Clearly, Mattheus was trying to make Frances uneasy, knock him off his game, get him to talk, thought Cindy.
“Want to tell us about what went on between you and Tiffany? Mattheus let a nasty tone creep into his voice.
“What am I supposed to say?” said Frances. “Tiffany and I knew each other for years. We were friends.”
“Just friends?” asked Mattheus, grinning suggestively.
Frances was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. Despite herself, Cindy wanted to calm him down. She stopped herself though. She knew it could be useful to push people to the edge, shake up their defenses, get them to spill.
“I heard the two of you were much more than friends,” said Mattheus.
Frances’s eyes opened wide at that. “Yeah? Who’d you hear that from?”
“It doesn’t matter who,” said Mattheus.
Frances threw Cindy a long, suspicious glance. “From her?”
“Frances,” Mattheus stood up threateningly and walked closer to him. “The game is up. Tell us what happened between you and Tiffany.”
“I told you,” Frances said, “we were friends. What else do you want me to say?”
“We’ve been in touch with the medical examiner,” Mattheus was making it up as he went along, trying to smoke out Frances.
“Oh yeah? What’d he say?”
“Medical examiner thinks Tiffany was pregnant when she died.”
Frances jumped up. “What?”
“And the DNA’s gonna tell who the father is.”
“What the hell are you telling me? She never said a word about being pregnant to me,” Frances could hardly catch his breath.
“Why would she tell you a thing like that?” Mattheus was closing in.
“If it was my baby, she’d let me know,” Frances shouted.
Mattheus shouted louder, “Your baby? You were lovers?”
“Sure we were lovers,” Frances was starting to freak.
“For how long?”
“About six months,” he was running his hands frantically through his hair.
“Was she sleeping with anyone else at the time?” asked Mattheus.
Frances started pacing back and forth.
“She was sleeping with Tad, but it couldn’t be his. That baby was mine, for sure.”
“Why couldn’t it have been Tad’s?” asked Mattheus.
“Because they hardly slept together. Once in a while, but it meant nothing to her.”
“That’s what they all say,” Mattheus rubbed it in.
Frances grew furious, “But I’m sure, dude. It was a whole different thing between Tiffany and me.”
“That’s why she got engaged to Tad?” Mattheus said, sarcastic.
“It was temporary,” Frances hissed.
Cindy was stunned. Was that what Tiffany told him? That she’d end up with him? Cindy suddenly felt badly for him.
“Tiffany got engaged to make her family happy, to keep her crazy mother from having another nervous breakdown,” Frances spun into a different state of mind. “Her family never liked me much. I never liked them.”
“Why not?” asked Cindy.
“Who the hell cares?” Frances spit out. “People get engaged all the time and the wedding day never comes.”
“You didn’t want it to come, did you?” said Mattheus.
“It wasn’t going to come,” Frances breathed, Tiffany promised me that.
“But, you killed her to make sure,” Mattheus said.
“Are you nuts? I swear I didn’t kill her. I loved her, she loved me. Why in the world would I kill her?”
“Ten dollars says you did,” said Mattheus stepping closer to him.
“You got to be crazy!” Frances reeled back and forth.
“What were you doing when she was murdered?”
“I was here, home alone.”
“Doing what?”
“Doing cocaine,” Frances said, “thinking things over.”
“That’s how you usually spend your days?”
“How I spend my days is my business, Mister.”
“Not when the woman you were sleeping with was found murdered.”
“I didn’t do it,” Frances whimpered.
“Was anyone at home with you that day? Anyone see you?”
“No one saw me. My parents were out on the boat with friends. They’re always out on the boat with friends. I’m not lying to you about anything.”
“Prove it then.”
“How the hell can I prove it? You want me to jump into the ocean and kill myself?”
“That’s a strange thing to say,” said Mattheus. “Why would a completely innocent guy kill himself?”
Frances was sweating heavily. “Oh Jesus,” he said, and covered his face with his hands. “Now the baby’s gone too.”
“Do you have any idea who may have done this, Frances?” Cindy asked quietly, trying to calm him down.
“How do I know? I’ve been thinking about it since it happened. It’s driving me crazy. I can’t even leave the house.”
“Did Tiffany ever tell you about anyone who had it in for her?”
Frances’s eyes darted back and forth. “She had some spats with a few friends, but nothing serious. Those friends of hers were always throwing darts at each other. It’s how they spent their days. It didn’t mean anything. She was used to it.”
“Was one of them particularly jealous of her?” Cindy asked quickly.