“How else would she have gotten it?” Carl was incensed.
“We don’t know for sure, do we?” said Cindy. “There are a number of possibilities. She could have taken it herself at some point or another in all the commotion. Or, someone else could have given it to her.”
“I’ve known Riva for a while,” Carl broke in. “She’s not smart enough to figure out a complicated intrigue.”
“Clay showed me a bunch of condolence emails Riva sent him,” Cindy continued. “It struck me that she never once mentioned Sean in them.”
I’m sure Riva’s not involved,” Carl insisted. “At the most she’s a gold digger. Maybe she’s going after Clay now.”
“Why would she so that when Sean is finally available?” asked Cindy.
“Maybe she wants whatever Kate had? Maybe she sees another guy at loose ends?” said Carl. “Or maybe she just plain feels badly for him. Kate’s death has nothing to do with Riva. She’s just scenery. You don’t think it’s her, are you?”
“No,” said Cindy slowly, “but I’m also not thinking it’s all tied up - or that it’s time to send Clay and his family home.”
“Well, whatever you think or don’t think,” said Carl, “I think you’re one fantastic human being.” He reached out for Cindy once again, but she took her hand away.
“Sean suggested that I talk more to Clay’s family,” Cindy continued, “and to Kate’s family as well. I thought that was a good idea.”
“Well, here I am,” Carl smiled, “talk to me all you like.”
“I know you think they’ve got the right guy. But do you think it’s possible that your anger with Sean may be blinding you from the truth?” Cindy asked frankly.
Carl looked at her soulfully. “What truth are you talking about? The fact that Kate may have committed suicide?”
“That, or something else,” said Cindy.
“Now you’re beginning to sound like Wendell,” Carl said. “He’s been having dreams of Kate every night. She keeps coming to him and telling him to look for her killer. It’s driving him crazy. He’s totally shaken, and so is Tyra now. They’re both unraveling. If I start to imagine all kinds of things like that, I’ll start to unravel too.”
“You won’t unravel if you face the truth,” said Cindy slowly. “It may seem that way at first, but it isn’t so.”
“What truth?” Carl was now getting shaky himself.
“Clay showed me the email correspondence between him and Kate,” said Cindy carefully. “Have you seen it?”
“No,” Carl’s face began to freeze.
“I didn’t think so,” said Cindy.
“What’s in it?” Carl suddenly asked in a menacing tone.
“The letters between them seemed odd to me,” said Cindy.
Carl’s eyes opened wide. “Why? How?” he demanded.
“Clay’s convinced that Kate loved him deeply. It didn’t exactly sound that way to me.”
“Stop playing games,” Carl jumped up from his seat. “How did it sound? What did she say?”
Cindy took a deep breath. “Kate said she was closer to Clay than to you. That Clay understood her better than you did. It sounded as if she were suggesting there was trouble between you.”
“What?” Carl was furious. “I don’t believe she said that. It’s completely untrue. Show me.”
“I don’t have the letters,” said Cindy, “but we can go to see Clay together and you can read them yourself.”
“Absolutely, let’s go this minute,” Carl demanded.
A huge clap of thunder hit then, followed by a torrential downpour.
“Let it thunder all it wants,” Carl insisted. I don’t care about the weather. Clay’s still in the hotel. Let’s go up to his room.”
“I’ll call him first,” said Cindy, opening her phone, when from the corner of her eye she saw a windblown man approaching their table.
Cindy looked up then and saw Mattheus standing there, looking at them with his hands clenched at his sides.
“I was looking all over for you, “Mattheus said to Cindy. “Never expected to find the two of you dining here together.”
Carl stared at Mattheus. “We were hardly dining,” he said icily, “just going over details of the case.”
Mattheus pulled a chair down and joined them. “Case is tied up,” he said, staring back at Carl. “All the evidence points to Sean.”
“So I heard,” Carl commented.
“That should make you happy,” said Mattheus, “given your lousy relationship with the guy.”
Carl took exception. “Nothing about this case makes me happy. I loved my niece and I lost her.”
Mattheus backed down, “Of course.”
“I heard the police are sending Clay and his family back home,” Carl continued.
Mattheus threw a quick look at Cindy. “That’s right,” he said.
“I want to talk to Clay first,” Carl insisted.
“Why?” asked Mattheus. Obviously he didn’t like it, and the tension between him and Carl was so thick, it was hard to make one’s way through it. Fortunately, the blasts of thunder and uncontrollable rain drowned everything out.