by Jaden Skye
“Please accept our condolences,” Cindy replied immediately.
“Thank you,” Jenna mumbled. “No one expected Tara’s life to end like this. It’s been one horror after another.”
“I can certainly understand,” Cindy murmured as the three of them walked up the path to the door, which was open, waiting for them to come in.
As soon as Cindy and Mattheus entered, they walked into a gracious living room, where to their surprise, the entire family had gathered. All of them were sitting in silence expectantly, waiting for the visit. An older, heavy, balding man, wearing a once expensive blue shirt, stood up from the settee he was seated on to greet them.
“No, please sit down, be comfortable,” said Cindy.
“Be comfortable?” the older man replied. “Are you kidding? I’m Ralph Eddings, Tara’s father.”
“How do you do, Ralph,” Mattheus stepped forward and shook his hand. “I’m terribly sorry for your loss.”
“Enough pleasantries,” Ralph snapped. “You can be sorry all day but what good does it do?”
A stunning woman in her early sixties, dressed in a long, black linen dress stood up then.
“Please forgive my husband,” the woman said to Mattheus. “He’s hasn’t slept for a few nights in a row and is completely distraught.”
“Nothing to forgive. It’s understandable,” said Mattheus.
The woman glanced over at Cindy briefly. “I’m Isabelle Eddings, Tara’s mother,” she continued.
“This is Cindy, my partner,” Mattheus interjected.
Cindy stepped closer, struck by Isabelle’s unusual composure. “Hello,” said Cindy, joining in.
“We’re very grateful that you’ve come to see us,” Isabelle went on. “Owen called and told us the two of you would be coming. He said you’re the very best private detectives working in the Caribbean.”
“Thank you,” said Cindy, struck by the fact that Isabell and Owen had been in touch. Owen hadn’t mentioned it. Clearly, Isabelle was pleased that Cindy and Mattheus were here, she didn’t believe her son in law was guilty.
Cindy glanced around the room quickly. Along with Tara’s mother, father and sister, a younger man, in his early thirties, sat in the corner, looking glum.
“Is this the entire family?” Cindy asked, motioning to the young man as well.
Isabelle paused for a long moment. “Jenna’s husband had to return home for a short while for business. He’s going back and forth. We expect him back in time for the cremation, in a day or so.”
“I see,” Cindy nodded.
“And Tara’s younger brother Hank, is there in the corner,” Isabelle continued.
Hank did not look up or acknowledge anything that was going on. He just stared at his lap.
“Hank is in complete distress, hasn’t said a thing to any of us,” Isabelle added.
“It’s understandable,” said Cindy gently.
Isabelle tossed her head back. “Yes, from one perspective everything is understandable, from another it’s not,” she said.
“Okay, okay, enough of all the small talk,” Ralph broke in, irritated. “These two are not here for a party, they want the facts.”
“What are the facts, Ralph?” Mattheus jumped in.
Ralph edged closer to Mattheus. “From the time she was little Tara never listened to a thing I said. I never liked Owen, warned Tara about him years ago when they still were dating.”
“You blame Owen for this?” Mattheus seemed startled.
Isabelle took a deep breath, and shook her head slowly, as if to deny what her husband was saying. “Owen has had nothing to do with it, nothing at all,” she murmured loudly.
“You can’t say that,” Ralph was up in arms. “He was driving the boat with Tara in it.”
“One thing has nothing to do with the other,” Isabelle exclaimed.
“It was his job to keep her safe,” Ralph wouldn’t quiet down. “I warned Tara about lots of things,” he went on.
“What did you warn her about?” Mattheus was quick on the draw.
“As soon as Tara met Owen, I told her that he was a hungry guy, after money, status, the works.”
“Is something wrong with that?” Jenna got up now and joined the little cluster that had formed in the middle of the room. “Most fathers are happy when their daughters marry an ambitious man who can take good care of them.”
“Well, I wasn’t happy,” Ralph’s eyes narrowed as he turned his bloated face towards Jenna. “From the very beginning Owen was always one upping me, making sure everyone knew that he gave Tara more than I could.”
