by Jaden Skye
“Can I take Kate’s computer with me for a little while?” Cindy asked Clay. There was hours of work ahead of her and it would be good to go back to her room and work on it alone.
Clay stood up fervently. “No, you can’t. I want it here with me. I like looking at it. I need to look at it. I want to remember over and over how happy I made Kate. I want to show my parents, too. You can see for yourself that she loved me, can’t you?”
“Yes, I can,” said Cindy sadly, “Kate looked thrilled. You look like a wonderful couple.”
“Thank you,” said Clay, “thank you,” as he turned and went back to the chair on the edge of the patio, alone again.
Cindy got up then, stretched, thanked Clay and said she’d be back a little later. She had to go down to the lobby and catch up with Mattheus now.
Clay, stood up, and accompanied her off the patio.
“Are you two in love?” he asked under his breath as they walked to the door.
Cindy was taken aback. “Why do you ask that?”
“I just wanted to know if you can even begin to understand what I’m going through.”
Cindy turned and looked into his eyes. They were deep blue, filled with pools of fear and sadness.
“Yes, Clay,” she said, “I can understand. I lost someone like this, too.”
His head flipped back. “Who?”
“My husband died down here on the islands during our honeymoon,” said Cindy.
That stopped him totally for a moment. “You were married to someone else?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re with Mattheus now?”
“That’s right,” said Cindy.
Clay’s face grew tight and grim. “Just like that, feelings can change? You can go from one to another?” he asked.
Cindy felt put on the spot. “It didn’t happen just like that. It took time.”
Clay took a step away from her. “But I don’t believe in time,” he said.
*
There were all kinds of ways of coping with the sudden shock of loss, Cindy thought as she rode down in the elevator back to the lobby to meet Mattheus. Clay was partially numb, partially disoriented, partially lost in memories of the past. That was normal. Deep inside he was desperately trying to figure things out, make life go back to the way it was, or the way he thought it should have been. Of course Clay didn’t believe in time, thought Cindy. How could he right now? Time had ripped his love from him. If time didn’t exist for him, then all could be the way it was again.
As Cindy stepped out of the elevator, she saw Mattheus sitting at a small sofa nearby, drinking coffee. He got up when Cindy walked out of the elevator.
“Come on,” he said, “we’re going for lunch at a great spot on Orjeanstadt Street. It’ll be good to get out of the hotel for a while and clear our heads.”
Cindy linked her arm into his. “Great,” she said, happy to be with him, and to be headed to the main street in town where they’d get a change of scenery, fresh air, and time to review what they’d found so far.
Orjeanstadt Street was filled with shops, restaurants, outdoor cafes and tourists ambling about as if there was nothing more important to do in the world than be down here enjoying the balmy days. The sun, that had been trying to break through the clouds all morning, was slowly seeping through. It was unusual to get a cloudy or rainy day down here this time of year. If it did rain or grow cloudy, it usually only lasted for a short time. Cindy enjoyed the feel of the sun on her body as they walked.
“You look great,” Mattheus said, pulling Cindy closer to him. Clearly, he had decided to pick up the relationship where they’d left off. Cindy was tremendously relieved that the tension between them had eased up.
“I have so much news,” she said.
“Let’s have it,” said Mattheus, eager, as they picked up their pace.
“Kate’s ex-boyfriend, Sean is still at the hotel, with his date, Riva. They’re staying for another few days.”
“Wow,” Mattheus breathed, “that’s big, that’s huge. I’ll call it into the police as soon as we get to the restaurant. Did anyone see either Sean or Riva on Kate’s floor at any time?”
“Not that I know of,” said Cindy, “but I got a chance to look at Kate’s Facebook page. It was filled with the announcement of her engagement. She seemed delighted and thrilled. There are lots of messages she got in return. Most were happy, sending congratulations. But, some felt funny about it, said she’d only recently broken up with Sean. It seems as if Kate had been hurt by the breakup. Some people even suggested that her relationship with Clay could be on the rebound.”
