Kent tapped his mouth with his fingers. “Mums the word. You hear all kinds of things down here on the islands. Who told you that?”
Cindy paused, not wanting to mention Bala or that she was in hiding. “Just heard it,” said Cindy.
“Well, you got good ears,” Kent answered.
“Those witnesses really work at the docks, packing and loading?” Mattheus asked.
“They do,” said Kent.
“It normal behavior for them to take a walk to the Cove after work?” Mattheus continued.
“Sure, it’s normal,” said Kent. “They do it all the time. So do others. The Cove’s a tourist trap.”
“Did anybody else see Dawl at the Cove around five o’clock?” Cindy joined in.
“You got to ask the police that, honey,” said Kent. “I have no idea.”
“What’s the upshot of all this?” Mattheus asked firmly.
“The upshot is that it makes perfect sense they’d finger Dawl. He’s been blabbing for days. The guy’s got a record, but he’s also got an alibi, isn’t that right?” said Kent.
“Dawl’s alibi is for later that night, when he was at the clubs. That’s when they found the body. But the autopsy put the time of her death earlier, around five,” said Mattheus.
“Hell, Dawl’s always home around five with the kid,” said Kent. “I never saw him anywhere else then. Why the hell would he go to the Cove?”
“Unless he killed her,” said Mattheus.
“Talking’s one thing, doing’s another,” Kent mused. “The guy’s done stuff, he’s messed up, but killing’s something else. No question Dawl’s a loud brute, but if you asked me, he doesn’t have a killer’s heart.”
“Could they have mistaken someone else for him?” Cindy asked sharply.
“Both guys identified him,” said Kent.
“And both could be lying,” said Cindy. “But there are still the fingerprints to check.”
“Oh yeah?” Kent looked surprised. “Hadn’t heard about them.”
Cindy remembered then that the police had said they were keeping the fingerprints quiet. “I mean I think there must be some kind of evidence like that,” said Cindy.
Kent looked at her closely. “It’s okay, the news is secret with me.”
Cindy liked him and he liked her. She felt he was savvy and only wanted the best outcome.
“Listen, who else should we talk to?” asked Mattheus.
“Talk to any of the regulars at the tables,” Kent said. “But there’s nothing else you’re going to find out. Dawl told lots of folks that Tara would take his kid over his dead body, and it would be better if she were dead first.”
“He dug his own grave,” said Mattheus.
“Let’s hope he didn’t dig hers too,” replied Kent.
*
Kent was right. Word had spread like wildfire over the casino that Dawl had been taken in by the cops. Lots of people shook their heads, said he was a goner and should have kept his big mouth shut.
Cindy and Mattheus left the casino and decided to wander down to the dock, to sit on a bench near the water, take in the sun and talk. It was wonderful being near the water with the fresh salty air, listening to the boats rocking in the waves.
“Looks like the case is practically tied up,” said Mattheus, as they sat down close to each other and lifted their faces to the sun. “Not much left to do.”
“They haven’t matched the fingerprints with Dawl’s yet,” Cindy said, not wanting to let go.
“They will,” said Mattheus, “or they’ll blame the condition of the body. They’ll say that the fingerprints are not in good enough shape to match.”
“So, Lynch just walks?” said Cindy.
“Seems like you’ve decided he shouldn’t, that you’ve convicted Lynch in your mind,” Mattheus responded.
“I haven’t convicted him, but I’m not positive either that he’s had nothing to do with it,” said Cindy.
Mattheus turned to Cindy and stroked her shoulders with his warm hands. “Doesn’t it feel good to unwind like this?” he murmured. “Maybe it’s time to just let things be.”
It did feel wonderful being close to Mattheus in the sun, with him stroking her. But it would feel better if this lingering doubt wasn’t in the back of Cindy’s mind.
“If the fingerprints they have don’t match Dawl then I’m going to see Raina” Cindy announced, leaning back against Mattheus.
“I actually never met a more tenacious woman,” said Mattheus. “You just don’t give up, do you?”
Cindy laughed. “This work has brought the tiger out in me. I was never like that before.”
“Hard to believe,” said Mattheus.
“No, really,” said Cindy. “If you’d known me when I was with Clint, you would never have recognized me at all.”
Mattheus stopped rubbing her shoulders then. “Really? What were you like?”
“I believed everything Clint told me,” Cindy spoke in a soft voice. “I adored him, was just happy to spend whatever time I could at his side.”
Mattheus sighed. “Sounds fantastic to me. Clint was one lucky guy, if you asked me.”
“There was no way in the world,” Cindy went on, “I had any inkling of his hidden life.”