Isabelle closed her eyes. “Why are we going into this again, Ralph,” she begged, “why?”
“You’re upsetting mother,” Jenna interjected.
“And Owen made your husband feel pretty inadequate, too, didn’t he, Jenna?” Ralph continued.
“This isn’t the time for casting blame,” Jenna became upset. “Owen made Tara happy.”
“Oh yeah? How do you know that?” Ralph wouldn’t be mollified. “You think it’s just money that makes someone happy? There was no reason for the boating accident, none at all. Tara was a good swimmer. Owen was just careless; careless with my daughter’s life.”
“It was an accident, dad,” Jenna interjected. “The wind blew up suddenly.”
“There’s no such thing as suddenly,” Ralph barked. “You check the weather before you go out on the water.” Then turned to Mattheus. “Tara’s life was over after the accident, she was a vegetable when they brought her to the hospital.”
“She wasn’t a vegetable, Ralph,” Isabelle’s eyes filled with tears. “She was alive in a coma. We all had time with her before she passed.”
“What kind of time?” Ralph yelled. “You sat there talking to a vegetable.”
“No, we didn’t,” Jenna spoke over her irate father. “Tara heard us, she responded.”
“Oh brother, brother,” Ralph made a fist and banged it on a small table. “Once they’re in a coma they don’t respond. It’s just the body twitching, making it look like smiles and nods.”
“My father has a limited view,” Jenna insisted to Mattheus.
“I see it as it is, and I tell it as it is,” Ralph thundered.
“Stop it, Ralph,” Isabelle called out over the fray. “You’re upsetting Hank.”
Cindy looked over to the corner of the room, where the young man had doubled over in his chair, his hands over his head.
“Hank’s a grown man,” Ralph said, “he’s got to grow up and take what life brings.”
Jenna turned to Cindy, distraught. “My father always blamed Owen for everything, and now this horrible accident.”
“Tara didn’t officially die as a result of the accident,” Cindy interjected, “she died as a result of active euthanasia. There were toxins injected into her bloodstream. Owen is being held for that.”
“We know all that,” Jenna grimaced, “but Owen doesn’t deserve to be held. It’s crazy.
Owen loved Tara all their life long; he took wonderful care of her and of all of us,” Jenna’s eyes filled with tears. “From the second this happened, he didn’t leave Tara’s side.”
“So what? So what?” Ralph burst out. “What was the good of her living like a vegetable for two months? A person’s better off dead then. No one deserves to be kept alive by tubes. Your sister wasn’t coming back, and everyone knew it.”
“Who knew that, exactly?” asked Cindy.
“There were different viewpoints about it,” Isabelle broke in, desperate to establish balance. “There are plenty of cases of people coming back even after two months in a coma, Ralph.”
“But what did Dr Padden tell you?” Ralph inched closer to his wife as she backed away from him. “Padden said the chances of Tara’s coming back and living a normal life were not good.”
“Not good, but possible!” Jenna interjected.
“And, Dr Padden isn’t God,” Isabelle shot back.
“
And where was God when Tara was laying here?” Ralph demanded.
“You exhaust me, Ralph. You exhaust me,” Isabelle called out loudly then.
“It’s enough,” Jenna burst in between them, looking at Cindy. “My mother doesn’t believe in euthanasia, my father does. He felt we should take Tara off life supports almost right from the start.”
“It’s a sin to take a life,” Isabelle started crying then. “Only God decides when life ends. Now Tara didn’t die naturally and that has to be answered for.”
“Answered for, by whom?” asked Cindy.
“Do you think Owen did it?” Mattheus quickly joined in.
“I can’t imagine such a thing,” Isabelle’s tears deepened into sobbing.
“Who else could have?” Ralph barked loudly then.
“What do you think, Jenna?” Cindy turned to her. “If Owen took such good care of your sister why would he want her to suddenly die?”
“That’s the real question, isn’t it?” said Jenna. “I have no idea who ended my sister’s life, but I’m sure it wasn’t Owen. Whoever did it was merciful, though. I disagree with my mother about that. My husband agrees with me, too. He kept saying it was wrong to let Tara live like that for so long.”
