Page 27 of Say Nothing
Across the street, two people, a couple, stopped before the courthouse and waited.One of them had a placard with a long wooden pole attached.Alison couldn’t read what it said from the other side of the street, but it was apparent they were there for the rally.Neither of them was Raymond.
"At the times Margaret and Sarah were killed, we have records of Weber physically turning off the alarms and then turning them back on when the work was done," Derek explained."However, there’s still time in between for him to make it to each residence, kill the women, and complete the work remotely.It’s a little far-fetched, but it's possible if he were quick.And it gives him a pretty good alibi: not too solid but not overly flimsy, either.Just the sort of thing you would expect if it were real and not planned."
"And the second problem?"Alison asked.
A third person joined the rally, a young man who was also not Raymond.
"We’re looking for someone who’s tech savvy enough to be able to bypass advanced security systems and enter a residence without being seen or tracked.Who’s to say they couldn’t do the opposite and log into a system from a distance while making it look like they were on site?What if he never was at the buildings he was supposed to be working on, and did everything from the crime scenes?"
"Then we’re in the realm of anything being possible," Alison said."We don't know if alibis are real or not anymore."
"Which makes it nearly impossible to know if Weber is telling the truth or not, and I don't have enough to formally arrest him.He might be the killer, and we have to cut him loose."
"You’ll keep an eye on him, though," Alison said.
"We’ll have to," Derek said."I’ll have an agent follow him twenty-four seven until we figure this whole mess out.If he’s our guy, he won't be allowed to kill again."
"There he is," Alison pointed out.
Raymond approached from around the side of the courthouse, holding a loudspeaker.The three people waiting for him seemed to stand to attention as he approached, like a general addressing his troops before war.He addressed each of them, nodding, likely thanking them for coming.
"From the way he’s acting, I think this is all that’s coming," Alison said.
"Not much of a rally," Derek replied.
"Good," Alison said."There’s no place for this sort of thing in our justice system.He might believe he’s doing something good, but all he’s doing is harassing witnesses when they’re scared enough as it is.It takes a lot of courage to get up on the witness stand and testify against someone who might not be imprisoned.Someone who is a violent offender."
"Then let’s go shut him down before he gets started," Derek said.
"I have complete faith in the women I’ve coached before trials," Alison said as they both got out of the vehicle."I do my due process and make sure to have all the facts.I wouldn’t let someone testify if I weren’t completely sure they were testifying against someone guilty."
"I know that about you," Derek said as they walked toward the crossing."When it comes down to you against anyone else, I'm going with you.I’ve seen how you work, and you wouldn’t help to put someone in jail unless you were completely confident of it."
"Everyone makes mistakes," Alison said as they waited to cross.
"Yeah, they do, and you’ve made mistakes before and owned them," Derek said."Still, mistakes in testimonies are rare.There aren’t enough mistakes for someone to protest outside a courthouse and attack women who haven’t testified yet, when you have no idea what they will say and what the case is.He’s angry about one case, his brother’s, and he’s using that as free rein to attack all witnesses.Maybe he’s right once, but he’s wrong hundreds of times in the process."
When they reached the other side of the road, they could hear Raymond speaking through the loudspeaker out front of the courthouse.The other three stood behind him, one of them lifting the placard, which read:We Believe In-justice.
"…to reform the parole system," Raymond blasted."We need to vet witnesses and not let anyone into the witness box.Studies show that women are more likely to be believed than men, which means that women hold all the power when it comes to trials where emotion is key.As men, we’re taught not to show emotion, and when we do, we’re thought of as weak.It’s a double-edged sword, but I will bring that double-edged sword of justice down on any woman or man who lies and manipulates to send innocent people to prison, and—"
Raymond suddenly stopped when he saw Alison and Derek approach.
"I fully support retaliation against witnesses who are shown to be liars," Raymond shouted quickly."There is no punishment strong enough for these people, and no justice that can overcome death."
Raymond stopped again, turned quickly, and ran from the courthouse
CHAPTER TWELVE
Derek reacted first, sprinting after Raymond.Alison was quickly on his heels.
The three other protestors looked around with bewildered looks as they tried to figure out what was happening.It was likely they’d all been approached by police before when they’d been protesting, but was this the first time Raymond had run from law enforcement?
Alison thought back to Detective Moore and her partner chasing down Franklin Howard.Franklin claimed he didn't know who was chasing him.Did Raymond know Derek was a law enforcement officer, or did he also have other people after him?
Alison flew by the three members of the rally as their mouths hung open slightly at the turn of events.
The courthouse wasn’t busy, and when she rounded the corner, neither were the streets around it.Still, they were in the downtown core of Oakland, so there were some people on the streets, and Alison worried that someone would get hurt in the pursuit.
