Death by Proposal (15 page)

“Pathetic
or not, it upset Sean a lot, didn’t it?” asked Mattheus.

“That’s
putting it mildly,” said Riva. “Sean begged me to come down to Aruba with him
so he could stick it to her.”

“He
wanted to upset Kate by having her meet you?” asked Cindy.

“He
wanted to even things out,” said Riva, “regain his lost pride.”

“Why
did you agree to go if you knew he didn’t love you?” asked Mattheus.

“I
just did,” said Riva. “He and I were friends at least. You do things like this
for your friends when they’re hurting. But I didn’t really want to go, I felt
trouble coming. Believe me, I never thought it would come to this.”

“To
someone killing Kate?” asked Cindy.

Riva’s
eyes opened, terrified. “I thought police were saying suicide? Did they prove
someone killed her?”

“Pretty
close to proving it,” said Mattheus.

Kate
put her hands over her face. “I’m sorry, it’s awful. It’s terrible.”

“And
you’re wearing her bracelet,” Cindy repeated.

“So,
what does that mean?” asked Riva, trembling now.

“You’re
implicated,” said Mattheus.

“But
I didn’t do a thing, nothing,” Riva’s body was shaking harder now. “I’ll talk
to the police about Sean, if you want me to. I’ll tell them he was out of
control at the end.”

“You’ll
turn on him, just like that?” said Cindy.

“I’m
not turning on anyone,” Riva insisted, “I’m just telling the truth.”

Mattheus
called the news in to the police immediately. As soon as they heard that Riva
was wearing Kate’s bracelet, and that she got it from Sean, they had enough to
arrest him. It was the final piece of evidence they needed.

“They’re
arresting him,” Mattheus said to Cindy as he hung up the phone. “That does it.
Case is closed.”

“Just
based on a bracelet?” asked Cindy, startled.

“Not
just a bracelet,” Mattheus was annoyed. “It was Kate’s bracelet. Obviously Sean
took it from her. That places him with her on the night of her death. Then, after
the creep took it from Kate, he gave it to his girlfriend. What’s worse than
that?”

“Not
good,” Cindy agreed.

“Well,
it’s good for someone,” said Mattheus. “At least Clay and his family will be off
the hook and allowed to return home.”

Cindy
felt a wave of uneasiness wash over her at the thought of it. She didn’t want
them to leave yet. Not any of them. She felt unsettled.

“When
will they go?” she asked, petulantly.

“The
police said they’ll tell them they’re free to go,” said Mattheus, victorious. “My
guess is they’ll leave tomorrow.”

Cindy
grew pale and faced Mattheus directly. “You’re so sure about Sean? This is
enough evidence to lock up a guy for life?”

“The
bracelet and Riva testifying against him are a knockout punch,” said Mattheus. “You
did a great job spotting that bracelet and recognizing where it came from.”

Cindy
felt upset that she had.

“Come
on,” said Mattheus, “let’s walk back to the hotel.”

Cindy
and Mattheus started walking slowly. It was late afternoon, but had grown very
cloudy and the winds that were really blowing up.

“Crazy
weather for this time of year,” Cindy commented.

“Could
be that storm about to hit,” said Mattheus. “I’ve got to go over to the police
station to file a report on this. Why don’t you go back to the room and check
the news on TV. I’ll catch up with you there, later.”

“Fine,”
said Cindy, relieved to have some time alone to think about what to do next.

*

Back
in the room Cindy turned on the TV. “Out of season storm, headed our way, about
to hit,” the news reported. “Coast lands will be affected. No evacuations as
yet. Better to stay indoors for now.”

At
that moment the hotel phone rang sharply.  Cindy picked up. “

“Hear
there’s been breaking developments on the case,” Carl was on the other end.

“News
travels fast,” said Cindy. “How do you know?”

“I
was talking to Clay’s father in the lobby. Police called and told him they
could all go home,” said Carl.

“There’s
been progress for sure,” said Cindy, disheartened.

“I
want to hear all about it,” said Carl, “how about meeting me downstairs in the
café and filling me in?”

“Good
idea,” said Cindy. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

Before
she went down, Cindy decided to freshen up. It had been a long day. She changed
quickly into a yellow, silk summer dress, brushed her hair and put on new
makeup. Feeling more like herself, she then went downstairs to meet Carl in the
café which overlooked the main beach.

