Victoria smiled and wiped her eyes again before continuing.
"And it wasn’t in an arrogant way.He never made a show of it, but you always knew.And it was because he did his research.He wanted to ensure he got it right the first time.That was always his thing."
"Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt him?"As soon as she asked the question, she knew she would look at the case.Victoria had helped Alison in her career more than anyone else, and Alison had a drive to give back.The case was an opportunity to help her friend, and the look on her friend’s face pushed her to help.
"I can't imagine who would want to hurt him," Victoria admitted."There are always people who don't like what we do, but the two of us have had death threats before."
"Do you know if he ever received death threats?"Alison asked.
"No, I didn’t mean it like that."There was a slight tremor in Victoria’s voice."I don’t know if he did.Maybe he has had threats, but we all deal with that when dealing with dangerous criminals.I know he was seen as controversial among victims’ rights advocates, but no one would do this to him."
"What was controversial?"Alison asked.
"It wasn’t anything controversial, really," Victoria said."He focused a lot on mental health, and there were cases in the past where he pushed for an insanity verdict so the accused would go to a secure facility to be treated instead of a prison."
"People don’t like that," Alison admitted."Especially when the accused is found guilty and is known to be guilty.There are times when it must happen, but I can't imagine being the family of someone who was killed or assaulted or something equally as harrowing, only to see the perpetrator not face any jail time."
Victoria stood and folded her arms across her chest."If anyone knew what was best for the individual, it was Richard.He didn't make any choice lightly.I understand, too, how hard that must be for some people, but he wouldn’t plead for an insanity verdict if it wasn’t warranted."
"Still, that’s worth looking into," Alison said."If there was a recent verdict that someone didn't like, they might have snapped.That’s where I need to start."
"You don't have to do this just because of me," Victoria said.
"That’s exactly why I have to do it," Alison argued."I can concentrate on the files you wanted me to look at, and that’s because I’m so invested in the manhunt for Howard Mills.I can't be invested in the files, but I can be invested in this case.You know the deceased, and that makes it personal.I can use that to take my mind off Mills."
Alison stood up and raised her hand quickly when she saw the worrying frown on Victoria’s brow.
"I know how that sounds, but I can do this," Alison argued."I wasn’t sure if I could give the case my full attention before, but I know that I can now.I’ll call Detective Moore and let her know that I’ll help.And I can still—" Alison looked down at her laptop.
"No, go," Victoria ordered."I’ll have someone else take on the files.Richard was a good man.Please find out why he was killed and help them find who killed him.
CHAPTER FOUR
"It’s good to see you again," Detective Moore said as she held the door open for Alison to enter the building."How are you doing?"
Alison stepped inside and unzipped her jacket.She’d been shivering as she walked from her car to the office building, but was blasted by a wall of hot air as she entered.
"Honestly, I’m tired of answering that question," Alison said.
"I’m sorry, I—"
"No, it’s fine," Alison cut in."I don't mean to be short with you.It’s not anyone around me, just…"
"Yeah," Moore said.
No one needed to say it.Howard Mills was still out there somewhere.They knew his name, address, what he looked like, and just about everything else about him, but they didn't know where he currently was.Alison hadn’t been able to live her life for twenty-two years as she chased down what had felt like a ghost.She’d become ever more restless over the past two weeks as she waited for the call that would bring the relief.
"I want to see the crime scene," Alison said."That’s all I want to talk about right now."
"We can do that," Moore said, quickening her step to lead Alison toward the stairs."Did you get a chance to look at the file?"
"Yeah," Alison said."I’ll admit that I would have looked at it, and I might not have given it much of a second thought, even with how brutal the murder was, but he was a friend of my boss and mentor.My friend.I’m committed to the case, and I want you to know that it’s mostly because of Victoria, my boss, and also to keep my mind off other things.I won't be distracted unless—"
"We don't need to talk about it at all," Moore said as they ascended."You’re here, and I’m glad.When you need to go, you need to go.So, initial thoughts?"
"Do you have the crime scene photos?"Alison asked."I read the initial report from forensics, but I want to see it for myself."
Moore noted.She opened the folder she carried and pulled out a stack of photos, handing them to Alison.
