Jaden Skye - Caribbean Murder 05 - Death by Deceit

by Jaden Skye

  “No, not Shelly.”

  “Yes she was - a handful. But that’s what I loved about her.”

  Mattheus cringed to hear it.

  “We were together for a long time,” Anthony lamented.

  That stopped Mattheus cold. It was obvious they’d had a powerful relationship. This guy was devastated. It was real.

  “Tell me more,” Mattheus demanded.

  “When I first met her Shelly she’d been down here about six months or so,” Anthony seemed relieved that someone was actually listening. “She loved it down here – that never changed. Told me she loved it from the first time she visited, when she was a teenager.”

  “She never visited this place when she was a teenager,” Mattheus corrected him, his jaw clenched tight. “The first time she visited was when she came down with me.”

  “I believe you - she lied,” said Anthony. “Who the hell knew it then? Now I’m figuring it out, but I didn’t know then. When we first started to date, we took it slow - she told me she needed time. She said her life had been rough, she needed space.”

  Mattheus didn’t know exactly what that meant? Her life had been rough? Her life growing up, or her life with him? Mattheus thought her life had been perfect when they were together, that he gave her everything she wanted.

  Anthony went on slowly, remembering. “I gave her all the space she needed and little by little, she settled down. We got closer and closer.”

  Mattheus swallowed hard.

  “I would never have killed her,” Anthony suddenly cried out in such an anguished tone it drove chills through Mattheus. “She was everything to me!”

  Waves of horror overcame Mattheus as he totally believed what Anthony said.

  “But she was rough!” Anthony went on. “She was jealous, she was picky, she ran out on me a bunch of times. I always forgave her and took her back.”

  “Ran out on you?” Mattheus said in a thin voice. “Ran away?”

  Anthony leaned towards Mattheus then, and spoke softly, “No, ran around on me, with other guys. She needed it.”

  Mattheus gagged. “Needed what? To sleep around? “

  “Yeah, that’s what we were yelling about that night I finally left her and ran through town. We fought about it all the time. I couldn’t take it anymore. But she said it wasn’t only the sex she needed, it was the freedom. I had to give her that.”

  Mattheus could not believe what he was hearing. “And did you give her that? Could you?”

  They looked at each other then, sudden, strange comrades in a war that never could be won.

  “I tried,” said Anthony, “but it finally got to be too much for me. A few weeks before I left, I knew she was with someone else again, I knew it, I smelled it, but she wouldn’t admit it. Then, finally, I heard about it from a friend.”

  “Who was it?” Mattheus had to know.

  “I have no idea. My friend who told me about it probably knows.”

  “You didn’t ask him? You didn’t want to know?” Mattheus was disbelieving.

  “Hell, it didn’t matter by then,” Anthony burst out. “There’d been so many of them. All that mattered was that it was happening again. I couldn’t take it one more time.”

  “You confronted her?”

  “And she lied again. Man, this dame loved to lie. She made up stories, she couldn’t help it. It was the lies that did it, finally.”

  Mattheus wracked his brain to remember if he could remember Shelly lying to him? He couldn’t. He might have been taken in by her though, he finally realized.

  “Listen, do me a favor,” Anthony leaned towards Mattheus across the table, as if they were old combat buddies, “help me get out of here. I’m innocent. I didn’t do it. Believe me.”

  “Why should I believe you?” Mattheus pulled back.

  “You don’t have to believe me. Find out for yourself. Go to Rancher’s Bar, it’s a biker bar here in town. My friend who saw them is the bartender there, Tommy. Go talk to him about it. He was one of the first friend’s Shelly made when she moved down here. He knew her like the back of his hand.”

  Mattheus felt his mouth go dry at the thought of Shelly hanging out at a biker’s bar.

  “Will you do it for me? Will you?” Anthony was pleading.

  Mattheus looked at the pain etched across his face. None of this added up. But one thing was for sure, he didn’t feel like Anthony killed her.

  “Tell me where you were when Shelly was killed,” Mattheus wanted to be absolutely sure his hunch was right.