“There are laws about ending a life,” said Mattheus. “The family can decide to withhold food and water, that’s passive euthanasia, not as serious as actively injecting a toxic substance into her IV.”
“Withholding food and water can take a long time though,” Hank finally piped up from behind. “That’s cruel. It can be painful to die of hunger and thirst, the person lays there silently suffering.”
“I doubt that, Hank,” Ralph shouted.
“How can you be certain they’re not suffering?” Hank stood at the edge of his chair, his eyes wide with fear and sorrow.
“Sit back down, Hank, be calm, be quiet,” Isabelle went over to him quickly.
“Hank was very close to Tara,” Jenna whispered to Cindy.
“Did Tara leave any record of her last wishes should something like this ever take place?” Cindy quickly asked.
“Of course Tara didn’t leave any final instructions,” Hank kept wailing from the back of the room. “She was just forty, she was beautiful, she never expected to die.”
The entire room grew silent for a moment.
“There was a large life insurance policy taken out on your daughter’s life though,” Mattheus finally remarked to Ralph.
Ralph’s face grew flushed. “I only heard about that after she died,” he said gruffly.
“I knew about it before,” Jenna piped up. “Tara and Owen took the policy out for us, to help the family. Tara told me about it. I was shocked. I told her it was ridiculous, that she was young and healthy.”
“Tara worried about the financial situation of the family?” Mattheus inquired.
“Tara worried about lots of things,” Jenna said softly. “She had much more money than we did and felt guilty about it. She kept giving us gifts all the time. So did Owen.”
“Whatever Owen gave me, I paid back,” Ralph took exception. “I’ve had a few business deals go bad and he stepped in to help. So what?”
Clearly, the friction between Ralph and Owen had gone on for a long time.
“Do you believe that Owen injected the lethal substance into your daughter’s IV?” Mattheus asked Ralph pointedly.
“I don’t know about that,” Ralph shuddered. “But whoever did it, was brave. They did the right thing, took Tara out of her misery. Hell, I don’t like the guy. But why in the world should anyone be prosecuted for that?”
The wailing from Hank in the back of the room suddenly grew louder as he sat back down in his chair, rocking back and forth.
“Hank was very close to Tara,” said Isabelle, as she stepped closer to Cindy and Mattheus. “All during the ordeal I told Hank that it was alright, I felt Tara close by, communicating with me. He wouldn’t believe it, but I knew it was true. I even saw little flashes of lightning in the sky. That was her. I knew she was telling me she was at peace.”
Cindy stopped cold and stared. “How do you know that, exactly?”
“Not just the lightning, there have been so many other signs I’ve had that I’m at ease,” Isabelle answered softly.
Cindy couldn’t help but think of the lightning she saw and her own sister. Could that have been a sign? Cindy wasn’t sure, but she was happy that Isabelle could find the solace she needed.
Mattheus stepped over then, wanting to turn the discussion in another direction. “If you were in touch with Tara,” he said to Isabelle grimly, “by any chance, did she let you know who put the lethal substance in her IV?”
Isabelle stared at him oddly, not sure if he was being flippant. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“I just wondered if Tara might have let you know who killed her?” Mattheus asked without skipping a beat.
“No, she didn’t,” said Isabelle swiftly.
“What do you think? Any ideas?” he went on.
Isabelle grew pale at the thought of it. “I haven’t let myself think of that,” she spluttered. “But I do know that. I don’t approve of taking anyone’s life, under any circumstances. In Tara’s case, she never chose death or asked for it, either. There is no guilt on her head.”
“There’s guilt on someone’s head, though, isn’t there?” asked Mattheus, unwilling to let go.
“Someone,” Isabelle agreed.
“Do you believe the person who did it should be prosecuted?” Mattheus continued.
“Definitely,” Isabelle responded. “It was not up to them to take such an action.”
“Ridiculous,” Ralph once again interjected, overhearing the conversation. “We’re kinder to animals who are dying than to people.”
