Cindy gasped. “That’s a huge claim! Who did she hear it from? How does the person know? We need evidence and we need it immediately.”
“Everything is secret at the shelter,” Alfred breathed. “They’re not allowed to talk. They have to protect the women who live there. That’s their first responsibility.”
“But we need evidence,” Cindy exclaimed.
“It’ll come out, it’ll come out,” Alfred mumbled.
Cindy couldn’t wrap her mind around this. “Are you suggesting that Kara went back home? Why did she? How did she get there?”
“Or someone kidnapped her and brought her home,” Alfred burst out. “Do you know there’s a huge drug ring on this island with tentacles all over the States?” His eyes opened wide. “Diane found out and told me.”
“I’d heard about the ring,” Cindy conceded. “But Rowley testified to the police that neither he nor Kara did drugs.”
Alfred guffawed. “Give me a break, everybody does drugs. Some more, some less.”
“Did Kara do drugs?” Cindy asked Alfred directly. “Did Rowley?” If anyone would know, Alfred would.
“Kara and Rowley did some recreational drugs once in a while at a party,” Alfred continued. “I never heard it was anything more than that. After Kara did it she said she was sorry, just couldn’t resist the temptation to have fun.”
“If it was just some drugs, once in a while at a party, why bring up the drug ring?” asked Cindy.
“Lots of the women at the shelter did drugs,” Alfred continued. “Lots of them had dealers or addicts for husbands.”
“So, Kara had access to dealers and drugs?” asked Cindy.
“No, of course not,” Alfred answered. “Once the women are in the shelter they’re forbidden to use. That’s part of the agreement. The shelter hides them and protects their identity. But if they bring in any drugs, they’re out.”
“Makes sense,” said Cindy. “So, what’s the connection?”
“Kara was around women who’d been around drugs,” Alfred continued. “One of those women, or one of their husbands or partners, could be connected to the ring down here. And the women don’t stay at the shelter forever. Plenty go back to their abusive guys.”
“What does all this have to do with Kara?” Cindy didn’t feel on solid footing.
Alfred took a step closer to Cindy. “Diane got me the personal phone number for you. It’s the woman who runs the shelter, Margaret Day. This was hard to get, believe me. Give Margaret a call and find out for yourself.”
The cool evening breezes blew up strongly as Cindy and Alfred continued to walk.
“How about you? Why don’t you call her?” asked Cindy.
“Not a good idea,” said Alfred. “I’m sure she’d talk more easily to a woman than a man. From the point of view of women who run shelters, all men have to be enemies, just waiting to pounce.”
*
The meeting with Alfred had created a treasure trove of possibilities and Cindy wanted to explore each one of them. The moment she returned to her room she put in a call to Margaret Day and left a message.
“This is Cindy Blaine of C and M Investigations, calling from St. Lucia right now,” Cindy said. “I need to talk to you as soon as possible about the disappearance of Kara Flynn. Thank you.” Then she left her number.
Was it truly possible that they were hiding Kara? If they were, Cindy would probably never get a return call. She wanted to call Mattheus immediately and tell him about what Alfred had said, sort out viable leads from fantasies. But she refrained. Mattheus obviously didn’t like Alfred, and from his point of view, most of what Alfred had to say would be considered fantasy. But even though there was scanty evidence to back up what he said, Cindy found Alfred fascinating, She couldn’t help but wonder, though, why Mattheus himself wasn’t investigating more aggressively. Cindy finally decided that he was truly convinced that Kara had drowned, didn’t see any indication of foul play. That was probably because Mattheus was too close to Rod, had lost objectivity on the case without realizing it.
As Cindy sat there musing, her phone rang. She reached for it immediately.
“Cindy, this is Margaret Day,” a woman said on the other end.
“Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly,” said Cindy. “I appreciate it.”
“We’re absolutely stunned to hear about Kara’s disappearance,” Margaret replied.
Cindy was relieved that Margaret acknowledged that Kara was gone. “When did you hear the news?” she asked.
“Very recently,” said Margaret. “The story’s going around town like wildfire now.”
Cindy decided to jump right in. “We heard that there was some possibility that Kara may be at the shelter,” she started.
“I beg your pardon?” Margaret Day sounded truly startled.
“Are these rumors only?” asked Cindy.
“As far as we know Kara was on her honeymoon in St. Lucia,” Margaret responded icily. “Who told you she was here?”
“A private source,” said Cindy.