Death by Engagement (9 page)

“Who
told you this?” Cindy was curious.

“A
cop I know who has contacts at Doug’s firm. It’s a big firm, with plenty of
branches. One of Doug’s colleagues spoke to my friend. It wasn’t particularly
confidential or earth-shattering information, just popular knowledge, it
seems.”

“What
I’m interested in is how Shari took the separation. Did she also see someone
else then? Who initiated the breakup?” Cindy was wondering out loud.

“That
shouldn’t be too hard to find out or take too long,” Mattheus intercepted her
questions.

“We
probably need to know more about Shari in general,” Cindy concluded.

“That’s
always the bottom line.” Mattheus seemed to be truly on board now. “Dig around.
Talk more to her family and friends. I’ll talk to Doug’s friends and family. It
should all become clear, quickly.”

Cindy
felt the pressure Mattheus was still under to get this over with and move on.
She decided to sum up the steps she would take so Mattheus could have an
overall timetable in mind.

“I’ll
have to check with her friends and family more fully,” Cindy started, “take a
look at the crime scene and talk to the coroner. If you take on Doug’s friends
and family, this should then all be clear shortly.”

“Okay,”
Mattheus agreed, “but why do you have to talk to the coroner?”

“Routine,”
Cindy reminded him, “and further results from the autopsy should be back in a
day or two as well.”

“That’ll
sum it up, then?” Mattheus looked over at Cindy searchingly.
[cl8]
 
. He obviously needed an assurance
that this wasn’t going on forever.

“That’ll
be it,” Cindy agreed. “I’ll present all of these findings to Edward and they
should give him some peace.”

“Don’t
count on that,” Mattheus sighed. “It can take a long time to have peace after
your daughter is gone.” Then he stood up, came closer to Cindy again, and
pulled her back into his arms. “Is this all just an exercise in kindness to
Shari’s father?” he asked. “Don’t you really believe that Shari took her own
life?”

It
was a good question and stopped Cindy for a moment. Actually, she wasn’t sure.
“I don’t really know,” Cindy answered, honestly. “What do you think?”

“I
think Shari’s father’s half crazy with pain and can’t face the fact that his
daughter had long-standing depression,” said Mattheus. “In my opinion, Shari
wasn’t ready for marriage, couldn’t handle the step and jumped off the cliff
rather than go forward.”

That
was an extreme formulation and Cindy really didn’t go along with it. “Something
had to cause her to make that leap,” she replied. “Something might have
happened between her and Doug right before?”

“Even
if it did,” Mattheus sighed, “so what? Even if Shari and Doug had the worst
fight of their lives just before she jumped, that’s not murder. It’s the
reaction of a sick girl who couldn’t handle life. It’s not his fault, he’s not responsible.”

“Not
legally, perhaps, but morally?” Cindy wondered aloud.

“That’s
not for us to say,” Mattheus reminded her. “We’re not ministers. We’re here to
uphold the law.”

.
[cl9]
 
“Shari just didn’t seem seriously
depressed to me,” Cindy mused.

“You
only saw her for a few minutes,” Mattheus reminded her. “The two of you barely
spoke.”

“That’s
true,” said Cindy, “but she didn’t seem teetering on the verge of death.”

“Depression’s
a funny animal,” Mattheus countered. “You can feel fine one minute and misery can
strike the next.”

Cindy
had also heard that, but deep down, it still didn’t feel like it was depression
that had taken Shari’s life. “That’s not what happened to her,” Cindy murmured.

Mattheus
became silent. “All right, tell me what happened,” he finally said.

“Not
that, not that,” whispered Cindy. “But we’ll find out soon enough.”

It
was wonderful having Mattheus on board again, working with her on the case.
While he made more calls to people he knew, and got ready to go see Doug’s family,
Cindy decided to speak to Shari’s sister and mother in greater depth. When
Cindy called to make an appointment, Edward picked up. He said Shari’s mother,
Marla, didn’t want to talk, but her sister, Deidre, was eager to.

