CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"Here’s where we’re at with Diana," Moore said.
"We downloaded the data from the tracker in her car, and her car was parked at her workplace the entire night when Cross and Greene were killed, and the same car was parked at her home on the night Langford and Holland were killed.
We were able to find the cell tower from which the phone call to Greene came, but we don't know who made the call or what was said.
All we know is that Greene went to the courthouse not long after that. "
"Okay," Alison said. "So, we can be sure Diana didn't make the phone call. That’s about all we can be sure of. We don't know if she used a different car, paid cash, enlisted a friend, or a dozen other things."
"We do have access to her accounts after she gave us that access, and there’s nothing there to suggest any wrongdoing," Moore said. "Of course, if she were the killer and had planned ahead, she could have planned all of this."
"Exactly," Alison said. "None of this proves she is the killer, but we can't put her at the crime scene either, and the more we look into her life and come up empty-handed, the more innocent she looks."
"We’ve searched her workplace and found nothing, and I have two officers in her home right now, with another talking with her friends. We have another twenty-four hours until we have to cut her loose."
"You’re not going to like it, but the more we find out about Diana, the more I believe she’s innocent," Alison said. "I know about the two sides of the killer, and perhaps she’s displaying the calm side, but the frantic side is just that, and I don't know how much she’s controlling it."
"She lost her family to someone manic. She’s recreating that," Moore said.
"And I would agree with you about the Greene murderer," Alison said. "The others were frantic, slashing and stabbing, both things that were seen at the murder of Diana’s husband and child, but not trying to hack them in two. That’s different. To me, that shows the killer isn't fully in control of what they’re doing. Perhaps Diana is the killer, and she started out by mimicking what someone did to her to punish those who could still be punished, but if that’s the case, then the madness is taking control of her.
We haven't seen any of that from Diana."
"What do you have on Hartman?" Moore asked. "Who else should we be looking at?"
"We know that Hartman killed Diana’s husband and child during a psychotic episode, and from all the documentation I’ve read on the assessments performed after his arrest, I believe he did have an episode where his memory of his crime was wiped.
The facility to which he was committed was a good one at the time, but the building is no longer in operation.
Dr. Connor treated Hartman at the time and directed his treatment.
A number of people were responsible for Hartman's release after five years in the facility, but he had the final say. If the killer is killing people, they blame Hartman for not going to jail and then almost killing two more people, a young couple, then they’ll target him. "
"Have we located him?" Moore asked.
"We have an address and a phone number, but I haven’t been able to talk to him yet. Derek is on it as we speak. If he can't get through to him, he’ll send a car to his address to check on him. He’ll do that before tonight. The killer has only killed at night so far."
"Okay, so he’s potentially the best victim. How about another suspect?" Moore asked.
"Philips’s parents," Alison suggested. "When Hartman killed Philip and his son, it looks like the relationship between Diana and Philip’s family fell apart.
I thought of his parents or a family member as the killer, but most of them either never lived in Oakland or moved from Oakland not long after Philip was killed, and I can't place any of them back in the city. Then, we have the young couple that Hartman tried to kill when he was released from the facility, but they have started a family now, and I just don't see it. I’ve spoken to the cop who shot Hartley; perhaps there was some PTSD there from the death, and he blamed others for having to kill Hartman, but he was on duty with his partner both nights. Besides, he killed Hartman rightfully. More people would have died if he hadn’t taken the shot. "
"So, we have no one else as a suspect, and the perfect suspect is still in custody?" Moore asked.
"I don’t think it’s Diana, but I hope it is," Alison said. "If it’s her, then we have the killer. Case closed. I’m just on edge, waiting for another body to show up."
And I’m on edge waiting for news of Howard Mills.
"What’s your opinion on Hartman?" Moore asked. "If they released him from the facility, they surely must have thought he was well, unless they were incompetent. How does something like that happen?"
"A mistake," Alison said. "I said it before, we all make mistakes, and when it comes to the human mind, science doesn’t have all of the answers. No one looks at a profession and points out all the successes. I bet if you were to look at the facility in its entirety and count the number of success stories, they would be numerous, but in this life, we’re judged on our mistakes. I’ve made mistakes, but I have enough success that people let them slide.
And at times, you just can't tell. We can't look at people on the street and know who the criminals are.
