Kendra was offended. “Why?”
“People can talk more easily when they’re alone,” he said. “It won’t take very long.”
“This is not a matter of time,” said Kendra. “What could Nell possibly say that I can’t hear? You’re working for me, after all.”
Nell looked down at the floor.
“Would you like me to join you?” Kendra asked Nell pointedly.
Nell did not respond.
“It’s better this way,” Cindy said gently.
“Have it your way,” said Kendra, irritated, and stalked out of the room.
When she left Nell took a deep breath. “My mother has moods, she always had. And now it’s particularly tough for her.”
“You don’t get along so well?” asked Cindy.
“Up and down. She’s hard to take. I was closer to my father.”
“I’m sorry,” said Cindy. “You must miss him very much.”
Nell’s eyes suddenly closed.
“Is there anything at all you can tell us?” Cindy asked in as gentle a voice as she could. Nell was odd and interesting. At moments she was extremely alert, and, then, at other moments remote, as if a cloud had descended upon her.
“I have no idea who killed my father, “said Nell, finally, opening her eyes slightly. Her face flushed as she spoke. Just saying those words were painful for her. “I don’t even want to know who did it. I want to wake up and find out it was all a bad dream.”
“It wasn’t a dream,” said Cindy.
“How do you know?” said Nell. “People can live their whole lives and then something happens and their whole life turns into a dream.”
“That’s what happened to you?” asked Mattheus.
“None of it’s real,” said Nell.
Cindy and Mattheus looked at each other. Cindy didn’t want to push too hard. This was so new and fresh for Nell, it would take months for her to make sense of it. And clearly, she didn’t have the kind of relationship with her mother that would support her through the process. Yet, oddly enough, she didn’t seem so alone. There was a strange strength about her.
“I’m more like my dad,” Nell said then from out of nowhere. “We understood each other very well.”
“How wonderful that you had that,” said Cindy.
“He didn’t let anything knock him down,” her eyes opened wider and she seemed to get strength, just thinking about him. “Once he said, Nell, no matter what the world dishes out, remember one thing, honey. You can always find a way out of a tough spot. There’s always another street to walk down, there’s always an answer waiting.”
Mattheus seemed impressed. “Quite a guy,” he said.
Nell’s face lit up briefly. “He was a great guy – he was different,” she said.
“It must have been a powerful force that took him down, “said Mattheus.
Nell recoiled. “I don’t know what happened,” she shook her head.
Cindy got up from the couch and walked over to her. It was enough. She didn’t want Mattheus crashing through Nell’s defenses all at once. She needed them now.
“In a little while the storm season’s starting,” Nell went on, out of nowhere.
“And?” asked Cindy.
“All the tourists leave the island. Only the hard core remain. We board up our homes and get ready to wait out the storm inside. My dad always loved hurricane season. He and I boarded up the house together, year after year.”
“Who’s going to board it up this year?” asked Mattheus.
“No one,” said Nell, smiling oddly. “Maybe this year the storm will just tear the whole house apart.”
*
“There was no reason to grill her like that,” said Cindy, when she and Mattheus had left the house. “You were too tough on her.”
“I had to be,” said Mattheus. “when they’re rattled they say things they wouldn’t otherwise say. Things just come out.”
“What about her?” said Cindy. “She’s a kid who’s lost her dad.”
“I’m sorry for her,” said Mattheus, but I don’t forget what I’m here to do. I wasn’t hired to be a therapist. Neither were you. We have a big job to do and not much time to do it. Beyond all that, there’s a murderer on the loose. You never know when they’ll strike again, or who?”
The way he said it gave Cindy a chill. She hadn’t taken in the fact that right among them, close by possibly, the murderer could be lurking, waiting to pounce.
“You’re right,” she said to Mattheus then. “Right and wrong at the same time.”
He looked at her quizzically.
“We’ve got to find the killer, but we’ve got to take care of the others too. Paul wasn’t the only victim. His whole family was as well.”
“Point well taken,” said Mattheus, as he looked at Cindy, his eyes filled with respect. “That’s why it’s good to have both a male and female on the case. Nothing gets overlooked.”
“I’m going to spend some more time here with Kendra,” Cindy said.