Death by Marriage (18 page)

The
time had fled much more quickly than Cindy realized. When she looked up she
suddenly saw the female police officer coming to get Kendra.

“It
can’t be that  twenty minutes have passed,” said Cindy.

“Find
out who did it,” she called out desperately, as the police officer grabbed her
arm and yanked her out of the door.

Cindy
stood outside alone waiting for the taxi to come get her and take her back to
the hotel. It was hard not to have Mattheus nearby, to call him and tell him
what she’d found out. And it was hard to believe he was on a plane, returning
without her.  She didn’t have to believe it, though. In a few seconds her phone
rang.

“You
there?” it was Mattheus’ voice, sounding urgent.

“Mattheus?
I thought you’d checked out, were on your way back to Grenada.”

“I
checked out and now I’ve checked back in again,” said Mattheus in a gruff tone.

“Cindy’s
heart lifted. “Why?”

“Forget
the why’s. Where are you?” he asked, irritated.

“At
the jailhouse,” she said.

“Good
God,” he said, “you didn’t tell me you were going there.”

“How
could I tell you? You weren’t here.”

“Well,
I’m here now, and thank God I am. I checked back in with the police as soon as
I returned and I have news for you.”

Cindy’s
heart started pounding. “I’ll be back at the hotel in half an hour,” said
Cindy.

“Before
you go anywhere, listen to me,” Mattheus said. “There’s a break in the case!
Get ready.”

“What?”
asked Cindy shaken.

“Graham
has been found dead!”

When
Cindy’s taxi pulled up, Margot’s house was roped off as a crime scene, with
rows of police cars lined up in front. Photographers, on the edges of the
property, were snapping pictures for the paper, as heavy rain fell on all of
them. 

Cindy
got out of the taxi and saw Mattheus a few feet away, looking down the road,
waiting for her.  He immediately ran over with a big, black opened umbrella.
Cindy got under the umbrella with him and they wound their way through the
crowd of cops. Fortunately, Mattheus had clearance for them to get in.

“Unbelievable,”
Cindy breathed, as they approached the front door.

“Worse
than that,” said Mattheus, his arm now tight around her.

“What?”
asked Cindy, horrified. “Margot?”

“Can
you imagine?” said Mattheus. “Right now she’s on heavy sedation. They were
afraid she’d have a heart attack when she found out.”

“Was
she the one who found Graham?”

“Yeah,”
said Mattheus. “A complete nightmare.”

Cindy
shivered and moved closer to him in the pouring rain.

They
got to the door, and Mattheus opened it, shook out the umbrella, and the two of
them walked in.  Everything in the house seemed the same, perfectly organized,
not a paper out of place. Only the wind whipping at the shuttered windows gave
any indication that something was wrong.

“He’s
still upstairs in his room,” Mattheus said. “I’ve seen the body.”

Cindy
hadn’t yet seen a dead body -- and didn’t want to.

“You
don’t have to actually go up and look at it,” said Mattheus. “We have clearance
to go, and it can be helpful. You could notice something.”

“I’ll
go,” said Cindy.

Trembling,
she walked up the stairs with Mattheus to Graham’s room, stood at the edge of
it and looked in. He was still there, lying silently on the floor, trickles of
blood around his neck. He looked fantastically still, oddly at peace.

Cindy
wanted to take him in her arms and hug him, tell him it was all a bad dream,
and that he should come back to life. He was so young, had so many years before
him.  She thought of the beautiful pictures of him and Nell. He’d seemed so
happy in them. There were a few cops inside, dusting for prints, walking around
the body gingerly. 

“Another
stabbing,” a cop, came up from behind them. 

“Why?”
asked Cindy, not noticing who he was.

“Same
way the father was killed,” said Mattheus.

“Could
be.” The cop came and stood beside them. It was Nojo.  He seemed sad, quieter.
This had sobered him up. It stunned and sobered everybody.

“We
only got maybes at this point,” Nojo said.

“Kendra
was in jail when this happened,” Cindy remarked slowly.

“Yes,
she was,” said Nojo, shaking his head.

“Who
was here in the house?” Cindy turned and looked at him directly.

“Only
the mother,” he said, quietly. Clearly, this had taken them all off guard.
Suddenly Kendra might not be the main suspect any longer - and Cindy wasn’t the
enemy, who’d flown into town to help someone they all hated. 

“Where
exactly is Margot now?” asked Cindy.

“Off
limits. In her room with doctors,” Nojo said. “She’s hysterical.  But, as far
as we can tell, she was the only one within miles of this kid today. And with
the storms like they are, nobody was travelling.”