  “When I ran away from Shelly, I went to live with my cousin Bella across town. There are plenty of people who can tell you I was living there. They saw me around. Bella’s a user, if you know what I mean. I told the police when Shelly was killed I was with Bella. And I was. I was at her house with her, watching TV. I fell asleep while watching. Bella was high and went out to a club. Someone saw her dancing there and told the cops I wasn’t with her, that I was lying. I wasn’t lying, I was at her house, sleeping. I was with her before she left.”

  “It’s a lousy story,” Mattheus mumbled, “doesn’t prove a thing.”

  “But it’s true. Man, you got to believe me. I was asleep on the couch. Go talk to Tommy at Rancher’s Bar, I beg you. He’ll fill you in on Shelly. You’ll find out who she was cheating with. Whoever she was sleeping with is the guy you got to get!”

  “Why didn’t you give the police this information?” Mattheus’s mind was spinning in a hundred directions at once.

  “I tried, I really did. But they made up their mind about me, as soon as they heard my alibi. I never had a fair chance. All I want is a fair chance.”

  “Okay,” said Mattheus, “You got it. I’m going to talk to Tommy at Rancher’s Bar tonight.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Rodney and Alex weren’t thrilled with the interview. There wasn’t anything new in it for them. After it was over Mattheus joined them in the back room where it was even more airless and humid.

  “Nothing new,” Rodney tapped his foot on the floor, as soon as Mattheus sat down. “Anthony already told us Shelly was involved with someone else when she was killed. It’s a convenient story - only problem is there’s no evidence of it. We checked it out with a bunch of people who knew her well. No one corroborated it.”

  Mattheus felt shaky. He believed Anthony, anyway.

  “These kinds of guys make all kinds of things up,” Rodney said, flipping a pencil back and forth on the desk. “The truth doesn’t mean a damn to them.”

  “You know him well?” asked Mattheus.

  “Who the hell needs to?” said Rodney. “Guys like him float around down here all over the place.” He looked both disgusted and resigned. “I’ve been watching these guys for years - always the same thing - in and out of jail for minor offenses, doing dope, buying, selling, preying on all kinds of women. Then they snap - go over the line. You reel them in and they squirm like fish trapped in a bowl. It’s always the same excuse too - the police aren’t giving me a fair shake. They want to wrap the case up. If you knew how many times I heard that baloney. If only one of them would look me in the eye, like a man, and admit it – say, I killed her Mister, and I’m damn glad I did.”

  Mattheus swallowed hard. He’d heard that excuse himself plenty of times himself, but each person was different, each one deserved a chance to be heard.

  It was a principle he lived by.

  “What about this guy’s friend at Rancher’s Bar?” Mattheus went on. “Did you check him out?”

  Rodney scoffed and Alex just looked away.

  “The tip about Tommy at Rancher’s Bar’s old, too,” said Rodney. “There’s no reason to follow it up. Tommy is Anthony’s friend – he’ll say whatever Anthony wants him to. Obvious, isn’t it? The lead has no credibility. The guy’s not worth wasting precious time on.”

  “Everyone’s worth something,” said Mattheus.

  “Yeah,” the statement caught Rodney up short. “Everyone’s worth something, but yo
u have to know what. You have to know where to spend your time, or they end up dragging you around good. If you knew how many cops I’ve known who’ve gotten turned into rags.”

  Mattheus felt defiant. He wasn’t going along, this was too important.

  “I’m going to talk to Tommy myself,” he declared.

  Rodney looked a little fed up. “Go talk to anyone you like to, but remember, no matter how long they’ve been around, Tommy and Anthony are drifters. It’s a mentality and they’re stuck with it. They’re just gonna give you the run around.”

  Mattheus felt a vein in his neck start to throb. He refused to discount anybody without giving them a hearing. He’d been surprised too many times. Real leads had come from the strangest places. And, this was Shelly’s killer they were talking about. He wasn’t going to leave any stone unturned.

  “We got our man, I’m sure of it,” Rodney muttered, “Anthony’s a real slime.”

