"No, the potential victim," Moore said."Sorry, it’s been a bit chaotic having to call people back in and try to work out the killer's motives.We believe a potential target was sent a psychological report and a threatening letter.Forensics is now examining the letter, and officers are out in the area, but we don't know why they sent the report and the letter and did nothing else.I mean, we sure are glad they did nothing else."
When Alison was back at Victoria’s office, it had almost felt like her soul had left her body when she had heard the supposed bad news.Now that the detective had clarified what was actually happening, Alison felt a wave of euphoria.
She couldn’t contain it and took a step forward and hugged the detective, whom she barely knew.Alison knew it was weird, but she didn't care.She thought someone else had died because of her, and hearing they were alive felt like saving them.She held on tight to Detective Moore as tears filled her eyes, and then became embarrassed to let go and have the detective see her like that, so she continued to hug her for a few seconds more until she had collected herself.
"Sorry," Alison said to the slightly dazed detective as she pulled back."I thought we had lost another one, and I can't deal with that right now."
"It’s okay," Moore said.
"Okay, so who’s the potential victim and what have they given us?"
"Harold Jenkins," Moore said."He was released from prison four years ago on your recommendation.He hasn’t continued in society as the two victims have by making a positive difference, but he seems to be making an honest living."
"I remember Harold," Alison said."He was in prison for burglary, right?"
"With a deadly weapon," Moore added."He was arrested for breaking into a home, and he was carrying a gun at the time."
"He never used it, I remember that.There was always the question of whether he would, if he were confronted on a property, but he claimed it was carried only as a warning, nothing more.I remember believing him.He was prolific in his time, but never hurt anyone."
"He was an addict," Moore reminded her.
"Yeah, I know.Do you know if that’s continued?"
"As far as we know, he hasn’t been using since he was released from prison, and he hasn’t been arrested since then," Moore said."I have an officer taking his full statement now, but it looks like the killer was in his home.Harold returned home late tonight, and when he got to his kitchen, he found the report and the letter.Maybe he was scared off."
"What was the letter?"Alison asked."Can I read it?"
"Forensics has it right now, but as soon as they’re done, it’s all yours.I have the psychology report if you want to read that."
"I don't think I need to immediately," Alison said."I’m sure it’s the same as the other two: the killer picking apart my report.The letter, I am interested in, though.Who was it addressed to?What was the content?"
"It wasn’t addressed to anyone," Moore said."The letter was a warning that people like Harold needed to be behind bars, and they were going to make sure that happened."
"Did they say how they planned on doing that?"
Moore shook her head."No, they didn't.The letter was vague in what it was trying to achieve."
"The killer might have been disrupted," Alison admitted."Have someone talk to the neighbors and see if they saw or heard anything.If they were disturbed, they were disturbed by someone or something.Still, if that were the case, someone should have called it in.It’s different this time with the letter.It’s almost as if the killer is evolving.They are showing how much they are in control by going to a man’s house but not killing him.The killer would know that Harold would read the letter and report before calling the police.This is new."
"Hopefully, the result in forensics is something new," Moore said."Maybe they’ll find DNA this time.They’re also looking at the four documents together: the three reports and the letter, looking for any handwriting patterns or identifying characteristics."
Alison sighed.She was glad that the third ‘victim’ had not been killed, but they were still left with nothing.
"We should still put a protective detail on him," Alison said."The killer targeted him and left him alive, but that doesn’t mean they won't come back to finish the job, especially if they were disturbed.I’ve been narrowing down my files from when I was consulting with the prison system, and there are a lot of potential victims.Even if we take only the ones in the city, we can’t protect them all."
"Give me a list of names, and I’ll see what I can do," Moore said."Even if we get in touch with them and warn them of a potential killer, it might be enough."
"I was also thinking about the killer," Alison said."We’re looking for someone who had access to my reports, and that could include the person who represented either Thomas or Jennifer or both.Add them to the search."
"Got it," Moore said.
"Perhaps someone with an ideological mission to expose rehabilitation assessments.They’re targeting me, but the reports show they are targeting the system and using me to do that.Thomas was released five years ago, and I haven’t consulted for two years.We’re looking for someone who has been waiting, but why?"
Moore shrugged.
"Perhaps they have been trying to fix the system in other ways.I don't believe this is someone who has been quiet about early release.That could be public, or it could be someone within the field known to others to oppose it.Someone who has spent time trying to change the system and failed, so they’ve resorted to this.Someone with some anger against the system, perhaps.Someone who might have anger toward me or is connected to me."
"I might have someone," Detective Moore said."A name did pop up earlier, and they have a connection to you.They might be worth checking out."
