Daniel Annechino - Hypocrisy

Hansen thought about that for a long time before she responded. “What guarantee do I have that if I cooperate you’ll keep your end of the bargain?”

“Look, Ms. Hansen,” T.J. said. “This is what we do each and every day: make deals and plea bargain. What kind of credibility do you think we’d have if we didn’t stick by our word? What do you think the media would do if they knew that cops were coercing suspects into making confessions under false pretenses?” T.J. looked at his watch. “It’s now or never.”

Hansen nervously drummed her fingers on the table. Her eyes shot back and forth between Dupree and T.J. “It was Gallo and Adelman who approached me right after Dr. Crawford fired me. Dr. Mason had nothing to do with it. Adelman and Gallo were manipulating him and he was clueless. Gallo and Adelman wanted Dr. Crawford out of the way. Gallo knew that Jonathan was in desperate need of money and that he would do just about anything to line his pockets with hundred-dollar bills. Gallo also knew that Jonathan rubbed elbows with an unsavory crowd. So, Gallo paid him one-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars to find someone willing to steal Dr. Crawford’s computer.”

“ Steal her computer?” Dupree said. “Why did she end up dead?”

“That’s where I came in. Once Jonathan found someone willing to steal her computer, it was my job to convince him to kill her.”

“You hated Dr. Crawford so much that you would actually arrange her murder?” Dupree said.

“It wasn’t about hate; it was about opportunity. Adelman gave me seven-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars to get the job done and didn’t care how much of the money I paid the killer. The guy was an idiot, so I took advantage of his stupidity and only paid him one-hundred-thousand.”

“And the rest ended up in a Cayman bank?” Dupree said.

Hansen nodded.

“Wait a minute here,” T.J. said. “What the hell would lead you to believe that you could turn a common thief into a murderer? That just doesn’t make sense.”

“Hey, you two are cops, so you should know something about the criminal mind. For the right payoff, a guy like Cassano would slit his own mother’s throat. When you’ve got the bad seed, you’re capable of anything. Besides, if Cassano had refused, we would have found someone else. New York is a haven for violent people looking for an opportunity to live the American dream.”

Certain that Hansen sent the two letters, one with the catstew comment, and the other with ricin, Dupree found it difficult to sit across from her without reaching across the table and grabbing her by the throat. “So you arranged to have Dr. Crawford murdered for six-hundred-fifty K? That’s what you think a brilliant scientist’s life is worth?”

“That was chump change compared to the future payoff.”

“Explain,” Dupree said.

“This was the deal: I get rid of Dr. Crawford, then Adelman and Gallo talk Dr. Mason into rehiring me and putting me in charge of the research operations for a six-figure paycheck. Granted, I’m not on the same level as Dr. Crawford, but Mason knows I have enough knowledge to move forward with the research and clinical trials, so it was an easy sale. And if we ran into any roadblocks, Gallo was our go-to-guy with the FDA. Here’s the big payoff. Once everything was signed, sealed, and delivered to the FDA, they approved our drug and treatment plan, and we distributed our products worldwide, the floodgates would open and Mason, Adelman, Gallo, and I get filthy rich—richer than anything you could ever imagine.”

“But if Mason wasn’t part of the conspiracy,” Dupree said, “why would you three want to include him in the big payoff?”

“What choice did we have? We needed his approval in the first place or the partnership would have never happened. Besides, the earning potential was staggering. What’s the difference between a few million one way or the other?”

Dupree and T.J. glanced at each other. Dupree had to ask a question about Jonathan Lentz, but she had to be careful. She didn’t want to let on that she knew Hansen had murdered Lentz.

“What about Jonathan Lentz? Where does he fit in?”

“He doesn’t. His only part in this plan was to find the right person to steal Dr. Crawford’s computer.”

“But what about the two of you?” Dupree asked. “Aren’t you… involved ?”

“That’s ancient history.”

The three of them exchanged glances.

“Well, I gave you the whole story,” Hansen said. “You’ve got Gallo and Adelman by the nuts. What happens now? When do you talk to the DA about reducing the charges?”

“We’ll get to work on it right away,” Dupree said.

After spending nearly forty-five minutes listening to Hansen’s unbelievable story and getting a sworn statement, Dupree and T.J. mentally prepared themselves for round two.

“So,” T.J. said, “do you believe Hansen’s claim that Mason was not a part of this?”

“I’ve had a feeling from the onset of this investigation that he was involved, but now I’m not convinced.”

“I guess once we put him on the hot seat,” T.J. said, “we’ll know for sure.” He tasted his coffee. “By the way, I figured out why you didn’t want to mention Lentz’s murder to Hansen. Very clever. The plea bargain didn’t include Lentz’s murder, so I’d guess that you plan to nail her little ass with murder one?”

Dupree saluted T.J. with her coffee. “Bravo. There’s hope for you yet. Seriously, I don’t know if the DA’s going to go for M-one, but M-two should be a slam dunk.”

“But you know that Hansen is going to cry foul and retract her testimony,” T.J. said. “Even though she gave up Gallo, and Adelman, and made a full confession on video, her attorney no doubt will claim that we coerced it out of her.”

“That’s why we need to push Mason hard and get confessions from Gallo and Adelman.”

“That’s not going to be easy.”

“No, but it’ll be interesting.” Dupree rolled her shoulders and tried to work the knot out of her neck. “Here’s what I think we should do. First, you and I will interview Gallo. When we’re finished with him, Parisi and I will tackle Mason, and Wells and you can go to work on Adelman. What do you think?”

“Sounds like a workable plan.”

For several minutes, Dupree and T.J. were lost in their private thoughts.

“I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this whole case,” Dupree said. “It’s unimaginable to me that a high-level director from the FDA and the CEO of the biggest pharmaceutical company on the planet could commit such a horrific crime.”

“Hey,” T.J. said. “Fame and fortune are powerful motivators.”

At ten fifteen a.m., Dupree, sitting at her desk, anxiously drumming a pen on a yellow legal pad, spotted Parisi and Wells entering the precinct. Just ahead of them were three men, one of whom was Dr. Mason. The other two men, she presumed, were Adelman and Gallo.

Looking over at T.J., Dupree whispered, “It’s show time, partner.”

Dupree and T.J. stood and approached the five men.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Dupree said, trying to be as pleasant and non-threatening as possible. “I’m Detective Dupree and this is Detective Brown. We’ve met Dr. Mason, but haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting either of you.”

Pointing, Mason said, “This is Michael Adelman, CEO of Hyland Laboratories and this is Dominic Gallo, Deputy Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.”

Dupree and T.J. exchanged handshakes with the two men. Dupree observed that Gallo seemed calm and at ease, but Adelman was noticeably nervous.

“I know that you’re very busy men and we appreciate you taking the time to meet—”