Death by Obsession (14 page)

“Make sense to who?” Ned remarked, “Bala or Dawl?  I
doubt it will make sense to either of them.”

“I’ll say I came to tell them that the child is fine
where he is.  It was only Tara who wanted him, the family is fine with how
things are. Now that she’s gone there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll see how
they react to that.”

“Not a bad idea,” Ned agreed, “but they’re not
stupid. They’re going to be on the alert.  Go if you want, but be careful. Dawl
Lemmings is no one to play around with.”

*

Cindy and Mattheus left the courthouse, rented a car
and drove directly through to St. Marteen to see Bala, Dawl and the child. As
they drove, Cindy put in a quick call to Bala to let her know she was going to
be in the neighborhood and wanted a few minutes with her. Bala hemmed and hawed
initially, but Cindy assured her, she wouldn’t stay long. She had something
important to tell her.

“What?” Bala asked nervously. “Tell me now.”

“I have to tell you in person,” Cindy whispered, “girl
to girl. It will only take a few minutes.”

*

When Cindy and Mattheus drove up to the house,
everything looked normal. They parked their car a short distance away, and
walked to the front door. As soon as they got closer, the door flung open and
Dawl stood there, glaring.

“You again?” he said as Cindy and Mattheus approached
the doorway.

“Hi, Dawl,” Cindy said lightheartedly, as if nothing
were amiss.

Dawl immediately blocked the doorway. “What do you
want, and who is this guy?” he stared at Mattheus.

“This is my friend Mattheus,” Cindy said, gently. “We
just wanted to talk to you and Bala for a few minutes.”

“You got all kinds of friends, don’t you?” Dawl
grinned, baring his teeth. “First you came with the gal who wanted my boy, and
now with this guy.”

“Tara’s gone,” Cindy said calmly then.  “She’s been
found dead.”

“No news to me,” Dawl suddenly shook his head in
bewilderment. “The whole island knows about it by now.” For a second Dawl’s
gruff exterior melted and Cindy saw that he seemed truly upset and disturbed by
news.

“I see how upset you are,” said Cindy sadly. “I’m
upset too, Tara was my friend.”

“Come the hell in,” Dawl yanked the door open, “but
only for a few minutes.”

Cindy and Mattheus walked through the doorway, into
the well kept living room, where Bala was sitting on the edge of a chair, her
hands folded in her lap, completely overwrought.

“Hi, Bala,” Cindy went over and hugged her.

“It’s terrible news, terrible,” Bala muttered.

Dawl sat down besides his sister. “There’s a lot of
people on this island who got it in for that family” he grunted. “The rich and
famous.  And boy did they flaunt it.”

Cindy took a swift breath.  Did Dawl know more about
this case than she imagined?

“Who had it in for them?” she asked him directly.

Dawl turned to Cindy slowly. “Honey, if I knew it for
sure, don’t you think I’d be the first to tell you? Who knows how it’s going to
affect my boy?  I’d like to clear it up as much as you would.”

Cindy suddenly believed him.

“And if you asked me,” Dawl boomed on, “one thing is
positive, Lynch is involved in the mess.”

 “What makes you say that Lynch is involved in this?”
she asked.

“Who else are the cops going to jump all over?” Dawl
answered fast. He wasn’t stupid, that was for sure and he knew his way around
the system. “The police got to zero in on the person Tara was closest to, the
one who last saw her alive,” Dawl continued. “There’s plenty of motive there,
too. Lynch didn’t want his child back again. In all these years he never once
asked to see the boy - just sent money. That’s what being a father meant to
him. It was the wife to be who wanted the boy. She must have found out and it
bothered her. It was the little lady, Tara, who stirred up trouble.  What she
didn’t know was that you don’t make trouble in that family.”

“You’ve thought about it a lot,” said Cindy.

“Of course I have. Why not? The dame came here to
visit me, didn’t she? This whole lousy case was put in my face.”

“What did you want to ask me? What?” Bala piped up
then, looking at Cindy and wringing her hands.

“I wanted to ask you if Tara contacted you again
after we left?” Cindy said suddenly.

“No, of course she didn’t,” Bala replied.

