Page 29 of Nowhere to Hide
“We touched on it before,” Donny began. “But if there was an affair between Timothy Hanson and Susan, it would have destroyed Hanson Property Development and the family nameif it ever got out. This also came up before, but wasn’t Timothy’s wife some big to-do?”
“Martha Carmichael,” Gibson said, inserting himself back into the conversation. “Some of you might recognize the name?”
“She was a rich socialite,” Sandra said when no one else spoke up. She wasn’t going to share the memory that Martha had been to Davenport Manor for a party when Sandra was a teenager. Timothy hadn’t come that night unless he had failed to make an impression. She just remembered the diamonds dripping off the woman.
“She died thirty years ago,” Gibson added.
“So, she was still alive when Susan died,” Donny said and added, “During the time of her husband’s affair with Susan.”
Sandra’s mind drifted some. People used what was within their reach. For wealthy people, it was money. Some used it for more than acquiring things. They bought people, silence… power. Had this force been applied to Susan Crawford? “Just putting this out there. What if Susan left, the agreement between her and Timothy was that she quit, but there was a non-disclosure agreement in place? Possibly even a payout was involved?”
“Yet the money runs out six years later. Being a single mother, or father for that matter, isn’t an easy endeavor. Or cheap. That’s why she asked him for some more.” Monica walked over to the coffee alcove.
It was the way Monica spoke of being a single parent that made Sandra wonder if they had this in common. Sandra recalled how Monica had looked at her during the negotiation at Founders Hospital. She’d met Sandra’s eye when they found out the mother of a dying girl was a single parent. While her daughter, Olivia, had been a surprise, Sandra had a support system and the financial means to provide for her. She certainlywasn’t going to settle for marrying Olivia’s father just because. He was a stand-up man, but Sandra didn’t see forever with him.
“Right. So Susan turns up at Timothy’s door. Meanwhile, he thought he got rid of her and the affair, only for it to turn up in his face,” Donny said.
“He could have had enough, seen it as blackmail as we floated earlier, figured he needed to shut her up for good,” Gibson put in. “Just make it look like an accident, and it would be swept under the rug.”
“More like drag good people down with him by paying them off to look the other way and destroy evidence.” Kreiger lifted his hands. “I realize I got my back up earlier with Birch. It’s just that corrupt cops piss me off, and I hate to think of any of my fellow brothers that way. But they exist, and there are rotten apples in every PD.”
“That applies to people in general. You’ve got the good ones and the bad.” Monica returned to her desk with her coffee. She blew on it and took a sip.
“And let’s say we’re right about any of this, I doubt Timothy would have gotten his own hands dirty with murder. He’d want deniability,” Sandra said.
“Then you’re suggesting he hired someone to cause the accident?” Neal asked.
“Sure. It doesn’t even need to be in the sense of ordering a stranger to do a hit. A powerful man like Timothy would have a righthand man he turned to, someone on the payroll who would do his bidding, no matter what that might be.”A fixer…Sandra could make sense of all of this in her mind. Proving this after thirty-three years was the sticky point. It became even more difficult with missing documentation and photographs.
“Regardless, whoever did this has no scruples. A five-year-old kid was in the backseat.” Monica cradled her coffee mug with both hands as if seeking comfort from it.
“Money can make people cross moral lines.” Kreiger stood to stretch.
Sandra was assimilating everything that was being discussed in the back of her mind, weighing how she would use it in talking with Ryan Crawford. “Ryan tells us he wants the truth to come out. Let’s see if he’s willing to take part in that endeavor at all. I’m going to call him.”
Everyone got into position for the call. Gibson even abandoned pulling backgrounds on the other secretaries, slipped on his headset, and nodded he was ready.
Sandra called the Hanson residential line. It rang three times before Ryan picked it up.
“Have you found out the truth yet?”
“We’ve found some things out, Ryan. Your mother’s crash wasn’t an accident.” She didn’t want to lead with his father being Timothy Hanson.
There were a few seconds of silence, then, “You know that now? Did you find the evidence to back that up?”
“The detective is still compiling everything together. To be honest with you, he has found things that flag in the file. But, please, know there are no promises here.”
“Well, if he’s any good at his job, he’ll learn that the Hansons have built their lives on lies.”
Ryan’s voice was full of loathing. Was some of it directed at himself? Due to his aunt’s letter, he’d know Timothy was his father, a man he clearly detested. “What lies?” She had asked this to show she was listening and to draw him out.
“You tell me, Special Agent.”
“I can only tell you what we believe to be true. You’ll need to tell me if we’re right, Ryan.” She wanted to add this disclaimer before she said more.
“I will.”
“Your mother used to work for Timothy Hanson. She was his secretary?” She voiced it as a question, starting with a simple fact, neutral territory.