Mattheus started walking more slowly. Cindy felt him digesting the details, putting the puzzle together in his mind.
“Sean’s date, Riva, also sent a few emails to Clay,” Cindy added. “She said she was sorry and offered support.”
“Nice,” said Mattheus.
“Maybe nice, but a little odd. Riva didn’t mention a thing about Sean in her emails,” said Cindy.
“Did Sean write to Clay himself?” Mattheus asked.
“Not that I saw,” said Cindy. “I’ve got a lot more to go over in Kate’s computer.”
“Police gave me all the passwords we need to get onto both of their pages, and into their email,” said Mattheus.
Cindy was relieved. “Wonderful.”
“I’ve been checking Clay online,” Mattheus said as they approached the restaurant he’d chosen, a charming, adobe, outdoor café, with a few tables available outside.
He and Cindy immediately sat down at a table and continued to process what they’d found.
“I haven’t finished with everything,” Mattheus continued, “but right now Clay seems fine. He graduated from a fine university in the South, top of his class, had a great reputation and was editor of the yearbook. He went on to graduate school and now works for his father’s firm as a chemist.”
Cindy was impressed and not surprised. Clay had seemed like a person of substance from the moment she saw him.
“There’s not too much on his Facebook page or social media,” Mattheus continued. “A few friends, pictures of his parents, dog, and plenty of quotes from some writers he likes. Could be a bookworm? Not sure. Don’t see much about past relationships, either. At least not online. Could be he’s just a private guy.”
Cindy sighed, “Not much to grab onto.”
“A bit of a loner, maybe?” Mattheus said. “Don’t see lots of his friends contacting him now, either.”
“Or could be he’s just in shock,” said Cindy, “and hasn’t contacted them. Did you check his email correspondence with Kate?”
“Not yet, there’s a lot to do here,” said Mattheus. “You can do that. Let me call the police now and tell them that Sean and Riva are right here under our nose.”
Just as Mattheus was opening his phone to call, to Cindy’s surprise, Rod and Spike drove up to the restaurant in red mopeds.
“Hey, look who’s here,” Mattheus was surprised, and closed his phone. “You guys following us, or what? I was just about to put in a call to you.”
Rod and Spike got off their bikes, parked it, came over and sat down.
“Seems like we can’t go out for a bite without you guys turning up,” said Cindy. “How did you know we were here?”
Rod laughed. “It’s not hard to track of you two. How many hot looking detectives do you think we have in town? People think you’re movie stars or something. Anyway, it’s better for us to talk in person if possible, so we can go into details on the spot. And, we have something to show you that might clinch the case for all we know.”
“Shoot,” said Mattheus as they were all seated.
“Medical examiner’s report is in,” Spike started, “body showed no sign of struggle. Injuries consistent with a fall from patio. “
Cindy and Mattheus sat on the edge of their seats.
“No drugs, a little alcohol, not much. The only fingerprints on the body belonged to Clay – wh
ich made sense since they’d been together all evening. Physical evidence points only to suicide,” Spike concluded. “What say you?”
“So far no evidence of her being depressed,” Mattheus interjected. “From the looks of it she was happy that night.”
“Kate’s ex-boyfriend and his date are still at the hotel,” Cindy burst in. “You know about them?”
“What’s to know?” Rod slowly ran his hand over his head. “If I kept track of all the ex’s of the people who came to our hotels I’d be stark raving nuts by now.”
“Kate and Sean broke up a short time ago,” Cindy spoke heatedly. “Seems he cheated on her with a girl named Riva. They’re both at the hotel now.”
“If I kept a record of all the people here who cheated,” Rod continued.
“Sean wanted to get back together with Kate, but she would have none of it,” Cindy kept going.
“It’s an old story. I heard it a thousand times. You got to have more than that,” said Spike, bored.
“I saw Sean and Riva join Kate and Clay at their table in the dining room the night she was killed,” Cindy insisted. “She was surprised to see him. Was he trailing her?”
“Pure conjecture,” Spike insisted.
