In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8)(74)

“It’s one of Seattle’s finest neighborhoods with access to excellent schools.”

“My little girl is only ten months. We have time.”

“The Interbay Golf Center is close by. Do you golf?”

“Poorly.”

“It also has easy access to downtown Seattle shops and restaurants,” Chin said, as if repeating the sales flier. “What do you do?”

Chin’s question surprised Tracy. She thought Chin knew who she was and was just making small talk. They had picked the time on the phone. “I’m a Seattle police detective,” Tracy said.

Chin stopped smiling. “You’re the police officer?”

“I’m the detective,” Tracy said.

“I guess I just expected someone a little more . . . I don’t know, frumpy.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Take it at the dining room table. As I told you over the phone, I don’t have much time.” Chin didn’t sound or act the least bit intimidated to be speaking with a detective. “You said something happened in the case? Are you here to tell me they found Elle’s body and evidence Bobby killed her?” Chin said the words without expressing any emotion, as if she were discussing the house and trying to determine where to put the sofa. True to Miller’s recollection, she also seemed more concerned with blaming her ex-husband. She clearly had not moved on.

“No,” Tracy said. “They didn’t.”

“Then why are you here?”

Pleasant. Jewel motioned to the modern dining room table, and they sat across from one another. Tracy again explained that she had taken over the Cold Case Unit and was following up on several cases, including Elle’s.

“You said on the phone you’re taking another look at my ex?” Jewel asked. “What is the new evidence?”

Tracy nodded. “I can’t go into details yet, though I have spoken to him.”

That response at least got Chin to pause for a moment. Then the paranoia started. “Did he tell you that I kidnapped Elle and buried her body somewhere? Or that I sold her on the black market? Maybe he told you I’m crazy? Borderline personality disorder? Narcissistic? The guilty always blame the innocent.”

Tracy didn’t doubt that little pearl of wisdom; unfortunately, it applied equally to each spouse in this case. Still, she could see that Jewel Chin was getting ramped up. Tracy would lose her if she didn’t find some common ground. From everything she’d been told, Jewel was a predator who played on others’ weaknesses. Tracy needed to let Jewel see one of hers. This time, it wasn’t difficult.

“I have a newborn daughter at home. I know I’d be distraught if anything happened to her. A mother and a daughter have a special bond that fathers don’t understand, can’t understand. But I’m sure you know.”

Jewel Chin looked distrusting, or at least suspicious; Tracy had interviewed enough people to make an educated assessment that Jewel believed everyone was out to get her, even her elderly former next-door neighbor, Evelyn Robertson. She doubted Jewel Chin ever let her guard down.

“Then you know exactly how I feel,” Chin agreed.

“I do,” Tracy said. “Absolutely. What I’d like to hear is your story, though I know it must be difficult for you to go back to those days.”

“It is,” Jewel said. She almost looked ready to cry. Almost. There wasn’t a tear in her eyes.

“If you can, will you tell me about the night your daughter went missing? Your perspective.”

Chin turned at an angle so she could cross her legs. “I wish I could. I wish I had fought more to keep Bobby away from her. I regret it now but . . . No, I can’t. Not really. She was with Bobby.”

Tracy asked Jewel many questions she already knew the answers to, so Jewel Chin would keep talking and get in the habit of answering.

“The fact that he was a police officer is the reason you people didn’t investigate him the way you should have,” Chin said.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, it should have been obvious Bobby took Elle. Elle was with him and then suddenly she was gone. And his excuse was that he played hide-and-seek with her?” She made a face like the whole story was preposterous. “Elle was five. What kind of a father plays hide-and-seek with a five-year-old in a corn maze? Please.”

Tracy nodded as if she and Chin were two aggrieved sisters.

“He wasn’t even charged with reckless endangerment, though I pressed the prosecutor for months to charge him with something.”

So far, Jewel sounded exactly as Bill Miller had described in his report and Bobby Chin had stated in his interview.

“Where were you that evening?”

Jewel rolled her eyes. “Really? Again? Is this the reason why you’re here? I told the other detectives where I was. Ask them. Otherwise, you can speak to my lawyer.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Tracy said. “I’m just trying to catch up so I can move forward. The other detectives have retired, which is why it’s a cold case. I understood you were at home.”

Jewel straightened. “I’m sorry, but you’ve only been a mother for ten months. I was a mother for five years.”

Uncertain what Chin meant, Tracy ignored the comment and again sought common ground. “I’m divorced also.”