CHAPTER TWELVE
From one suspect to another. They left Justin and the diner behind and headed for the article's publisher: Diana Shepherd.
"I’ve sent the phone numbers back to the team at the office so they can check Justin’s alibi. He might be a bit of an idiot, but he’s not our killer," Moore said as she drove.
"No," Alison agreed. "I don't think he is. He has motivation to do something to Judge Greene, and maybe he’s stupid enough to do it, but there’s no reason for him to target any of the others. I believed his rambling back at the diner. I think we’ll have his alibi confirmed when we hear from the roommates.
Still, we don't know the exact time of Judge Greene’s death. "
"Rebecca Walsh told the officer in her statement that Judge Greene was rarely in that early in the morning. It’s more likely that he was killed shortly after the call with Justin," Moore said.
"If the killer knows who they’re targeting and knows where to target them, then they know when to target them.
They would have a far better chance of being in the courthouse late last night than early this morning. "
"There must be some footage of them," Alison said.
"An office and an apartment are one thing, but the courthouse? The courthouse would have been locked at some point, so maybe the killer has access to the courthouse? Or, they entered when the courthouse was open to the public yesterday and waited for everyone else to leave. I know Judge Greene by reputation, and there’s a good chance he works late most nights. "
"This would have been a Sunday, though," Moore pointed out. "If he were in the office, then maybe the killer asked to meet him there? Or lured him there?"
"The phone call from Justin. Was that to Greene’s cell?"
"Yeah," Moore confirmed.
"He could have been catching up on work, but if the killer knew he would be there, is there another explanation?
" Alison asked. "During the week would make it more of a guarantee, but a Sunday would be far quieter.
That makes it more likely that the killer put Judge Greene there somehow.
We should check the phone records again. "
"Yeah, I’ll get someone on that," Moore said. "We’ll look at phone records, emails, and communication with him. And I’ll have someone talk to Rebecca Walsh again to see if she knows why he was there last night.
Unless we’re wrong about the timing, and someone killed him this morning.
We’ll know soon when we get the preliminary results from the autopsy. "
"Then we can—" Alison froze when she looked out of the passenger window and saw a familiar face. "Stop the car!" She demanded. "Stop the car."
Moore hit the brakes. It was still early, and there weren’t many people on the street, but she was still honked at as a car swerved to go around them.
Alison jumped out of the car and was ready to spring at the man they had just passed. When she realized it wasn’t Howard Mills, she felt like she had been struck in the gut.
Moore was out of the car and around to her in an instant.
"I’m sorry," Alison said, shaking her head. "I thought I saw him. I thought it was Mills."
Moore didn't say anything. She stood beside Alison in silence, waiting for the moment to pass, not judging her.
"I’m sorry," Alison repeated.
"It’s fine," Moore said. "Come on, let’s keep going."
"Yeah," Alison said. She looked down the street at the man walking towards them. He had a passing resemblance to Mills, but the closer he got to them, the less he resembled the fugitive. She got back in the car with Moore, and they drove off in silence.
"What do we know about Diana Shepherd?" Moore asked once they were underway.
"We know that she has motive," Alison said. "And she published an article this morning about Judge Greene. It’s uncanny timing."
"What’s her motive?" Moore asked.
"Eight years ago, her husband and child were killed by Michael Hartman. Hartman avoided jail time with the insanity defense and was put into psychiatric care in a high-security facility. There were numerous appeals at the time from Diana and her extended family, but the verdict wasn’t changed.
Judge Greene presided over the trial. He was the one who had the power to change the verdict given by the jury, but he agreed with them. "
"Okay, so he’s not directly responsible for the verdict?" Moore asked.
"He didn't make the decision, but Diana was very outspoken at the time about that," Alison said, checking on her phone to confirm the details from the reports Derek had sent her. "She blamed him for Hartman not being jailed for life."
"And she wrote an article about him today?" Moore asked.
"It’s vague, but she talks about court proceedings and a recall petition that’s been filed to remove him from his position," Alison said. She tried not to think about what she had previously thought was Mills. She had been blocking out the case, but it still attacked her when she was least expecting it. "From what Derek was able to find, she’s been trying to remove Judge Greene from his position ever since the verdict against her family’s killer. "
"What do you think?" Moore asked.