“Listen, I have something much more relevant,” said Rod, stopping Cindy. “It’s evidence for suicide.” Then Rod nodded to Spike, who pulled a crumbled paper out of his vest. “Show the note we found to Cindy,” Rod said.
Spike handed Cindy the crumbled paper that was torn at the edges.
“We were going through the evidence we’d collected from their room, and this turned up. It was stuffed in her wastepaper basket. Read it,” said Rod.
Cindy smoothed out the note carefully. It had been written in a shaky hand.
Sean, this is the last time I’m writing to you, but there’s nothing else I can do. I’m sorry to be doing this so soon, I never wanted to hurt you, I still care and I always will. I had to move on fast, I just had to. I couldn’t stand thinking about you all the time and living without you. And, the thought of you with Riva, was too much for me. I couldn’t go back with you after that. I hope you understand what I’m doing now. And, I hope you realize you’ll always have my love. Kate.
Cindy stared at the note, her hand trembling as she read. The note had been crumpled up, ripped and thrown away. Kate had never sent it. Sean never received it, either.
“Sounds like a suicide note to me,” Spike said softly. “It’s the evidence we’ve been looking for.”
Cindy wasn’t ready to concede. “But Sean’s down here now with his girl, Riva. We’ve got to find out more about them.”
Rod looked at Cindy with a little gleam in his eye. “It’s easy to see why you have the reputation you do,” he conceded. “You won’t let any little thing pass by.”
“Having the ex-boyfriend and his date here is not a little thing,” said Cindy.
“I agree,” Mattheus chimed in. “Before you tie it up and call it a suicide, we at least need time to talk to him and look into his background. The girl’s family deserves it. It’s gonna be awful to live with the idea that their daughter ended her life.”
“Will they live with it any better if they find out that someone killed her?” Rod grumbled.
“They might,” said Cindy, “takes some guilt away.”
“So, take a little time,” Spike conceded. “If this guy and his girlfriend are at the hotel, go talk to them, check their background. It won’t take long for you to agree with us.
CHAPTER 10
Rod and Spike finished lunch and took off, leaving the crumpled note with Cindy. The feel of it in her hand made her uneasy. It was almost as if Kate were right here, touching her gently, speaking to her. Cindy felt both sadness and anxiety etched in every line on the page. But what was Kate really saying? The note could be read in different ways. Was she warning of a suicide? Was Cindy holding proof of that in her hand? Or was the note a love note, a final good bye to Sean, before Kate went forward with Clay? Cindy intuitively felt there was much more to this than anyone now had any idea of. It just didn’t make sense that Kate would commit suicide after posting on about her engagement on Facebook, and being so thrilled about it. Something in Cindy said it wasn’t so.
But, in all truth, Cindy hadn’t really given the possibility of suicide careful exploration. After seeing Kate the night before, the whole idea seemed outlandish to her. But even so, she knew she had to consider it. She also needed to speak with Kate’s mother and Carl. This could be the perfect time to do both.
After lunch, Mattheus decided to go back to the station with the cops and use their computers to continue the investigation. He enjoyed ferretting up odd information that brought new light to dark corners, was good at it. Right now they needed something like that badly, or else it looked as though the case would labeled suicide and quickly closed. Mattheus and Cindy planned to catch up after he spent a few hours investigating, and then go together to interview Sean.
After Mattheus and the police left, Cindy sat alone at the café, reading the note over and over. When was this written exactly? What was Kate thinking at the time? If she still loved Sean so much, why was she getting engaged to Clay? Cindy wanted so badly to speak to Kate directly, but her young life had been cut off at the pass. She would have to rely on what she could learn from those Kate was close to.
Cindy took her phone to call Carl. He was easier to talk to than Tyra. Cindy wanted to see both of them in person, show them Kate’s note and see what they had to say.
The phone rang and Carl picked up immediately, happy to hear from Cindy.
“We were just wondering where you were and how things were progressing,” Carl said as soon as he heard Cindy’s voice.
“I’m in town right now,” said Cindy, “on Orjeanstadt Sreet.”
