“Ben should have called the police,” Mattheus bristled.
“No, he should not have,” Cindy held her ground.
“Your mother must have known as well,” Mattheus was dwelling on it.
“Ben was taking care of my mother and Charlie did the right thing,” Cindy said. “As soon as he found out he told me, not the police. Charlie didn’t want Frank cornered like a trapped rat, he wanted him handled with compassion. After all, Frank’s just lost his wife.”
“Okay, go on,” Mattheus was uneasy. “So, you took Frank’s address and went to see him immediately?”
“Exactly,” Cindy replied.
Mattheus was bolt upright now, paying total attention. “And you found him?”
“Yes, I did,” said Cindy. “I had the talk we needed to have, and he finally admitted to knowing Ronnelle. He had a passing affair with her.”
“A passing affair?” Mattheus sounded entirely skeptical though he was listening now with every pore of his body.
“Frank also admitted having a small offshore account with Beggio,” Cindy went on at top speed. “He said he and Ann had come down to Bermuda to reconcile. Ann knew there was someone in his life at the end, but it was over - they were reconciling.”
“According to Frank,” Mattheus muttered.
“Ann also knew that Frank only loved her, the affair was just a pastime.”
Mattheus cleared his throat. “I wonder if Ronnelle felt the same way about it?”
“Frank said he didn’t tell Ronnelle he was defriending her, just wanted to end things and start new,” said Cindy. “Frank told Ronnelle that he loved Ann, was coming down here with her to make things right.”
“That’s his story,” Mattheus mumbled, “every word of it. And, what does all this have to do with Ann’s death?”
“That’s for us to find out, isn’t it?” Cindy shot back. “Frank said he thought Ann might have gotten killed accidentally by one of Beggio’s boys. They might have mistaken him for a big time operator and her for one of the girls at the Greenstone Hotel.”
“Unlikely,” said Mattheus. “What do you think?”
“I’m not sure,” Cindy went on, “but I need to talk to Ronnelle again.”
“Not a good idea,” said Mattheus. “From here on in, let the police handle it.”
Cindy took offense at that. “Why? I’m the one who’s gotten the information. It’s my family. Why would I hand it over to them? I’m seeing this through to the end.”
Mattheus walked over to her calmly. “That’s not a good idea, Cindy,” he said. “This is convoluted and you’re too involved.”
Cindy felt furious suddenly. Who was he to take her work away from her? He should he praising her for all she’d accomplished.
“No one is taking this away from me, Mattheus,” Cindy declared.
“I don’t want to take anything away,” he replied. “But you’ve put yourself into danger, going to speak to Frank alone, not telling anyone. I think you need to lay low.”
“I disagree,” Cindy felt herself flush all over. “I think I need to jump in even further now.”
“Cindy, stop it,” Mattheus voice rose.
Cindy recoiled, “Leave me alone,” she called back. “I can do this and I’m going too.”
“I’m going with you then,” Mattheus demanded.
“No, you’re not. No way,” Cindy called out to the universe. “I’m seeing this through myself to the end.”
Chapter 20
Mattheus returned to his room to give Cindy time to chill out, saying they’d talk more at dinner and make a specific plan about what to do next.
Relieved, as soon as Mattheus left Cindy called the police station and spoke to Trage’s assistant Michael. To Cindy’s delight, the moment she asked for Ronnelle’s address, he gave it to her immediately. Triumphant, Cindy scrawled it down on a piece of paper, then smiled, ran to shower and changed. In what seemed like just a few minutes, she was outside and on her way to Ronnelle’s suite - located in a fancy hotel not far away. Cindy figured she could get there and back before Mattheus even knew she had gone. She would pin Ronnelle down, confirm Frank’s story, get more details.
Cindy slipped into a cab and arrived at Ronnelle’s hotel as evening was falling. Without checking at the desk to see if she were there, Cindy went straight to the elevator, stepped out at the top floor and quickly slid down to Suite 424. Then she rang the bell a few times. What in hell was Ronnelle doing in a suite of her own on the top floor of hotel like this, Cindy wondered.
“What’s going on? Who is it?” Ronnelle’s voice rung out from behind the door.
“Open up,” Cindy said in a garbled tone, trying to disguise her voice.
“Who is it?” the voice behind the door grew closer.
“Open up, this minute” Cindy scrambled her voice even further.
Fearlessly, Ronnelle flung the door open. She and Cindy stood there staring at each other.
“You?” Ronnelle said surprised.