In Her Tracks (Tracy Crosswhite #8)(75)

“Then you know what it’s like to go through it. It isn’t pleasant. I had to call the police three times because Bobby was beating me. The third time I’d had enough and agreed to file charges against him for domestic violence.”

She sounded like the divorce remained ongoing. “Why did he hit you?”

“Because I told him I was done with him and wanted him out of the house. He couldn’t take rejection. No woman rejected Bobby Chin. He had a lot of college girlfriends who I guess worshipped him. Well, I wasn’t some college girlfriend, and I wasn’t going to stand for his shit.”

Tracy moved back to her questions about the night Elle went missing, asking Jewel what she did that night, and whom she was with, looking for any inconsistencies.

“But don’t bother looking for him,” Jewel said, referring to Graham Jacobsen. “The idiot shot himself.”

Jewel didn’t exactly sound broken up about it. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” Tracy said.

“On top of everything I went through, I then had to go through that,” Jewel said, shaking her head. “I had to move. There was no way I was living in that place after that. I don’t care how many coats of paint they used.”

“I thought the house was sold in the settlement of the assets,” Tracy said.

“I would have at least considered buying it before that happened.”

Tracy knew from a court order in the file that Jewel would have had to buy Bobby out as a condition to staying in the home. There wasn’t much equity in the home, and Jewel couldn’t afford to stay in it.

“Anyway, he told the detective we were together that night, except for the few minutes when he left to pick up takeout. So you can pretty much forget that witness’s statement.”

“Which one?” Tracy asked, though she suspected she knew.

“The one in which the kid said he saw Elle with an Asian woman and a man.”

Jimmy Ingram had never used the word “Asian.”

“I stayed at home. I can even tell you exactly what I watched that night. I made a list.”

“When did you do that?”

“Sometime after I learned about the witness statement. My attorney suggested I do it, in case I was ever subjected to cross-examination. For all I know, Bobby paid the guy to say he saw me and Graham.”

“Did the detectives ask for the list of the shows you watched?” Tracy had not found one in the file.

“No. But I wasn’t about to let Bobby railroad me.”

Unbelievable.

She asked Chin how she heard that Elle was missing, and her statement coincided with what Miller had put in his report. “I told him that Bobby had something to do with it, but he just stood there, staring.”

“What did you want him to do?”

“His job. Arrest the person who was with my daughter when she went missing. I would have thought he’d call SWAT or something. Somebody. Maybe if he had, they would have found Elle.”

“Do you think your ex was capable of harming your daughter?”

Jewel smirked. “Capable? He beat me, and the court let him off with a slap on the wrist and made him go to anger-management classes. He shouldn’t have even been allowed to spend time alone with Elle. I had my attorney make that argument, but I lost. It was a male judge. A former prosecutor. Pretty sure a female judge would have had a better understanding.”

“A better understanding?” Tracy asked.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Someone who can lose their temper that quickly and inflict hurt that quickly? Bobby’s not a small man. He could have struck Elle and snapped her neck.”

“Did you ever see your ex-husband strike your daughter?” Tracy asked.

“No. But he never struck me either . . . until he did. So clearly he was ‘capable.’” She made air quotes with her fingers.

What struck Tracy was the way Jewel Chin painted herself as both a heroine and a martyr. Everything was couched in terms of what she did or how it had impacted her. She wanted to convince Tracy she was running the show—that she was a competent, capable woman whom the court system had seriously aggrieved—but still play the poor, defenseless mother abused by her husband. Tracy made a mental note to determine if Graham Jacobsen had an insurance policy and, if so, to determine who was his primary beneficiary. At this point, she didn’t put anything past the woman.

“Do you have any siblings?” Tracy asked.

Another eye roll. “I have a brother who lives in Boston. He’s got three kids of his own . . . The detectives checked him out too, and he didn’t take Elle. He was in Boston that night. Besides his wife is Caucasian, not Asian.”

There it was again.

“Who told you the witness saw an Asian woman?”

“I don’t know. One of the detectives, I suppose. You should talk to Bobby. His mother and his sister are both Asian. Gloria. Mousy thing. Hardly speaks. Bobby used her to pick up Elle from school on days he had her so I wouldn’t know about it. But I knew. I asked the school. And I kept a record of it.”

“You think Gloria took Elle?”

Jewel shrugged. “I don’t know what to think anymore. Doubtful.” She stood abruptly. “If we’re done, Detective, I have to get to my workout.”

“Of course.” Tracy stood and walked to the door. “The house looks beautiful. I wish I could buy it.”