“That’s not what you wanted to ask her, is it?” Dawl
broke in. “You could have asked her that over the phone. You wanted to ask my
sister if she knew where I was when the lovely lady was murdered, right?”

Dawl took Cindy’s breath away. Not only was he wildly
forthright, his powerful energy swept through the room, leaving no room for
nonsense. This wasn’t a guy to play games with. Cindy couldn’t lie to him and
didn’t want to.

“I wanted to tell your sister that Tara had been
killed and ask if she had any ideas about who could have done it,” said Cindy
plainly.

“Well, thanks for your honesty,” Dawl replied,
pleased and surprised. “I appreciate it.”

“Thanks for yours,” said Cindy.

Dawl zeroed in on Cindy and she suddenly felt as if
no one else were in the room, just the two of them, desperate for truth and
desperate for answers.

“Did you wonder if I killed her?” Dawl asked intently.

“I didn’t really think so,” said Cindy emphatically. “But
my mind is open, I’m looking into everything.”

“Who are you, really?” Dawl demanded.

“I’m a private detective,” said Cindy, “and this is
my partner, Mattheus.”

Dawl’s eyes opened a bit, though he didn’t seem that
surprised. “I thought something like that,” he murmured. “What’s this crap
about being Tara’s friend?”

“I am a detective and I was Tara’s friend,” Cindy
insisted. “We liked each other and even after we were off the case, she asked
me to stay at her side.”

“She made a mistake,” Dawl muttered softly then.

“What exactly was her mistake?” Cindy took a step
closer to him, feeling as if she were walking directly into a fire.

“She didn’t know who she was dealing with,” Dawl
smiled.

“You mean you?” Cindy asked.

“No, not me,” Dawl spoke more softly then. “With me,
what you see is what you get. You know where you stand. But the rest of the
people in her life, snakes and vipers dressed up as friends,” he grinned.

At that Mattheus stood up and walked over to them. “Where
were you at the time that Tara was killed?” he asked Dawl directly.

“Hell, man, I was with a bunch of guys at the Creaton
Bar, along the strip.  I’m there every night about that time, dancing,
drinking. Work hard all day, get the boy to sleep and go out for a little fun.
Maybe ten or twenty people saw me.”

Mattheus took a step back. “How do you know Tara was
killed in the evening?” he asked.

“That’s what papers said,” Dawl replied.

“That’s when they found her,” Mattheus corrected him.

“Well, if she was killed during the day, and dropped
there later, I was working at my job down at the dock all day long. Hell, my time
lines are rock solid.”

Cindy sighed, feeling relieved. She liked Dawl,
respected him.

“Okay, thanks. I appreciate that,” Mattheus said. “We’ll
check your alibis.”

“Check it all you like. There’s no problem when you’re
telling the truth,” Dawl continued.  “And listen, if you need my help, I’m
right here. I know this island like the back of my hand, and I know the people
in it.”

Cindy was surprised and grateful. She looked over at
Bala then, who also seemed to relax a bit now.

“Thanks for letting us in,” Cindy said to Bala. “Thanks
for talking to us.”

“Did Tara kill herself, maybe?” Bala asked then
haltingly. “Was it too much for her, that whole family?”

Cindy shook her head. “Not likely,” she said.

“She seemed unstable to me,” Bala got up from her
seat and spoke more loudly. “She was obsessed with my son, wanted to take him
from me.”

“She didn’t want to take him, she wanted to share
him,” said Cindy.

“That’s ridiculous,” Bala’s eyes opened wide. “Once my
boy spent time with that family and their life style, do you think he’d ever
belong to us again?”

Cindy hadn’t thought of it that way.

“Are you relieved that she’s gone?” Mattheus entered
the conversation abruptly.

“Of course not, I’m sorry that she’s dead,” Bala
answered sadly. “I cried all night long. But she had no right to come after my
boy, either.”

“No, she didn’t,” Mattheus jumped in. “I agree with
you, there.”

“Bala,” Cindy interrupted their line of conversation,
“you know Lynch well -.”

“Of course I do,” said Bala. “We loved each other for
years.”

“Years?” Cindy hadn’t realized the relationship had
gone on that long.

“What about it?” Dawl barged in then, not wanting to
see his sister pulled in.

