Mr. Norwood tugged on his tie, and then swiped a handkerchief across his mouth. Poor man. Confirming a loved one had died was always the hardest part of her job. However, telling the family she’d identified their family member often brought them needed comfort, but apparently not in this case.
He took a deep breath. “We thought Stanton was the perfect man for Janet. Successful and part of a good family, he seemed to adore her. She married him when she was only twenty and still in school.” He licked his lips and dragged a hand over his mouth. “Stanton was heading up the corporate ladder. They were happy at first, until she announced she didn’t want children. Janet told her mom Stetson had gone berserk. She implied he’d gotten rough with her, though she refused to tell us much more.”
Kerry guessed the getting rough part involved breaking her jaw. “Did she live nearby?”
“No. She and Stanton lived in Connecticut. You have to understand, my daughter was the independent sort. She attended Yale and graduated at the top of her class. Stanton needed to control everything around him, including my daughter.”
“How did Janet react to her husband’s demands?” Hunter said.
“React? Hell, she fought back against the constraint.” Norwood shook his head. “After being pushed around too many times to count, she left him, left his money, and came home.”
“I bet that pissed off Mr. Grayson,” Hunter said.
“That’s putting it mildly. Nobody makes a fool of Stanton Grayson III. The bastard followed her here and attacked her one night when Sharon and I were attending the symphony. That’s when he broke her jaw.”
Just as Kerry was about to ask a question, Hunter placed a hand on her knee, indicating he wanted to continue. His touch jerked her out of the conversation for a minute. Stop reacting to his every contact.
“Mr. Norwood, where is her ex-husband now?” Hunter asked.
Was he thinking Stanton Grayson could be the serial killer? Her muscles froze.
Norwood shook his head. “I haven’t heard from him since the incident. I imagine he’s back in Connecticut. Why? Do you think he killed my little girl?”
“I may need to contact him.” Hunter wrote something in his pad, and then looked up. “Were charges filed for battery?”
“No. We made a deal. He promised to stay away from Janet if we didn’t press charges. As much as I hated him for hurting my daughter, he and I both understood his career would have been ruined if we had filed.”
Norwood should be thinking more of his daughter and less about something bad happening to her abusive ex-husband.
“And did he?” Hunter asked. “Stay away from her?”
“As far as I know, he did.”
Kerry believed Norwood wasn’t telling them the whole truth, especially in regards to his strange reason for protecting Stanton. “You mentioned Janet and you were estranged. What happened?” she jumped in. Seems like the assault would have brought them closer.
His jaw hardened. He remained silent for so long, she wondered if he would answer.
“Janet was a bright girl. She worked at a bonds desk at a large bank here in Tampa and did very well for the two years after her divorce from Stanton. As a matter of fact, that’s where she met her second husband, David Kopetski. He seemed like a real nice guy—at first. He was nothing like Stanton, I’d thought.” He loosened his tie. “Boy was I wrong.”
“How so?” she said, keeping her tone soft.
“Sharon started noticing the bruises on Janet’s arms, legs, and neck about five months into their marriage. Janet figured out long before my wife or I that David was as manipulative as her first husband. My daughter decided to leave before he seriously hurt her.” He hung his head and ran both hands over his head. “God, it sickens me. I should have helped her, should have seen how desperate she was.”
“Sir?”
“Instead of coming to me for the money to leave David, she embezzled the bank’s funds. She was desperate to escape the vicious cycle of abusive men and knew how much it would cost to start a new life someplace else.” He tunneled his fingers and touched the index fingers to his lips.
Kerry could guess the result. “And she got caught.”
“Yes.”
“Is that when you lost contact with your daughter?” Hunter asked.
“I’m ashamed to say, yes.” He locked his gaze with Kerry. “I’ll never be able to tell her I’m sorry.” Norwood leaned back in his chair. His cheeks sagged. “You have to understand. I’m a lawyer. I was too embarrassed to let my clients or my cohorts know I had a daughter in prison. What kind of father would that have made me?” He dropped his head into his hands, and his back heaved. Mr. Norwood sat back and wiped the tears from his cheek. “I never should have turned my back on her.”
Kerry agreed. Someone needed to protect Janet after Stanton hurt her. She wondered what information the ex-husband held over Mr. Norwood’s head.
Norwood cleared his throat. “I knew the exact date and time when Janet was scheduled to be released from prison, but by then, she wouldn’t talk to either me or my wife. In fact, she demanded we stay away. When I didn’t hear from her after her release, I figured she was still mad at us and had moved on. My wife and I never even knew if Janet succeeded in divorcing him. When David Kopetski wouldn’t talk to us, we just figured Janet finally disappeared like she’d wanted to.”
Poor Mr. Norwood. “That must have been tough.”
“Deep in my heart,” he continued. “I knew something bad had happened to her.” His chin trembled. “Now I know why she never answered our calls or letters.”
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Norwood,” Kerry said. “If I could ask you one more question. Recently, Janet had a broken collarbone. Do you know how that happened?”
His mouth dropped open. “A broken collarbone? No, I knew nothing about that. Perhaps she injured herself in prison.”
Hunter kept writing. When he finished, he looked up. “We’ll check it out. Thank you for your time.” He handed Mr. Norwood a business card. “I put my cell phone number on the back in case you think of anything.”
Kerry touched Hunter’s arm. “One more question if you don’t mind? Do you know the name of Janet’s dentist? I’d like to compare her dental charts with the X-rays of her mouth to be sure we have a match.”
Mr. Norwood took a moment before he answered. “No, I’m sorry. There wouldn’t be two women with that tattoo, would there? It’s so unique. There’s no other boat with the name of Brandywine in the area. At least, not that I’ve seen.”
“We want to be sure.”
“Okay.” He checked the time. “I’ll contact my wife tomorrow morning—time zone differences—and see what she can tell us.”
Hunter thanked him again for his help and led Kerry outside. The air was muggy and warm, but a refreshing spray from the driveway fountain blew over her face as they headed to the cruiser.
“There’s something funny about that guy,” she said.
“How so?”
“It’s almost as if he’s in cahoots with his former son-in-law. He should have reported the abuse to the authorities. Do you think he had anything to do with Janet’s death?”
“The father?”
She wanted to strangle Hunter. “Yes, the father.”
“Everyone is a suspect until proven innocent.”
Good answer. “So now what do we do?”
He glanced over at her. The moonlight reflected off his strong face.
“I take you home.”
“Oh.” She liked being with Hunter in search of the horrid person who killed these innocent women. Hunter seemed so in control, so safe, so comforting. “I appreciate you letting me come with you. I know it was against the rules.”
The entire time they were interviewing Mr. Norwood, she’d completely forgotten about the angry caller.
“You were a help,” he said. “Thank you.”
Embarrassed by his unexpected compliment, she changed the subject. “What happens tomorrow? Are we going to follow up with Kopetski?”
He opened the cruiser door for her and she slid in. Once she snapped on the seat belt, he leaned his head in close enough for her to kiss him—not that she would. It might be nice to taste his lips though. Just once. But not until she knew for sure he didn’t have a wife.