“Call it what you will,” T.J. said. “We’re merely here to gather information.”
“Fair enough. Tell me what you want to know.”
“How long were you employed at Horizon?” Dupree asked.
“Nearly three years.”
“And during the three years, did you work directly for Dr. Crawford?” Dupree asked.
Hansen nodded. “I reported to her and only her.”
“Did you interact with Dr. Mason at all?” Dupree asked.
“Not really. He participated in our morning meetings and weekly brainstorming sessions to discuss the latest developments, but the bulk of my relationship with him was seeing him in the break room when I was having lunch or getting a cup of coffee.”
“As I understand it,” Dupree said, “Dr. Crawford and you parted company about a month ago, correct?”
“Thirty-four days ago, to be exact.”
“Can you tell us why Dr. Crawford let you go?” T.J. asked.
Hansen laughed. “No reason to walk on eggshells here. She didn’t ‘let me go’, she fired me. And you want to know why? Because I missed a deadline by one day.”
“Can you be more specific?” T.J. said.
“I was working on a report that compiled statistics on a specific clinical study, and Dr. Crawford asked that I have these spreadsheets and graphs completed in three days. I worked my ass off to get them done—coming into work early and staying late—but there were a few components missing from the statistics that prevented me from completing the assignment on time. Now bear in mind that this was through no fault of my own. It was merely a logistic problem. Dr. Crawford asked me to deliver the report to her no later than May 25th at five p.m. and I completed them on May 26th around noon. When I set the report on her desk and apologized for not meeting the deadline, she didn’t even make eye contact with me. She just kept her eyes focused on whatever she was reading and said, ‘Your work performance is unacceptable. This project is way too important for me to employ slackers. Gather your personal things and I want you out of here in thirty minutes’.
“I was absolutely stunned. Speechless. When I tried to reason with her, she wanted no part of it. I got loud. She got loud. And the next thing I know, two security guards accompanied me to my office, watched me pack up my personal belongings, and then escorted me to the front door. I felt like a criminal.”
“Did you threaten her in any way?” Dupree asked.
“I called her a bitch and yelled something, but honestly don’t remember what I said. I was a little shell-shocked.”
“The way I understand it,” Dupree said, “you said, ‘You haven’t seen the last of me, bitch’. Do you remember saying that?”
“Look, I don’t know what the hell I said. But what I do know is that yes, she was a bitch, and no, I didn’t kill her.” Hansen paused for a minute, her hands trembling. “You know the worst part? I had just turned down a job offer from Hyland Laboratories that would have doubled my salary. Doubled my salary! What did my selfless loyalty get me? If I don’t find a job soon, I’ll be living in the streets in six months.” Hansen let out a heavy sigh. “You want to know why I passed on this opportunity with Hyland? Because I truly believed in what Dr. Crawford was trying to do. I had heard so many wonderful things about her, that she was very generous and a genuinely nice person. And that may be the case in her personal life. But I can tell you this—and you can verify my story with anyone who worked for her—in the work environment, she was a different animal. An unforgiving tyrant. A woman so driven by her passion to find a new treatment for cancer that she operated Horizon like a fucking concentration camp. Everybody, and I mean everybody—even Dr. Mason—trembled in their boots when she walked by.” Hansen was noticeably upset. “I moved here from my hometown in Virginia, left my family and lifelong friends to work with Dr. Crawford. And where am I now? Alone and soon I’ll be standing in the breadline.”
Dupree eyeballed T.J. and she could tell by the look on his face that he too remembered that Dr. Mason had told them that Hyland Laboratories attempted to partner with Horizon, but Dr. Crawford had vetoed the idea.
“Tell me, Ms. Hansen,” T.J. said, “can you think of anyone who would want to physically harm Dr. Crawford?”
“Well, I think most of her employees had fantasies about flattening the tires on her car. But murder her?” Hansen paused again and looked past the detectives at something in the distance. “All I can say is that this woman was on the threshold of discovering something revolutionary. Something that would turn the whole medical industry on its ear. Lots of people in healthcare stood to gain a great deal if Dr. Crawford’s theories proved true. But there were also those who would lose—and lose big time.”
“Can you explain why?” Dupree asked, reasonably sure she knew what Hansen would say.
“Cancer research, cancer treatment, cancer prevention is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Do you have any idea how many people are employed just because there is no real cure for cancer? Do you have any idea how much the pharmaceutical industry makes treating cancer patients with chemotherapy drugs? Can you even begin to imagine how many hundreds of research centers there are worldwide just like Horizon that are funded by the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, other non-profit organizations, and private investors? How about radiology, oncology, surgery? If Dr. Crawford’s clinical research validated her theories, if she had developed an effective treatment for cancer, the entire landscape of cancer research and treatment would dramatically change. I don’t buy into conspiracy theories. But when the stakes are this high, anything is possible.”
There was a long stillness as both detectives processed Hansen’s little speech.
“Do you really believe that there are people or organizations in healthcare that would actually try to suppress the cure for cancer?” T.J. asked.
“In my opinion, money and power could have corrupted even Gandhi and Mother Teresa.”
Dupree glanced at T.J. and noticed a strange look on his face.
“One more question and we’ll be out of your hair,” Dupree said. “I don’t mean to insult you but I have to ask if you’ve ever been arrested.”
Hansen laughed. “I don’t even kill spiders.”
“Me neither,” Dupree said. “I let my cats take care of them.”
Dupree reached into her purse and handed Hansen a business card. “If anything at all comes to mind—no matter how seemingly insignificant—please give me a call. We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us.”
Hansen opened the door for the detectives. Dupree stopped and turned around. “One more thing. Did Dr. Crawford and you have any prior conflicts?”
Hansen hesitated for a long time. “I don’t know if I would call our little spats conflicts, but to put it crudely, let’s just say that Dr. Crawford regularly chewed on my ass.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
After interviewing Hansen, Dupree and T.J. compared notes.
“Peculiar gal,” T.J. said. “Not how I pictured a scientist. And that accent just doesn’t fit.”
“That was my immediate thought as soon as she opened her mouth,” Dupree agreed.
“Interesting coincidence that Hyland Laboratories not only tried to partner with Horizon, but also tried to recruit Hansen,” T.J. said.
“I think it’s more than just interesting.”
“I can’t envision Hansen involved in a conspiracy to commit murder,” T.J. said. “Just doesn’t seem the type.”
“Neither was Ted Bundy.”
“Not quite a fair comparison.”
“All I’m saying,” Dupree said, “is that if you want someone dead, you don’t have to look like a murderer to commit murder. You just need a motive and a set of balls.” Dupree’s thumbs went to work on her iPhone.