Jenna stood up briefly and then quickly sat down. It was difficult for her to rest or unwind.
“Look, I brought you something that might be of help,”” Jenna went on, without any more ado. “Alfred told me that you needed this when I showed it to him.” Jenna went over to her pocketbook, opened it up, and drew out a large envelope. She opened the envelope quickly and put a stiff sheet of paper in Cindy’s hand.
“What is it?” asked Cindy.
“It’s a photo. Look,” said Jenna.
Cindy looked. Then she gasped, unable to believe what she was seeing. Shane and Kara were standing together in the photo smiling.
“Shane and Kara?” Cindy could barely mouth the words. “They knew each other?”
“Very well,” said Jenna. “Shane lived at the shelter where Kara worked.”
“My God,” breathed Cindy. “This is a total game changer.”
“Shane loved Kara, thought she was great,” Jenna continued.
Cindy was riveted to the photo. This turned everything upside down. Cindy had been right all along, the cases were intertwined. Was it possible that Rowley knew Shane, too? Had he lied to the police? Jenna was a gold mine of information that had been sent right to Cindy’s door.
“Did you know Kara?” Cindy quickly asked Jenna.
“No, but I heard a lot about her from Shane,” Jenna responded.
“You know that Kara went missing on her honeymoon down here?” Cindy looked at Jenna carefully, wondering how much she really knew.
“Alfred told me what happened to both of them,” said Jenna. “There’s no question the cases are connected. None of at all.”
“How are they connected?” asked Cindy, her breath starting to come quickly.
“There’s a hundred possible ways,” Jenna spoke pointedly. “I know Shane had access to drugs in the shelter. For all you know Shane got drugs for Kara, too.”
“I need proof of that.” Cindy’s heart was beating fast. “I need definite evidence.”
“I don’t have proof,” Jenna replied, “but some things are obvious.”
“Obvious isn’t good enough in a criminal investigation,” Cindy replied. “Do you know for a fact that Kara did drugs?”
“Everyone does drugs sooner or later, don’t they?” Jenna looked at Cindy as though she lived on the moon.
“Is there anyone who would be aware that Shane provided drugs for Kara?” Cindy stayed on point. It was of the utmost importance to nail this down.
“Talk to the woman who runs the shelter, Margaret Day,” said Jenna. “She knows everything that goes on there. Shane hated her, though, said she was as cold as you can get, and slippery. That woman didn’t have any real compassion for anyone there.”
“I spoke to Margaret Day,” Cindy responded. “She said that drugs were absolutely forbidden at the shelter.”
“Of course she said that. It’s the party line.” Jenna bit her lower lip hard. “You can’t possibly believe that none of the women there smuggle some drugs in, can you? Lots of the ladies are serious addicts, they can’t go without drugs for long.”
“Margaret Day won’t give me any specific information,” replied Cindy. “She’s legally bound not to.”
Jenna guffawed. “So what? There are still ways you can find out about how Kara and Rowley got their drugs.”
“Rowley, too?” Cindy was alerted.
“Look, if one partner does drugs are you telling me the other doesn’t?” asked Jenna.
Cindy wanted to keep on solid ground. “But we haven’t definitely determined that Kara did drugs. All we know for sure is that the two women knew each other.”
“Yeah, so what?” said Jenna. “You know what I heard? I heard that Rowley told the police that he and Kara didn’t know Shane. He lied about that. What else is he lying about?”
“Even if Rowley did drugs, it’s entirely possible that he didn’t know Shane.” Cindy stayed focused. “He didn’t personally meet everyone Kara knew or worked with.”
Jenna looked disconcerted. “Whose side are you on?” She became flippant.
“I’m on the side of the truth,” said Cindy. “As a detective I have to lean on the facts.”
Jenna got up, irritated, and walked to the patio door. “Lean on anything you like,” she said sarcastically. “Facts can also be used to hide from the truth. But Alfred’s determined to find out what happened to both Kara and Shane. I really like him. He’s not hiding behind anything.”
“And what about Vinny?” It suddenly struck Cindy that very little had been said about him.
“Vinny’s not the sharpest tack in the shed,” said Jenna. “He just keeps saying he’s gonna kill the guy who killed Shane with his own, bare hands. Alfred’s the brains here and Vinny tags along.”
“What did Shane see in a guy like that?” asked Cindy, curious.
“Who the hell knows?” Jenna shot back. “Shane said he was good-looking and sexy. He didn’t care what she did, was fun at night.”
Cindy shuddered. What did that say about Shane? Who was she really?