CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Alison and Detective Moore followed Linda into the building.
It was dark at first in the main corridor leading from the front door, which swung back after they had entered and closed with a click.
The hallway opened into a larger area reminiscent of a regular open-plan office.
There were four desks in the room, all of them free standing in the room, none of them pushed against the wall or each other.
Each desk had a laptop, a small plastic tray that looked like it held files to be worked on next, and stationery. Large metal filing cabinets were set against one wall, each with a lock.
Linda walked to one of the desks and leaned against it, without offering Alison or Moore a chair.
She looked open and honest, not worried about them seeing the office.
Still, Alison noticed two closed doors, and it felt as if Linda had placed herself subconsciously between the two guests and the doors.
There was likely some sort of security office behind one of them, where Linda had gone to look at them through the camera outside the door.
She didn't know what else was hidden, or whether it was.
One thing that Alison could guess was that this was Linda's base of operations: the office she worked out of to advocate for victims.
"You’re here alone?" Moore asked.
"Yeah," Linda said, not offering any more than that.
"You run a small company that advocates for the rights of victims," Moore continued.
"Someone has to," Linda replied.
"And that happens from here?" Moore pressed.
"That’s correct," Linda said curtly.
She reminded Alison a little of how Marcus Webb had acted when the officer confronted him.
He knew the law, and he knew what he was required to give and what he didn't have to give. At the moment, she was not under caution, and the interview wasn’t on the record.
Linda didn’t need to answer any of their questions, and that might dictate what happened next.
"I think what you’re doing is important," Alison cut in. "You’re trying to help people. That’s all we’re trying to do.
Still, the more you evade the questions or give curt answers, the more I begin to wonder why that is.
Is it to protect people or to protect yourself?
We only want to talk with you, but we can take you down to the station if we need to. Please work with us."
Linda folded her arms over her chest and smiled sardonically, shaking her head and twisting her mouth up to the side. "I know who you are and I know you’re a part of the problem."
Good. Hate me all you like and rant if you need to, but give us the truth so we can figure out what’s going on.
"Enlighten me," Alison told her.
Linda scoffed and continued shaking her head at Alison. The sardonic smile turned into a chuckle. "Why did you make the switch, Dr. Payne? You know what you did was wrong, and instead of admitting it, you moved away from it to try and be a hero, hoping everyone would forget."
"You’re going to need to help me out here," Alison said. "I assume you’re talking about my switch from social work in the prison system to consulting with the FBI."
"You assume correctly," Linda said. "You’re part of the bigger problem, and I know you’re smart enough to see that." Her voice faltered a little, and her tone changed as it became emotionally charged, angry, but also sad. "You’re responsible for getting them out of prison, and you have no idea the amount of hurt you’ve caused people over the years. You sit up there in your ivory tower, having control over people’s lives and deciding what to do with them.
Then, when you realize you messed up, you switch sides to put them behind bars instead of letting them out, and you want to be called a hero.
There’s no balance. It doesn’t work like that. "
Alison had the feeling that she had to tread carefully. This was not just about someone’s opinion, but some past trauma that touched her.
"Firstly," Alison started. "I want you to know that I don't believe I was wrong, and I didn't change careers to balance that out.
I also have no need to be called a hero, nor do I consider myself one.
I only want to help people, just like you, and I understand that puts us in conflict. What happened?"
"What are you talking about?" Linda replied snippily. "You know who you are."
"I want to know who you are," Alison said. "What happened to you to drive you to this. It’s a worthwhile cause, of course it is, but something caused this. I can hear it in your voice and see it in the way you put walls up around you. Help us to understand where you’re coming from."
Linda blinked, not moving from her position against the desk, not unfolding her arms, and trying not to let the tears fill her eyes.
"What do you care who I am?" she scolded.
"Do you really want to know the effects of your role in society? Lucy Trent! She lived her life, minding her own business, and someone comes along and hits her with his car after downing almost a bottle of vodka at a friend’s house, and all because he was released from his sentence early.
He goes back to jail, where he belonged in the first place, and she lives out the rest of her life in pain and unable to move her legs.
Is that what justice looks like to you?"
Alison was partly calmed by the fact that the case wasn’t hers, but also horrified because she knew the case and how nuanced it was.
There was a lot she could explain to Linda.
The man was in jail for assaulting someone who was trying to beat up another person, and by trying to stop someone from getting hurt, he put someone else in the hospital.
She could explain how that, along with his good behavior in prison, contributed to his early release.
Or how the drunk driving charges were unrelated to the initial reason he was in prison, even though they were indefensible, and how there was no way to know that a man who was arrested for assault would then commit an entirely different crime with a horrible ending.
They could discuss the finer points of the case for hours, but it wouldn’t make any difference. She could see it in Linda. It was personal, and she had already made up her mind. There would be no changing it, no pushing the needle slightly.
"I’m sorry that happened," Alison said, sympathizing with her while not taking responsibility for it. "It’s tragic, and I can't imagine what you’ve gone through. She was a friend of yours?"
Linda looked surprised at the concern, perhaps expecting an argument. "She was my best friend from school. We practically grew up together."
"And she must know about this?" Alison asked, looking around the place.
"She helps from home," Linda admitted begrudgingly. "She’s integral when it comes to research."
"It gives her purpose," Alison said. "She has you as a friend still, and it would be so easy in a situation like that to give up, but you’re helping her to live."
"Live?" Linda scoffed. "You could call it that, but it’s not a life. He gets to live. His prison life is better than the life she lives, and no doubt he’ll be released early."