Mattheus
let out a long, breath. “Sweet Jesus,” he said.

“Ain’t
always so sweet,” Nojo jostled him, “you know that.”

Cindy
just stared at Graham, who looked defenseless, lying there alone. She couldn’t
put it together, see the point in his death.

“Let’s
hope he’s with his father now,” Nojo said quietly.

Cindy
suddenly felt agitated. They should have seen something like this coming - been
prepared. How could it have hit them from behind? They’d all missed something
important and it led to a senseless death.

“Who
called this in?” she asked.

“The
mother,” said Nojo. “We couldn’t make out what she was saying for a long, long
time. She just kept yelling, come over, come over. Then we came and found this.”

“No
one’s talked to her yet?” asked Cindy.

Both
Mattheus and Nojo looked at her strangely.

“It’s
way too soon,” said Mattheus.

“She
can’t talk,” said Nojo said. “That doesn’t mean she’s not a suspect. What else
in the hell can we make of it? She could have gone crazy after finding out
about the second wife? Could be the lunch was too much for her. Could be she
snapped. Maybe the son suddenly reminded her of the husband. Then, she forgot
herself for a few seconds. That’s all it takes. A few seconds of rage, revenge,
and before you know it, someone is dead. Sometimes the one who did it doesn’t
even realize they did. It’s like a flash fire that burns out of nowhere and
then goes out.  Are they guilty then? It’s a big question.”

Cindy
turned to walk away.

“Hey,
don’t take it so hard,” Nojo said to her, reaching out to bring her back. “We’ll
find the killer, they got lots of prints here.”

Cindy
nodded sadly. “Well, at least it isn’t Kendra,” she said.

“Nope,”
Nojo agreed, “she definitely didn’t do
this
. But we have no idea if the
two killings are tied to each other, yet.”

“Oh
come on now,” said Cindy.

“Looks
like it,” Nojo had to agree, “but for now, no one’s sure.”

There
was no reason to stay here much longer. Margot was out of commission and the
place was crawling with police and detectives searching for evidence. But Cindy
had a clue no one else ever dreamt of - the photo she’d seen of Graham and
Nell.  She couldn’t get it out of her mind. Their faces shone out at her,
pressuring her to dig deeper.  She had to get out of here immediately and go
speak with Nell.

“I’ve
got something no one knows about yet,” Cindy finally said urgently to
Mattheus.   “There’s someone I’ve got to talk to immediately.”

Mattheus
was taken aback. “Who?” he asked.

“Come
with me to the mainland and I’ll tell you on in the car.

Mattheus
hesitated. The action was here.

 Cindy
knew it seemed crazy to leave the scene of a crime. “If you’d rather stay here,
it’s fine,” said Cindy. “I’ll call for a taxi and go back myself. Then we’ll
talk later when you return.”

Once
again, Mattheus hesitated. “Are you in any danger doing this alone?”

Cindy
appreciated that.

“Do
you need me with you, back there? The storm isn’t due to hit for another few
hours.”

Cindy
smiled. It felt good having the old Mattheus back.  She felt cared for and
appreciated. She didn’t need him to actually go with her, it was enough that he
cared. 

“Not
at all,” she said. “It’s fine for the two of us to cover different fronts.”

Mattheus
looked at her appreciatively.  “Good. We’ll make best use of our time that way.”
Then his eyes crinkled into a little smile for a moment, “And, our little spat
is over?” he asked.

“Completely,”“
Cindy smiled, “you came back.” It was huge for him and Cindy realized it.

The
taxi pulled off and Mattheus dissolved into a blur of rain. It was best this
way, thought Cindy, she needed to speak to Nell alone. The story would hit the
papers tomorrow, there was no way Nell could have heard yet.  Cindy didn’t want
her to be alone when she found out the news.

The
drive was shaky in the winds and rain and seemed to take forever.  Cindy had
plenty of time to think everything over. There had to be a connection between
the two murders, first a father, then a son. Kendra was locked up when this
murder took place. This would have to create questions about her guilt. Would
Margot now become a suspect? Cindy found it hard to imagine how Margot could
have taken her own son’s life. Or her husband’s, either, for that matter. But
Cindy knew she had to keep every possibility open. As soon as you closed your
mind, the case was shut down.

When
the taxi finally pulled up at Kendra’s home, Cindy got out and rushed to the
front door. No answer. The door was open though and Cindy walked in, closed the
umbrella, shook off the rain from her clothing. It was empty and silent again
inside, but schools were closed for the storm. Cindy knew Nell had to be home. Rather
than going right up to Nell’s room, Cindy called her name, in the chance that
she could hear her, and would not be taken by surprise.