  Mattheus didn’t feel that way. In fact, he was surprised at how much he liked Anthony, at the kinship he felt with him. Was it because they’d both been with Shelly? Mattheus would have expected to hate him because of that, not to feel close to the guy. He didn’t want to mention that to Rodney or Alex though, it would make him look weirder than he already did.

  Mattheus noticed that Alex didn’t say a word and wondered what he thought about all this? Probably had to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to keep his job, thought Mattheus.

  “Wondering what you think about all this?” Mattheus confronted Alex directly.

  Alex looked momentarily surprised. “If you really want to know, I was actually wondering where Cindy is in all this? How come she’s not here with you?”

  Mattheus was taken aback. It was a strange question.

  “I don’t know,” said Mattheus, “I guess she’s back at the hotel.”

  “Guess?” Now it was Alex’s turn to be surprised.

  “What’s wrong with that?” said Mattheus.

  “Seems like you’d want her meet Anthony, get her take on it. You guys check in with each other regularly?” Alex asked.

  “Of course we do,” Mattheus got defensive. What was this guy getting at? “I just left very early this morning and didn’t call her room. I didn’t see the point in waking her up.”

  Alex shook his head. “Bet you felt funny about her being here with you.” Mattheus looked at him closely. He wanted to know more about more about Mattheus’s relationship with Cindy. Mattheus wasn’t open to having it questioned. He decided to set the record straight right then and there.

  “Cindy and I split the work in an investigation,” he said, “talk to different people. Then we get together, go over what we found, and decide what steps to take next.” Mattheus was extra careful to sound professional. There was no reason for either of them to develop any ideas.

  “She’s one terrific woman,” said Alex slowly then, zoning in on Mattheus. This guy was too taken with her, Mattheus didn’t appreciate it.

  “Cindy’s a fantastic detective,” Mattheus answered curtly. “She’s got amazing instinct.”

  “It must be hard for her to be down here, too,” Alex interrupted. “You guys just broke up and now you’re back together, working a case?”

  “Who said it was supposed to be easy?” Mattheus was irritated.

  “And, on top of it, she’s finding out so many personal details about you!” Alex didn’t stop.

  “She’s finding out about Shelly,” Mattheus corrected.

  “But Shelly was your wife,” said Alex.

  “Yes, she was,” said Mattheus curtly. “But what does her behavior have to do with me? She left. She ran away. You think I drove her to it?”

  “Did you?” Rodney interrupted.

  “I resent that,” said Mattheus flatly.

  “This isn’t pretty,” said Rodney, “but these are the questions we need answers to. We’ve got to fill in our picture of her. It’s the only way we can get a real sense of what happened, and why.”

  Mattheus stared at both of them, angry.

  Alex picked up the ball. “After all, what would make a woman leave home, live a completely different life without telling anybody?

  “That’s the million dollar question,” said Mattheus.

  “Did she have a breakdown? Suddenly turn into a different person?” Alex was on a roll. “Something had to be wrong.”

  “Something,” Mattheus said bitterly, “but I don’t know what.”

  “That’s not good enough,” Rodney joined in forcefully. “We have to know. Was she acting strange before she left? Did anyone see this coming? Was she carrying on with guys behind your back? Was someone blackmailing her?”

  Chills ran up and down Mattheus arms. Had Shelly been carrying on with someone else then, too? The thought never occurred to him in all the years. Sure Shelly had some guy friends she saw once in a while after work. She’d told him they were old friends. He’d had no reason to think otherwise. He’d trusted her completely.

  “Lots of guys in Key West knew her,” Alex prompted. “Seems like she did the town.”

  Mattheus suddenly wanted to punch him in the face. How dare he talk about Shelly that way? What did he really know about her? Mattheus turned his back, clenched his fists, and did everything possible to calm down.

  “Turn around, Mattheus,” Rodney said then.

  “Go to hell,” Mattheus hissed between his teeth.

  Rodney took a step closer, put his hand on his shoulder.

  “Listen,” he said, “we’re not out to hurt you – we just have to understand.”

