Читать книгу Limb from Limb - George Hunter - Страница 17

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Kozlowski noticed that Stephen’s story was shifting. The mild-mannered “Mr. Mom” with the protruding green eyes told the deputy that Tara was going to leave for Puerto Rico on Monday, not Sunday as he had told Hughes earlier in the day.

Stephen elaborated on details of the previous Friday night: Tara had packed a larger suitcase, he said. She had said, “I’ll be out in a minute” to a mystery caller on her cell phone before stepping out of the house, not to be heard from again.

At the detective’s prompting, Stephen led him to the couple’s bedroom upstairs, where he logged on to the couple’s joint credit card account online, as well as to their LaSalle Bank checking account. Kozlowski noticed Stephen’s hand was shaking as he touched the mouse. Like the American Express account, each was devoid of activity since before the previous Friday. Wherever Tara was, she wasn’t charging anything or tapping the ATM machine.

Kozlowski then followed Stephen to the garage. He peered into Tara’s white Isuzu Trooper and Stephen’s Jeep, but he found nothing suspicious in either SUV—except the spiral-bound notebooks and folder lying on the backseat of Tara’s vehicle. One, clearly, contained work-related “to do” lists. It struck the officer as odd she would’ve left that behind. With Stephen’s permission, Kozlowski packed up the notebooks.

Stephen explained the scratch on his nose as an on-the-job injury—a piece of metal shaving had lodged under his safety glasses, he said, when he was doing some work at his dad’s shop. He also showed Kozlowski a scratch on his hand and a bruise on his leg, and agreed when the detective asked if it would be OK to send over an evidence technician to take pictures of the injuries.

Kozlowski then asked Stephen if there was any infidelity in their marriage. Stephen pledged that he was faithful to the marriage, but Tara had been involved with someone in the past. However, he said, the affair was over now.

“I’ve interviewed hundreds of people, so you kind of get a sense of what to look for in these situations,” Kozlowski said. “He appeared nervous, but he also was very forthcoming with information. At times he seemed to be overly helpful.”

To the detective’s trained ears, Stephen’s words weren’t ringing true. “I didn’t believe his story from the start,” Kozlowski said.