Chapter 6
"It’s my understanding you’ve been out of town," I said.
Ford Hollingsworth nodded, still in a daze.
"What time did you get home this morning?"
"Did your wife work?"
He shook his head.
"When did you discover the body?"
Ford took a deep breath. "I called out for Whitney, but she didn't answer. I went upstairs and found her in the bedroom like that. At first, I thought it was some kind of prank. But when I touched her skin, she was so cold," he said, his lip trembling. His eyes filled again.
"Did you attempt CPR or anything?"
He shook his head. "No. I mean, I just figured she had been dead for a while. Like I said, her skin was like an ice cube.”
"Tell me about the drugs.”
A frown tensed his face. Flustered, he said, "I don't really know. I mean, I know she would take a little something here and there for anxiety."
"Did she have a prescription for that?"
"No.” He bit his tongue.
"What about the pet medication?”
Ford frowned. "She would take those from time to time.
" He sighed. "She didn't want to go to her regular doctor for that kind of thing.
She didn't want to get labeled with some kind of mental illness. She didn't want that in her chart. That kind of thing sticks with you, and they start looking at you like you’re crazy. Her back would bother her occasionally, and she'd take an oxy. Her regular doctor wouldn’t prescribe anything that strong. What he did prescribe didn’t work, according to her. "
"So she went to the vet and got it for Diesel.”
Ford frowned and nodded. “That guy is doling out pills to half the women in Stingray Bay.”
"Where is Diesel?"
"I don't know. Whitney said the kids were spending the night out last night. I guess Diesel’s with them at Ainsley’s house.”
"Where does Ainsley live?”
"She lives a block over on Pearl Point.”
I made a mental note. "How long had your wife been using cocaine?”
Ford looked at me with concerned eyes. "I didn't know she was using cocaine.”
"You’ve never seen any indication of drug use, apart from the prescriptions?"
Ford shook his head. "I don't even know where she would get hard drugs like that."
I shared a look with Jack.
"Is that what killed her?"
I hesitated. "We can't be sure yet. The medical examiner will get to the bottom of it. But it looks like she may have overdosed. The combination of substances could have proved lethal."
Ford's mouth tensed, and he gritted his teeth. "I blame that son-of-a-bitch for this. He's responsible. She never would have had that medication otherwise."
"Dr. Carlson?"
Ford nodded. "That's illegal, right? He can't just prescribe medications like that to pets, knowing these women are going to take them.”
"No. It's not legal.”
Ford shook his head in frustration. "I should never have allowed that kind of thing.” He shook his head in frustration. “I didn't think she had a problem. As far as I knew, it was only occasional use."
"Sometimes all it takes is one time and the wrong combination of substances."
Ford's cheeks reddened.
"Tell me about your relationship with your wife."
He shrugged. "It was great," he said, his eyes filling again. "Why?"
"Did you ever get into any arguments or disagreements?"
His face wrinkled like it was a ridiculous question, and it was. "Sure. What married couple doesn't?”
I didn't think he had anything to do with his wife's death, but at this point, I didn’t want to rule him out as a suspect. Perhaps he facilitated her overdose.
"Are you seeing anyone else on the side?"
His face tensed even more. "No! What does that have to do with anything?"
I hesitated another moment and shared a look with Jack, then continued. "There are indications that your wife had a visitor last night."
That hung there for a moment.
Ford looked like he'd been hit with a brick. "A visitor?”
I took a deep breath. "I don't know how to tell you this, but there's evidence your wife was having an affair.”
"What!?" he said, dumbstruck. "With whom?”
I gave him the nitty-gritty and showed him some of the text messages between the two.
His eyes filled, and the tears spilled over. A mix of sadness and rage filled his face. "She's fucking the pool boy!? You've gotta be kidding me!"
"I'm sorry."
The news looked like it came as a genuine surprise to him.
Brenda would do a full tox screen, and the forensic team would dust the wine bottle and surfaces for prints.
It's quite possible Ford could have put something in the wine before he left town, knowing his wife would get into it.
Maybe Ford had full knowledge of the affair.
Maybe he thought this was a cheaper option than divorce.
His face fell into his hands, and he sobbed. After a moment, he wiped the tears away and said, "How long? How long have they been seeing each other?”
"I'm not sure. How long has he been cleaning your pool?”
"My wife hired Jett about six months ago. Of course, the referral came from Ainsley." The name left a bad taste in his mouth. Pretty much anything did at this point.
"That's his name, right? Jett?"
Ford nodded. "Next time I see that guy, I’m going to drown him in the fucking pool."
"Might not want to do that," I cautioned.
"Him and that fucking doctor.”
Ford was pissed. Understandably so.
"Let us handle this. Trust me, you don't want to take matters into your own hands.”
We asked him a few more questions, then I gave him a card and offered our condolences once again.
By the time we stepped outside, Paris and her camera crew were on the scene, soaking up footage, waiting for the deceased to be removed in a body bag.
JD and I started banging on neighboring doors. The woman who lived next door had a few interesting things to say.