  “I thought you said you got the guy – that Anthony did it.” Mattheus could barely speak.

  “That’s what we think, “said Rodney, “but the more we know about your wife, the easier it’s going to be to get a conviction. We need to bring in as many facts as we can find. Right now there are questions about her no one has the answer to.”

  “And you think I do?” Mattheus spun around and stared.

  “You got to have them,” said Rodney, “even if you don’t think you do.”

  “Go ahead then, ask me! I want to find the answer as much as you!”

  “Again, think carefully, was your wife running around with other guys behind your back?” Rodney drummed his hand on the table.

  Mattheus clenched his jaw. He’d heard this question a million times.

  “No, she wasn’t.”

  “Were you running around on her?”

  “Absolutely not,” said Mattheus.

  “Did you guys have some kind of blow up? Is that why she left? Think about it.” Rodney was insistent.

  “No,” said Mattheus, “you don’t think I thought about this already a thousand times? It’s all in the record. The police in New Orleans asked me all of it when she went missing.”

  “Nothing else occurred to you over all the years?” Rodney continued.

  “No, nothing.”

  “So, let’s go over it again now. They found the body. She was just killed. Maybe you can remember something different now? Was she mentally unstable?”

  “She wasn’t. I’m not kidding around. She was fine. She had friends, colleagues, they all knew her. She worked, she played, she laughed, she loved me. She told everyone how happy she was with me.”

  “Told who?” asked Alex.

  “She told her friends, her co-workers. She wasn’t close to her family. I was all the family she really had.”

  “What happened with her family?” Rodney pounced on that.

  “I only met them one time, at our wedding,” said Mattheus. “They came in from Oregon for it. There were just her parents and retarded brother, Mike. The parents loved the brother, gave him all the attention. Shelly told me she was always on her own, raised herself. She didn’t want to talk much about it.”

  “Where was her brother Mike at the time of her murder?” Rodney seemed fitful.

  Mattheus looked at Rodney amazed. “You’re fishing in murky waters,” he said. “The fam
ily lives in Oregon. They didn’t even come back down to New Orleans when they heard their daughter had gone missing years ago.”

  “Maybe because they knew where she was then?” Rodney said. “Maybe she told them? Maybe she went there first?”

  “Impossible,” said Mattheus. “She never spoke to them. They wrote her off a long time ago.”

  “You never really wanted to know why?” Rodney muttered.

  “Why don’t you contact them yourself and let them know her body has been found?” said Mattheus. “Question them, go ahead.”

  “We tried,” said Rodney. “We got their contact information from the New Orleans Police. They moved a year ago and left no forwarding address.”

  That shocked Mattheus. Just like Shelly, he thought. “That’s wild,” he said.

  “It’s more than wild,” said Rodney, “it could look suspicious. We tried to track them down, got nowhere.”

  Mattheus shook his head. “I haven’t stayed in touch with them. They didn’t care about me or Shelly. But I can’t imagine they had any reason to harm her. Going after them is a wild goose chase.”

  “It says on the record that when she disappeared the father said he always knew she’d never come to any good,” Rodney commented.

  “Yes, that’s true,” Mattheus recollected.

  “What did you make of that rotten remark?” asked Rodney. ”It’s not something a father would normally say.”

  Mattheus was impressed that they’d done such detailed research. That comment had bothered him as well when he’d heard it.

  “I just took it to be a nasty remark,” said Mattheus. “Probably the reason Shelly stayed far away from them.”

  “That’s too simple,” said Rodney. “There had to be real trouble there.”

  “I guess,” said Mattheus.

  “You guess?” Alex looked at him strangely and joined in. “That’s something most husbands would know. How close were you to her, anyway?”

  “I told you, Shelly didn’t like to talk about her past life. When I’d ask her about it she’d say, chapter closed, over, it happened a long time ago.”

  “And you didn’t press it?”

  “Of course not,” Mattheus said. “Why would I push things that upset her? I wanted her to be happy. I wanted our time together to be good. I did everything in my power to make a great life for her.”