Often, we don't know until it happens. Perhaps Hartman was cured, and something happened to drive him over the edge again. We might never know."
Alison’s phone rang. Derek was calling.
"Hey, did you get in contact with him?" Alison asked when she answered.
"No, not yet, but I have a patrol car on the way over there as we speak. I have something you might be interested in."
"Hold on, I’ll put you on speaker." Alison took the phone from her ear, turned on the speaker, and set it on the desk. "Detective Moore is here with me."
"Okay, so I’ve been looking into Hartman and his time at Riverside, that’s the facility he was in for five years, and there’s a note in the court documents about Judge Greene recommending that facility for him.
That’s not unusual, but when I looked into things a little more, I found that Riverside is where Judge Greene’s sister was commuted, and she lived there until they closed, and was then transferred to another facility. "
"That’s strange," Alison said.
"His sister was there, and he was happy with it, so he recommends it for Hartman, hoping they can help him there?" Moore asked.
"It might have been more selfish than that," Derek said. "The financials at Riverside were never great, and it was under constant threat of closure. My theory is that he recommended the facility because it meant more state money going into it and a greater chance of it remaining open."
"Okay, that makes sense," Alison said.
"There’s more," Derek said.
"Go on," Alison urged.
"Okay, so we have Greene’s sister at the facility long-term, and Greene is recommending people to the facility.
I haven’t looked into it, but I have a hunch that Hartman was not the only person Greene recommended there.
Now, if we’re looking at a judge recommending the facility, I believe he thought it was a good one.
He’s sending people there to try and keep it open, because his sister is there and getting good treatment, right? "
"Right, that makes sense," Alison said.
"Okay, so that’s three people connected to Riverside," Derek continued. "Now, we also have Hartman’s sister there on two separate occasions."
"Hartman’s sister?" Moore asked.
"Right after the initial trial, when Hartman was found not guilty on a plea of insanity, she had a mental breakdown and was admitted to the facility for three months.
Then, when Hartman almost killed that couple and was shot by the cop, she had a psychotic episode and was found walking down the highway in the middle of the night, completely unclothed. "
"What?" Moore asked.
"And that’s not even the most interesting part about all of this," Derek said.
"At the initial trial, she testified against her brother.
She told them that he should go to jail for the rest of his life and that he was a danger to society.
She testified that she knew her brother and that he was pretending to be insane to avoid prison.
That he should be locked up for the rest of his life. "
"So, she was in the same facility the first time at the same time as her brother?" Alison asked.
"It was partly why the appeals failed," Derek said. "The jury was massively swayed by Hartman’s sister testifying against him, but when the appeals came around, her testimony was discounted because of her psychotic episodes. It was argued that she couldn’t be trusted."
The three of them were sent for a while after that as they all contemplated what it all meant.
"Greene and his sister, Hartman and his sister," Derek eventually said. "I don't know what that means, but that’s four people all connected with the same facility. Three of them were there at the same time, and the fourth would have visited. Do we have something?"
"It’s a strange coincidence," Moore admitted.
"We might have something," Alison agreed. "Find out where the sister is now."
"I’m on it," Derek said. The line clicked as he ended the call.
"What do you think?" Moore asked.
"It fits," Alison said. "We’re looking for someone who wants justice for how Hartman was treated.
He should have gone to jail, but he didn't. If anyone should know him, it’s his sister.
She testifies at his trial, then watches him being declared insane and committed to a mental health facility.
Then she has a breakdown and is committed to the same facility. "
"Who made that decision for her to go there?" Moore asked. "She would have seen her brother there. That would only have made things worse."
"And she might have seen Judge Greene at the facility, too, a constant reminder of what happened," Alison pointed out.
"She sees her brother being released, almost killing two people before being shot dead.
Even if she hates her brother, there's still a connection there, and then he’s shot dead.
She knew she was right, but no one believed her. "
"So, she sets out to punish those who were in the wrong," Moore said. "She wants to punish those who mishandled her brother."
"We suspected Diana of wanting to punish those who could be seen as failing Hartman and society, and there’s a possibility that she was mimicking the frenzied murders Hartman committed, but the recent murders feel too real for it to be a copycat. But Hartman’s sister?"
"She was committed twice for psychotic episodes," Moore finished. "What if this is her third breakdown?"
"We need to catch up with that patrol car that I sent out there," Alison said. "We need to speak to the sister directly."