"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.Orlawyer.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.
CHAPTER NINE
It was late, past midnight, when Alison pulled up at the police station to receive a debrief on the third victim from Detective Moore.The tiredness and the double espresso fought for superiority within her as she got out of the car and walked through the darkness to the front door.Even though she knew Moore and other officers were inside, and that no one would be stupid enough to attack her outside the building, she still hurried her step.
She entered and walked past the front desk toward the bullpen, and a waiting Detective Moore.
"You got here quickly," the detective noted.
"I wasn’t at home when you called," Alison replied."I was working at my old office with my former boss.She’s been helping me build a profile of the killer and locate potential victims.I thought we could stop this one before now."
"What?"Moore asked, her brow furrowing and her eyes narrowing."Oh, goodness, no.Didn't I say on the phone?There’s no third crime scene."
"What are you talking about?"Alison asked.
"We have them in the station," Moore said.
"Who?"Alison asked, thoroughly confused."The killer?"