“Why
not meet Deidre somewhere else, outside of the hotel room,” Edward suggested.
“Marla’s not doing well and doesn’t want any visitors, but Deidre could use
some company and distraction.”

“Of
course.” Cindy was delighted. “Where would she like to meet?”

“I
suggest the two of you go to Arikok National Park.” Edward was quick on the
uptake. “It’ll be good for Deidre to get out into the woods. She’s loved being
in the woods since she was a little girl. She’ll relax more there and the two
of you will form a relationship.”

It
was an odd suggestion, but Cindy was open to it. “Sure, why not?” said Cindy.
“I’ll meet Deidre downstairs in the lobby right away and we can take a cab to a
hiking trail.”

“Good
thinking.” Edward approved of it. “And take your time with her there, don’t
push it. Deidre knows a lot about many things. If you get her to like you,
she’ll open right up. And then I want you to tell me what you find out.”

That
was going too far. “Certain information is always confidential,” Cindy
responded immediately.

“From
me, her father? The person who hired you?” Edward didn’t like hearing that.

“Of
course you’ll be informed of whatever is relevant in the right manner,” Cindy
continued. “But there’s a natural privacy your daughter deserves. There are
things she will tell me in confidence that I may not be able to disclose.”

“That’s
the first time I heard anything like that,” Edward grumbled. “I don’t like idea
of the two of you keeping secrets from me.”

Cindy
wondered if Edward has also been that way with Shari. Did he demand to be part
of her private life, be privy to information that he had no right to know?

“Let’s
take this one step at a time, Edward.” Cindy didn’t want to discuss this point
any further. “Tell Deidre to come down and meet me in the lobby now. Nobody is
planning on keeping secrets from you, but the investigation must be conducted
in good faith.”

“Good
faith? What does that mean exactly?” His voice rose a pitch.

“It
means that if I talk to a person and there’s an assumption of confidence, I
will not be able to tell you everything I find out. Relevant information is
passed on to authorities who use it then to build a case. I will certainly tell
you what I can and give you a general overall picture, but not private details
of your daughter’s life.” Even though she barely knew her, Cindy felt a need to
protect Deidre.

“Do
what you can,” Edward gave way slowly. “I’ll trust your judgment here. Don’t
leave any topic untouched or any stone unturned.”

Cindy
shivered as she hung up the phone, wondering what he was getting at exactly.

*

Deidre
seemed excited to be meeting Cindy down in the lobby. She dashed over to her,
breathing fast.

“I
can’t believe we’re going to Arikok National Park,” she started. “It’s exactly
where I wanted to go. How great that you thought of it.”

Cindy
wanted to tell her that it was her father’s idea, but stopped herself for a
moment.

“There’s
a wild side of Aruba there,” Deidre continued, “great hiking trails and caves
and particularly the Tunnel of Love.”

“Tunnel
of Love?” Cindy was struck by the name of the cave, particularly given the
circumstances of Deidre’s family’s visit.

Deidre
laughed suddenly at Cindy’s response. “Not exactly a wedding venue,” she went
on. “The Tunnel of Love Cave is called that because of the heart-shaped opening
at the entrance. We’ll need flashlights to go through the long passageway. We
can get them at the park.”

“Okay,
let’s go,” said Cindy. “I thought we’d hike outdoors, not go into dark caves.”

“I
want to go into the cave, though,” Deidre insisted.

“Whatever
you like,” Cindy said quietly, not wanting to disturb her. “Did Shari enjoy
hiking and caves, too?”

“Absolutely
not,” Deidre answered quickly, as the two of them walked out of the lobby
together into the street. “Shari was frightened of the dark, since she was
little. She liked everything pretty and nice. Not me, though, I like exploring
dark places where people don’t go much. Shari would never go there with me.”

Cindy
took a deep breath, wondering how the two of them really got along.