"I agree with the system, and you don't, and I don't believe we can change each other’s minds. At least, not today," Alison told her. "Still, you are trying to make changes you believe are for the best, and you are doing that without hurting anyone, right? Is that the case, Linda?"
"You need to break a few eggs to make an omelet," she replied, looking away.
"This is not the time to be glib," Alison said. "I need to hear it from you. Are you making changes in the right way?"
Linda looked at Alison and tilted her head as if suspecting a trap. "I’m doing all I can, and if you’re talking about legalities, I have a lawyer on the books. If we’re going to fight this, we need to know all of the little loopholes you people use to get what you want."
As Alison watched her, she didn't get the impression of a killer. There was no emotional response to the question about hurting people, nor anything suspicious. Alison studied the woman for a moment longer before turning to Detective Moore.
"You mentioned that you have a lawyer on the books," Moore said. "I can assume that when it comes to the law, you’re pretty well-versed?"
"I don't know what that means, but I know my stuff if that’s what you’re asking." Linda turned to face the detective as she answered the question, but she still eyed Alison warily out of the corner of her eye.
"And you must know a lot about the early-release program, too," Moore followed up.
"I know what I need to know," Linda replied cagily.
"Like psychological assessments?" Moore asked. "Have you been able to get your hands on those?"
Linda bit her bottom lip, then released it. "I sometimes have files cross my desk, and I don't know whether I need to check where they came from. I like to know as much as possible about why someone was released. That's not a crime."
"No, it’s not," Moore admitted. "Well, not reading the information. It depends on where the information came from in the first place. How about Marcus Webb? The private detective. Why did you hire him to follow Harold Jenkins?"
Linda bit her lip again. She had not been expecting that question, and she tried to work out how they knew about that. A flash of anger lit up her eyes for a brief second as she wondered if Marcus had somehow betrayed her.
"I didn't hire him to follow Harold," Linda said.
"That’s what he was doing," Moore countered quickly.
"No, I don't mean Harold specifically. He was one of many people Marcus was supposed to be watching. He came highly recommended from a friend of mine, and I needed him to watch multiple people as much as he could and catch them in the act."
"In the act of what?" Moore asked.
It clicked with Alison, and she said, "Committing another crime, right? If you could show that people were being released from jail and they were committing crimes after that, you could prove that the system was flawed."
"Exactly," Linda said.
"And?" Alison asked. "What does your data show?"
"It’s still early," Linda said, shooting Alison a look.
Alison knew what that meant. There was nothing to support that those being released early were committing further crimes. Perhaps if they were watched for long enough, someone would eventually slip up, but how much crime would they have to collectively commit to show that the system was flawed?
"So, you hired a private detective to watch ex-criminals in the hope you caught them committing a crime?" Moore asked.
"I would say that’s a public service," Linda said. "I’ll also admit that I might not have chosen the best private investigator if they came straight to you."
"They didn't come straight to us," Moore told her. "We found him following someone who was threatened because they were released from prison early."
"That has nothing to do with me," Linda said quickly. "I’m not a criminal. We do things properly here. I’m not going to commit a crime to prove that crime is bad. I wouldn’t do that to Lucy. I have far too much respect for what she has gone through. I haven’t threatened anyone."
Alison saw the emotion bubbling up again. Linda had a deep connection to her childhood friend, and it was the biggest motivator in her life. That motivator might hold her back from doing anything too risky, but it could equally push her toward it.
"You’re here alone," Moore pointed out.
"Yeah, well, not everyone has the same conviction that Lucy and I do. I’ll find more people to help the cause, but in the meantime…"
"In the meantime, what?" Alison asked.
"You take matters into your own hands?" Moore pressed.
Linda shook her head, then rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"If they just stayed the course," she said. "If they just hung on a little longer, they would see that it’s all worth it. We’re building something big here, but it’s going to crumble, and it’s because of people like you.
" She rubbed the corner of one eye with her thumb, then pointed a finger with the other at Alison.
"Can you account for your whereabouts at night over the last week?" Moore asked.
"I told you, I haven’t done anything." Linda sat up straighter and tightened her lips before saying, "I can't sleep anymore. I’ve been with her. With Lucy."
"At night?" Moore asked.
"I sleep in the next room. It helps me to feel that I’m not alone, and I can be there for her when I can't be there for her with this any longer. I tried. I want to try. It all feels like it’s falling apart."
Alison wanted give the woman the benefit of the doubt, but they still hadn't ruled her out of the murder investigation, and she wasn’t the person best placed to console her. It might make things worse.
Moore looked at Alison, then Linda, and then took her phone from her pocket and left the room to take a call.
"I know we might not see eye to eye, but I really do think your actions are admirable in helping your friend," Alison said. "Do you believe them admirable, Linda? Have you done anything recently that Lucy wouldn’t approve of?"
"I don't know what she would think of me right now," Linda admitted.
"I try to do the right thing, but my conviction has been lacking with everyone else leaving.
I feel so alone, but I can't think that when she’s been through the car accident and everything that came after. I need to be strong for her."
"You’re trying, and that’s all we can ever do," Alison told her.
Linda ran her teeth over her top lip, pinching it between them for a second, and she looked over at Alison. She was wary at the compassion from Alison. Linda looked away.
Detective Moore reentered the room in a rush. "Where were you this morning, Linda?"
"What?"
"This morning and afternoon," Moore demanded. "Where have you been?"
"What? I’ve been here all morning."
"Can you prove that?" Moore asked hastily.
"I…" Linda looked from Moore to Alison and back again. "There are the cameras outside and inside. I can show you them."
"Do it," Moore said. "If you can show us that you were here all morning and afternoon, then you’re not a suspect anymore."