CHAPTER SEVEN
"There’s no indication that the killer intends to come after me," Alison said.
Therewasno clear indication that the killer would follow her, but there was also no clear indication that they wouldn’t.The killer was sure that Alison was wrong in her assessments.That was obvious from the corrected reports and their own responses.
"I’m not in that line of work anymore," Alison said, hoping to put the detective at ease."I’ve not consulted with the California Prison System in two years.If they were targeting my recent work with the FBI, then maybe they would be coming after me.They’re highlighting work I’ve done in the past, and it might be that they’re using me as an example.Killing me doesn’t fix that.It’s more likely that they continue to kill innocent people and leave amended reports until we catch them or the system changes."
"That’s not going to happen, is it?"Moore asked.
"Is the system changing?It can't happen," Alison said."I don't care what the killer thinks of the system; it's robust and has been proven to work.Yes, we can't stop every single person who is released early from reoffending, but it would be the same as telling people not to cross the road because some people are hit by cars.The system works, but there will always be flaws.If we do away with the early release program, we're not truly helping to rehabilitate people, and it'll only cost the taxpayers more."
"Okay, so you’re basically telling me that you’re safe," Moore said with some relief.
"I believe so," Alison said."It was impossible to say for sure, but the killer had no reason to come after her unless they believed something larger was at play that could be solved by killing her.
Still, that didn't stop Alison from feeling any less guilty.
"I’ll read this and then go back to the station with you," Alison said."Give me fifteen?"
"I’ll check in with the officer who was interviewing Melody and see if we have anything else," Moore confirmed.
Once the detective had left, Alison put on the gloves left on the desk for her, then carefully removed the two reports from the evidence bag.It was just like before.Her evaluation of Jennifer Hayes had been ‘corrected,’ and then, a new report had been written.
Alison didn't spend all that much time on the report she had written three years ago.From the amount of red pen on the report, the killer obviously disagreed with just about everything.Those disagreements would be apparent in the new report.
So, she picked that up and began to read.This report was far more detailed than the previous one, and it supported Alison’s belief that it had been written by someone educated in psychology.That could mean someone she had worked with or someone who worked in the same field.Either way, it was a large pool to choose from, and it might still turn out to be neither option.
Alison had noted in her report that the inmate at the time, Jennifer Hayes, had emotional displays of regret and remorse.The new report argued that emotion had been studied rather than the facts, and there were three paragraphs where the author argued that Jennifer’s performance at the time was purely that.That she had used emotion to manipulate Alison.
Alison took a second.She had made a call back then based on what she thought was best, and the killer was now arguing that Alison was flawed because the inmate had shown emotion and that had been taken into account in the evaluation.
"We have to take that into account," Alison muttered."If we went in the opposite direction and discounted emotion, then we would have to ignore those who showed no emotion, and I would argue that is inherently worse.Those who show no emotion and no remorse shouldn’t be released early."
Alison went back to the report when she realized she was arguing with herself out loud.
The rest of the report tried to pick apart Alison’s conclusion, but the arguments lacked any factual basis, and it almost felt as if the author were appealing to emotion, which was ironic given the earlier assertions.Alison read through it slowly once and then skimmed it a second time, looking more at the formatting and grammar.
The report looked to copy the format of Alison’s report, and that could be just that: a copy, but the work also looked like someone familiar with psychological assessment, backing her earlier thought about it being someone in the field.There didn’t appear to be any grammar, spelling, or formatting mistakes, which suggested someone with attention to detail.The report's wording also told Alison it was someone who knew their stuff.There were assertions in the report that could only have come from someone who knew their stuff.
"Are you ready to get going?"Detective Moore asked impatiently as she approached the desk.
"Maybe," Alison replied."This is someone educated, I’m sure of that.Whether that's someone who is classically educated or self-educated, I don't know.All I know is that the killer is intelligent."
"Okay, so where do we start?Are we looking for someone who had contact with both victims professionally?Someone who had a professional rivalry with you?Someone who has been vocally outspoken about the prison system and psychological evaluations?I feel like we’re looking for a needle in a haystack."
"We are at the moment," Alison confirmed."And I think I need to look for another one."
"What do you mean?"
Alison stood up from the desk."Go back to the office and look at everything I asked you to look at, and follow up on all of those ideas.See if you can find anything amongst it.I’m going back to my old office to look at my case files.We know who the killer is choosing, and that means the next victim is somewhere in those files.I don't know why the killer chose Thomas and Jennifer, and I have no idea who they will choose next, but perhaps I can figure out how he is selecting people based on what I find.In any case, we can create a list of possible victims.We can't protect or watch them all, but we're starting to narrow the case."
***
Dr.Victoria Canton welcomed Alison when Alison got to the office.
Victoria went straight for a hug when Alison got there, and Alison embraced her friend and mentor eagerly.
"I wish you were here under better circumstances, but anything we can do to help, we’re happy to do it.You’ve given us so much over the years."