“I’m
glad you’re coming with me.” Deidre shook her hair back over her shoulders.
“It’s been horrible. I need to get out of the hotel room and away from my
father. This whole thing has made him crazier than ever.”

Cindy
hailed a cab and the two of them got into it.

“You
have a hard time with your father?” Cindy picked it right up.

“My
father’s intensely paranoid.” Deidre spoke easily, relieved to be driving away,
and also to be with Cindy. “Whatever you do, he looks for some dark motive
behind it. Shari bought into it. I never did. He and I never got along.”

“Shari
got along better with him?” Cindy asked as the taxi wound along a wide road
that was sheltered by trees and led in the direction of the park.

Deidre
moved closer to the window then, almost pressing her face against it. “Shari
got along better with everyone,” she retorted. “She was the perfect person,
everyone loved her. She knew how to take the bumps in life, as she used to
say.”

That
surprised Cindy somewhat. “I heard Shari suffered from depression, though?” she
asked as the taxi dove down a steep hill.

“Yeah,
she did, but she was on medication her whole life long.” Deidre pulled away
from the window and stared at Cindy. “Me, I don’t buy into that. I don’t even
take an aspirin.”

“How
could Shari go along with the bumps in the road if she was depressed?” Cindy
wanted to know more about that. “Didn’t she have hard, sad times that you
remember?”

“Sure,
she had them,” said Deidre, “but when she did she ran to my father, who gave
her more meds and that was that.”

“How
about your mother? What did she think about that?” Cindy was curious.

“Shari
was my father’s daughter and I was my mother’s gal,” said Deidre. “Shari and my
mother didn’t much get along. My mother didn’t have patience for all the
medicine she took, she looked down on her for it, used to tell her to buckle up
and stand on her own.”

“That’s
awful,” Cindy remarked.

“Hey,
everyone has their values.” Deidre shrugged it off, as Cindy noted that Deidre
hadn’t yet expressed sadness or pain about her sister’s death.

The
taxi was now on a long, low road that led directly into the park. Deidre looked
out of the window, delighted, as if she were a child on an outing she’d always
wanted to take. Cindy wanted to go a little deeper with her, though.

“It’s
too bad that Shari can’t be with us on this outing,” Cindy probed softly.

At
that Deidre spun around. “It’s too bad about a lot of things.” Her voice grew
darker. “It’s too bad Shari never listened to me. If she listened to me this
never would have happened. But no, she tossed me to the side. It was her
friends she listened to.”

“It
couldn’t have felt good to be tossed to the side.” Cindy picked right up on it.

“I
was used to it,” said Deidre. “Shari was the one who made my father proud of
her.”

“And
you?” asked Cindy.

“Believe
it or not, my mother respected me. She told me my time would come, over and
over.”

“What
did she mean by that?” asked Cindy.

“She
meant the day would come when people would realize who I was, how much I knew,”
Deidre shot back quickly.

“When
will that day come?” Cindy asked, a cold chill going up her spine.

“Nobody
knows when,” mumbled Deidre, “but everyone has a time when their day comes.”

The
taxi stopped. They got out and began the long walk along a graveled pathway
toward the Tunnel of Love. Cindy felt deeply unnerved by her conversation with
Deidre. Was it possible that she felt her time would only come when her sister
was gone? It sounded as if there were such a deep divide between them all their
lives. Although she had no desire to go into the cave, Cindy was thrilled for
the opportunity to find out more. Perhaps Edward was right after all. Perhaps
Deidre held the key to what happened to Shari.

*

The
Huliba Cave, known as the “Baranca Sunu Cave,” also meaning “Naked Rock,” is
nicknamed the “Tunnel of Love” for its heart-shaped entrance. The cave had five
entrances, and after paying to go in and get some flashlights, Cindy and Deidre
took one entrance that led through a steep and narrow stairway which dipped
into the cave. They had to crouch as they walked along and turn on their
flashlights as it was totally dark inside.

