CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Special Agent Hartley drove them to Kenneth Sterling’s listed address, and as they approached, she hoped the warrant would come through soon so they could enter if he didn't answer. Alison watched the dot on the GPS attached to the dashboard as they closed in on the address. It was when they turned onto Sterling’s street that the phone call came through.
Hartley hit the button on the steering wheel to answer the call from Special Agent Carson.
"Speak to me," Hartley said.
"You have the warrant," Carson told them. "I’ve sent you a copy over. There’s still no answer when we try to call him."
"That’s great," Hartley said. "I’ll keep you updated with what we find in the house. Hopefully, it’s something."
"I also wanted to confirm that we can release Dr. Dalton. I followed up with him, and he was at a speaking engagement on the night Maria Chen was killed, and at a client meeting late into the night when Brian Callahan was killed. There was time after both, but he wasn’t close enough to make it to either crime scene and kill both victims. We can rule him out. "
Hartley parallel parked between two cars on the street. "Yeah, let him go," she said. "How about Angela Wu?"
"She gave us two names, but we haven’t been able to get in touch with either of them yet. The number associated with the first rings out each time, and the number we got for the second is disconnected. She’s talking with her lawyer right now."
"Okay, keep trying both the first number and see if you can speak to someone. She’s not going anywhere right now, but I would like to rule her out of the investigation."
"I’ll see what we can get," Carson replied. "Agent Samson has been going through her old podcasts, and she’s had multiple episodes focused on the Fenway Slasher, the Riverside Strangler, and the Collector. There’s a lot of criticism from her in the episodes, as well as from the expected guests she’s brought in. "
"Anyone we know?" Hartley asked as she turned off the car.
"No names that are on our radar, but Samson is looking into them as we speak."
"Okay, good," Hartley said. "If you find anything else, let me know."
"Will do."
Hartley exited the car, and Alison followed suit. The special agent went around to the trunk and opened it, grabbing a small, black bag from inside. Then, she and Alison walked up the short path to the front door.
Hartley knocked, and they both waited. Alison took a step back from the front door and looked in through the front window.
The curtains weren’t drawn, but the sun did hit the glass at an angle that reflected what was outside, making it hard to see in.
Still, she did see a bookcase full of books and a mirror above a fireplace. There was no sign of movement within.
Hartley knocked again, but there was still no answer. He knocked a third time with the same result. So, she opened the small bag to take out the lock-picking tools, opting to unlock the door rather than force it.
While she did that, Alison took out her phone and called Dr. Carver, hoping to get some information.
"Hello?" Carver answered on the third ring.
"Dr. Carver, it’s Dr. Payne."
"Yes, of course. What can I do for you, Dr. Payne?"
"I’m hoping to get some information about Kenneth Sterling," Alison said. "Have you heard from him recently?"
"Kenneth?" Carver asked. "That’s a name I haven’t heard in some years. It’s interesting that you should call about him. Did you know that he and I dated when I was working the Riverside Strangler case?"
"That’s what I was recently told," Alison said. "And what I wanted to ask about. When you were working the case, did you talk to Sterling about the details of the case?"
"Yes, I did. I remember talking to him about it," Carver admitted.
"It was a natural thing to do. I remember the stress of the case, and it was therapeutic to talk to someone about the case, but it was more than that.
He had some insights into the killer's profile that I considered after talking with him. "
"So, he gave input toward the direction of the case?" Alison asked.
"Hmm," Carver said, almost in amusement.
Alison watched as Hartley pushed the door open and raised a hand for Alison to wait while she went in to check the place out.
"In a roundabout way, he did have insight into the case, but not directly. It was after using him as a sounding board that I discounted his insights and went with my own. He was a good man in his own way, but he wasn’t ever the best profiler."
"Was that your opinion or everyone’s opinion?" Alison asked.
"Oh, it was definitely everyone’s opinion," Carver said. "He wasn’t inept, and for lesser cases, he did well in many instances, but he couldn’t handle the bigger or deeper cases.
He was very good at following the rules, but when it came to thinking outside the box or interpreting data based on experience, he became lost much of the time. "
"He consulted on both the Slasher and the Collector uses, but he didn't last very long on either," Alison said. "Do you know why that was?"
"Not exactly," Carver said. "Both of those cases came after we dated, but I did speak to him from time to time after we broke up, and he was bitter about these cases and many others. He blamed other people for his mistakes. He told me that it was their mistake for not listening to him properly, and he wouldn’t ever take responsibility for his actions. That was part of why we broke up."
"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" Alison asked.
"I outgrew him," Carver said. "It would have ended anyway because of his jealousy.
I got the bigger, better cases, and he resented it.
Then he was always asking me about the cases, adamant that he knew the killer and, oddly, that he helped me with the work, and I had to shut him down more and more.
It became really tiring, so I ended it with him. "
"How did that go?" Alison asked.
"Oh, about as well as I expected," Carver said.
"I told him we were done, and he spent about forty-five minutes trying to convince me that I was wrong, and citing all of this evidence he had for that.
It was…pitiful, actually. I had to come out and say it in the end.
I had to straight out tell him that I was a far better profiler and he was dragging me down. "
"Wow," Alison said. "I assume that did it for him?"
"Yeah, he didn't like that one bit, but he finally got it," Carver said.
"What was his reaction?" Alison asked. "Did he get angry with you?"
"Not properly," Carver said. "He was upset for sure, but I was never worried that I would be physically attacked. He was silent for a while, then he shouted at me for a minute or two, and then he stormed out. He did call me a while after that and apologized for his behavior."
Hartley returned to the open door and gestured for Alison to follow her in. Alison nodded in reply and pointed to the phone.
"I should get going," Alison said. "If we can't get a hold of Sterling by phone or at his house, do you have any idea where he might be?"
"Oh, I don't know," Carver replied. "I remember that when we were together, he spoke about a family cabin where he would take me fishing, but we never did. I’m not one for fishing."
"You and me both," Alison said with a smile. "Do you know where the cabin is?"
"I don’t, sorry," Carver replied. "I know it’s on a lake somewhere, but that’s all I know. I wish I could be of more help than that."
"That’s okay," Alison said. "If you remember anything about the cabin or if he tries to get in contact with you, please let me know."
"I will, of course," Carver said. "It was good talking with you again, Dr. Payne."
The call ended, and Alison walked toward the house, thankful that she hadn’t been chastised this time like back at the hotel.
When Alison walked into the house, she found it to be lived-in.
She walked through the living room first, studying the bookcase she had seen from outside and noting multiple textbooks on forensic psychology.
She went to the kitchen next, finding a plate and a cup by the sink.
There were crumbs on the plate and a brown stain in the bottom of the mug where coffee or tea had dried.
Then into the bathroom, where nothing looked to be missing, and the bedroom, where no clothes looked to have been packed in a hurry, though that was almost impossible to tell for sure.
"It looks like someone was living here until recently, and no sign that he’s making a run for it," Alison noted when she reconnected with Hartley in the bedroom. "There’s every chance he’ll come back.
In the meantime, we need to find out if there’s a cabin registered in his name or in a family member’s name.
If Sterling is not here, then he could have gone to the cabin.
Either to escape talking with us, or he could be out there fishing. "
"I’ll have a team come down here and search the house thoroughly," Hartley said. "And I’ll have Carson find that cabin for us."
She left the bedroom to make some calls.
Alison wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but when she glanced over at the bedside table, her breath caught in her throat. She moved quickly and reached out, but drew her hand back before touching it.
The pamphlet was from the Baltimore museum, something they would hand out to visitors. Sterling had been there. They had to find him, and find him quickly.