Dalia turned her rage on Cindy then. “You want to see me drugged too? Then I won’t be a problem for you, will I? Then I won’t be a problem for anyone. ”
The doctor turned to Cindy, “She’s in shock,” he said. “They say all kinds of things when they’re in this condition. I’ve seen her this way before. She’ll quiet down eventually. ”
Dalia turned like a lion, “Get out of my house!” she said to the doctor.
I can’t stay if she doesn’t want me here,” he said.
“I realize,” said Cindy.
After the doctor left, Dalia resumed pacing, and Rosa came to the door of the room and then took a few steps into the room.
“They found Mr. Ames dead,” Cindy said to her bluntly.
Rosa’s eyes opened wide. “Where?” she whispered.
It was the first time Cindy had heard her speak.
“His body washed up on the shore, in a cove near Sculpture Park.”
“Was he in the rocks?” Rosa asked.
It was actually shocking to hear Rosa speak. She had a lilting voice.
“He was found partially in a rock crevice, partially in the water.” Cindy’s eyes met hers for a moment.
Rosa’s eyes were filled with alarm.
“Do you want to say anything to Dalia?” Cindy asked.
“No,” Rosa shook her head hard, bit her lip, and rushed out of the room.
The phone rang again. It was Dale.
Mattheus and Sand walked in with two other cops.
“This is no longer a missing person case,” Mattheus announced, “it’s a criminal investigation, now. We have to cord off the house to preserve evidence and go through everything. ”
“You did it already,” said Cindy. “People have been in and out freely for over a month.”
“Procedure,” said Mattheus. “Where’s Dalia?”
Dalia had gone out on the patio, and was pacing out there.
“I called the doctor in, but she wouldn’t see him. She’s called a Memorial for Ames for day after tomorrow. ”
“Look,” Mattheus said confidentially then, “this is where you can be helpful to us. Keep her as calm as you can. Go through the house again for us, see if you come up with anything else. It’s doubtful, but you never know. We need to focus on the fleet and the Captain. There’s big news about to break with that. We’re putting all our attention there. ”
“Fine,” said Cindy, pleased to be included.
“Go over everything again carefully,” said Mattheus. “Maybe something will hit you that we had no idea of. It could happen. ”
Cindy hoped it would.
“Don’t let anyone in here to visit. Make sure you’re at the memorial service with Dalia. People will be speaking about Ames. It’s a perfect place to catch something that we might not have caught before. ”
“What’s the news that’s just breaking?” Cindy asked directly.
“Drugs,” Mattheus said in a low, throaty tone. “Looks like Ames got in the way of a big deal. We’re all over his ships now. But you can find something too that can add to the picture. ”
“I’ll do my best,” said Cindy.
“I know you will,” Mattheus said, reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. “You’re quite a gal, you know,” he said.
Cindy felt warm inside.
*
The house was somber. Dalia was laying down, resting, and Cindy paced in her room, packing, feeling restless. She felt that her time here was coming to an end, and she packed her things with a combination of closure and remorse. She had wished things would have turned out differently.
Cindy reached for her phone charger, plugged into the wall, but she couldn’t get it out of the outlet. She pushed back the heavy dresser, trying to reach it, and as she did, suddenly she noticed something on the floor, crammed between the dresser and the wall.
She slowly reached out and pulled it out. She was surprised to see that it was an old photo album. It must have fallen off the dresser and got wedged between the wall. It was a pale ivory photo album, decorated with roses. Cindy opened it up. There were no pictures inside, though. Inside were letters, inserted into the folders. One letter a page.
Cindy took the book in her arms, and looked at the letters. She began reading the first one: Dalia,
What would I do without you? Since I met you my life has turned around. At night I dream about you, during the day, I walk at your side. You have healed the pain I have carried for years about my past. What did I do to deserve such a gift? How can I ever repay you?
At the bottom of the letter was a pencil drawing of a scraggly heart.
Cindy found the letter odd. She read the next one. It was a variation on the same theme, with the same scraggly heart at the bottom. The third letter repeated it, and so did the fourth.
Cindy looked closely at the letters. The handwriting was delicate. She looked more closely and her heart stopped. Suddenly, in a flash, she ran over and grabbed the handwritten note on her bedside table, the one from Dalia, welcoming her. She compared the two: it was identical.
Dalia had written these notes to herself.