In the Clearing (Tracy Crosswhite #3)(24)
Kins brought Tracy up to date on what had transpired over the weekend, including Angela Collins and Atticus Berkshire coming in and giving a statement. Tracy was as surprised as Kins that Berkshire had allowed it.
“There must be a reason,” she said. “Berkshire doesn’t do anything unless it helps his client or stirs the pot.”
Mark Collins lived in an upper-class section of Madrona, a neighborhood fifteen minutes east of downtown Seattle that extended from the top of the hill to the shores of Lake Washington. Collins’s stately Georgian-style red brick home was likely worth a couple million dollars in the current hot market. He answered the door in khakis and a button-down. He looked like his younger brother, though taller and thinner, and while his brother was blond, Mark had red hair.
“Thanks for coming,” he said, sounding and looking grim. He led them into a den with an impressive flat-screen TV that nearly took up an entire wall. “Can I offer you anything to drink? Coffee? Water?”
“We’re good,” Kins said. “Our condolences to you and your family.”
Kins and Faz had spoken to the other members of Tim Collins’s family the night he was shot and the following day, but Mark had been traveling. Kins got the impression that, as the oldest, Mark was the patriarch, and the others were waiting for his guidance.
Mark Collins nodded. “I heard her father is arguing self-defense.”
“That appears likely,” Kins said.
Collins shook his head. “If anyone needed some self-defense, it was Timmy.”
Other members of the family had made similar statements. “How so?” Kins asked. He’d made the contact. Tracy sat taking notes.
“Angela is incredibly manipulative when she wants something. Over the years she wore Timmy down. She wore us all down.”
“How’d she do that?”
“She picked fights with each of us until none of us could stand being around her. One time, she’d start something with me; at another, it’d be my sister or my wife or my brother-in-law. Pretty soon, Timmy would say he couldn’t come for Sunday dinners because Angela didn’t feel comfortable. What we didn’t realize is she had done the same thing with all his friends. It was her way of isolating him.”
“For what purpose?”
“To manipulate him, get him to do what she wanted. Tim became very codependent.”
“Can you give me an example?”
Collins didn’t hesitate. He’d either thought about this, or he’d told others what he was about to tell them. “Tim made a good living, Detectives. He was an engineer at Boeing, but he nearly had to file for bankruptcy because of Angela’s spending. Either he bought her a new car or a boat, or the house she wanted, or the vacation they couldn’t afford, or she’d divorce him. Tim wouldn’t say no.”
“But she filed for divorce anyway?” Tracy said.
“And we were happy she did. We’d been working on Tim to leave her for years, but he wouldn’t because of Connor. Have you met him?”
“Briefly,” Kins said.
“So you know the kid is a bit fragile. Anyway, we finally got Tim to understand that the relationship wasn’t healthy. But he made the mistake of telling Angela he intended to file for divorce, and the next afternoon she served him with papers, including all the bullshit allegations.”
“Do you think she’d already consulted a lawyer, or was this done totally in reaction to your brother telling her he wanted a divorce?” Tracy asked.
“Definitely the latter. She was angry, and when Angela gets angry, she gets vindictive. Once Tim wanted a divorce and she realized she couldn’t use him anymore, she was hell-bent on destroying him.”
Mark picked up a sheet of paper from the coffee table and handed it to Kins. “Those are people who can confirm what I’m telling you—relatives and friends of Timmy’s.”
Kins took a moment to scan the multiple names and phone numbers before handing it to Tracy. “Did your brother ever mention any physical altercations with Angela?” he asked.
“Complete bullshit,” Mark said, anger creeping into his tone. “Total, complete bullshit. Timmy never laid a hand on her and never would. He also never cheated on her. I told his attorney to ask for names. Of course Angela couldn’t produce any. The first time she accused him of abuse was after they’d separated. Timmy went to the house to pick up Connor, and Angela confronted him, angry that he wasn’t giving her enough money, even though he was complying with the court order. Tim tried to get out the door, and Angela blocked his path. He nudged her as he stepped past. Next thing he knows, the police are at his apartment and take him away in handcuffs. Angela claimed he shoved her into the door and over a table.” Collins leaned forward as if to make a point. “And here’s the scariest part about Angela—she went to the hospital to be treated for bruises.”
Kins glanced at Tracy to gauge her reaction, but she remained poker-faced. “How do you think she got the injuries?” he asked.
Collins shook his head again. “Self-inflicted. I know it sounds crazy, but she had to have done it to herself.”
“Why?”
“To set Timmy up. She staged the whole thing. I had to get Timmy a criminal defense lawyer. When the attorney started pressing for additional facts, Angela didn’t pursue it. She couldn’t.”