"A quick one," Alison said."I need to get back home.This case is over, but I have another one there that needs to be taken care of."
"We get you checked out, a quick debrief, and I’ll drive you to the airport myself and put you on the first plane.I’ll be sad to see you go after all you’ve done for us, but I know where you are if I need you again."
Alison smiled as she walked arm in arm with the special agent back to her car.One case rooted in the past was resolved.She only had to take care of one more.
***
Two days later
Alison sat in the backseat of Derek’s car, but she didn't mind that one bit.Her father sat in the front seat, and the vehicle sat outside Howard Mills’s house.Mills lived in a four-flex, with concrete steps leading down to his door.Two units were upstairs in the four-flex, and two were downstairs.Mills’s was the bottom left of the four.The curtains were drawn across the front window.There was no front yard.
"We know he’s in right now, his wife also," Derek said."We’ve been following him for four days, and there’s nothing that can be considered as evidence of him being a killer, but he always goes to a different park at lunchtime, always with a lunch and a book, and he sits there reading the entire time, only looking away from his book to stare at young women."
"Joggers," James added."A yoga class on the grass one afternoon.Women walking past in sports attire.I’m not getting my hopes up about this because it doesn’t prove anything other than that he's a little too interested in younger women.He’s not the only guy who would act like that, and if we watch older guys like him who’ve been married for a long time, I bet my bottom dollar that many of them will check women out when they pass."
"Do you, Dad?"Alison asked.
"The cheek," James shot back.
"It’s not all women," Derek clarified."Only young women, the same women who fit the demographic of those being murdered.That’s why we waited for you to return before talking with him.We have to expect that he’s been careful to evade capture for over twenty years.He’s not even been suspected.Not one interview for any of the murders.No one ever came close to suspecting him."
"And a clean record," James added."From the outside, looking in, he’s just a nice guy, working, and coming home to his wife every night."
"It’s going to be hard to prove the older murders," Alison admitted."It was from the more recent ones that we got the van, right?"
"Yeah," Derek confirmed.
"We have better technology now, better ways of doing things, more ways to locate him at or near a crime scene."Alison could not help but think about the case she had just come from.If they could finger him for the most recent murder, could they prove he had killed more women?Would they be able to get a confession from him?
Alison was tired, but they didn't have time to wait.The longer they left it, the greater the chance Mills would find out he was being investigated.If he were the killer, he might make a run for it.The case in Philly had worn her down, but she was exactly where she needed to be, and she wouldn’t stop investigating with Derek and her father.
"So, what’s our plan when we go in there?"Alison asked.
"It feels like a Hail Mary, but you’re the key," Derek said."If anyone’s going to spot something behavioral, it’s you.We first reveal to him that we’re investigating the most recent murder, Katrina Sands, and we gauge his reaction.No matter what we get, we divulge that we believe the murderer is connected to previous murders, and then we reveal who you and James are, and your relationships to the first victim.If we’re right about the five deaths being connected, then maybe it unnerves him enough to show it."
"It’s a really bad plan," James said.
"And the only one we have," Derek added.
"I know, I know," James said, raising both hands."I only want us to remain impartial, as hard as that will be.What we have so far is not proof of anything, even though his behavior looks suspicious.When we go there, we have to remember that we're looking for concrete evidence that he’s our killer, and not see what we want to see.We do this properly, or we don't do it at all.I won't risk losing her killer because we couldn’t be impartial."
Derek was about to say something when James raised a finger.
"That included me," James said."I’m struggling to manage all of the emotions swirling around in me now that we’re here, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the investigation.If he confesses on the spot and I lose it with him, his lawyer will have a field day.We all remain calm, and we do this the right way."
"Of course," James said.
"I’ll try," Alison admitted.She worried that her fatigue, combined with over twenty years of waiting, would skew her professionalism.
"Okay, so we’re ready to do this?"Derek asked.
James looked around at his daughter, and she looked at him.James looked at Derek and nodded.
"All right."Derek paused."We do this my way when we go to his door, okay?I want to play nice, and we get inside and get him talking.I don't want him to know who the two of you are before we need to reveal that, okay?We might only have one shot at this, and we don't want to miss.Are we all on the same page?"
"We are," James said.
"I can't promise that I’ll be able to control myself if I don't like what he says in there, but I’m not going to jeopardize what we’ve worked towards.What you and Dad have worked towards.This is far too important to let anything get in the way."