“This
is incredible,” Deidre murmured, “better than I thought.”

Cindy
followed tentatively, walking carefully behind. The cave was studded with
stalagmite and stalactite formations in limestone rocks. There were also two
bat species living in this cave and when they entered a few were fluttering
around.

“After
the bats sleep in the caves during the daytime, they fly out in hordes in
search of food,” Deidre informed her.

“Is
there a place we can stop and talk here?” Cindy asked, growing apprehensive.
She didn’t want to go any further in, and was also repelled by the many
cockroaches around.

“Sure,
let’s sit here,” said Deidre, pulling Cindy over to a ledge formed by the
stalagmites.

Cindy
sat down on it and motioned for Deidre to sit close by near the exit from the
tunnel. The exit actually looked quite risky, extending through a series of
steps that were carved on the rock face.

“What
do you like about it here so much?” Cindy asked, quivering.

“It’s
easier to talk in the dark,” Deidre said.

“Okay.”
Cindy was ready to hear whatever she had to say.

“I
knew something bad was going to happen to my sister one of these days,” Deidre
started, startling Cindy.

“How
come?” asked Cindy.

“She
didn’t have a mind of her own.” Deidre’s voice eerily bounced off the waves of
the cave as she spoke. “Everyone could influence her. I told her it was because
of the meds and begged her to get off them. She wouldn’t.”

“She
was scared to,” Cindy imagined.

“She
was scared to be the person she was,” Deidre corrected her. “You know, Doug was
not the only guy she was involved with over the years. Shari always had a
boyfriend, from the time she was in high school. But none of the relationships
worked out great.”

“What
happened?” asked Cindy.

Deidre
seemed to take great pleasure in speaking about this now. “If you asked me, the
guys all found out who she really was.”

“And
who was that?” asked Cindy, frightened.

“Nothing
much, after all.” Deidre laughed oddly then. “I never really knew how she even
ever got a guy like Doug to like her. They met when she was a freshman in
college. He always seemed so bright to me. I guess bright guys like dumb
girls,” Deidre finally said.

“Was
Shari dumb?” Cindy was horrified to hear her twin sister talking this way about
her now.

“Shari
wasn’t dumb, but she played dumb,” said Deidre. “She didn’t speak up, she
didn’t speak back. She let our father fill her with drugs. She gave guys what
they wanted. Most of them, anyway.”

The
picture Deidre was painting of Shari chilled Cindy to the bone. That was not at
all the impression Cindy had of her when they met briefly.

“That
wasn’t the impression I had of Shari when we met.” Cindy had to say that.

Deidre
was surprised. “When did you actually meet her?” she asked.

“Your
sister and Doug ran into me and my fiancé while we were all looking for wedding
venues,” Cindy replied.

Deidre
seemed fascinated. “I hadn’t heard anything about that,” she said. “You’re
engaged, too? You’re also looking for a place to get married?”

“Yes,
I am,” Cindy answered quietly.

“You
don’t sound particularly thrilled about it, either,” Deidre remarked.

“Either?”
What do you mean,” asked Cindy. “Shari wasn’t thrilled?”

“Shari
said she was thrilled, she acted thrilled, but I had my doubts. After all, even
though she was engaged she was still writing to Tad every day and hearing back
from him.”

“Who’s
Tad?” asked Cindy, afraid.

“He’s
a guy Shari went out with when she and Doug were broken up the last time,”
Deidre went on. “They were broken up for at least six months, not long ago. You
know Shari and Doug were always on and off.”

A
few bats woke up and suddenly fluttered past the ledge Cindy and Deidre sat on.

“Shari
just met Tad when she was recently broken up?” asked Cindy.

“No,
they all knew each other in college. Tad and Shari were friends for a long
time. They only just began dating though, when she and Doug broke up this last
time. I was happy about it, it made sense to me. Tad was more Shari’s kind of
guy.”