When
Cindy got there, she was surprised to see that the sky had quickly gotten so
much darker and filled with threatening clouds. And, the winds which were
tossing wildly by now, seem to be shaking the outside of the hotel. As she
walked further in, she immediately saw Carl who had arrived before she did and
was sitting at a table waiting for her.

 “I
love storms,” Carl said, getting up to pull her chair out. “They’re beautiful.
Usually they pass quickly on this island.”

Cindy
smiled. She loved storms as well, the raw energy of it. She sat down and Carl
pushed her chair back in gently and then went back to his seat, opposite her,
looking more worn that before.

“It’s
good to be here with you, Cindy,” Carl started. “You’ve done a fantastic job.”

“The
job’s not over yet, either,” breathed Cindy.

“Looks
like it will be shortly,” said Carl. “The police obviously feel they’ve got
their man if they’re going to let Clay and his family leave.”

“They’re
convinced it’s Sean,” said Cindy, hesitantly.

“I
know, I heard,” said Carl, looking into Cindy’s eyes. “It makes sense to me.”

“It
makes sense because you never could stand him, right?” asked Cindy.

“I
didn’t like him and he didn’t like me,” said Carl doggedly. “He moved in on
Kate when she was very young, got her addicted to him. It was a hell of a
struggle after that. I did whatever I could to get her away, but nothing
worked.”

“So,
Sean won the battle?” said Cindy, “he got the final say?” She wanted to egg Carl
on, see what else she could get from him.

“You
could put it that way,” Carl’s eyes narrowed in pain. “But who won? Nobody. And
who lost everything? Kate.” Carl’s breath became jagged as he spoke.

Cindy
suddenly felt very badly that she’d pushed him so far.

“I’m
really sorry, Carl,” she said and put her hand on his.

He
covered her hand with his other one. “You’re amazing, you’re fantastic, you’re
beautiful,” the words poured out by themselves. “We couldn’t have gotten
through any of this without you.”

“I
wouldn’t go that far,” said Cindy.

“Not
far enough,” said Carl. I have a gift I want to give you.”

“I
don’t need any gifts,” she said quickly.

“You
don’t need them but you deserve them,” said Carl. “And you deserve someone
better than Mattheus, too. You deserve a man who is worthy of you.” Carl looked
up at her hopefully.

“Mattheus
and I are happy,” Cindy replied quietly.

“No,
you’re not, neither of you,” Carl remarked. “In a way I feel like I’m talking
to Kate all over again. Kate was also stuck with someone who was wrong for her.
And she never really believed me when I said it to her.”

“I’m
not stuck,” Cindy felt upset.

“Maybe
it’s the wrong word,” said Carl. “But you don’t love the guy. It’s written all
over your face. And, it’s easy to see the tension between you when you’re
together.”

Cindy
didn’t know how they’d gotten off on this track, but she wouldn’t take it any
further.

“What
do you want to know about the case, Carl?” she asked, trying to get the
conversation back to the reason she was here at all.

“I
want to know if they actually have solid evidence against Sean?” he asked,
backing off.

“The
case is building,” said Cindy. “Mattheus and I spoke to his date, Riva, this
afternoon. She was wearing Kate’s bracelet.”

 Carl
practically jumped out of his seat. “What?”

“Riva
told us that Sean gave the bracelet to her,” said Cindy.

“Sean
gave her Kate’s bracelet? The damn bastard, the rotten monster!” Carl
exploded.  “That does it, that proves it.”

“In
my opinion, it’s just suggestive,” said Cindy. “Could also be that Riva is
lying?”

“How
else would she have gotten it?” Carl was incensed.

“We
don’t know for sure, do we?” said Cindy. “There are a number of possibilities.
She could have taken it herself at some point or another in all the commotion.
Or, someone else could have given it to her.”

“I’ve
known Riva for a while,” Carl broke in. “She’s not smart enough to figure out a
complicated intrigue.”

“Clay
showed me a bunch of condolence emails Riva sent him,” Cindy continued. “It
struck me that she never once mentioned Sean in them.”

 I’m
sure Riva’s not involved,” Carl insisted. “At the most she’s a gold digger. Maybe
she’s going after Clay now.”

“Why
would she so that when Sean is finally available?” asked Cindy.

