Connie answered the door with a grin. "Hey! Come on in!"

Amara followed her inside. A waft of lasagna filled her nose and made her stomach growl. She tried not to let herself get distracted. She needed to focus.

As she followed Connie to the kitchen, her eyes moved to Connie's stomach. She was wearing a bit of a looser top, but her baby bump was still visible, at least to Amara. To someone who wasn't looking for it, it wouldn't be obvious.

"So, how have things been lately?" Amara asked. She was trying to start with small talk before going straight into prodding Connie for answers. If she told Amara about the baby's father or the murder on her own, it would make Amara look a lot less suspicious.

"They've been great! Better than ever!" Connie announced. 

She bent over to peek into the oven. Amara bit at the inside of her lip, trying to figure out exactly how to get these secrets out of her.

"Did I ever tell you the story about when I found out I was pregnant?" Amara immediately winced. Subtlety was apparently not on her side tonight.

Connie gave her a quizzical look. "Um, I don't think so."

"Yeah, it was really scary at first," Amara continued. "I went through my entire pregnancy just hoping and praying that Joshua would come back to me. Or at least help me." She gave a tiny laugh. "Sounds stupid when I say it now."

"It's not stupid," Connie said. "Men have a responsibility to their kids too. And if they don't want to deal with that, then they shouldn't have sex with every other woman."

She reached up into the cupboard and grabbed some plates. The way she stretched, Amara could really see her bump now.

Amara leaned against the counter. "What would you have done if you were in my situation?"

Connie looked up and her eyes met Amara's. She searched her face, as if she was looking for something. That's when Amara realized that she was analyzing her. Amara held back a shudder. Even if they were friends, Connie was still a cop, and possibly one who had committed a murder.

"Why do you ask?" Connie finally asked after a tense silence. 

When Amara bit her lip, and didn't respond, Connie crossed her arms. "What's this about, Amara?"

It was quiet. Forgoing all subtlety,  Amara asked one of the many questions that had been on her mind.

"When are you due?" She asked.

An "Oh, crap" expression formed on Connie's face. She sucked in a big breath and turned away.

"January 26th." After a minute, she spoke again. "How'd you know?"

"They say other moms can tell," Amara said. She gave her a soft smile.

Connie quickly changed the subject and the two chatted on and off about different things throughout the night. However, halfway through dinner, Amara was getting antsy. She didn't want to overstay her welcome, but she needed to get some answers out of Connie, and she had to do that before she left. Chances were, if she screwed this up, Detective Milne wouldn't let her try again.

"So," She began carefully. "Tell me about your boyfriend."

"Pardon?" Connie asked, appearing confused.

"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say you're about four months pregnant, but you've never mentioned anything about a partner," Amara said. "And you're obviously not married...."

"Oh, yeah," Connie averted her eyes. "He's not in the picture anymore."

"Oh," Amara tried to appear surprised, but she was actually getting more excited. She was on the right track at least. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He was a jerk," Connie laughed.

Amara joined in with the laughter. "Well, aren't we the lucky bunch? We both slept with guys who decided they didn't want to be involved after getting us pregnant."

"Yeah."

"No wonder you stuck by me during that whole trial," Amara commented. She took a sip of her drink.

Connie nodded, but didn't say anything. Amara frowned. She needed to get Connie to confess somehow. That's when an idea began to form in Amara's head. Something she had seen on T.V. a while ago.

"It's kind of crazy that Nicole was behind the whole thing," Amara sipped her drink again. "You wouldn't think she was smart enough."

"What do you mean?" Connie asked. She eyed Amara suspiciously.

"Well, I mean," Amara began. She felt like she was beginning to spin a web. "She waited until the office was empty. She knew to mess with the cameras. And everyone said it was a perfect shot. The only way she would have been able to pull that off was to hire someone else, which she obviously did, as we found out."

Connie didn't say anything, just continued to watch Amara.

"It's interesting," Amara continued. "I didn't peg Nicole as being the type to plan this stuff out. Especially since she was saying that she and Joshua had their fight literally hours before he died. The running theory was that Nicole shot him in a rage, but with the evidence of her talking to the hitman, obviously, it wasn't a compulsive decision. That means that she would have had to talk to the hitman, figure out exactly what time to get him to go, and also disable the cameras. All within a couple of hours."

Connie shifted uncomfortably. Amara was actually pretty impressed with herself. She hadn't realized how flimsy Nicole's case had actually been. If it hadn't been for the Nicole's texts leaking, which Amara was sure had been staged, they may not have been able to arrest her at all.

"Maybe she premeditated the murder, and the fight was just a lucky coincidence," Connie finally said.

"Maybe," Amara said. "But still, think about that hitman. I mean, he practically pulled off the perfect murder. No evidence left behind, the cameras were out, no one was around. He was obviously in and out so quickly, and no one saw him. Even now, Nicole's the only one in jail because we don't know who the actual killer is. And he'll never get credit for it."

"Why would he want credit for it?" Connie asked.

"Think about it," Amara said. "If you committed the perfect crime, wouldn't you want someone to know?"

"I think I'd be more concerned about keeping my name clear," Connie answered. She gave a little laugh.

"Still," Amara went on,  "most of the great criminals go down in history, and this guy's just getting written off. It's almost a shame."

To her surprise, Connie didn't say anything, and instead, focused on what was left of her dinner. At the very least, Amara had expected her friend to remind her that she was, in fact, talking to a detective. But still, nothing.  

Amara needed to switch tactics. "I almost feel bad for Joshua."

Connie coughed. Amara looked up and saw that she was practically choking on her food. Connie quickly downed some water and wiped at her face, regaining her composure.

"Why?" She forced out.

