“But it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Cindy snapped.
“Nothing is obvious,” the woman said strongly. “We imagine all kinds of horrible things, but we have to investigate everything, inch by inch.”
“No, you’re wrong,” Cindy shook her head wildly, as if to shake the horrible scene away. “Investigate or not, some things are obvious. I can feel Ann’s struggle, she was screaming for help.”
“Do you want time alone with your sister?” the woman backed away.
To her surprise, Cindy did not. She saw what she needed. This was enough. Of course ultimately Cindy wanted time with her sister, but Ann was definitely not here anymore. This was only a shell that she’d left behind. Cindy desperately needed to connect with her sister, and somehow she would, but this was not the place or time.
“Thank you for your help,” Cindy said to the woman, as she quickly pivoted, turned and fled from the room.
As Cindy walked back to the front desk she quieted down, knew she had to become strong and planted. When she walked out of the morgue, Cindy had to return to a place that went on as if nothing awful every happened beneath the island’s beautiful exterior.
*
By the time Cindy saw Trage up front, she’d gathered herself, thanked him and let him drive her back to the hotel.
“You have all the evidence you need on the body,” Cindy finally broken the silence between them in the car.
“Looks like it,” Trage acquiesced, “but we can’t be sure until results are in.”
“Have you started the steps to let me take Frank out on bail?” Cindy quickly turned to Trage.
“Actually, I have,” he responded. “It’ll only be a little while.”
“That helps,” said Cindy, grateful. “I’m sure my mother will want to have him back with her at the hotel.”
They drove up to the hotel entrance and Cindy put her hand on Trage’s for a second.
“Thank you again and again for everything,” she murmured.
“Go see your family now, Cindy,” Trage replied in a low voice.
*
As soon as Cindy got out of the car and stepped into the lobby she realized how completely exhausted she was. The only thing she wanted to do was go and lay on her patio in the sun, regain her strength before taking the next steps.
As was her habit, Cindy walked to the front desk to check for messages, before going upstairs. To her surprise a note was waiting from her mother, written in a scrawled handwriting.
Urgent, your uncles and I are in our room on the sixth floor, waiting. We need to see you immediately!
Cindy’s hands shook as she read the desperate words. Seeing her mother and uncles now would only make her feel worse - but what choice did she have? They were all living in the same nightmare together. Cindy picked up the house phone and called.
“Cindy, where were you?” a high, shrill voice answered on the other end. It was her mother, completely beside herself. Of course she was, thought Cindy. How could it be otherwise? Ann had always been her mother’s favorite. She’d lived close to her mother her whole life long.
“Where are you? Where are you?”Cindy’s mother kept uttering.
“I just got back to the hotel,” Cindy mustered her strength. “I’m working on the case, mom.”
“No, you’re not,” her mother snapped. “Enough, enough, get right up here this minute. I’ve got to see you immediately.”
Cindy was filled with horror for the entire family. “I’m on the way up,” she replied.
As Cindy stepped into the elevator and pressed the sixth floor, she realized that she hadn’t seen or spoken to her mother since Clint had died, almost two years ago. How could so much time have elapsed without either of them being in touch? But it wasn’t surprising. Even during all the years growing up, Ann had stepped in and filled in the gap. For as long as Cindy could remember Ann had been both a big sister and a mother to her.
As the elevator climbed to her mother’s floor Cindy thought about her. She remembered how when Clint had died, her mom had been horrified that Cindy wouldn’t return home to Wisconsin and live in the bosom of the family again. When Cindy had chosen to become a detective, her mother went crazy. There was no understanding Cindy, her mother had told Ann, there never was and never would be. Ann hadn’t repeated that to Cindy, Frank had. Frank always seemed to enjoy telling Cindy the inside story of what was going on in the family. Frank seemed to enjoy the fact that Ann was the favorite daughter and Cindy had always been the black sheep.
Cindy got off at the sixth floor and walked down to the room where her mother was staying. She stood outside it a moment before ringing the bell. Would her mother want her to take on Ann’s role now? Was she going to insist that Cindy move back home again?
Cindy rang the bell lightly. In a flash of a moment, the door was pulled open and Cindy’s uncle Ben stood there. He looked flushed and worn to the bone.