“Pure conjecture,” Spike insisted.
“Listen, I have something much more relevant,” said Rod, stopping Cindy. “It’s evidence for suicide.” Then Rod nodded to Spike, who pulled a crumbled paper out of his vest. “Show the note we found to Cindy,” Rod said.
Spike handed Cindy the crumbled paper that was torn at the edges.
“We were going through the evidence we’d collected from their room, and this turned up. It was stuffed in her wastepaper basket. Read it,” said Rod.
Cindy smoothed out the note carefully. It had been written in a shaky hand.
Sean, this is the last time I’m writing to you, but there’s nothing else I can do. I’m sorry to be doing this so soon, I never wanted to hurt you, I still care and I always will. I had to move on fast, I just had to. I couldn’t stand thinking about you all the time and living without you. And, the thought of you with Riva, was too much for me. I couldn’t go back with you after that. I hope you understand what I’m doing now. And, I hope you realize you’ll always have my love. Kate.
Cindy stared at the note, her hand trembling as she read. The note had been crumpled up, ripped and thrown away. Kate had never sent it. Sean never received it, either.
“Sounds like a suicide note to me,” Spike said softly. “It’s the evidence we’ve been looking for.”
Cindy wasn’t ready to concede. “But Sean’s down here now with his girl, Riva. We’ve got to find out more about them.”
Rod looked at Cindy with a little gleam in his eye. “It’s easy to see why you have the reputation you do,” he conceded. “You won’t let any little thing pass by.”
“Having the ex-boyfriend and his date here is not a little thing,” said Cindy.
“I agree,” Mattheus chimed in. “Before you tie it up and call it a suicide, we at least need time to talk to him and look into his background. The girl’s family deserves it. It’s gonna be awful to live with the idea that their daughter ended her life.”
“Will they live with it any better if they find out that someone killed her?” Rod grumbled.
“They might,” said Cindy, “takes some guilt away.”
“So, take a little time,” Spike conceded. “If this guy and his girlfriend are at the hotel, go talk to them, check their background. It won’t take long for you to agree with us.
CHAPTER 10
Rod and Spike finished lunch and took off, leaving the crumpled note with Cindy. The feel of it in her hand made her uneasy. It was almost as if Kate were right here, touching her gently, speaking to her. Cindy felt both sadness and anxiety etched in every line on the page. But what was Kate really saying? The note could be read in different ways. Was she warning of a suicide? Was Cindy holding proof of that in her hand? Or was the note a love note, a final good bye to Sean, before Kate went forward with Clay? Cindy intuitively felt there was much more to this than anyone now had any idea of. It just didn’t make sense that Kate would commit suicide after posting on about her engagement on Facebook, and being so thrilled about it. Something in Cindy said it wasn’t so.
But, in all truth, Cindy hadn’t really given the possibility of suicide careful exploration. After seeing Kate the night before, the whole idea seemed outlandish to her. But even so, she knew she had to consider it. She also needed to speak with Kate’s mother and Carl. This could be the perfect time to do both.
After lunch, Mattheus decided to go back to the station with the cops and use their computers to continue the investigation. He enjoyed ferretting up odd information that brought new light to dark corners, was good at it. Right now they needed something like that badly, or else it looked as though the case would labeled suicide and quickly closed. Mattheus and Cindy planned to catch up after he spent a few hours investigating, and then go together to interview Sean.
After Mattheus and the police left, Cindy sat alone at the café, reading the note over and over. When was this written exactly? What was Kate thinking at the time? If she still loved Sean so much, why was she getting engaged to Clay? Cindy wanted so badly to speak to Kate directly, but her young life had been cut off at the pass. She would have to rely on what she could learn from those Kate was close to.
Cindy took her phone to call Carl. He was easier to talk to than Tyra. Cindy wanted to see both of them in person, show them Kate’s note and see what they had to say.
The phone rang and Carl picked up immediately, happy to hear from Cindy.
“We were just wondering where you were and how things were progressing,” Carl said as soon as he heard Cindy’s voice.
“I’m in town right now,” said Cindy, “on Orjeanstadt Sreet.”
“Perfect,” Carl responded, “You’re probably a few steps away from us. Can you find your way to Taylor’s Bar and join us there? It’s in the center of everything.”
“I’m coming right over,” Cindy quickly replied.