“I was wondering what Bala thought about Lynch,”
Cindy continued. “Bala, do you think Lynch could have killed Tara?”

Bala hung her head then and started sobbing. “Never,”
she gasped, never. Lynch is a wonderful guy, he’s kind, he’s gentle.”

To Cindy’s dismay, she saw how much Bala still loved
him.

“It wasn’t Lynch,” Bala continued, murmuring, “that
much I’m absolutely sure of.”

As soon as Cindy and Mattheus left the house and got
into the car, Mattheus called Rodney to ask him to check out Dawl’s alibi.

“Dawl Lemmings,” Rodney echoed on the phone. “Yeah,
the cops have already called and told me he’s back in the picture. Wherever you
find that guy, there’s trouble.”

Mattheus gave Rodney Dawl’s alibi and Rodney said he’d
check it right out.

“Looks like the next step is a visit to Lynch,” Cindy
said when Mattheus hung up the phone. “It’s important to get his version
directly.”

Mattheus agreed and made a call to tell Lynch they
were coming.

Oddly enough, Lynch sounded delighted to hear from
him and relieved.  “That’s great,” he said, “come right away, can’t wait to see
you. I’m in my room at the hotel.” Obviously Lynch had bonded with Mattheus
when they’d met before. “I really appreciate your coming to help me,” Lynch
continued before they hung up.

Mattheus looked forlorn as they drove the rest of the
way back to the Aupres Hotel. “Lynch’s a damn good guy,” Mattheus muttered as
they got closer to their destination. “He thinks we’re coming to help him.”

“We are,” said Cindy.

“How do you figure that?” asked Mattheus, distressed.
“He’s the main person of interest in the case. There’s tons of motive and he’s
got no alibi.”

“We’re coming to help him find out the truth,” said
Cindy simply.

“That’s not what he’s thinking,” Mattheus disagreed.

“How do you know?” Cindy answered. “If he’s innocent,
he’s got to want to find the truth as badly as we do.”

“Why do you say if?” Mattheus shot back, turning his
eyes from the road to Cindy.

“Because we’re on a murder investigation,” Cindy
spoke definitively, “and all bets are still open. No one can be overlooked.”

“Even Dawl?” asked Mattheus.

“Of course,” said Cindy. “Until Dawl’s alibi checks
out, he’s still on the list.”

“His alibi will check out. That guy knows what he’s
doing,” Mattheus said glumly.

“You don’t like him?” Cindy quickly asked. “You don’t
believe him?”

“No, I don’t like him, but that has nothing to do with
it,” said Mattheus. “He’s a sharp operator, full of tricks.”

“I like him,” said Cindy suddenly, “and I believe
him. I don’t think he had a thing to do with Tara’s death.”

Mattheus’s eyebrows rose swiftly. “Now that’s odd to
me, very, very odd. As I see it, there’s not one reason to think well of Dawl.”

Cindy took exception. “Not one reason? Dawl takes
care of that child as if he’s his own son.  He stays close to his sister, looks
after the family.  If that’s not a reason to think well of someone, what in the
world is?”

Mattheus grew silent and sullen then and didn’t say a
thing.

*

Cindy and Mattheus got to the hotel, grabbed a quick
cup of coffee, and went right up to Lynch’s room.  The door was open and when
they walked in, Lynch was there waiting for them, along with Raina and two
young men.

Lynch rose the minute they walked in. “So great to
see you, thanks for coming,” he said.  His eyes were puffy and he looked disheveled,
as though he’d barely had any sleep.

Neither Raina nor the two young men got up to greet
Cindy and Mattheus.

“It’s good to see you too, Lynch,” Mattheus threw his
arm around him. “This has got to be a terrible time.”

“Terrible isn’t even the word for it,” Lynch replied,
“but my mom’s staying close, helping with everything.”

“Hello, Raina,” Mattheus looked over at her.

Raina said nothing, just nodded her head.

“Cindy and I would like to speak to Lynch alone,”
Mattheus announced right away to everyone in the room.

Raina took exception and got up from her seat. “I’m
sure you would,” she quipped, “but I’d prefer to be here when you talk.”

“No, ma,” Lynch turned towards her. “I’d prefer to
talk to them alone.”

Raina was taken aback. “Why?” she asked, “what in the
world is there for you to say that I can’t hear?”

