"You think she could be the killer?"Hartley asked.
"I don't know," Alison admitted.She turned to Carson."Who is she?"
"Angela Wu," Carson replied."She’s a true crime podcaster and former forensic psychology doctoral student.There’s a lot in her bio about leaving academia because of the people around her.It’s all very vague, but it gave me the impression that she butted heads with people and was either forced out or left by her own accord.Maybe we get that from her when we bring her in.I’ll talk to the team going down there and let them know they are to detain her."
"Just," Hartley said, grabbing the other agent’s arm, "remind them that Wu is live right now.We want to be in and out without any of it being reported.We don't make this into a bigger scene than it needs to be.The last thing we need is to give her fuel for the fire or to face a lawsuit.If she knows things about the case, we need to find out what she knows."
"I’ll brief the team.They’ll almost be there by now."
Carson left them to go and talk with the team.
"We still have Dalton, but I say we let him stew for a bit while we prepare to talk with Wu," Hartley said."He never once mentioned anything about an alibi while we were in there."
"It wouldn’t surprise me if he had alibis locked and loaded, ready to go," Alison said."He enjoyed being in there with us, toying with us and sparring with us.I have this uneasy feeling that as soon as we ask for an alibi, he’ll have one or multiple alibis ready, only to make us look like we've been wasting our own time."
"Then even better to let him stew for a bit," Hartley said."If he does, then we can cut him loose, and we don't need to talk with him again.Until then, let’s find out as much as we can about Wu before she gets here.I want to turn that podcast back on just to hear what happens, but I don't know if I want to know.Either we get her without it being broadcast on air, or it turns into a gong show."
"There’s nothing we can do about that now," Alison pointed out.
***
"…who is believed to be a security guard caught up in a wicked plot to stage an innocent museum employee as one of the exhibits.We go to museums to see history, not horror.The report that has come to me suggests that children were exposed to the terrible display the Corrections Officer left for them to witness on arriving at the museum that morning.An entire school bus of grade 7 children was—"
Hartley looked at Special Agent Carson.She widened her eyes.
"That’s right before they detained her," Carson said."We didn't want any word of the FBI’s arrival being aired live, so they cut the power to the equipment in the building, and nothing else was broadcast.To any listeners, it would have sounded like an outage or mechanical failure.Wu didn't know what was happening until they had her in custody."
"Great work," Hartley said."Dr.Payne, are you ready to go and talk with her?"
"Let’s go," Alison said.They walked together toward the interview room, going past the door to the room where Dr.Dalton still sat."My only concern now is what she’ll say live on air if she’s not the killer.If we find she’s innocent and we need to let her go, she’s going to talk about the raid on her studio and how the power was cut.The listeners will love that."
"It’s a risk we have to take," Hartley said."My only hope is that she turns out to be reasonable and she’s willing to work with us somewhat until we catch the killer.Well, that’s not my only hope.My one true hope is that she’s the killer and we can arrest her today and all of this is over."
"I can get on board with that," Alison said.
Hartley knocked on the door, and the two women entered the room.Angela Wu was a small woman, short and thin, with jet black hair and a wide grin across her face.
"Oh, I can’t wait"—she slammed a hand down on the table—"to get back to the studio.Which one of you gave the order to cut the power?I need names right now."
"Not a problem," Hartley said calmly as she sat down."You have every right to our names, and you have the right to a lawyer should you need it."
"Oh, I will need it," Wu said."As soon as I’m done here, I’ll be talking to my lawyer to see how far I can take this."
"We’re in the middle of a homicide investigation, and I won't tolerate anything that could derail that," Hartley said."If you want to pursue this legally, then—"
"I don't care about that," Wu said."I’m talking about my next podcast episode.You had a team descend on my studio, cut the power, and haul me out of there.I can't wait to talk about that live on air as soon as I get out of here.It’s going to make for my best episode yet.Just you wait."
"A quadruple homicide," Alison pointed out."Four people are dead, and you’re looking for a way to sensationalize that."
Angela rolled her eyes and smirked."Oh, don't give me that, trying to guilt-trip me.As if I’m the only person who does that, and the only person who will do that.And I still didn't get your names.I’ll need them for the podcast."
Hartley shook her head but didn't delay in giving her name."Special Agent Nicole Hartley, and my assistant, Dr.Alison Payne."
"Oh, my goodness," Angela said sweetly."The great Dr.Payne in the flesh.Well, I’ll be.Do you know, I’ve thought about reaching out to you multiple times, hoping to get you at a table to talk about your experiences, but it never happened.Well, until now, and this is not quite what I had in mind.You must come on the show."
"When all of this is done, and we have the killer, I’d be happy to," Alison said.
Angela grinned.
