Angie closed her eyes a moment. “We all leave something in our lives and start over,” said Angie, “that’s the nature of life. One chapter ends, another begins.”
“That’s a poetic way of putting it,” said Cindy, aware that Angie was side stepping the question. “And, I also need specifics. Why did Shelly feel so at home here? What happened in her life that drew her to this work?”
Angie spread both hands out on the table, and tapped them several times. Obviously, she hadn’t been expecting questions like these so quickly. But time was of the essence, and Cindy had to cut through pleasantries.
“Was Shelly running away from something?” Cindy pursued it.
“Shelly’d had a terrible marriage a long time ago,” Angie said then softly, looking away.
Barbara flinched and reached out for Angie’s hand, as if to quiet her.
“It’s okay, I can talk,” Angie responded. “I’m not betraying Shelly’s confidence. I’m helping find her killer.”
Barbara shivered a moment. Cindy could see that it was painful for her to hear anything that could be negative about Shelly.
“Shelly ran away from a painful marriage,” Angie continued.
Cindy felt momentarily alarmed. “You’re talking about the man Shelly was married to in New Orleans?” Cindy had to be certain.
“Of course,” Angie was jolted, “Shelly was only married one time. She never married Anthony, was only living with him. But to me, her relationship with Anthony was more like a marriage than what she had with Mattheus.”
So they knew about Shelly’s having gone missing! Cindy felt stunned.
“Did Mattheus abuse Shelly?” Cindy asked immediately.
Barbara and Angie looked at each other.
“Not physically,” said Angie, “but emotionally, yes. Definitely!”
“How so?” Cindy’s attention was revving up. She needed details to back this accusation.
“Mattheus could never really be there for Shelly,” said Angie. “Shelly would tell him something and it would go in one ear and out the next. Sometimes she felt like she was going crazy. On the one hand, he’d act sweet and loving, on the other he’d turn cold as stone. That’s what she said to me over and over, he was cold as stone.”
This didn’t compute with the man Cindy knew. She had no idea how to put the information together.
“Explain this further,” Cindy requested.
Angie looked at her, puzzled. “What’s to explain? Every woman knows what cold as stone means.”
“Of course,” said Cindy, “but as a detective I need specific examples.”
Angie threw a quick look at Barbara.
“Mattheus wouldn’t make love to Shelly for weeks,” Angie said haltingly, “he’d leave her in bed alone.”
That was hard to believe. Mattheus had been a sensitive and giving lover to Cindy. She’d especially appreciated his warmth. What did Shelly do to push him away, Cindy couldn’t help wondering.
“Shelly would roll over towards Mattheus and try to hold him, and he’d brush her off and roll away,” Angie went on. “That is emotional abuse, par excellence.”
Cindy wondered if this really happened or if it were only in Shelly’s mind?
“In his own rotten way, he forced her to take up with other men!” Angie exclaimed, exasperated.
“Take up with other men? Forced her?” Cindy was horrified. She hadn’t heard a thing about this.
“His coldness drove her nuts,” Angie said, “she couldn’t stand it. Passive aggressive behavior drives women up the wall, makes them look like lunatics. That is emotional abuse.”
“Why didn’t Shelly leave him?” Cindy was baffled.
“She did,” Angie looked at her harshly.
“I mean, why didn’t she just get a divorce?”
“Life isn’t always so simple,” Barbara quickly interrupted, “there are often extenuating circumstances.”
“Like what?”
“Like maybe she needed him, or still cared for him, or didn’t want to hurt him.” said Angie.
“You can’t hurt someone more than by just going missing and never saying a word?” Cindy exclaimed.
“Going what?” asked Barbara disturbed.
“Shelly went missing from New Orleans six years ago,” said Cindy.
“That’s not what she told us,” said Angie looking directly at Cindy. “She said she told Mattheus many times she needed more from him and if she didn’t get it, was going to go. He’d just look at her blankly. He didn’t do a thing about it.”
Cindy swallowed hard. This put everything into an entirely new light. Was it possible that Shelly thought she had let Mattheus know that she was leaving, that he’d never heard what she said. Did she think all along that he knew their relationship was over?
“Shelly needed warmth, she needed love, is there something so bad about that?” Angie spoke stridently.
“Of course not,” said Cindy.
“Her family hated Shelly when she was growing up,” Angie continued. “She needed something more now.”
“Of course she did,” said Cindy.
Rattled, Barbara stood up.