“No problem,” said Trage, “Did you check on Alain yet?”
Cindy looked at Trage carefully. He was the only one who knew she’d gone to see him. Once again Cindy wondered if Trage had anything to do with the green car that practically swiped her off the road? She pulled back a bit. Cindy knew you couldn’t give someone your trust, until you were absolutely certain about who they were.
“As a matter of fact, I did see Alain,” she replied courteously. “He’s a nice guy with a rock solid alibi. I’ll give you the details, you can check them out. I found no reason to doubt him.”
“Okay, thanks for that,” Trage commented. “We can eliminate him then?”
“Absolutely,” said Cindy, still wondering whether or not she should mention the green car. She decided to wait though and talk it over first with Mattheus.
“How about you? How are you doing?” Trage took a step closer, looking into her eyes.
“I’m doing fine, thanks,” said Cindy. “In fact, after I saw Alain, I took your advice and called my partner, Mattheus to come down and help with the case.”
Trage looked surprised. “That’s a wise step to take,” he answered carefully. “What made you decide?”
Cindy ignored the question. “Mattheus will be here on the next flight. As soon as he arrives I’ll bring him over and introduce him. He’ll be a great help with the case.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” said Trage.
“You’ll like him,” said Cindy. “He’s a great detective and it looks like we need all the support we can get.”
Trage wrote something down on a piece of paper, looked up at her, nodded and then led her down to the end of the hallway to sign Frank’s parole.
*
Frank was delighted to walk out of the jail beside Cindy, and into the cab that Trage had waiting. He looked deeply shaken and discombobulated, though.
“I’ll never forget you did this for me,” Frank said, putting his hand on Cindy’s arm. “Never.”
“It’s just the beginning,” Cindy said as the cab took off.
“What do you mean? What happens now?” Frank was practically spluttering.
“My mother and uncles are at the hotel,” Cindy replied, “they want to see you immediately.”“They’re at the same hotel we’re staying at?” Frank seemed happy to hear it.
“Yes,” said Cindy. “In fact my mother’s planning a memorial for Ann tomorrow, on the beach.”
Frank looked stunned. “A memorial now? It’s too soon, besides no one’s here.”
“We’re here,” said Cindy.
“Just us?” Frank was wide eyed.
“Everyone has their own way of dealing with things,” Cindy replied. “You know my mother better than I do. I guess she’s doing what she can to feel alright.” Frank knew more about lots of things involving the family than Cindy did. He saw her mother all the time, had been much closer to her than Cindy had. “Tell me more about my mother, Frank,” Cindy went on.
“This has got to be a total nightmare for her,” he agreed. “I’ll go see her as soon as we get to the hotel.”
“No,” Cindy suddenly exclaimed, “first I have to talk to you alone.”
“About what?” Frank looked startled.
“About Ann,” Cindy breathed.
“What about her?” he got jittery.
Cindy turned straight to him. “You’ve got to tell me everything, Frank!” Cindy felt frightened by her own intensity.
“I told you everything, we talked in jail,” Frank said.
Cindy’s jaw hardened. “That was just the beginning. Ann didn’t die of natural causes. This is a murder case, someone killed her, I’ve got to find out who.”
“I don’t know,” Frank started trembling, “I have no idea. I told you already.”
The cab pulled up to the hotel. Cindy paid and they got out.
“Before we go to my mother’s room, we’re going to the back gazebo,” Cindy demanded. “There are tables there. We’ll sit down together and you’ll talk to me.”
“About what?” Frank became agitated.
“You’ll tell me every secret you know about Ann,” said Cindy.
“I won’t, that’s disgusting,” Frank muttered.
Cindy got into his face. “This is not a game. I have to know them –they’ll tell me how my sister was killed.”
Suddenly Frank’s eyes opened wide. “What kind of secrets? Ann didn’t have secrets?”
“Everyone has secrets,” Cindy insisted as she yanked him by the elbow and pushed him towards the gazebo in the rear.
*
The gazebo in the back of the hotel was a sanctuary for the flocks of wild birds that made their home in Bermuda. It was hidden under palm trees, and rows of begonias. A few tables were scattered behind the gazebo in the shade. Thankfully, the place was mostly empty now.
“Sit there,” said Cindy, pointing to one of the tables, hidden away under a tree.
Frank reluctantly went over and sat down, looking at Cindy as though she were mad.
“You think Ann would like it if I told you her secrets?” he mumbled glumly as a few birds overhead started to sing.