CHAPTER EIGHT
Alison hit the button for the espresso machine, and there was a slight, almost imperceptible whir as the magnificent machine kicked into action. She took out her phone and called Derek. It was late, but Derek would still be up. There was no hour too late for him when she called.
"Hey," he answered.
"I’m at the office with Victoria still, and it might be a late one that turns into an early one tomorrow morning. There are a lot of files to go through."
"I don't know how much help I can be with that, but if you need a ride in the morning or even want me to bring you some coffee, let me know."
Alison breathed in the aroma of the sweet crema rising from the espresso and smiled. "I don't think that’ll be a problem. They have great coffee here."
"Good."
"Hey, anything yet about the skin sample?" Alison asked.
"No," Derek said sadly. "We’ll get the results at some point, but it’s a waiting game right now. There wasn’t much to work with, and with it taking this long, perhaps the sample was contaminated. As soon as the results come through, you’ll get a call."
"I should go," Alison said. "Victoria said that she had something for me. I’m going to talk with her now."
"Okay, get some rest if you can, and either way, I’ll hopefully see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight," Alison said.
"Goodnight."
Alison stuck the phone back in her pocket and took the small cup with her to Victoria’s office. When she entered, she half-turned to close the door behind her, and then remembered they were alone in the office and she didn't need to.
Victoria finished typing something as Alison sat down, and then turned her attention to her.
"How’s the coffee?" Victoria asked.
Alison almost laughed. It felt as if she were there for a performance review or an interview.
"I haven’t tasted it yet, but if it tastes half as good as it smells, it’ll be great."
"I want to repeat this to you, and it’s very important that you listen," Victoria said with the tone she always used when talking about important matters.
She always lowered her voice a little and enunciated every word.
"You are not letting anyone die. I don't know a lot about the case, but I know enough about you to know that’s the truth.
You have a drive in you to protect people, and you have never been responsible for any death.
I know about the Reno case, and even if that was connected to you and your past, that was not your fault, and this is not your fault.
If someone is killing because of something you have done or not done, that is not your fault.
That is squarely on them. So, I want you to try and put it out of your mind, and figure out now how you save people because that is what you do. "
Alison let out a small sigh. She looked at Victoria across the desk, one of her oldest friends, and not only that, but one of the people she trusted most in the world.
Alison knew the woman was right, but she also knew she would have a hard time not blaming herself for what had happened over the last month.
The best recourse was to do what she did with Nathan Cross: catch the killer.
Alison mustered a smile before taking a sip of the espresso, which did a lot to lift her mood.
Victoria sat across the desk from Alison, pinning her with a sharp stare. "Don't doubt yourself, Alison."
"I know," Alison replied.
"Do you?" Victoria asked. "Two people are dead, and that’s because someone thinks you were wrong. It’s human to doubt. I know I would consider that I was wrong, and then I would like to think that I would come to the conclusion that I was right in my decision, perhaps guided by someone I trust."
"I see what you’re saying," Alison said with a grimace and another sip of the rich espresso.
"I know you do, and I hope you really consider my words. You’ll lose sleep over this, but don't lose confidence. You’re one of the greatest minds I have ever worked with, and you make mistakes like the rest of us, but not to the extent this killer is suggesting.
Is it possible that you helped release someone early who didn't deserve it? Yes, that’s possible, but I still think it's unlikely.
Two? More? No, I don't believe that one bit. This is the killer’s trauma being played out. "
Alison breathed out through her nose and placed her cup on the table. She looked down at her feet and the carpet below before looking up, but not at Victoria. She had a lot of confidence in herself and her work, but slipped into these crises of confidence every so often.
"I wonder about my own trauma," Alison said. "Everything I do is clouded by my sister. I’ve been looking for her killer for as long as I can remember, and it does cloud my judgment sometimes. I’m waiting for some news from Derek, and it’s on my mind all the time when I should be thinking about this case. "
Alison rubbed her forehead, pushing the skin back and forth until she was sure a red mark would be left behind.
"Dr. Keller," Alison stated, the name popping into her head. "Do you remember him?"