"She certainly has motive," Alison said. "She lost her family eight years ago, and I can understand what that feels like. Since then, she’s become a prominent victims’ rights activist, a role that could also look her to Dr. Langford.
She has her own organization now, and their main aim is to put a halt to any insanity defenses. "
"Okay," Moore said. "Thoughts?"
"I mean, I get it," Alison said. "A plea of insanity is a controversial plea, and it has been abused in the past. I can understand why someone would want to abolish it. Still, it’s also misunderstood. Some people believe that someone can act insane and that fools people, but we have pretty robust systems in place to assess the mental state of an individual. A diagnosis of insanity is very hard to get, and it’s a very, very small percentage of defendants who are deemed clinically insane.
In fact, ten times more people don't reveal the diagnosis when assessed versus those who do. "
"Okay, so the man who killed her family is assessed as being insane, and she sees him going to some nice facility to be treated instead of spending his life in prison," Moore said. "I can understand why she might be upset."
"The motive is there," Alison said. "Let’s find out if she had the means and opportunity."
Diana Shepherd dedicated all of her time to her organization.
It was a non-profit organization that relied on donors and sponsors, along with fundraising, to remain operational.
Diana had a staff of four, and she paid all of them and herself a salary based on the hours they put in.
The organization was housed in a small brick building in the suburbs, an old car body shop that had been converted.
When Moore and Alison pulled up, they saw someone at the large front window, staring out at them. The area was quiet, with little foot traffic or cars. Did the presence of their car bring the person to the window, or were they looking out for them?
They exited the car; whoever was at the window left, and the door opened shortly after to reveal a woman.
"Diana Shepherd?" Moore asked as she walked toward the door.
"Yeah," the woman called back. "Who’s asking?"
"Detective Moore," Moore said, presenting her badge. "We’d like to talk to you about Judge Greene."
"I haven’t broken the law," Diana said. "If Judge Greene sent you here to intimidate me, then know that I won’t be. Although it’s impressive how quickly you got here."
Diana stood in the doorway and didn't invite them in.
You think we're here because of the article, don't you? As soon as you published it, Judge Greene got word and sent us here.
"You're the second person in two days to talk about doing things legally." Alison pointed out. "We are here because of the article."
"Of course you are," Diana said. "So, what do you expect me to do? Take it down? You can contact my lawyers if you want to go in that direction."
"Where were you last night?" Moore asked.
Something flashed across Diana’s face. Up to that point, she’d assumed Judge Greene had sent them, perhaps to ask to take the article down. The question about her physical location the previous night changed the direction of the conversation.
"Do I need to contact my lawyer?" Diana asked.
"That depends on where you were last night," Moore pressed.
"I was here." Diana had been confrontational from the start of the conversation, but she was much more defensive now as she folded her arms across her chest. She still didn’t invite them in.
"You were here all night?" More asked. "Were you with anyone else?"
"No," Diana said slowly.
"What were you doing here last night?" Alison asked.
Diana looked from Moore to Alison. "I was finalizing the article," she said slowly. "What’s going on?"
Moore glanced to the side at Alison before looking back at Diana and presenting what had happened. "Judge Greene was found dead in his chambers this morning. He was brutally murdered."
"Oh, my goodness," Diana said. She brought her hand to her mouth naturally. Nothing looked forced about her reaction. "That’s terrible."
"Do the names Richard Langford and Patricia Holland mean anything to you?" Alison asked.
"Yes," Diana replied, still holding her hand to her mouth. "I don't understand what’s going on. What’s happened? What happened to Judge Greene? I can take the article down."
"That might be best," Alison said. "How do you know Langford and Holland?" Alison asked.
Diana removed her hand from her mouth and stared at Alison as if she’d been asked a trick question.
"Look, I know I’ve spoken out about them, but I would never do anything to hurt them," Diana said. "Has something happened to them?"
"What might have happened to them?" Moore asked.
"I don't know," Diana claimed. She shed her stoic shell and became more emotional, her voice cracking as she spoke.
"I don't know what you think I’ve done, but I haven't hurt anyone. Not Judge Greene, and not anyone else. I think I will speak to my lawyer. I’m not answering any more questions until I speak to my lawyer. "
"Okay," Moore said, reaching for her handcuffs. "Let’s take a little trip downtown."