"That’s four victims in a little over three days," Moore said as she began pacing the small office."And not only that.The killer is doing two a night.Is that what we should expect now? If we find one dead body, we should expect another."
"I don't want to hear your moaning, Detective," the Captain said."I want results."
"We have a suspect in booking," Moore said quickly."She doesn’t have an alibi for last night, and she had a motive to kill Judge Greene."
"Who’s the latest victim?"Alison asked.
The Captain opened a file on his desk."Nathan Cross."
"Dr.Cross," Alison said."I know him.I know of him.He’s a psychologist."
"Yeah, that’s what it says here," the Captain said."Same thing as before.Multiple knife wounds, a note pinned to his chest, and all that."
"He evaluated individuals before trials," Alison said."Not only defendants, but witnesses, jury members, everyone.He fits with what we know so far.Psychiatrist, expert witness, judge, and now, a psychologist.Four people involved in criminal trials are deciding whether someone should go to jail.There has to be a case that connects all four of them.Diana Shepherd knew Langford and Holland, and she mentioned that she had spoken out about them, but we didn't get a chance to find out how she knew them."
"On it," Moore said."If they’re connected to the murder case from eight years ago, then we have her.I’ll check on both of them and Nathan Cross.We go in there with that information and see what she has to say for herself."
"Okay, then get out there and get it done," the Captain said.
Moore left the room very quickly as if that was the expectation, and Alison followed.
"This is fast," Alison said when she caught up to Moore."Fast for four murders, but to pair them like this and do two in a night.I haven’t seen anything like this, not firsthand.It feels planned but not planned.The killer would have had to have known where the victims would be; there are far too many moving parts for that.It’s bold.It shows a strong desire to kill the people they blame."
"We might have her in booking right now," Moore said."No alibi for last night when two people were killed.If we can connect all four to the trial, then she’s our killer."
"You check that," Alison said."I’ll go over the photos from the Cross crime scene as they come in, and I’ll see if we can get an approximate time for Judge Greene’s death.And I want to know how Diana’s family was killed.That could be important."
***
"Stabbed to death," Moore said."It was a home invasion.Diana was out at the time, working downtown in the Western Building.Michael Hartman entered the home, took a knife from the kitchen, went upstairs, and stabbed the father to death before stabbing the child to death.There was a lot of blood."
Alison sat back in the chair Moore had brought into the office for her."That makes sense.This has to be it.Eight years ago, Hartman brutally killed a father and child, and now someone is doing the same to those involved with the trial."
"Not someone," Moore said."Diana Shepherd.She was the one who found them when she got home from work that evening.She entered her home, didn't notice the back door had been broken into, and went upstairs to find her husband and son dead in the bedroom.Then, she had to sit idly by as the man who did that to her, the man who split her life apart, was not sent to prison.That’s enough to make anyone snap."
"Why now?"Alison asked.
Moore raised her eyebrows as she looked across the desk at Alison.
"I’m not trying to disprove you, but I need it to make complete sense before we go in there and talk to her again," Alison said softly."Why wait eight years to do this.The appeals are long over.The dust has settled.Why not act sooner?"
"The anger has been building," Moore said."Maybe she tried to go down the conventional path, the legal path, and when she realized that wasn’t going to change anything, she just snapped.You said it yourself, right?The killer went into a frenzy.I mean, you can't kill two people in cold blood like that in one night without becoming a little unhinged beforehand and more unhinged after."
"The article?"Alison asked.
"She knew she didn't have an alibi, and thought that it might throw us off the scent," Moore said."It looks that way, right?We check her out, and she has an article about how they are close to a result against Judge Greene, and he’s dead that very morning.No one would immediately suspect her of murder."
"Yeah," Alison said."Maybe she comes clean after speaking with her lawyer."
"You don't think she did it," Moore said.
"I really don't know," Alison said."This is a weird one by many standards.Obviously, the murders are brutal, and they do point toward replicating what happened to Diana’s family.There’s a lot of planning, then this frenzied killing, two people in a night, and that happened twice.It’s almost as if someone is slipping in and out of some psychosis.They plan it out so they won't be caught, both in the moment and after, and that’s what’s happened so far, and maybe we have the killer in custody.We don't know yet.In that moment, thought, slashing at a victim, covered in blood, and then having the composure to go and do it all again?It’s unsettling."
"You think we’re dealing with some sort of split personality?"Moore asked.
"I don't know what we’re dealing with, but to put it in simple terms, then yes, maybe.Someone who has some rationality and logic, but also someone who’s animalistic and driven to kill.Perhaps Diana Shepherd fits the bill."
"I think she more than fits the bill," Moore said."The Hartman case connects them all.Greene presided over the trial, but we already knew that.He was the one Diana blamed for failing to overturn the jury's verdict.Langford and Holland both collaborated to assess the defendant before the trial.Holland didn't present the information in court.She was Langford's assistant for a brief time back then.Both of their names are on the court documents.And Nathan Cross was brought on by the prosecution as an expert witness to help confirm the insanity plea and keep Hartman out of jail.That looks pretty damning to me."