“Nell,”
Cindy called, her voice echoing through the empty rooms.

No
answer.

“Nell,
it’s Cindy, are you home?”

More
silence. Cindy decided to climb the stairs and knock on Nell’s door. If she
wasn’t there, at the very least, Cindy could spend more time on her computer.

Cindy
knocked on Nell’s door softly at first, then louder. No answer at all. She
turned the knob and walked in the room. Nell was on the floor in the corner,
curled up.

Cindy
was horrified. “Nell?”

Nell
didn’t move or look up.

Cindy
went over, bent down and put her hands on Nell’s shoulders. “Are you all right?”
Cindy said.

Nell
grunted like a wounded animal.

She
must have found out about Graham, Cindy thought. “Look at me, Nell,” Cindy said
as softly as she could manage.

Very
slowly, Nell looked up through unfocused eyes that were blood shot.

“It’s
going to be alright,” Cindy tried to hug her, but Nell lurched away.

“Don’t
touch me,” she muttered. “Nothing’s gonna be all right.”

“You
heard what happened?” Cindy asked gently.

 Nell
threw her head back and laughed. “Of course I heard.”

Cindy
was startled. “When did you find out?” she asked.

Nell
laughed again, a loud, rough, raucous sound.

Cindy
knew that shock manifested in all kinds of ways.  Obviously, she found out that
Graham was dead.  Cindy had to find out how. “Tell me how you heard the news?” Cindy
demanded.

“What
news?” Nell said, bleary.

Cindy
put her hands on Nell’s shoulders and gave her a shake. She had to break the
spell Nell was under. “You’ve got to calm down and talk to me, Nell.”

“And
what if I don’t?” Nell’s eyes suddenly flashed and her tone turned sharp and
bitter.

“How
did you find out that Graham was dead?”

“An
angel told me,” said Nell and laughed again.

Cindy
shook her harder. “This isn’t a game.  We have to find out who did it. The
killer could strike again.”

That
stopped Nell for a moment. Then she sprung up and shook herself off. “Graham’s
dead. He’s dead,” she started shrieking.

Cindy
held her face in her hands. “Stop this!” she yelled back.

Nell
started crying. “You can’t tell me he isn’t dead.  I heard it with my own ears.”

Cindy
shuddered tremendously. “How?”

“A
friend told me,” Nell yelped.

“What
friend?” Cindy started closing in. “You have to tell me. You cared about Graham.
The two of you were good friends.”

“We
weren’t good friends, we loved each other. We were boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Cindy’s
head started to swim. She’d thought that when she’d looked at the photos, but
it was different hearing it from Nell.

“You
saw that he loved me on the photos,” the words were now pouring out of Nell. “Don’t
play your stupid head games with me.”

“I’m
not playing any games,” Cindy’s voice got louder as she tried to absorb what
Nell was saying. “I want to help you. I want to help your mother.”

“It’s
too late for that,” said Nell.

“It’s
never too late.”

“Go
to hell,” Nell almost spit in Cindy’s face.

Cindy
put her arm up to block her face, and moved in closer. “Did your mother know
about you and Graham?”

“My
mother didn’t know anything. She didn’t care either. She didn’t know who any of
my friends were. But, my father knew!”

“Your
father?” Cindy was stunned.

“One
day, when Graham was here, my father came home early from a trip! He came up to
my room to say hello, and he saw him.”

Cindy
went on high alert.

Nell
started talking faster now, unable to stop. “I didn’t think anything about it.
Why should I? So I had a boyfriend, so what? But my father’s face got white the
minute he saw Graham. He looked like he was in shock. Graham and I looked at
each other. We had no idea what was going on. My father eye’s narrowed in a way
I’d never seen before. He looked at Graham as if he’d seen a ghost. Graham and
I got more and more frightened. Then my father suddenly starting shouting so
loud, we started shaking. How did you find out about Nell? My father kept
asking him. Graham didn’t know what he was talking about. He thought his father
had come to visit. Find out what? he yelled back.”

Cindy’s
heart started pounding.

“Once
in a while, I’d seen my father in rages like that. But not too often,” Nell
continued, the words tripping faster and faster over each other. “When my
father started yelling at us, I thought it was because he was jealous.”

 “It
was more than that though,” Cindy urged her onwards.