Amara felt a tiny twinge of triumph. "Well, I mean--he was mean to me, and subsequently, his kids, but who's to say he was like that to everyone?"

She winced at her own words. Amara knew Joshua had been a jerk, but she was hoping that Connie would protest. As planned, Connie was staring at her like she was insane.

"I mean, he was a decent enough boss," Amara carried on. "He and Nicole seemed happy."

"He cheated on her," Connie pointed out.

Amara paused. Now how did she know that? Nicole had told Amara that he had been having an affair, but, as far as Amara knew, she had never told anyone else.

"Really?" Amara feigned ignorance. "How do you know?"

Realizing that she was incriminating herself, Connie leaned back in her chair. "I just heard a rumor."

"Oh, I see," Amara said. "Well, still. He was a husband and a son, and I'm sure there's a lot of people who are still mourning his passing. Like I said, he was horrible to me, but I'm sure he was a good guy overall."

"Oh, please, how naive are you?" Connie finally snapped.

Amara was surprised at the sudden change in demeanor, but she didn't say anything. She had wanted to vomit at the words she had just said about Joshua, but obviously, they had worked. This was what she had been waiting for.

"Listen, Amara, I don't know if you just have really low self esteem or what," Connie said. "But he was not just a jerk to you. He was a terrible guy who thought he could just do what he wanted with them, then leave at the first sign of trouble. He did it to you, he did it to me, and if I hadn't shot him, who knows who else he would have done it to?"

Stunned, it took Amara a second to come up with something to say.

"Wait," she finally spoke after a moment. "Are you telling me that you killed him?"

"Yes," Connie admitted. "I killed Joshua Leonard! And I'll go to my grave defending my decision to do so."

Bingo. "Why?"

"Because!" Connie sounded exasperated. "He left me in the exact same situation as he left you in last year. I didn't even care if he was involved in the baby's life, I just wanted him to pay child support. Look. If I hadn't taken him out, he would have kept up this whole thing, and who knows how many other kids--and women-- he would have abandoned?"

"So, let me get this straight," Amara said. "You were the one who Joshua cheated with, he got you pregnant, and then you killed him?"

Connie nodded. Amara stayed quiet as she thought it over. She had been completely right in her theory about Connie, but it was weird now. Before, it had just been a theory, and maybe it wasn't true. But now, it had been confirmed.

Not only had Amara been hanging out with a very good liar over the past month or so, but she had been getting very close to a murderer.

"It's like you said," Connie explained. "It may have actually been the perfect crime. I told Nicole about our affair, banking on the fact that she'd be angry. Then I went to his office the night she confronted him, and hid out in the security room." 

She gave Amara a smug look. "It's easy to get rid of the guards when you tell them you have to investigate for 'official police reasons.' Anyway, I waited until everyone left, shut down the cameras, then went up to see him. I did give him another chance. All he had to do was agree to pay child support. But no, that was too hard for him. So I made his life easier."

"By ending it?" Amara couldn't hide her horror anymore.

"You don't have to seem so shocked," Connie said. She grinned. "I did the world a favor. One less annoyance to have to deal with."

Amara regained her composure and forced a smile. "I see."

Good thing she had finished eating, because Amara had lost her appetite.  She quickly glanced down at her watch, eager to get out of there, now that the truth had been confirmed.

"Well, I should probably get going," Amara stated. She stood from the table. "I left the twins with Ethan and Gabby and they're probably going out of their minds waiting for me to get home."

"Amara," Connie called after her. Amara paused and glanced back. "Look, I know it's crazy, but I did what I had to do. There's too many men like him in the world, and until there's a better solution, I dealt with it."

 Amara watched her for a minute, then nodded. She understood why Connie did it. But she whether she understood it or not, her friend had committed a serious crime, and she wasn't able to stand by and excuse it.

She had just made it to the door, when Connie called to her again. 

"You're not gonna go to the police about this, are you?" She asked Amara. "Not that you have any proof."

Amara turned around and unhooked the necklace-cam. 

"I won't tell them," She said. "But here." She looped the necklace around Connie's neck. "As a thank-you for getting rid of a guy like Joshua."

"Oh." Connie looked right into the lens. "Thank you!"

"No, thank you." Amara felt particularly sadistic after that comment, but in a way, she was thankful to Connie. She had given her all the information that she needed.

Amara let herself out of the apartment, and hurried to the stairs. By the time she had gotten to the bottom, the police were already there, making their way upstairs. She exited the building and spotted the surveillance van sitting right there. Detective Milne must have moved it closer after hearing Connie's confession. 

She made her way to the van. Milne stood there, rubbing the back of his neck, looking troubled.

"Is everything okay?" Amara asked him.

"Not really," he said. He gave her a sad, lopsided smile. "You were right. It's just hard knowing you've been working alongside someone who would do something so horrible. And...she was my friend."

Milne genuinely looked distraught. Amara felt a wave of sympathy wash over her. She had only known Connie for just over a month, but Milne had been working alongside her for years. He had a right to be upset.

His expression changed when the other officers appeared from Connie's apartment building. Connie herself was being dragged around in handcuffs. She was livid when her eyes settled on Amara.

"You said you weren't going to tell anyone!" She yelled to Amara.

"I didn't," Amara stated, suddenly glad that there were multiple cops around so that Connie couldn't attack her. She pointed to the necklace that was still around Connie's neck. "You did."

Connie looked down at the necklace in confusion, then turned to glare at Amara when she put it together. The cops dragged her to the car, reading her rights, although Amara was sure she knew them already. As they took her away, Amara hopped back into the surveillance van, suddenly feelin very tired, but also, at peace.

They had found their killer. Amara's name was clear, and the right person was going to jail.