“From where I stand, Abe, both cases just heated up,” Cindy retorted.
“No one’s hired you to look into Shane’s murder.” Abe was getting riled up. “You don’t know how to let go, do you?”
“No, I don’t,” said Cindy. “That’s why the cases I work on get solved. I don’t take no for an answer.”
Cindy hung up abruptly then and decided to go straight to Rowley’s room and show the photograph to him. Let’s see how he reacts to it, thought Cindy. Let’s see what he has to say. And if she was fortunate, Mattheus would be there as well. This was a fantastic development and Cindy wasn’t going to allow anyone to throw cold water over it.
CHAPTER 18
Without waiting another moment, Cindy took the photo and went straight to Rowley’s room. There was no need to let him know she was coming, either. It would be better to take him by surprise. Cindy needed to see his reaction before he had any time to prepare.
Fortunately, when she got to the room, as usual his door was half ajar. This time Cindy pushed it open without knocking and went in. When she entered, Rowley was sitting in a chair in the corner, his back to her, looking out the window.
“Rowley, good morning,” said Cindy in an overly cheerful tone, as if she were here on a casual visit.
Rowley spun around, startled. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d drop in for a moment,” said Cindy, lightheartedly. She had no intention of giving him the slightest indication anything at all was wrong. “I heard you’re all going home tonight.”
Rowley looked glum. “That’s the plan,” he said, finally. “There’s nothing to be gained by waiting here any longer.”
“That has to be hard.” Cindy took a few steps closer to him.
“Not harder than sitting here and waiting day after day for a phone call that doesn’t come,” he murmured, obviously distressed.
“Awful,” Cindy agreed.
“Well, did you come over to say good-bye?” asked Rowley, finally looking at Cindy and wondering what she was doing here.
“Yes,” said Cindy, “and I also wanted to check in with Mattheus.”
“Oh, I see. Well, Mattheus should be back with Rod in a little while. And my mom and dad are in their suite packing as we talk.”
“You have a great dad,” said Cindy.
“Thanks, he likes you a lot, too,” Rowley replied. “Why don’t you sit down here and wait for Mattheus?”
“I will,” said Cindy, “but before Mattheus comes back, I also have something that I want to show you.”
Rowley seemed only moderately interested. “What is it?” he asked, not expecting much.
Without waiting another moment, Cindy dipped into her bag and took out the envelope with the photo in it.
“I was actually shocked when I saw this,” Cindy went on, as she opened the envelope slowly.
Rowley’s interest was slightly piqued. “What is it?”
Cindy quickly pulled out the photo of Kara and Shane and held it in front of him.
Rowley looked at it and became dazed for a second. Then he jolted backwards. “It’s Kara!” he breathed.
“Kara and Shane,” Cindy corrected him.
“Where did you get this?” Rowley threw Cindy a strange look.
“That’s not what matters,” said Cindy, not taking her eyes off him for a second.
“Does this mean Kara’s alive?” Rowley’s eyes opened wider.
“Not necessarily,” Cindy replied. “What’s important here is that obviously Kara and Shane knew each other.”
Rowley didn’t say a word.
“In fact, from the look of this photo, they seem to be friends.” Cindy wanted Rowley to take in the full impact of this.
Rowley reached for the photo, but Cindy wouldn’t let go of it though. She held on tightly as he scanned it.
“Were you aware that Kara and Shane were friends?” Cindy asked as he gazed at the picture.
“How could I know all of Kara’s friends or the people she knew or worked with?” Rowley answered gruffly.
“You told the police that you and Kara did not know Shane,” Cindy said bluntly.
“That’s right.” Rowley threw a cold glance at Cindy. “And I meant what I said. I had no idea that Kara knew Shane. How was I supposed to know that?”
“Kara was your fiancée.” Cindy wouldn’t let go. “This photo is a game changer, Rowley.
You and your family cannot leave the island right now.”
“Why not?” Rowley’s jaw clenched.
“Because now that we know that Kara and Shane knew each other, it is clear that the cases are intertwined. Whatever we find out about one will lead to the other,” Cindy reported methodically.
“Has Mattheus seen this?” Rowley grew pale.
“Not yet,” said Cindy. “I couldn’t reach him on the phone. The minute he comes back, I’ll show the photo to him.”