“Giving him eyes everywhere,” Donny said.
That sounded like more incentive not to attempt a breach. “What’s the status on officers posing as reporters?” She directed this at Kreiger.
“I have two ERT officers willing to go undercover. We’re working on securing a camera, and one of them will pose as its operator. Have you got the HT to agree to doing this whole thing outside?”
“I haven’t even broached that subject yet,” she admitted. “It’s a delicate dance, and I need to wait until the timing is just right.”
Neal entered the vehicle, breaking up the conversation. He’d stepped out a few minutes ago. “I’ve got Officer Green on the phone with an update on one of those secretaries from the top floor,” he told everyone, then prompted his caller, “Go ahead.”
“So I spoke with Beatrice Sullivan.” A man’s voice came over the line. “She remembered Susan well. Said that she was a kind woman who took her job seriously. But she also shared that Susan was hugging the toilet and sensitive to smells not long before she left Hanson Property Development.”
“She was pregnant when she quit,” Monica said. “Morning sickness starts around week six.”
Everyone looked at her.
“My sister. I’ve never been pregnant.”
And that could answer my earlier curiosity. Is Monica’s sister a single parent?
“Thanks for the update.” Neal’s comment could have been directed sarcastically at Monica, but Sandra read it as him speaking to the officer. Green must have too because he said “No problem” and was gone.
Neal’s phone rang immediately afterward. One glance at his screen, followed by, “Here we go again. Officer Smith? I’ve got you on speaker with the negotiation team.”
“I just finished talking with Hilda Beal,” a man said, “and you’ll want to hear this. According to her, Timothy Hanson cornered her in the lunchroom one day when no one was around. He backed her against the wall and fondled her breasts. At the time she was too terrified to move, even as his hands traveled down her thighs to the hem of her skirt.”
Sandra inched forward on her chair. “Did he rape her?”
“Someone came into the lunchroom and interrupted things, but Hilda strongly feels that was Hanson’s intention.”
Whoa.“What happened next?”
“Hilda reported the incident to her boss.”
“Good on her,” Monica cheered.
“Sure, but standing up for herself ended up getting her fired. She said that all these years she’s thought of coming forwardpublicly against Timothy but was afraid of what else might happen to her.”
If they were right about why Susan Crawford died, Hilda had valid reason to fear the man.
“Anything else?” Neal asked the officer.
“That’s it.”
“Well, that’s a bigit.Thanks.” Neal ended the call and looked over everyone in the vehicle. “Anyone else getting a bad feeling about all that Timothy Hanson might have done to Susan?” Before anyone could respond, his phone rang again. “It’s Officer Moore. Coleman,” he answered on speaker.
“You’re not going to believe this…” Moore filled them in on her conversation with Heather Wainscott. It mirrored what they’d just heard from Officer Smith about his conversation with Hilda. Both painted Timothy as a predator.
“We just heard something similar from another secretary.” Neal gave her a quick recap on Hilda Beal’s statement.
“Wow, okay. That’s good to know,” Moore said.
“This is the first mention of Rhonda Stein though. I want you to have a chat with her, and when you’re finished, swing by the corporate office and see if you can talk to Timothy’s last secretary, as well.”
“You got it.”
Neal pocketed his phone. “We considered that Susan and Timothy were having an affair, but it’s sounding far worse than that.”
“I’m just going to say it,” Kreiger interjected. “It’s possible that Timothy Hanson may have raped Susan Crawford based on what we’ve just heard.”
