“There were calls to the police, domestic calls, when they were fighting. It wasn’t that much of a secret.”
“The public face of abuse is very different than the private. Look at OJ and Nicole. No one wanted to believe that their hero was an obsessed narcissist who slit her throat.”
“Did Ethan know you knew?”
“I don’t know.” A small sob escaped Brookes’s lips. “This is why I called. The email, and... I’ve been getting strange phone calls the past few days. Hang-ups, from a number I don’t recognize. I’m worried.”
“Do you have the number?”
“Yes. I’ll write it down for you.”
“Do you think Ethan might try and hurt you?”
“Like he did Sutton?” A little gasp, her hand over her mouth. “I mean, we don’t know for sure that he has hurt her. But I can’t see any other truth. Think about it. He waited for hours to tell anyone she was gone—and that’s according to him. It was the weekend. She could have been gone for much longer. None of us saw her in the few days before she left. Her last email to me was on Friday. He could easily be lying about when she actually disappeared. Combined with the abuse, the fear—Sutton was constantly afraid of him—it’s frightening. Alarming, really.”
“I will admit, it was odd to show up to take the report and see he’d already hired a lawyer. It doesn’t help his case.”
Ivy blushed. “Um...that was my fault. He suggested it and I agreed it was a good idea. I was still protecting him, protecting them. At the time, I didn’t think Sutton was in danger, and I didn’t want him to be railroaded. Looking back, if he wasn’t guilty, he would have told me I was insane and not done it.”
“Can I see that number now?”
Ivy handed over her phone. Holly copied down the number.
“I’ll look into this, Ms. Brookes. See if I can trace who might be calling you. Would you please forward me the email Sutton sent on Friday? That will help.”
“Yes, I will.”
Holly caught the barest hesitation in her statement. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
Brookes’s eyes cast down. She planted her hands palms down on the counter, took a deep breath through her nose, let it out in a whoosh. “The baby.”
“Dashiell. He died last year, of SIDS, according to the autopsy report. They found no cause to think he was hurt by the parents.”
“I know what the autopsy said. But Sutton told me she thought Ethan killed the baby.”
The password. Ethan killed our baby.
“Why? Why did she believe this?”
Brookes stared at her a moment, assessing. She chewed her lip, which oddly made her look like a little girl, then held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared down the hallway, came back a few moments later, clutching something small in her hand. She presented it to Holly with all the grace of a cat depositing a dead mouse, practically threw it at her.
It was a bottle of liquid diphenhydramine.
“What’s this?”
“Sutton found it in the baby’s room. Hidden, in the closet, behind an old stack of clothes Dashiell had outgrown. They were getting ready to donate them. It’s generic Benadryl.”
“I’m not following, ma’am.”
“They didn’t test the baby for this.”
“I saw the autopsy report. There was nothing that indicated anything was amiss. SIDS does happen.”
“It didn’t in this case. Ethan gave the baby Benadryl to quiet him. They’d had a huge fight, I already told you that. Sutton went out. Ethan couldn’t get the baby to stop crying. He dosed him, and it killed him.”
“The tox screen didn’t show that.”
“Then the tox screen wasn’t done properly. I watch those shows on television. I know you can do testing after the fact. You have tissue samples on file. Have them tested again. You’ll see. It was from this bottle. Sutton found it in the closet, and she gave it to me right away for protection.”
“It was hidden away?”
“Yes. And trust me, this is an anomaly. They don’t believe in drugs. They don’t believe in anything that isn’t totally pure, organic, healthy. The both of them are fitness nuts.”
“Except for the alcohol.”
“Everything in moderation. Sutton was never a big drinker. Ethan has food allergies. They were really clean. They’d never give the baby drugs. They barely take anything themselves.”
“I have a question.”
“Anything. Anything that will help find her. Anything that will stop him.”
“If he’s this horrible monster you portray, why stay friends with the man? You were the first one he called, right? You were there when the police arrived, giving moral support.”
Brookes’s eyes shone with tears. “I’m scared of what he might do if I try to pull away. I’ve had to keep an eye on them. I’ve been watching to make sure she was okay. It might not make sense to you, but I couldn’t come forward then. But I have to now. I can’t sit back any longer. He’s evil. I know he hurt her, just like I know he hurt the baby. Ethan is a showman. He’s a brilliant actor. I’ve always wondered...”
“What? Go on.”
Brookes started fiddling with an apple, left out on the counter, a snack interrupted. She was clearly debating something. Finally, she said, “I think Ethan was trying to drive Sutton mad. I am not a computer expert, so I have no way of tracking this down and proving it, but I think Ethan might have been the one who hacked Sutton’s account and was riling up the reviewer. I think he was the one who said all those horrible things.
“After Dashiell...he wanted to destroy her. He blamed her. Even if it was him who gave the drugs, he blamed her for leaving that night. For not wanting a child in the first place. For being who she was. He tried to conform her into his perfect little wife, but Sutton has a wild streak. She’s always fighting herself. She hated being tied down, and the whole concept of marriage and two point four kids and a dog was the opposite of what she ever wanted. Ethan was slowly strangling her.”
“Is there anyone who can corroborate this, Ms. Brookes?”
“Her mother will. They weren’t close, they fought all the time, but she’ll tell you. She’s always known Ethan for who and what he is. A tyrant.”
Brookes began to cry now, large tears gently rolling down her face. “I should have told you sooner. I was hoping she had just taken off for a few days to piss him off. But this doesn’t feel right to me. After that email... God, why didn’t I see it Friday, when I could have helped? I’m afraid for her, Officer Graham. Truly afraid.”
Holly nodded. “This is a huge help. Thank you for your honesty, for being willing to give up your friendship with the Montclairs to do the right thing. I will follow up on all of this, I swear. I will need you to come to the station and give a full report. On the record. Are you willing to do that?”
Brookes sighed and nodded. “Yes. I’m willing to go on the record.”
“Good. I’ll get that scheduled as soon as possible. In the meantime, limit your contact with Mr. Montclair. Do you have any trips planned? I know you travel quite a bit.”