“Maybe
she wants whatever Kate had? Maybe she sees another guy at loose ends?” said
Carl. “Or maybe she just plain feels badly for him. Kate’s death has nothing to
do with Riva. She’s just scenery. You don’t think it’s her, are you?”

“No,”
said Cindy slowly, “but I’m also not thinking it’s all tied up - or that it’s
time to send Clay and his family home.”

“Well,
whatever you think or don’t think,” said Carl, “I think you’re one fantastic
human being.” He reached out for Cindy once again, but she took her hand away.

“Sean
suggested that I talk more to Clay’s family,” Cindy continued, “and to Kate’s
family as well. I thought that was a good idea.”

“Well,
here I am,” Carl smiled, “talk to me all you like.”

“I
know you think they’ve got the right guy. But do you think it’s possible that
your anger with Sean may be blinding you from the truth?” Cindy asked frankly.

Carl
looked at her soulfully. “What truth are you talking about? The fact that Kate
may have committed suicide?”

“That,
or something else,” said Cindy.

“Now
you’re beginning to sound like Wendell,” Carl said. “He’s been having dreams of
Kate every night. She keeps coming to him and telling him to look for her
killer. It’s driving him crazy. He’s totally shaken, and so is Tyra now. They’re
both unraveling. If I start to imagine all kinds of things like that, I’ll
start to unravel too.”

“You
won’t unravel if you face the truth,” said Cindy slowly. “It may seem that way
at first, but it isn’t so.”

“What
truth?” Carl was now getting shaky himself.

“Clay
showed me the email correspondence between him and Kate,” said Cindy carefully.
“Have you seen it?”

“No,”
Carl’s face began to freeze.

“I
didn’t think so,” said Cindy.

“What’s
in it?” Carl suddenly asked in a menacing tone.

“The
letters between them seemed odd to me,” said Cindy.

Carl’s
eyes opened wide. “Why? How?” he demanded.

“Clay’s
convinced that Kate loved him deeply. It didn’t exactly sound that way to me.”

“Stop
playing games,” Carl jumped up from his seat. “How did it sound? What did she
say?”

Cindy
took a deep breath. “Kate said she was closer to Clay than to you. That Clay
understood her better than you did. It sounded as if she were suggesting there
was trouble between you.”

“What?”
Carl was furious. “I don’t believe she said that. It’s completely untrue. Show
me.”

“I
don’t have the letters,” said Cindy, “but we can go to see Clay together and
you can read them yourself.”

“Absolutely,
let’s go this minute,” Carl demanded.

A
huge clap of thunder hit then, followed by a torrential downpour.

“Let
it thunder all it wants,” Carl insisted. I don’t care about the weather.  Clay’s
still in the hotel. Let’s go up to his room.”

“I’ll
call him first,” said Cindy, opening her phone, when from the corner of her eye
she saw a windblown man approaching their table.

Cindy
looked up then and saw Mattheus standing there, looking at them with his hands clenched
at his sides.

“I
was looking all over for you, “Mattheus said to Cindy. “Never expected to find
the two of you dining here together.”

Carl
stared at Mattheus. “We were hardly dining,” he said icily, “just going over
details of the case.”

Mattheus
pulled a chair down and joined them. “Case is tied up,” he said, staring back
at Carl. “All the evidence points to Sean.”

“So
I heard,” Carl commented.

“That
should make you happy,” said Mattheus, “given your lousy relationship with the
guy.”

Carl
took exception.  “Nothing about this case makes me happy. I loved my niece and
I lost her.”

Mattheus
backed down, “Of course.”

“I
heard the police are sending Clay and his family back home,” Carl continued.

Mattheus
threw a quick look at Cindy. “That’s right,” he said.

“I
want to talk to Clay first,” Carl insisted.

“Why?”
asked Mattheus. Obviously he didn’t like it, and the tension between him and
Carl was so thick, it was hard to make one’s way through it. Fortunately, the
blasts of thunder and uncontrollable rain drowned everything out.

“Huge
storm,” Carl commented.

“Why
do you want to speak to Clay?” Mattheus insisted.

“I
want to see his correspondence with Kate,” Carl demanded.

“Cindy’s
got your ear? Is she getting you crazy, making you think something else could
have happened?” Mattheus asked.

“Leave
Cindy out of it,” Carl stood up out of his chair.

“Whoah
there,” said Mattheus, “Cindy’s my partner, remember?”