prime suspect
noun1
Law A person who is considered by the law enforcement agency investigating a crime to be the most likely suspect.
- The police had found the getaway car in the field. The rain had washed most of the yellow paint off the Mini to reveal the Union Jack underneath. There was no doubt that the car was Queenie. This led the police to their prime suspect, the car’s owner, Gilbert Goodie.2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN: