A short pause.
“And you say he drugged some girl?” she asked.
“Yes. I saw him putting a pill in her drink at our company party. I reported it and it turned out to be a date rape drug.”
Again, we just looked at each other. Finally, she spoke. “What did you expect me to be able to do for you?”
“I have no idea. I’m just grasping at straws trying to figure out how to get my daughter back.”
She stood. “If I think of anything I can do to help, I’ll call you,” she said, dismissing me. I left my phone number and went back to the hotel dejected. The next morning Grace and I were having breakfast when my phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Mr. Conley?”
“Yes.”
“This is Anita Jacobson. You were at my house yesterday.”
“Yes, Mrs. Jacobson.”
“Could you come over? I may have something for you.”
An hour later I was sitting in her living room.
“Your visit started me thinking. After we moved in together, I found a container of Rohypnol and asked him about it. He told me it was for his insomnia. I’ve never known him to need help sleeping, but occasionally I check and there are a couple of pills missing,” she said, “and he still brags about convincing his cousin to help break up your marriage; but it worked out differently than they expected. Jimmy and David apparently helped her get away from you. But somewhere along the way, Jimmy and your wife ended up living together.”
“Yes, I know. I saw them a few days ago in Los Angeles.”
“Oh, my God. You did? They thought you could never find them.” A long pause. Then she stood. “I’d like to show you something.” She walked away. I stood and followed. We went to what was obviously a photography studio. “For the last few months, I have suspected David of cheating on me. I’ve found pictures of naked women in his files., Two of them are friends of ours. They’re both married and I’m sure he has slept with them; and, knowing both of them, I would be shocked if they did it of their own free will.”
Then she pulled a stack of photos out of a bottom drawer and handed them to me. She sat and watched as I looked through them. In some of the photos you could identify the subjects. In others, you could not. I didn’t know either of the two. The first few photos showed them dressed and obviously kissing. Other pictures showed them in various stages of undress and then having sex.
“David showed me those and said that they caused your divorce. He had given them to Jimmy who called your wife and told her he worked with you and had pictures of you cheating. He arranged to meet her and showed them to her. Obviously, he only showed her those which did not show the man’s face. Then he had her meet David who corroborated his story and between them, they convinced her the man was you. David is very proud of what they did and, as I said, still brags about it. He couldn’t believe your wife bought their story. She must be one stupid lady.
“We have been out to visit Jimmy. I met your wife and daughter. They are not nice people. Your daughter has been in trouble for shoplifting. She has spent time in a youth facility of some sort and your wife is an alcoholic.”