"Did Dr. Latham talk to you about anybody she felt threatened by?”
He took a deep breath and lifted his eyebrows as he thought about it. "You're obviously going to consider her husband, aren't you? I mean, the guy's a real scumbag.”
"Spouses are always suspects. I'd love to hear more.”
30
"Greg is a heavy drinker," Dr. Stockton said. "Laura told me he became physically abusive with her on more than one occasion.” His face tightened, and his cheeks reddened. "When she told me that, I wanted to punch the guy. She begged me not to confront him. She didn't need a scene, especially with the divorce going on. Let's just be honest. Laura was the breadwinner in that family. He's a freeloading dirtball, if you ask me.”
Dr. Stockton was pretty hot about it. He may have had more feelings for Laura than he wanted to admit.
“What about the hygienist, Hannah?”
“My God, that girl is hot,” he said with a lustful face. “I understand why Laura got rid of her.”
“Was she having an affair with Greg?”
He dismissed the notion. “No. That guy couldn’t get laid in a morgue. I don’t know what Laura was doing with him.”
I exchanged a look with Jack.
“Were you having an affair with Hannah?” I asked.
Stockton remained silent for a moment, looking a little guilty. “Let’s just say we connected. I think that’s probably why Laura fired her. Laura could be insecure at times.” He frowned. “After she got let go, Hannah called me, asking for money, saying she couldn’t make rent. I didn’t need another mouth to feed, and that would have been a never-ending thing. I met her at a motel, gave her a little money, and told her it was a onetime deal.”
“I assume you two…”
He smiled. “I can neither confirm nor deny.”
“I’ll need your wife’s contact information,” I said.
Panic filled his eyes. “What for?”
“Just routine.”
“I don’t know how you’re going to dance around some of these issues.”
“I’ll be delicate.”
Stockton forced a smile. “I trust that you will be.”
I handed him my card, and he texted me her number.
He looked at Jack. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
Jack frowned. “Well, Dr. Latham had prepped a tooth for a crown.”
“Ah,” he said with a head nod.
“Ah, what?”
“Oh, nothing,” he said innocently. “It’s not unusual to experience some discomfort after a procedure like that. It’s not like a filling. This is major trauma.”
“You’re telling me. Apparently, I’m not an outlier in her practice.”
