“It will just take a moment,” I assured her.
She paused for a few seconds. Then she nodded and allowed us to enter.
“We just came from a meeting with Stan Cross,” Foxx said.
“He said some interesting things,” I said.
“He told us that Eric was cheating on you,” Foxx said.
A woman ignorant of her boyfriend’s infidelity would have shown surprise, even hurt after all of these years. Gracie did not, but I’m sure you already expected as much. I certainly did.
“You already knew,” I said more than asked.
“Yes, I knew,” she admitted.
“And you didn’t say anything because you knew how it would look,” I said.
“No, I didn’t say anything because it’s irrelevant. I didn’t kill Eric.”
“When did you learn about his affair?” Foxx asked.
“About a week before he disappeared.”
“Did you confront him about it?” I asked.
“No, I wasn’t sure how,” she said.
“I find that hard to believe,” I said.
“Me too. I’ve had more than one woman tell me what they thought of my cheating. They don’t ever have problems expressing themselves,” Foxx said.
“Well, I’m not like everyone else,” Gracie said.
“I’m sure you’re not, Ms. Ito. Perhaps you were afraid to lose what you had,” I said.
“And that’s exactly what happened when he died. I lost everything,” she said.
“People aren’t acting rational when they kill, though. They’re emotional. They’re angry. They’re out of control,” Foxx said.
“You can say whatever you want, but I didn’t hurt him. I loved him.”
“Do you know who the other woman was?” I asked.
“Not until the night he vanished. I already told you about the day Eric disappeared. He got that phone call from Stan. Later he said he had to meet with Mele Akamu.”
“But you didn’t think that was where he was really going,” I guessed.
“I didn’t know what to think. I followed him after he left. He went to that woman’s apartment.”
“Did you see her?” Foxx asked.
“Yes, when she opened the door. I thought about letting myself in and catching them in the act. I didn’t, though. I waited outside in my car. He never came out,” she said.
“How long did you wait?” I asked.
She didn’t respond.
“How long?” I repeated
“I’m embarrassed to admit it.”
“Please. It’s important for us to try to establish a timeline,” I said.
“He left the house around eleven. I stayed outside her apartment until a little after two in the morning.”
“Did you ever find out who she was?” Foxx asked.
“When Eric didn’t come home, I thought he was still with her. I went back to her apartment the next day and saw her coming out the front door. That’s when I said something to her.”
“What did she say?” I asked.
“She wouldn’t talk to me. She ran back inside.”
“Was Eric’s car still in the parking lot?” Foxx asked.
“No, it was gone.”
“Did you ever find out the woman’s name?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s Tiana Wise.”
“How did they meet?” Foxx asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t really care,” she said.
“Is there anything else you didn’t tell us?” I asked.
Yes, I know. It was a bit of a dumb question, but I threw it out there anyway.
“You know everything now, not that it matters. I already told you before that Mele Akamu killed him. He may not have gone to see her that night, but he probably went the next morning. He never came back.”
“Thank you for talking to us again. We won’t keep you from your appointment any longer,” I said.
“My what?” she asked.
“You said you were on your way to an appointment when we knocked on the door,” I reminded her.
“Oh yeah, that.”
I knew she’d been lying before, but I wanted to see how good she was at remembering her lies. Apparently, the answer to that question was not very good. As I’ve said in the past, there are people who are accomplished at telling tall tales, but most liars are pretty easy to spot. Gracie Ito fit squarely into the latter category.
“Can you tell us where Tiana Wise lived?” Foxx asked.
“I can, but I have no idea if she’s still there,” Gracie said, and then she gave us the address.
Her statement that she didn’t know if Tiana still lived there was another lie, based on her eye movement and body language. I assumed Gracie had swung by the apartment after our initial interview with her.
Tiana Wise might not have been the killer, but Gracie Ito apparently thought she could be. The lover might have had enough of Eric’s false promises that he’d leave Gracie one day. Did I think that likely? Not really, but Tiana was one of the last people to see Eric Ellis alive. She had to know something, after all.
We thanked Gracie Ito again and walked back outside to Foxx’s SUV. Here’s something I didn’t point out a few moments ago. After Gracie gave us the address for Tiana’s apartment complex, I realized that I’d been there before. And here’s the stunner. Tiana lived in the same twelve-unit duplex in Paia where Daniel Davis had lived. Did I think that was a coincidence? Nope.
Foxx picked up on the same thing for he asked me about it when we climbed into his vehicle.
“Hey, isn’t the–“
“Yes, the same apartment complex as our mysterious dog owner,” I said, cutting him off.
“You got time to head there now?”
“I certainly do.”
Foxx reversed course and we headed back toward the northern part of Maui.
“You think she still lives there after all this time?”
“I do,” I said, and I told Foxx my theory that Gracie may have driven out there after our previous meeting.
“You think she already confronted her about Eric?” Foxx asked.
“No, but I think she intended to. She probably chickened out again like she did when she went to confront Eric and Tiana over their affair.”
We made good time to Paia and before we knew it, we were pulling back into the small parking lot for the apartment complex. There were several cars
