“That’s what I’ve got to find out,” Mattheus face suddenly looked grim. They had investigators come from different countries, but the pieces never came together. I’ll get to the bottom of it, believe me.”
“Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you,” Cindy said.
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “I’ve got to talk to anyone who could be implicated, and you have to find out more about Ann’s activities and her relationship with Frank.”
Cindy swallowed hard. “I’ll go into her email immediately. As for Frank, I already spoke with him. It didn’t go well. He thinks I’m snooping where I don’t belong, doesn’t see me as a detective. He definitely won’t let me in too far, refused to give me the password to computer.”
Mattheus shook his head. “He has no choice about it,” he remarked.
“You tell him that,” said Cindy.
“Okay,” Mattheus agreed, but quickly thought better of it. “That may not be such a good idea. If I approach Frank, it might seem threatening to him. And, if he’s threatened and has something to hide, he’ll hide it even deeper.”
“Frank had nothing to do with Ann’s death,” Cindy said clearly. “As annoying as he’s being, he loved her.”
“Love can turn into hate in a minute,” Mattheus remarked, “and then back to love again. We don’t really know what happened between them, until we find out.”
Cindy felt irritated. “It’s the wrong focus,” she assured him. “It’s far more important for you to investigate the murders and for me to look into Ann’s personal email and Facebook accounts now. For all we know she was having trouble, maybe someone who hated her was lurking around. Why else would anyone kill her?”
“Lots of reasons,” Mattheus started.
Cindy shook her entire body. “No, this was personal. It had to be.”
“That’s a strange conclusion to come to so quickly,” said Mattheus.
“Not strange at all,” Cindy objected. “You didn’t see the huge scratches on her neck. I saw them – they were jagged, like claws.”
Mattheus stopped cold. “I didn’t know you saw your sister’s body.”
“I went to the morgue,” Cindy replied.
Mattheus looked at her distressed, “Without me?”
“I had no choice,” Cindy murmured.
“You had a choice, you could have called me immediately,” Mattheus’s voice rose just a bit.
“I couldn’t, it was too much,” Cindy said sharply. “I didn’t know what was going on in your life -.”
“Cindy,” Mattheus breathed, amazed.
“We can’t go backwards over this, we have to go forwards,” Cindy said urgently. “Let me go now and look into Ann’s email.”
“Okay, go do it,” Mattheus agreed. “And I’ll check around the hotel to see if anyone possibly saw or heard anything go on between Ann and Frank before she was killed.”
Cindy was surprised at how annoyed she felt at Mattheus’s insistence upon probing more deeply into Frank and Ann’s relationship. There was no reason for it; it was a waste of time and energy. Mattheus had enough on his hands with the rash of unsolved murders.
“You’ll do better spending your time looking into the unsolved murders,” Cindy urged.
“I can do both,” Mattheus answered easily. “You go explore Ann’s emails. I’ll find out more about Ann and Frank’s relationship and delve into these murders. Then we’ll talk.”
Cindy headed to her computer, able to move forward now. She felt energized and clear headed working with Mattheus. From the very start they had a great energy between them that worked synchronistically, balanced each other and left no stone unturned.
*
As Mattheus left Cindy went to get her computer, take it out onto the patio, and get into Ann’s email. The breeze that had gotten stronger on the beach had turned into a light wind. Cindy felt it blowing through her hair as she opened the computer. When she came to the place where she had to put Ann’s password in, she felt a moment of fear. Cindy felt as if she was trespassing upon her sister’s privacy, almost as if she were turning into her. But she wasn’t Ann, she was a beloved sister who was could leave no stone unturned in finding the killer. Ann wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
To Cindy’s distress, the first thing she saw when she got into the account was a string of unanswered emails from Ann’s friends. None of them had any idea she’d died, Cindy realized painfully.
“Have an incredible vacation, Ann,” the first one said. “It’s long overdue and I’m thinking of you. If you have a second, let me know how it’s going. Love you, Lana.”
Lana was one of Ann’s closest friends. She and Ann had grown up together, still lived close by. Cindy knew her well.
The next unanswered email was from Rebecca. “Let me know when you’re getting home, Ann. If I can I’ll meet you at the airport. Hope you’re back in time for the next meeting of the Circle. We’re always counting on you.”