But only a little.
Dr.Carver strode straight toward Alison and embraced her.
Alison hadn't expected the hug.It had been years since they had seen each other, their paths crossing in small ways after the Riverside Strangler case, but they had never been friends.They had barely been work colleagues.
"Thank you for seeing me," Carver said before breaking the embrace.
The next thing she said was almost as surprising as the embrace.
"They called me first," Carver said."I was too busy to come in and work the case with them.I wanted you to know that."
Before Alison could respond to that, Carver spoke again, pointing behind her."I’m right over here.Go and get a coffee and meet me back at my table."
She made it sound more like an order than a suggestion.Perhaps she still saw herself as Alison’s senior.Alison didn’t care about any of that; she was only glad to be talking to Dr.Carver before she left to drive to Boston with Hartley and Wolfe.As she went to grab herself a coffee, she hoped Carver knew details about the Riverside case that might point them toward a suspect.
Alison ordered an extra-shot latte in a to-go cup so she could take the rest with her to the station to liaise with the special agent and detective before they headed out of town.
When she took her coffee back to the table, Carver gestured for Alison to sit.
Alison wasn’t sure whether it was intentional, but Carver sat with a straight, open posture, head tilted up slightly, and hand resting on the knee of the leg that crossed over the other, maintaining eye contact the entire time.She was projecting control.Carver had called the meeting, and she was directing it now that she and Alison were face-to-face.
"So," Alison said, placing her coffee on the table."You wanted to speak with me?"
"I don't like this investigation," Carver said."Perhaps I should have agreed to consult on it."
"Okay," Alison said slowly."What is it you don't like about it?"
"I was the lead profiler on the Strangler case," Carver said, shaking her head."I spoke to Detective Vettle recently.You remember him, right?"
"Of course," Alison said."He was the lead detective on the case."
"Yeah.He was a lead, I was a lead, and it’s a failure that’s haunted us for our careers. Let me ask you something.Is this the Strangler returned, or is this something else?"
"It’s something else," Alison admitted."There was another case in—"
"Boston," Carver finished."Yes, I know.I just needed to check.There was a moment when I first heard when I thought we might be able to catch him finally, but he’s long gone.Eighteen years.The Riverside Strangler came along, killed three people, and was never heard from again.What a crapshoot."
"It’s exactly what the killer is focused on," Alison said."They want to point out past mistakes."
"We made a lot of them, I’m sure.We didn't catch him, so there must have been something we missed.I firmly believe that there is enough evidence in every crime to find the killer.There had to have been something.Something we didn't think of or that we ignored at the time.I just—"
Dr.Carver ran her hands through her hair."I apologize.I’m getting too emotional about this.Do you have any idea what it’s like to have a case haunt you for that long?"
Alison immediately thought about her sister."I do."But she didn’t want to talk about that with a relative stranger."I was also on the case, and I know I wasn’t around for long, but I feel some of the burden for us not catching the Strangler.|
"Oh, please," Carver complained."You've got to stand up and say your piece, but it's not the same, and you know it.I still remember you standing there, looking at me like you were intent on proving me wrong.Seems like you made a name for yourself eventually, but you didn't make a name for yourself in that room.Did you want to argue against me just for the thrill of it, or did you actually believe what you said back then?Something about childhood trauma, right?"
Alison looked Dr.Carver in the eyes and took a breath in through her nose."I didn't care about making anyone else look bad.I believed what I said."
"Then you’re a bigger idiot than I thought," Carver said."If you believed what you said, then why didn't you push for it?"
"Do you think I was right back then?"Alison asked.
"No," Carver replied."I believe I was right, and that you were putting us on the wrong track, and that’s why I would have fought for what I believed in if it were questioned.You didn't fight for what you believed in, and that’s a failing on your part.That’s why you feel the guilt after all these years.It’s not because we failed.Youdidn't fail.Wefailed.Wedidn't catch the killer.Youdidn't stand up for what you believed in."
"I don’t—"
Dr.Carver didn't let Alison finish."Let me ask you a question."
