Chapter 11
ELEVEN
“Do you think that Timothy Hanson killed someone, Ryan?” Sandra wanted to draw him out, get some context to his accusation. She ignored all the eyes and ears on this conversation. Kreiger, especially, who was back in the vehicle.
“You’ll know soon enough for yourself what I think. You say you reopened the investigation into my mother’s death. That will tell you everything. It’s time my mother gets the justice she deserves.”
Is he trying to tell me Timothy Hanson was involved in his mother’s accident? “Do you think Timothy killed her?”
“You tell me.”
“You told us that Timothy was a killer, but if your problem is with him, why target Edward and his family, Ryan? What have they done to you?”
“They are covering up the sins of the… father.” The latter bit came out seconds behind the rest of the sentence, as if his line of thought had been broken.
“Ryan?”
But he was gone.
“I wish to hell we had eyes on the inside to see what was going on in there,” Kreiger griped.
Sandra tried calling back, but there was no answer.
“I don’t like this one bit, Vos,” Kreiger said.
“I don’t think any of us do, but we need to show some patience here. Since we can’t see what’s going on inside, we can’t make any assumptions. Going in blind is even more dangerous.” At least that’s how she saw it. The grimace on Kreiger’s face showed he didn’t agree.
“He’s being so vague, like this is a game to him.” Gibson shook his head.
“I don’t think there was anything vague about him. And it’s certainly not a game to him.” She witnessed the opposite—a burning passion stoked by fury. “Why bring Timothy Hanson up, tell us he’s a killer unless he blames him for his mother’s death?”
“Even if he does, it’s his word against a dead man’s. The file shows it was an unfortunate accident,” Kreiger said. “He’s grasping to accept her death.”
Sandra could argue things weren’t always as they first appeared. She didn’t think it was worth getting into it with Kreiger. “The fact there wasn’t an initial investigation into a fatal crash flags for me. Like maybe there was more to it.”
“I’m with Sandra,” Monica said, and shrugged when Kreiger narrowed his eyes at her.
“Ryan’s terminology has also changed. It went from truth to justice.” Others might see it as a fine variance, but it was vast to her. The latter resulted in consequences. “He doesn’t just want people to know what happened, he wants there to be a reckoning for it.”
“Or, as he sees it, revenge,” Kreiger spat. “And not even on the man he holds responsible. Ask me, Ryan doesn’t plan to let the Hansons live. He might not even care if he walks away.”
At this point they couldn’t know how committed Ryan was to his cause, how far he would go. Yet he hadn’t given her anything to indicate he was suicidal or geared toward self-harm. “I don’t see any reason to leap there.”
“For all we know, Edward might be guilty of something we still need to discover,” Donny suggested. “I’m with Sandra. There is too much uncertainty to make an informed conclusion.”
Gibson stood and updated the board.
Wants justice, someone to be accountable for SC’s accident. Revenge at his hand or arrests?
“Just from the little I’ve observed, I don’t think what we’re seeing today is typical of his character.
He may even feel a compulsion to be here.
Possibly to appease the memory of his mother, set things right.
But he showed a softer nature earlier. A man bent on violence, who is comfortable with it, would never say thank you.
” Sandra felt the need to circle back, to soften Ryan in Kreiger’s eyes.
Help him see that Ryan wasn’t the hostage taker from the case that haunted him.
Kreiger flashed her a tight smile. “Yet he makes demands and expects them to be met. Which, may I point out, you did while not receiving anything in return. Do you not think he’s capable of pulling the trigger?”
Sometimes it’s part of the dance… “I think everyone is capable of murder given the right circumstances and provocation. We also can’t ignore how he breached a family’s home while carrying.
That shows some intent.” She wasn’t about to sugarcoat Ryan’s actions.
Her job wasn’t to paint a rosy picture but to share the truth as she interpreted it from the evidence.
Monica cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “Am I the only one who’s curious what Mr. Hanson was reading from?”
The shift in topic was welcome. Before Sandra could speak, Kreiger did.
“For all we know, it’s just something this lunatic drafted up,” he said.
While Sandra appreciated the failed crisis incident from his past would be tormenting him, beckoning him to make different choices, she wished he’d just cool it. “I don’t think it was anything he wrote. Now this is just a theory, but the statement Edward read was in present tense.”
Donny nodded, and picked up Sandra’s thought. “Meaning that Timothy Hanson was alive at the time the letter was written.”
“Precisely. Now bear with me here. The death of his aunt was three weeks ago, and Timothy Hanson’s was only a week ago.
There’s nothing to indicate that Ryan petitioned to get his mother’s case reopened before today.
But remember he mentioned he was lied to all his life.
There’s only one thing I can think of that might explain all of this.
The aunt left him a letter to open after she passed. ”
“Saying he’s not going to take being lied to anymore suggests he did just learn of something recently that shattered his world view,” Monica weighed in.
“So maybe it’s this letter he had Edward read from,” Donny said.
“If that’s the case, did Teresa Crawford suggest that Timothy Hanson orchestrated the accident that killed her sister? And if that’s what she thought, why did she stay silent all these years?” Neal said.
“And why did Ryan wait a couple of weeks to act on his newfound knowledge?” Monica volleyed back.
“He needed time to process what she told him and decide how he wanted to respond. Then seeing the news of Timothy’s death could have triggered him.” The latter seemed likely to Sandra. The fact he used the estate lawyer ruse to gain access confirmed Ryan knew Timothy was dead.
Kreiger puffed out a deep breath. “We’re just talking out our asses here. There’s nothing to prove any of this.”
“You’re right,” Sandra agreed. “But as I said a moment ago, the strong possibility exists that there is a letter from the aunt. Possibly a deathbed confessional of sorts that laid everything out.”
“I’d say our next step is seeing if we can even connect Susan Crawford to Timothy Hanson.
” Neal snapped his fingers. “Gibson, dig into that specifically, see what you can find out. Also, see if you can track down any friends of Teresa Crawford’s.
While she might have kept things from Ryan, she could have mentioned something to them.
They might even be able to tell us if there was a letter. ”
Gibson spun to face his computer again.
“I can look into the friends,” Sandra offered.
Gibson held up a thumb to acknowledge her.
Neal’s phone rang, and he informed the team it was Officer Moore. He didn’t put her on speaker, but his face blanched while he listened. After a few seconds, he hung up and filled them in about the red X through Edward Hanson’s face.
Kreiger turned to Sandra. “You still think you can get him to surrender before there’s a bloodbath in there?”