"Of course," Victoria replied.
"He once told me that I had to detach myself from any case, especially my sisters, or I would drive myself crazy with the emotion of it. I know he meant it to be compassionate, but…maybe he was right."
"Yes, possibly," Victoria said. "When it comes to cases, it's best to look at them with a national, unemotional viewpoint. Still, your sister's case is far different from any regular case."
"I've been chasing my sister's killer for years," Alison admitted, feeling tears prick the backs of her eyes.
"I'm no closer. Even if there's nothing to find, that means I'm searching for nothing.
Should I trust my own judgment? If I'm running fools errands for my sister, then who's to say that I'm not doing that in every area of my life? "
"I am, for one," Victoria stated. "If you don't trust yourself right now, then trust me. Can you do that?"
"Of course," Alison said immediately.
"Good," Victoria said sternly, almost a warning.
"Then trust my words. Your search for your sister’s killer is admirable, and we should all have such dedication.
Even if the search were futile and you knew it, and you kept searching, it would be understandable.
That had nothing to do with any major decision you have made.
Don't forget that I oversaw many of your assessments in the early stages of your career, and I agreed with almost all of them; the ones I didn't, we talked about, and either you changed your mind or I did.
Once there were no more disagreements with the assessments, I trusted you implicitly.
You make good decisions, Alison, and you always have. That is the truth."
Alison breathed in through her nose, and she wore a tight smile. She trusted Victoria, and the words did help, but she still worried she might have been wrong. She continued to worry about the killer who was still out there and who would strike again.
"Thank you," Alison said. "I know I can't let this get to me. You’re right, and I need to stop thinking about the past and start thinking about the future. So, what is it you have for me?"
"The killer is definitely manipulating the context of the information," Victoria said.
"That stands out to me, but preceding that is the fact that they responded only to the information in the report.
I know from doing these assessments myself that you must have had lots of notes before writing the report, and some information would have been irrelevant or left out.
Nothing in the new report suggests that information is used by the killer, only the information contained in the reports. "
"Okay, that is helpful," Alison said. "That means we’re looking for someone who was able to access my reports, but not the underlying data. So, the conclusion was based on my work alone."
"Which is not a good scientific process," Victoria added with a raised eyebrow. "The author of the report can't claim that your conclusions are false without looking at the underlying data first. That is a big flaw, and if this were a peer-reviewed article, it would be tossed out just for that."
Alison nodded, sitting forward in her chair. "That means the author of the report is more interested in attacking me rather than the conclusions I made."
"Partly, I think," Victoria replied. "While they are obviously trying to pick apart your conclusions, there is an overwhelming sense that they don't agree with early release from the language used in some paragraphs.
One other thing we don't do is let emotion into the text.
We report the facts and the findings based on them.
The small amount of emotion in the report tells me that they are personally opposed to releasing prisoners early. "
"I was looking for someone in my field, but if they are only using my reports, then maybe it is someone who has only seen the reports," Alison guessed.
"The inmates themselves would have seen the reports, and obviously, that is only one report per person, but they might have talked if they were locked up together. Or the lawyers who represented them. Or lawyer. If the same lawyer represented the victims, they would have seen all the reports. But why them? They wouldn’t represent their clients and help them get early release only to use that knowledge to then kill them and attack me and the system? "
"We’ve seen far worse than that in our time," Victoria said with a frown. "All I know is that the author is cherry picking information for their own benefit, which tells me they either don’t know enough about the field of psychology, or they’re lazy."
Alison stood up, picked up her small cup, and drained the last of the espresso.
"I need to make a call," she told Victoria. "I’d like to continue this conversation, but Detective Moore needs to know that we can widen the search to at least the lawyers and see if there is any connection."
"Go," Victoria ordered.
Alison left the room and took her phone out to call Detective Moore.
"Oh, you heard?" Detective Moore answered before the first ring had ended.
"Heard? Heard what?"
"There’s been a third murder," Moore said. "Another psychological assessment and a note that you need to read."
"I’m on my way," Alison said.