“But you weren’t kind to Tara, ever,” Hank’s wailing voice suddenly pierced the room, as he jumped up out of his chair. “You weren’t kind to her ever. And now she’s entirely gone.”
Chapter 6
“Let’s have lunch outdoors,” Cindy said as soon as they left the Villa. The meeting with the family had unnerved her, she was thrilled to be out of there and wanted to be near the water. Cindy needed to see the sky, have time to walk outdoors and talk the meeting over with Mattheus.
“Great,” said Mattheus. “In fact, I was thinking we should go to the marina where Owen rented the boat he and Tara went out on. It’s not far from here. We can take a look at the boat and talk to the owner. Then we can find a place for lunch close by.”
Cindy loved being near boats and the plan felt perfect. It was a good idea to walk in Tara’s footsteps, take each step of the journey along with her.
“Is the marina close enough to walk over?” Cindy asked.
“About a mile,” said Mattheus. “Good idea, let’s walk. It will clear out heads.”
The walk to the marina was easy and enjoyable. The day was clear, beautiful and invigorating with a slightly crisp edge to the air. Cindy and Mattheus wound their way out of the cluster of sprawling, manicured Villas and passed through an enclave of expensive stores and specialty shops. Then they headed down a narrow road towards where the boat Owen had rented was docked.
“What a family Tara had,” Cindy said as they walked along. She felt drained by the visit, glad to be away from them.
“They’re a complicated bunch,” said Mattheus. “It’s good that we met them.”
“If you ask me, we’ve got a treasure trove of suspects there,” said Cindy.
“That’s a leap,” Mattheus shook his head. “They’re all just reacting to the awful events. Seems like they really cared about Tara.”
“Including her father?” asked Cindy, surprised by Mattheus’s reaction.
“Of course,” said Mattheus, “maybe him the most.”
Cindy slowed down, trying to figure out what Mattheus meant. “Tara’s father said he always had a hard time with her,” she finally commented.
“Sometimes we have the hardest times w
ith those we care about the most,” Mattheus replied.
“But I actually heard her father say he wanted her dead,” Cindy reminded Mattheus.
“No, he never said he wanted her dead,” Mattheus slowed down. “Ralph just said that he didn’t want her living like a vegetable in a coma. That could be a sign of his love.”
As always Mattheus made sense of whatever conundrum arose, but Cindy still felt uneasy about Tara’s father.
“I wouldn’t put anything past the father,” Cindy started walking more quickly again, and Mattheus, too picked up his pace. “Ralph definitely dislikes Owen, wasn’t at all grateful for the financial help he gave him. Could be he even set Owen up?”
“Ralph blamed Owen for the accident,” Mattheus refreshed Cindy’s memory, “not for the way she passed. He even said he had no idea who’d put the substance in Tara’s IV, but whoever did should not be blamed for it. ”
“But Ralph thought it was good that Tara died,” Cindy chimed in. “He was relieved.”
“Heck, the guy believes in euthanasia,” Mattheus responded, “you can’t fault him for that. That doesn’t mean he killed her. He just couldn’t stand seeing his daughter living like a vegetable. For him, Tara’s life was already over.”
“But it wasn’t over, Mattheus. Tara was alive, she was breathing,” Cindy insisted.
“It’s all how you see it,” Mattheus insisted.
“It doesn’t mean Ralph didn’t end Tara’s life, either,” Cindy said sharply, “he could have thought he was doing her a favor.”
Mattheus slowed down again. “What have you got against Ralph, Cindy?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she replied tautly. “I don’t particularly like him, but I don’t have anything against him. But we can’t let him off the hook so easily, either. The guy’s filled with all kinds of resentments. Who knows what was going on in his head?”
“If you ask me, I’d say the brother, Hank, is the strangest,” Mattheus responded as they turned the corner onto the street which lead to rows of boats rocking gently at the water’s edge.
“Hank’s a pathetic, desperate guy,” Cindy remarked as she breathed in the refreshing smell of salty, ocean air, “he’s overwhelmed. We can talk to him later, if he’ll talk. My guess is, he may not.”
