“I’m as weak as he was,” she said, looking down at the floor.
Cindy walked beside her. “He had something on you?”
Kendra laughed out loud. “Of course not. What could he have? I’m weak because I was also frightened.”
“Afraid of who?”
“Of Nell,” she said. “Afraid of raising her alone. I couldn’t bear the thought of it. It would have been far too much for me. So I stayed. But it haunted me. I searched further and found out about Margot, the wife.
When I told him about it, Paul didn’t deny any of it. He just said Margot had no idea about me or Nell -and that he had no intention of telling her. He felt indebted to the bitch for everything. She gave him all the money he needed to get going in life - paid for law school, set up his office, paid for their home, and ours too. Who knew? He said he married her out of obligation and then a year later, met me - and really fell in love. He didn’t want to lose me ever, so, he decided to marry me, too. He actually started crying when he said that. I told him to stop his blubbering. He looked at me with sick, fish eyes. He said that Margot and I were pregnant at the same time. Graham was born a few months before I had Nell. He couldn’t get out of either marriage.”
“You lived with this for seven years?” said Cindy.
“You get used to all kinds of things,” said Kendra. “In the meantime I did my thing and he did his. There were other people I was with. I figured I’d get out when the girls grew up. I knew where I stood. I had the truth. That’s a lot more than most women have.”
“Go on,” said Cindy intensely.
“I didn’t ask him anything more about his son, Graham. I knew that he came to high school on the mainland, but I didn’t care. That’s where he and Nell must have met.”
Cindy and Kendra then stared at each other and a chill went through both of them at the same time.
“I never knew Nell and Graham were friends,” Kendra said in a plaintive tone. “There was no way Nell could have known who he was either.”
Kendra wove a fantastic web and Cindy was fascinated. She wondered, though, as Kendra spoke whether she could believe any of it. Her moments of hatred towards Paul were laser sharp. It made sense that Kendra would finally get fed up with him and put an end to all of it.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Cindy breathed.
“What difference does it make if I knew about his other marriage or not?” asked Kendra. “It’s just sordid family history. It has nothing to do with who killed him.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Cindy. “Everything has something to do with who might have killed him. How did you know that Margot didn’t find out and do it?”
Kendra smirked. “I heard about her for so many years. She couldn’t live without Paul, wrapped her life around him. She was a spineless creature, living in a dream world. There would have been no way for her to do it. If she did find out, she’d simply fall apart. That was her main tactic with him when things didn’t go well, or when he spent too much time away.”
“Can you see why people think you did it?” Cindy asked pointedly.
“I see,” said Kendra tartly. “But I didn’t do it. And that’s the truth.”
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.
CHAPTER 25
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!”
CHAPTER 26