key evidence, asking why Martin’s cell phone was at the salon at the time of the murder if he was home. Caught in the lie, Martin feigns illness, citing post-concussion symptoms from his recent carjacking, and abruptly ends the interview. Travis is remorseful for the mistake, and Colm worries that their only chance of prosecuting Martin now rests on the search warrant.

Colm, Cindy, and Travis arrive at Martin’s home with a search warrant. An enraged Martin confronts them as a confused Tiffany looks on. Upstairs, Colm finds a pair of Doc Martens shoes with signs of blood spatter on them. 

The search is interrupted by shouting from downstairs, where Tiffany has learned of the affair and confronts Martin. Colm and Travis find a deputy handcuffing Tiffany for slapping Martin in the face, an act caught on the deputy’s bodycam. Tiffany reveals that this is the fourth time he has been unfaithful. Amid the chaos, another officer brings in a hidden cell phone. As Travis takes it, the screen lights up with a notification from Rachel, sent at 5:14 pm on the day she died, which reads, “DON’T COME. LEAVE ME ALONE!” (201). Colm orders Travis to arrest Martin for murder.

After reviewing the case at The Junction, Colm gives Belle the LSAT prep books he promised. Their conversation is interrupted by two aggressive internet journalists who question him about Martin and a recent shooting incident. 

Colm sends Belle inside and threatens the men to keep her out of their story. After they agree, he gives them a non-attributable statement. His anger spikes when they ask if Rachel was involved in drugs and sex work. He speeds off to the courthouse, where he’s met by a media frenzy. Deputies escort him inside to Cindy, who warns him that the case is under intense public scrutiny.

Tiffany visits Colm’s office, distressed by her arrest and her husband’s infidelity. While maintaining that Martin is not a killer, she gives Colm a list of his PIN codes for his burner phone. She believes that the phone’s contents will prove that he’s merely an adulterer, rather than a murderer. Tiffany then provides a false alibi, claiming that Martin was home with her on the night of the murder. After she leaves, Colm holds the paper with the codes, aware it could either convict or exonerate her husband.

Colm assembles his investigative team. He outlines the evidence against Martin, including the affair, his phone placing him at the scene twice on the day of the murder, and a pair of his shoes with blood spatter that match prints found at the salon. 

Colm’s assistant, Irene, arrives with a new lab report containing two destructive developments. First, the killer’s gloves were wiped with hand sanitizer, leaving no DNA. Second, blood on tissues found near the salon’s back door contains familial DNA that is a partial match to Martin, strongly suggesting the presence of his son, Lucas.

Colm rushes to stop Cindy from issuing a press release about Martin’s arrest. He explains the new DNA evidence implicating Martin’s son, Lucas, which weakens their case against the judge. Cindy is furious that he authorized the arrest before all the DNA results were in. Colm defends his decision, arguing that Martin was actively destroying evidence. 

Cindy points out the mounting evidentiary problems, including Tiffany’s alibi for her husband. She imposes a press blackout and informs Colm that she’s bringing in another prosecutor, Dillon Bickler, to assist him. Colm asks for one day to fix the situation. He then leaves and calls Travis to bring Lucas in for questioning.

Colm and Travis interrogate Martin’s 18-year-old son, Lucas. Lucas vehemently denies that his father had an affair with Rachel and insists on his innocence. He admits to having a crush on Rachel and asking her out the morning she died, but she politely declined. 

Travis confronts Lucas with his aggressive social-media posts and points out a fresh cut on his hand and a scab on his chin. Lucas claims that the injuries are from working on his truck and shaving. Losing his temper, Travis accuses Lucas of murdering Rachel in a rage after she rejected him. The accusation is so overwhelming that Lucas vomits on the interrogation table.

At home, Bones re-examines the evidence from Frank Hastings’s death. Puzzled as to why a suicide would involve three gunshots, he decides to re-enact Frank’s death in his garage. Using a similar rope, he puts his foot in a loop and steps off a ladder; the rope snaps, and his feet swing forward unexpectedly, bruising his wrist. This fall explains the bruising found on Frank’s arm. More importantly, Bones notices that the rope broke in the middle, rather than at the knot. Realizing that this is a significant distinction, he checks the crime-scene photos and confirms that Frank’s noose broke at the knot, leading him to doubt that Frank died by suicide.

Colm is called into Cindy’s office, where fellow prosecutor Dillon is also waiting. Cindy asks for Colm’s assessment of Lucas’s interview, and Colm states his belief that Lucas is innocent. 

Dillon argues a new theory: When Lucas discovered that Rachel was sleeping with his father, he killed her in a sudden heat of passion, and his father may have helped. He suggests offering one of them a plea deal to testify against the other. Believing that she brought Colm back to work too soon, Cindy removes him from the case and makes Dillon the lead prosecutor. Stunned and hurt, Colm leaves. 

In the hallway, Dillon offers a condescending apology and asks for the case file. Feeling that his work was the only thing he had left, Colm decides to go home and drink.