“You
can say that again,” Nell bit her lip so hard Cindy thought it would start to
bleed. “Much more.  All of a suddenly my father started yelling that we were
half brother and sister. He yelled it so loud I thought a vein in his neck
would bust and he’d drop dead of a stroke on the spot. Too bad he didn’t! It
would have saved us a lot of misery and pain.”

“Half
brother and sister,” Cindy repeated.  “Did you believe him?”

“Of
course not,” Nell whimpered, not in the beginning. I thought my dad hooked up
with someone and imagined that Graham was his child.  I thought he’d finally
gone nuts. He was always nuts around the edges. “

Little
beads of perspiration broke out on Cindy’s forehead. She felt a mixture of
incredible pity and terror for Nell.

“What
happened to Graham?” Cindy asked then straight forwardly. Nell was on a roll.
Cindy felt she would answer any question was put to her now. She couldn’t stop.

“Things
got too complicated,” Nell continued, a fierce pressure under her words. She
seemed almost relieved to be talking. “It took Graham awhile to realize that he
and I had the same father. When he did, Graham went nuts. His relationship with
my father changed overnight. My father insisted Graham stop seeing me. Graham
refused. He was crazy about me. He became enraged at the suggestion. His
relationship with me changed too. He began calling all day long, coming over at
strange times. It terrified me. He said he’d never let go, never listen to his
father.”

“Did
your father tell you that he had two wives, was married to both your mothers?”

 “Finally,
he told us. That made it worse for Graham, made him hate my father more. I didn’t
know what to believe. It was a shock to think that my dad had two wives. I used
to look at my mother and think what an idiot he was making of her. I didn’t
care so much about that, though. She wasn’t good to him, ever. She never really
loved him, I didn’t think It wouldn’t matter to her. But, when Graham realized
that my father really had two wives, it was terrible for him. I’m not allowed
to have anyone, Graham would say over and over, and dad can have whoever he
wants?

 “One
night it was too much. They had a terrible fight. I was there when it happened.
My father told us both to meet him for dinner, at the mall, behind a back
alley. We went, sat there opposite him while he tapped his fingers on the table
hard. You two are bringing a curse on the whole family, he said. Imagine him
talking about a curse, a man married to two women at once. It really made
Graham nuts. He couldn’t stand it. It was the last straw.

“My
father went on and on and then, suddenly, Graham just flipped out. He jumped
up, grabbed the steak knife and lurched over towards my dad. I grabbed Graham’s
wrist, twisted his hand and the knife fell back down on the table. My father
looked like he was going to explode. He started to call Graham rotten and smarmy.

“Like
father, like son, Graham yelled as his face contorted. You cheating on two
women at once.  Be a man, stand up and tell the truth.  

“My
father jumped out of his seat and ran out the back of the restaurant. Graham
wasn’t going to let him go. He grabbed the knife and ran out after him to the
narrow, side street. It was just getting dark. The street was empty. I ran
behind both of them, but when I got there, it was too late. Graham had caught
my dad by the back of the neck and started stabbing. There was blood pouring
all over. I screamed and screamed but nothing came out. My voice was frozen.

“Finally,
Graham dumped my dad on the ground. I was terrified. Graham started running,
but I couldn’t leave my dad alone, like that. I ran into the restaurant for
help, then stopped. Who would believe me? No one. Nell’s eyes were clear now
and gleaming.

“Did
you catch up with him?”

“No.
He was gone. I didn’t know where he went. I just knew that he took the knife
with him. I went running back to the alley way, to my dad. He was laying there
uncovered. I threw leaves and branches over him to cover him up.  Later on, a
few people walked by. They didn’t even notice. I even grabbed a piece of paper
that was lying on the floor and scrawled a good bye note on it. Then I stuck it
in the wall.”

That
must have been the note Cindy’d found.

“Your
mother’s in jail for the crime,” Cindy said breathless. “They’ve been
suspecting her all along.”

“There
was no way I was going to tell on Graham,” Nell was babbling. “How could I? I
loved him. And it wasn’t his fault. My father asked for it, he pushed both of
us right up to the edge.”

“Now,
Graham’s dead too,” Cindy said, pointedly, reining her in. “Who killed him?”

Nell
looked up at her scared. “Graham couldn’t live with himself after this
happened. He got more and more agitated every day, had to see me constantly to
tell him it was okay.  It was too much for me, I couldn’t take it. He was
making me crazy. Can you understand that?”

“Yes,
I can,” said Cindy.

“I
told him to give me some time, to stay away. He wouldn’t listen. No matter what
I said, the next minute he’d call. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t get a
minute’s peace. I couldn’t sleep at night anymore.”