“Perfect,” Carl responded, “You’re probably a few steps away from us. Can you find your way to Taylor’s Bar and join us there? It’s in the center of everything.”
“I’m coming right over,” Cindy quickly replied.
*
Tyra and Carl sat at the bar drinking as Cindy walked in. The moment Carl saw her, he got up, went to her, put his arm around her waist, and guided her to the empty seat they had waiting.
Tyra put her drink down as Cindy approached. Her eyes were swollen and her face blotchy, probably from a mixture of drinking and crying.
“Oh God, it’s so good to see you again,” Tyra breathed.
Cindy gave her a hug, “Good to see you, too,” she said.
“We needed to get away a few minutes,” Carl said, explaining what they were doing here as he pulled out the seat for Cindy. “Endless calls, emails, reporters and family on their way down to give us support.”
Cindy was curious about what other family they had. Carl was certainly an unusually attentive brother and uncle. She looked at him for a long moment and wondered what his life was like, what he did for a living. He was certainly a strikingly handsome man. Was he with someone? Where was she? And, of course, Cindy hadn’t heard a word about Kate’s dad yet.
“How’s Kate’s dad?” Cindy couldn’t help but ask.
“Not good,” Carl shook his head slowly.
“He’s in the hotel room breaking down,” Tyra added in a quivering tone. “I’ve never seen him this bad. He definitely has moods, of course, but now he won’t’ get up off his chair.”
“Understandable,” said Cindy softly.
“No it isn’t,” Tyra’s eyes shot sparks, “nothing is understandable. Especially my husband, Wendell.”
“Take it easy, Tyra,” Carl was patting her arm.
“It’s too much for me to see him like this when we need him so much now,” Tyra seemed at the edge of tears. “I told him to man up, but he’s blocking me out again.”
“He’ll come around,” said Cindy softly.
“Says who?” Tyra suddenly looked flaming mad. “Has he ever once come around when I truly needed him?”
Carl turne
d to Cindy and smiled. “Family matters,” he tried to make light of it, “who doesn’t have to deal with them?”
Cindy felt a surge of admiration for him. She wondered how Tyra would have managed if her brother hadn’t been there.
“It’s important for us to talk to Kate’s dad,” Cindy said.
“You can try if you want,” Tyra shot up, “but keep Mattheus out of it. Go yourself. Wendell doesn’t take well to men probing him.”
Cindy decided to schedule that meeting as soon as possible. Right now Carl and Tyra’s feelings were so raw she wondered if this was the time to show them the note Kate had written to Sean before she died. But time was of the essence, she and Mattheus had to gather as much information as they could. Or else the case would shut down before it was ever opened.
“How’s the investigation going?” Carl asked then, re-focusing the meeting to where it needed to go.
“We found out about Kate’s ex-boyfriend, Sean,” Cindy started slowly.
“A real winner,” Carl sneered. “You could have asked me about him right away.”
“We didn’t know there was an ex-boyfriend in the picture,” Cindy replied lightly.
“When a girl’s as beautiful as Kate, there’s always an ex-boyfriend around,” he said. “She never lacked for attention.”
“Carl never liked Sean,” Tyra filled in, as she took a long gulp of her drink. “I thought Sean was alright, but Carl disagreed. In fact, he couldn’t stand him.”
Cindy was taken aback. “That’s a pretty strong way to put it,” she said.
“Sean’s a slippery guy and I saw it right away,” said Carl. “I told Kate that a thousand times. I said, honey he’s not for you. I promise, you can do much better.”
“Sounds like she didn’t listen,” said Cindy.
“Of course she listened, what I said mattered a great deal to Kate. She listened and said she was sorry that I didn’t like him. She hoped one day I would,” said Carl.
“And she just went right on seeing him as much as she liked,” Tyra piped in, throwing her head back and looking up at the ceiling. “Kate was wonderful that way, she could charm the life out of anyone, smile, chat, look obliging, but then she just went right ahead and did what she wanted. I always said that about her, but no one paid attention to me.”