One of the young men got up, went to her and put his
arm on Raina’s. “It’s okay,” he said. “Guys like to talk privately, it has
nothing to do with you. It’ll be good to let Lynch get things off his chest.”

Mattheus nodded at the guy gratefully.

Raina tossed her head back flippantly. “How long is
this going to go on?” she asked Mattheus.

“Just a few minutes,” he replied. “We’ll come and get
you the minute we’re done.”

*

After the room was empty and they were alone, Lynch
went to the sofa, plopped down on it and spread his arms out wide. “Man, am I
wiped out,” he uttered. “Just need a little down time and nobody wants to leave
me alone.”

“They’re worried about you,” said Mattheus slowly.

“Why worry about me?” Lynch looked up with bewildered
eyes. “Worry about Tara. Find out where she is now.”

“No one can find out where Tara is,” Mattheus replied
quickly, “she’s gone.”

“Man, that’s harsh,” Lynch replied fitfully.

“Tell me what happened when you two came back from
swimming the afternoon before the rehearsal dinner,” Mattheus went on. “Was
that the last time you saw her?”

Suddenly Lynch snapped to attention and ran his hand
through his hair. “That’s right,” he said, his voice growing brittle. “I told
her to come and hang out in my room, but she didn’t want to. Said something
stupid like it wasn’t good luck for a bride and groom to share a room right before
the wedding. It’s a dumb superstition, but I gave into it.”

“You gave into a lot, didn’t you?” Mattheus’s voice
lowered and he moved closer.

“You could say that if you wanted,” said Lynch. “Since
my dad died, I got a lot of people to keep happy, a lot of people depending on
me.”

“Big pressure,” Mattheus continued.

“I can take it,” said Lynch.

“What do you think happened to Tara?” Cindy broke in
on a new track.

 “I have no idea,” Lynch replied, fitfully. “Where’d
she go? Why? You got me. Last I knew she was excited about the rehearsal
dinner. We made our peace. I told her I was going to visit the boy

regularly if that made her happy. And, I was going to
take him to visit with us.”

Mattheus was all over it. “That’s a pretty tall
order. How did you feel about it?” he asked

“Between you and me,” Lynch looked at him directly, “I
thought it was nuts, but I told her I’d do it to make peace and have the
wedding go forward.”

“Your mother suggested you do that?” Cindy broke in.

“How’d you know?” Lynch looked surprised by the
question. “My mother has got a great head on her shoulders. She said all brides
get nervous. Tell her you’ll do it. Give her what she wants. So I listened. Is
there something wrong with that? Do you know how many people came down here to
celebrate with us?”

“Did you actually plan to include the boy in your
life afterwards?” Cindy was curious.

Lynch started shaking back and forth then. “I don’t
know,” he mumbled, “I’m exhausted. I figured Tara would forget about it when
time went on.”

“And if she didn’t forget about it?” Cindy pressed
on.

“I don’t know,” Lynch repeated mournfully. “I thought
I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.”

“What was your relationship with Tara like?” Cindy wanted
more from him.

“I loved her, I loved her,” Lynch suddenly cried out,
as a chill rose through Cindy’s body. “My God I loved her, she meant everything.
If she wanted to include the boy, I would have.”

“Good of you,” said Mattheus softly.

“My God,” Lynch moaned. “I wanted her with me
forever. Do you think she ran away because I wouldn’t actually meet the boy
before the wedding?”

“She wanted you to meet him before the wedding?” Cindy
was on the alert.

“Yeah,” Lynch sounded bereft. “I told her we didn’t have
time to do it before the wedding, plus it would cause too much commotion, but I
would definitely do it later. She made me promise and I got down on my knees and
swore.”

“Sounds crazy,” said Mattheus.

“I thought she believed me, Lynch’s voice began to get
wobbly. “She said she believed me. I even told my mother that I was going to
see my son later on if Tara still wanted it, I’d even include him in my life. I
promised.”

“What did your mother say to that?” asked Cindy
agitated.

“She said there’d be plenty of time for everything
later,” Lynch groaned. “But there isn’t, is there? There’s no later anymore.”

Cindy’s heart was gripped with sadness for him.

