Cindy was shocked that Myrtle knew such intimate details about Tiffany’s life.
“Tiffany and I discussed it many times,” Myrtle continued, “I told her it didn’t matter so much. It was better in the long run to have a husband who wouldn’t go running after all the women who would fling themselves at him.”
“Do women do that with the Senator?” Cindy asked.
“Of course they do. Why not? He’s a handsome man, but cold,” Myrtle smiled bitterly. “In the long run these women don’t get much.”
“How could Tiffany be happy in a marriage with an impotent man?” Cindy asked bluntly.
Myrtle stared at her then. “Does sex really matter so much?” Myrtle asked. “I mean once you have your children, do you really need to be bothered all the time?”
Cindy flushed. She couldn’t imagine not being close to someone she loved.
“I guess sex is important to you,” said Myrtle, disdainfully, “and maybe to some others, but not to Tiffany. I told you Tiffany was a good girl. She liked to play, dance, run around with her friends. I thought a man like Tad would appreciate her sweetness. And, he could be quite affectionate too, when he wanted to. Affection counts for a lot, plenty of women would rather have that.”
“What will you do if you find out that Frances was the father?” Cindy asked, point blank.
She knew this was only a story Mattheus had made up, but the police were going with it, and even though it wasn’t true, it was a good story for smoking out information.
“What would I do if I discovered Tiffany had lied to me, hadn’t told me the truth about her life? Hid the fact that a baby was coming?” Myrtle’s face flushed beet red. “I’d feel even more betrayed than I do now.”
“Betrayed by Tiffany?”
“No, betrayed by life, useless, worthless.”
“You have two other daughters who love you.”
Myrtle stared at her with vacant eyes. “Rori doesn’t love me. Ever since she was little she could never stand to be near me. And Wynn is more like her father, always networking, looking for the best in everyone.”
Myrtle then leaned over the table and scooped up the knick knacks that had belonged to Tiffany and began putting them back into her bag, one by one.
“This has been a terrible lunch,” Myrtle said slowly, half to herself. “In the beginning everyone focused on Tad. Now Frances is the latest. What does it all amount to?”
“There’s no way it could be Tad?” Cindy repeated just one more time.
Myrtle looked at her, suddenly listless.
“How could it be Tad? His alibi was perfect, just like Shane’s. Tad was Scuba Diving at Jimmy Bolton’s diving school. Why would Jimmy Bolton lie about it? He’s always been Tad’s best friend.”
Cindy wasn’t sure she’d heard right. “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” said Myrtle, stuffing what was left of the mementos into her bag.
“You said Jimmy Bolton, the guy who ran the Scuba Diving School, was Tad’s best friend?”
“Yes,” said Myrtle blankly. “It isn’t a big deal.”
“It is a big deal,” said Cindy, startled. She hadn’t heard it before.
Cindy would have to tell Mattheus about it right away. They’d have to re-check Tad’s alibi to see if anyone else had seen him Scuba Diving that afternoon.
“Why is it a big deal?” asked Myrtle.
“It changes the quality of Tad’s alibi, if it was his best friend who confirmed it,” said Cindy.
“You’re implying Jimmy Bolton could have been covering for Tad?”
“Possible,” said Cindy. “Do you know if anyone else saw Tad Scuba Diving?”
“I have no idea who did or did not see Tad Scuba Diving,” said Myrtle, irritated. “But I do know you’re way off the track. You haven’t really heard a thing I said. Tad had no reason to kill Tiffany. He loved her, she loved him. And, she accepted him as he was. She wasn’t the kind of woman who was filled with hopeless desire, like you.”
Cindy stopped and stared at her. That was a strange way to put it.
“Myrtle was unnerved. “Am I right? Are you that kind of woman? Always hungry for a man?”
“Are you?” Cindy wanted to shoot back, but held her tongue as Myrtle threw her head back and ran her hands through her frizzy hair.
CHAPTER 16
The excitement of getting ready for Petrovich’s Christmas Eve party over rode the surprising news about Tad’s alibi.
“We’ll check out it later,” Mattheus said, off handedly, when Cindy told him about it. He was convinced that the party tonight would set them in the right direction, be a treasure cove of leads. “Let’s get ready now,” he said.