“I saw you and Riva at Kate’s table in the dining room, the night she died,” said Cindy abruptly, shifting the tone of the conversation and throwing Sean off balance.
Sean spun around. “What the hell do you mean you saw me there?” He was discombobulated.
“Mattheus and I just happened to be having dinner at the table next to Kate’s.”
“Yeah, I believe that, like I believe a horse became a fish and started to swim,” Sean spit out.
“It’s true though,” said Cindy.
“Kate’s uncle put you up it? He told you to go sit there next to her table? “asked Sean.
“Not at all,” said Cindy. “We sat there before we ever met Kate’s uncle. It was the night before she died.”
“I don’t believe a word of this,” Sean growled.
“Okay,” Mattheus moved in on him fiercely. “You let us know whatever you got, right now. None of this looks good for you, buddy.”
Sean punched his fists against the wall then. “Nothing ever looks good for me, does it?” he murmured. “I’m used to it.”
“Tell us what you know,” Mattheus insisted.
“I told you the truth, like it or not,” Sean spoke faster, scared. “When I knocked at her door and yelled that night, it made me crazy to think that Kate was in there with someone else. Crazy. How dare she? I knocked and begged her to come back! I banged at the door, but she didn’t answer. No one did. It was dead quiet inside.”
Cindy froze, unmoving. Sean had just admitted that it was him banging at the door and yelling. That was huge. It opened a new window for them. She and Mattheus had to let the police know about this immediately. The police would have to take Sean in for questioning, they wouldn’t be able to wrap up the case up as a suicide so fast.
“When you knocked on the door, was she already dead?” Mattheus’s eyes squinted. That was shocking information for him as well.
“How the hell do I know?” Sean looked like he was about to gag. “No one answered. There was not a sound inside. Who knows who this guy she was with really is? Who knows what he did to her?”
“There’s absolutely no evidence in Clay’s past that points to anything suspicious,” said Mattheus.
“Kate met him online,” said Cindy, wanting more from Sean.
Sean put his hands over his ears. “I know she did. I don’t want to hear any more about him.”
“Where did you meet Riva?” Cindy asked.
“Both Kate and I knew her a long time,” said Sean, suddenly looking like a scared kid. “Riva went to school with us. She’s from a poor family and hung out with a different crowd.”
“It must have been awful for Kate to see Riva here with you,” Cindy insisted.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Sean’s face curled up in a look of contempt, “and it was awful for me to see her with that guy. He wasn’t her type anyway. Seemed like some kind of boring stiff, if you asked me.”
“Okay,” Mattheus said, disgusted. “We’re going to have to call this in, Sean. You told us yourself you were the one banging on Kate’s door.”
“Sure I was, but so what?” Sean yelled.
“People on Kate’s floor reported they heard someone banging on the door and yelling,” Mattheus said. “No one said they saw who it was though.”
“That’s not true,” Sean spit out. “Someone at the end of the hall on the right side opened their door and looked at me. A lady in a pink bathrobe.”
“You’re sure of that?” asked Mattheus.
“Positive. She kept saying, be quiet, so I turned and looked at her. About thirty years old.”
“We’ll check it out,” said Cindy.
“What difference does it make, anyway?” asked Sean. “Kate never opened her door. I never got in to see her.”
“That’s what you say,” said Mattheus.
Sean took a few steps back, suddenly shocked. “You guys think I’m involved? You think I did it?”
“We got motive here,” said Mattheus.
“You got to be crazy,” Sean started yelling, as the veins in his neck stuck out. “I loved Kate, ask anyone. I made a mistake when I cheated on her. I told her I was sorry, and I was. I even told Riva. Riva understood. But Kate wouldn’t forgive me, though. She put me through hell.”
“So you took your revenge, didn’t you?” asked Mattheus, closing in.
“Never,” breathed Sean. “I said forgive me, forgive me, but she wouldn’t listen. If you ask me, it’s her Uncle Carl’s fault. He wouldn’t let her. He made her start dating right away. It’s his fault this happened. Not mine.”
Sean stood there defiantly, as Mattheus took a few steps away, opened his phone and called in what he found to the police.
“You guys turning me in?” the look or horror that crossed Sean’s face upset Cindy.
“We’re not turning you in,” Cindy said quietly. “We’re just letting the police know we found out who was knocking at the door and yelling that night. It’s important information.”
“Yeah, everything’s important. But no one wants to do the real job, so they look for a patsy to pin it on. And that’s me, isn’t it?” said Sean.