“Did Dawl hear about your decision to see the boy
later on?”  Mattheus asked.

“Who’s Dawl?” asked Lynch, confused.

“Bala’s brother. You don’t know him?”  Mattheus said
carefully.

“Oh yeah, I heard about him from Bala,” Lynch
remembered. “He helps her take care of the kid these days.”

“In all the years you saw her you never met her
brother?” asked Cindy.

Lynch grew quieter then.  “Bala and I kept our
relationship quiet. I didn’t meet her family and she didn’t meet mine.”

“And, in all these years, you never wanted to see
your son?” Cindy could not help asking.

“He wasn’t my son, he was an accident,” Lynch’s voice
grew heavy and low. “I did the right thing, I’m sending money. But is he my
flesh and blood? No, he isn’t. And is he happy in the life he now has? Yes, he
is.”

“You’re the boy’s biological father, aren’t you?”
Mattheus asked, confused.

“Yes I am,” Lynch replied. “But does that make him my
flesh and blood? No, your flesh and blood are people like you -.”

Cindy shuddered deeply at Lynch’s disconnection from
his son. What else could he disconnect from like that? Could he perform a
heinous deed like murder, and also justify it in his mind? Cindy needed to
press the matter further.

“The courts would say that whether or not you feel
it, this boy is your son,” she said.

“I realize that,” Lynch looked at her strangely, “and
I pay dearly for it. What more do you want from me?”

“It’s not what I want,” Cindy answered, “it’s what
Tara wanted.”

“So, let her want, want, want,” Lynch cried out. “I
did my best and now she’s gone.”

“Did your mother just find out about these payments?”
Mattheus broke in.

“Yes, that’s right,” Lynch mumbled.

“Lynch, do you think Dawl could have killed Tara?”
Mattheus suddenly confronted him cold.

“Impossible,” said Lynch, “why would he want to?”

“To keep you away from your son. Dawl feels the boy belongs
to him,” said Mattheus.

Lynch couldn’t seem to compute that. “It doesn’t make
sense,” he murmured, “I was going to keep away from the kid anyway.  My mother
said Tara would forget about it after the honeymoon.”

 “Is there anyway your mother would have told Dawl
about your decision to see the child after the wedding?” Mattheus probed.

Lynch stopped cold and stared at him. “What kind of
crazy question is that to ask? My mother wants nothing to do with that family,
and absolutely nothing to do with the child.”

“Maybe she wanted you to cut the payments off, or cut
them down?” Mattheus continued.

“Never,” Lynch made a strange face. “The money means
nothing to my mother, either. There’s plenty more where that comes from. Why
would she go and ever talk to Dawl?”

“Just curious,” Mattheus replied.

“She has more important things to do than that,” said
Lynch angrily. “Like dealing with the company, taking care of the guests, finding
a way to make sense of this nightmare and prevent it from ruining us all.”

“Who else could have done it then?” Mattheus was insistent.

“Why would anyone want to?” Lynch cried out. “There
wasn’t even one person who didn’t love Tara. Go speak to others, speak to her
friends, they’ll tell you so.*

*

When Cindy and Mattheus left Lynch’s room they both felt
wiped out, went down to the bar and ordered a drink, to try to make sense of it
all.

“Lynch was definitely not trying to protect himself,”
Cindy commented immediately. “He wasn’t throwing the blame onto Dawl.”

“Lynch is an innocent bystander,” Mattheus remarked, “he’s
confused, he’s mixed up. He didn’t mean any harm.”

 “Being an innocent bystander can be a wonderful
disguise, an alibi in itself,” she remarked.

Mattheus lifted his hand and ran it through Cindy’s
hair. “Don’t just focus on Lynch, please,” he murmured. “You’re mad at him
because of his son, just like you were upset with me about my daughter. This
case has hit too close to home. Just give us both a break, Cindy.”

Cindy hadn’t actually thought about Mattheus’s
daughter for quite a while and the mention of her, brought a shiver. “We’ll
talk about your daughter, later,” she said intently.

“Not later,” Mattheus remarked, “let’s do it now. Don’t
hold this over me. You see what a mess it could create.”

“Mattheus,” Cindy insisted, “we have all we can do to
focus on this case, I’m not talking about your daughter now.”