Cindy and Mattheus sat down on a bench with their coffee and pastries, looking out ahead of them.
“Andy’s right,” said Mattheus drinking down his coffee in a huge gulp, “I feel a storm coming in from the West, too. It’ll probably close the island down for a day or two.”
“Could be,” said Cindy, having no sense of that herself.
“You had a good time today, didn’t you?” asked Mattheus.
“Yes, very,” said Cindy.
“But you’re quieter than usual,” Mattheus went on, squeezing the paper cup in his hand. “Something’s on your mind.”
“I ran into Clay unexpectedly yesterday in the back of the hotel,” said Cindy. “He was sitting there with his computer reading his correspondence with Kate over and over again.”
“That guy’s had bum, rough luck,” said Mattheus.
“Clay showed their correspondence to me,” Cindy continued. “Seems as if he fell for her hard, right away, and she was taking it slower.”
“So?” Mattheus didn’t make much of that.
“In their correspondence Kate answered Clay’s questions simply. I think he read a lot into them,” Cindy said.
“Guys do that,” said Mattheus. “Girls don’t give as much as guys do. Sometimes guys don’t even realize it when a girl’s leading a guy on.”
That was a new take on things. Cindy disagreed and once again, felt a sharp need to defend Kate.
“Kate wasn’t doing leading anyone on, she was doing the exact opposite. She was being honest,” Cindy stated flatly.
“Yeah, of course, in her mind Kate was being honest,” Mattheus continued, “maybe she didn’t realize the effect she was having on Clay. Or, maybe she did? Maybe she liked it? Maybe that’s how women get power, by leading guys on?” Mattheus looked at Cindy in an odd way.
“What are you saying, Mattheus?” Cindy didn’t let it slide by.
“I’m saying that it only looks like guys have power in relationships. Basically, they’re helpless when they fall for a gal. That gal has ultimate power over them, and often she uses it ruthlessly.”
Mattheus’s bitterness was so intense, Cindy could barely breathe. It surfaced like this at odd moments, and made Cindy feel ill.
“How could Kate have so much power over Sean? He was seeing Riva too, wasn’t he?” Cindy retorted.
“Riva was a backup, a side show,” said Mattheus. “Sean never really fell for her.”
“Riva fell for Sean, though,” said Cindy.
“Maybe?” said Mattheus. “There’s no evidence of that though.”
Cindy thought of the emails Riva was sending Clay now. Maybe Mattheus was right? Maybe Riva never fell for Sean at all, was only opportunistic, out to get what she could for herself?
“Riva sent quite a few condolence emails to Clay,” said Cindy.
That stopped Mattheus. “Now, that’s interesting to me,” he said.
Cindy was surprised. “Why?”
“It just further proves what I said about Sean. The guy can’t be trusted, he’s a player, needs a woman around to make him feel strong. Riva sounds like a nice gal who picked up the slack when things got rough between Sean and Kate. But when Kate actually hooked up with Clay, that was too much. It shot down Sean’s self-esteem. He couldn’t let that happen. Came down here to the hotel to stop it.”
“Looks like you’ve got the case all tied up,” said Cindy.
“What else is left?” asked Mattheus.
“Maybe we need to check all this out with Riva,” said Cindy, “see what she thinks about Sean.”
“Great idea,” Mattheus agreed. “Let’s go for it. Once we talk to her, we’ll just get more confirming evidence about Sean.”
“And maybe we won’t?” breathed Cindy, hopeful. “Maybe something entire different will come to light?”
CHAPTER 16
As both Cindy and Mattheus suspected, Riva had not yet checked out of the hotel. Registered in Sean’s room, she was obviously waiting for him to go home. Right now Sean had been released back to his hotel room on the condition that he wouldn’t leave the Island for another few days. The police didn’t have enough to hold him, but agreed that he was a person of interest. Rod told Mattheus that they were waiting for Cindy and Mattheus to come up with something more.
After the Kite boarding lesson and lunch, Cindy and Mattheus returned to the hotel to check on the whereabouts of Riva. When Cindy got Sean on the phone, he said she’d gone on a bar hopping tour. They’d find her at a local bar.
“Okay, thanks,” said Cindy, “we need to talk to her.”
“What exactly has Riva got to do with this?” asked Sean, sounding glum.
“Nothing probably,” Cindy answered, “but we can’t leave any stone unturned.”
“Knock yourself out,” Sean snapped, “but you guys are barking up the wrong tree. If you really want to know what happened to Kate, talk to Clay’s family. Find out more about Clay and her.”
“We already did,” said Cindy, “so far Clay’s family looks great and so does he. Nothing comes up in the records.”