CHAPTER TWENTY #2
"He knows exactly what he’s doing," Kent said. "He knows he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Here’s what I know.
Two weeks ago, you went underground, Tommy.
During that time, three doctors were killed.
You knew them, didn't you? You posed as your brother to go up to Butte to ask about them.
You might have fooled a drunk, but no one would ever believe a man like you could be him. "
It was another antagonistic statement from Kent, and it was starting to feel almost personal. Tommy’s jaw was tight, his fists balled as he sat with his arm crossed, but he didn't move this time, not even slightly.
"Arturo told me about them," Tommy said.
"When he came to visit me in prison or at home when I was there, he told me about his cases, so yeah, I know about the three doctors because of that.
He talked to me about all of his cases. And I didn't impersonate my brother. I know I’m not a good enough man to try to be him.
I told him my name and asked the other doctor some questions, and he must have assumed I was a cop. He was out of it when I went up there."
"Was he your next victim?" Kent asked.
"I don't have any victims."
"No, he wasn’t, was he? Because he wasn’t one of the six on the wall."
"Why did you go up there, Tommy?" Alison asked. "Why did you speak to Dr. Laurent?"
"I don't know," Tommy admitted. "I thought I could maybe understand Arturo better. He spoke to me about a lot of things. He mentioned feeling bad for the doctors. He spoke to them all personally during his investigations, and he didn't blame them. He knew how tough it was to work in that job, and he knew it wasn’t their fault. He told me that it was cathartic to speak with them, and I guess I wanted to understand what my brother might have gone through. If you want the truth, I knew I wouldn’t get to speak with him again, and it felt like a way to be closer to him. "
"You can cut the bull," Kent said. "You can try to rewrite history all you want, but we all knew back then there were faults in the system. Your brother was a good man, but he wasn’t without his faults, too.
You knew exactly what you were doing by going up there.
You wanted as much information about them as you could get, didn't you? "
"I just wanted to talk with some people," Tommy said.
"My brother is gone, and nothing will change that, but I"—Tommy looked at Alison, then back to Kent—"I’m never going to be like him, and I know people don't fully change, but I want to understand who he was.
I spent so much time in prison that I didn't fully know my brother. This is the best I can do."
"It’s the best you can do," Kent said sternly. "Here’s the best I can do."
Kent reached into the folder he had brought along and took the files out one by one, starting with the crime scene photos of the historic crimes, the ones that had been found on Tommy’s walls.
"These were found in your apartment, Tommy, along with lots of information about each of the doctors who messed up and caused this. Care to explain why you were documenting these crimes along with the doctors who made the mistakes?" Some of Kent’s anger came to the surface as his voice was raised.
"I don't know those pictures," Tommy said.
"You have no idea what these pictures are?" Tommy asked.
"I know what they are of; I listened to my brother describe them, but I haven’t seen those pictures before."
"They were in your apartment, Tommy," Kent stated.
"Three of the doctors are dead, and there were three more to go.
" He pulled out more of the files. "Surveillance photos, schedules, contact information, you name it. You disappeared for two weeks, planned all of this, and killed their doctors, meaning to kill six. Absolve your conscience, Tommy, and admit to what you’ve done. "
"I didn't kill anyone," Tommy said.
"You want to be a better person," Kent said. "You want to be like your brother. He would tell you to turn yourself in. He might have some anger at these doctors after seeing the crime scenes, but he wouldn’t have wanted you to do what you did."
"He had no anger toward them."
"Three people are dead, Tommy." Lent took out the recent crime scene photos and slammed them down on the table. "Look at them, Tommy! Look at what you did!"
Tommy did look at them. He took a moment to study all three, and Alison studied him.
Tommy leaned forward and tapped his finger on one of the photos. "I didn't kill these people, and I haven’t seen any of them before. I know of them, but I’ve never met them. Someone is trying to frame me. It’s just like…I didn't kill anyone."
Alison held her gaze on Tommy. She believed what he said. He was a criminal, and there was a good chance he would offend again, and he was hiding a lot, but she believed the measured tone in his voice and the look in his eyes. She believed everything he had said since they had begun the interview.
"Keep with that line," Kent said. "I didn't expect you to do the right thing. It doesn’t matter what you say in here; we have enough to arrest you, and this will go to trial. We weren’t able to stop you from killing three people, but we have saved three. You think you’re smart, but you’re not.
Everyone always makes mistakes, and you made many, Tommy.
You’re going to prison for the rest of your life. This is justice."
It bothered Alison. They had their guy, but it still didn't feel right.
Tommy didn't come across as the killer. He didn't have the intelligence, the discipline, the precision.
The only thing that suggested he did was the photos in his apartment.
He would have known every cop in the city and state would be looking for him, and he still decided to go into a diner and eat a meal in public.
Alison didn't buy it. Something was wrong. She looked at Tommy and saw his anger, not always hidden, and then at Captain Kent and his anger that was under control, and she finally saw it.
She was in a room with the killer, but Tommy wasn’t the killer.
Kent was