“Of course, join me,” she said.
Mattheus sat down. He’d had breakfast on the plane, but could easily eat more now. The beautiful weather, trees and fresh air constantly sparked his appetite. He ordered scrambled eggs and coffee, as the waiter re-filled Cindy’s coffee cup.
“Tell me about your trip,” she started, putting the paper down. “Useful?”
“Very,” said Mattheus. “Checked the records at the casinos -- Paul played in a high stakes poker and a guy in the game was badly indebted to him. A great reason to take him out. I’m going to check into hm. Beyond that, I met a gambling buddy of his, Roomey Burke. Strange character who said Kendra talked to him a lot. Told him she was lonely, towards the end of their marriage.”
Cindy raised her eyebrows slightly, as if that wasn’t such a surprise. “Not so unusual,” she said softly.
Mattheus agreed. “True, except that it’s interesting to notice that Kendra spoke about it to him.”
Cindy nodded. “Or so he says.”
Mattheus smiled. Cindy was getting tougher by the day, not taking anything at face value. “Okay,” said Mattheus, “but why would he make it up? What’s in it for him?”
“Sometimes a guy enjoys feeling that he holds a special place in a woman’s life,” she said “even when he doesn’t. Guys blow things up in their mind. It can make them feel important.”
Mattheus didn’t like that. This was a part of Cindy he hadn’t yet seen. “You sound bitter,” he said.
“Not at all. Just realistic. There’s lots of characters here, floating on the fringes. Who knows what they had to do with the murder? I don’t want to jump to conclusions, just keep my mind open.”
Mattheus’ breakfast came and he ate it quickly.
“You’re starving,” said Cindy, “didn’t you eat on the plane?”
“I did,” said Mattheus, wolfing it down.
Cindy suddenly looked concerned about him and extended her hand for a moment. Then she quickly took it back. “I’d like to meet this Roomey Burke,” she said.
“You will,” said Mattheus, between mouthfuls. “What about you? Who did you find?” It was great being with her, but it also made him nervous.
“I had a great two days,” said Cindy. “Met a couple of fascinating women. One owns the Spa in town, Salon B. She gave me the name of another woman, Heather May, who claims she had a romance with Paul for about three years. Said it was over for a long time before the murder happened, though.”
Mattheus put his fork down, startled and impressed. “That’s important information. The guy had a mistress -whew. The police didn’t mention anything about it. Are you sure she’s not fantasizing?”
“I wondered about that myself at first,” said Cindy, “but the more we talked the more solid her story seemed. She said their time together was incredible, gave him something he never had anywhere else.”
Mattheus smiled at that. “Guess women like to think that, as well.”
“Heather May wasn’t angry with him either, seemed to be suffering because of his death.”
“So, the guy played around,” mused Mattheus. “Not so good for Kendra. It could be more fuel for her motive to get rid of him.”
“Or, it could implicate the mistress,” said Cindy.
“Could,” said Mattheus, “but that’s farfetched if the relationship was over. Why would she want to get rid of him now? This goes more to Paul’s character. A cheater lies. Usually they’re good at it. Especially if they’ve had a long relationship on the side. For all we know this guy could have gotten caught in a web of lies that finally drove someone crazy. Crazy enough to kill him for it.”
Cindy was fascinated, listening to Mattheus spin a web, construct a theory from nothing much. “You’re good at this,” she smiled.
Mattheus smiled back. “So, tell me more,” he said, “how did you meet the gal who owns the Spa?”
“Went to the bar where Paul was a regular.”
At that Mattheus looked up at her keenly. “At night? Alone?”
“Sure,” said Cindy.
“You must have created quite a stir,” Mattheus felt uneasy.
“Just business,” Cindy said. “It was crowded and noisy. I have the woman’s card. Her name is Andrea. She seems to know what’s going on in town.”
“Talk to any guys?” he asked rather casually.
Cindy smiled. “A couple, here and there. Why?”
Mattheus shrugged and put his fork down.
“There was one guy who troubled me though,” Cindy said, suddenly uneasy. “That cop at the station, Nojo, was there. He kept staring at me, was rude, threatening.”
Mattheus’ jaw clenched. He felt agitated by the story.
“I don’t recommend you go to those places alone,” he said in a strained tone. “Wait for me to go with you. That’s what I’m here for.” The thought of her drifting around alone in these bars, made his skin crawl.