"I’ve been focused on the case since I got here," Alison said."Someone around me could have easily pulled out a stand of hair without me noticing.Or cut a strand.Where have you been lately, Detective Wolfe?"
"I’ve been searching for Sterling," he said.Wolfe dropped off the desk he was perched on and puffed out his chest.
"And how’s that going?"Hartley asked."Have you located him?"
His chest dropped back to its normal position."We haven’t been able to locate him yet," he admitted."No one has.He’s disappeared."
"How about you find him instead of accusing Dr.Payne?"Hartley asked.
"All I’m saying is that she’s compromised now," Wolfe said."Either she’s the killer, or someone wants us to think she is.You said it yourself, Dr.Payne.The killer is smart and knows law enforcement.If they placed the hair there, then they mean for us to know that, and it’s all a part of the larger plan, right?If Dr.Payne is allowed access to the case, then the killer can use that.The closer she is to the crime scenes, the easier it will be to frame her."
"I’ve spent most of the time since Dr.Payne got here with her.She’s either been with me, at the office, or at her hotel.I can speak for her—I’ll be her alibi.She’s not the killer."
"I hate to admit it, but Detective Wolfe is right," Alison said."The closer I am to the case, the easier it’ll be to frame me.This is obviously a part of the plan now.The hair wrapped around the finger wasn’t a mistake.The killer placed it there.If they did, then it means it’s only the first part of their plane, and Detective Wolfe is right again.The hair was obviously placed there to try to frame me, but it’s only the start.I think there’s more coming, and this is where we need to be careful.Whatever they’re planning, they’ll escalate next time.Perhaps it is better I’m not a part of the case right now."
"Unless that’s what they want," Hartley said."What if they want you off the case?They’re obviously scared of you catching them, and this is a good way to remove you.Then, when you least suspect it, they abduct you or do something worse.The best place for you right now is to be with me.We go everywhere together, and you stay in your hotel the rest of the time.We make it impossible for them to frame you."
"It’s a brilliant plan if they do mean to frame me," Alison said."They won't leave me alive if they do.They can’t."
"What do you mean?"Hartley asked.
"The hair sows the seeds of doubt in my connection to the case, and perhaps removes me from it, as you said.When they escalate, they’ll make it look like I’m the killer, but they can't leave me alive to deny it or give evidence.It’ll be a victim and me, both dead.That’s how they’ll do it, and it's in line with what they’ve done so far; they’ll make it a mistake that we all make.It ties it up brilliantly.Everyone thinks I did it, and it brings the case more attention."
"And the killer gets away with it," Hartley said.
"Unless she is the killer," Wolfe reminded her.
"She’s not the killer," Hartley maintained."And you’re not going anywhere, Dr.Payne.The only chance we have of catching this killer is with you on the team.Stay by my side, and they don't get a chance to frame you.Will you do that?"
"I’ll do whatever it takes to catch this killer," Alison said.
"Good," Hartley said."Which means finding Sterling.He must have gone somewhere.He must have been in the city at some point, and then he traveled to each of the crime scenes to kill his victims.We know he went to the museum.He must be on some CCTV footage somewhere.Detective Wolfe, liaise with Detective Nolan in Washington, D.C., and see if he has anything on his end.He traveled there somehow, and he must have stopped for snacks and drinks; he must have scouted out the warehouse and taken his victim somewhere.Sterling can't have just vanished, so I want him found.Understood?"
Detective Wolfe took one final look at Alison, as if sizing her up, then Hartley nodded to Hartley before leaving them in her office to make some calls.
"I don't think he really believed you’re the killer," Hartley said."He’s being cautious."
"He’s a good detective," Alison said."If I were in his position, I would suspect me, too.It would be the perfect crime to position myself within the case and run it from the inside out."
"I know you’re not the killer," Hartley said.
"Don't let your biases get in the way," Alison said."I’ll do as you asked and stay with you when I’m not at the hotel, but you need to vet me.Check the time of each murder since I got here, and ensure that I didn’t have time to travel to each one under the guise of being at the hotel.It looks like the murders all happened at night.That would be when I was at the hotel.Do the work and rule me out properly so you’re not accused of not doing your job properly."
"I will," Hartley said."And if you have to run off suddenly for some reason, I’ll make sure I go with you.I really hope it isn’t you, Dr.Payne.If it is, then we don’t have a chance."
"I couldn’t," she said."I believe I have the skills to do it, all apart from actually taking in a life, but I couldn’t do that.I haven’t told you this, but my sister was killed twenty-two years ago.I’m still looking for her killer.I couldn’t make someone else go through what I’ve gone through."Alison had to take a deep breath."I’m sorry, that doesn’t connect to the current case, and it’s exactly the thing I might say if I were trying to play you."
"I believe you, but I’ll do my due diligence," Hartley said."It has to be Sterling, right?"
"Everything points to him," Alison said."It’s unusual timing for him to disappear.His neighbors haven’t seen him, nor his family, nor anyone else.He’s just disappeared."
"And he fits the profile," Hartley said."The file we have on him now is pretty comprehensive.He’s a retired FBI profiler who’s consulted on the first three original murder cases, both in official and unofficial capacities.We know that his work never met a high standard, and he was dismissed from many higher-profile cases relatively quickly after being brought on to consult.He’s been criticized by his superiors and his peers.There was some criticism at the time he worked, but more so after the fact."
"Public criticism?"Alison asked.
"I’m not sure about that, but the more we talk to his former colleagues, the more negative comments we have on him.Perhaps he heard that from all of them when he was working, or he caught wind of comments after working cases.Either way, he wasn’t well-liked."
Alison recalled what Dr.Carver told her."I think he stagnated.Everyone around him improved and grew, and he didn't.I think he was fine at his job, but he was never great."
