Death by Marriage by Jaden Skye

danger if Cindy
didn’t find something significant soon. Cindy didn’t sense that Kendra was a
killer, but she’d been wrong before and was holding all options open now.
    As
the car approached the destination, the roads and streets smoothed out. Cindy
drove through small, winding lanes until she came to the back entrance of the
community and was able to drive in. She then drove slowly along the manicured
pathways. This was definitely a world set apart, one that seemed to enjoy
keeping others out, being secluded, and making sure everything stayed the way
it had always been. The beautiful, well-appointed homes were nestled between
old trees, surrounded by beautiful lawns and gardens.  They seemed as if
nothing had touched them ever, or ever could.
    After
a few more blocks, finally, Cindy came to the address she’d been given. It was
a pale beige stucco house, set off the street, behind huge palm trees. Cindy
parked outside, got out, and looked around.  For as far as the eye could see,
there was nobody.
    Cindy
walked up to the front entrance. There was a huge, copper knocker on the front
door, with a carved woman on it. For a second, Cindy pulled her hand back. Then
she laughed, lifted her hand to the knocker and knocked loudly. The sound rang
out through the quiet block.
    In
a few moments, a beautiful, exquisitely groomed woman in her late forties, with
huge green eyes, soft brown hair and perfect skin, opened the door. She looked
at Cindy, curiously.
    “Yes?”
she said, standing at the door.
    “I’m
Cindy Blaine,” said Cindy.
    The
woman made no response, just kept gazing.
    “Heather
May gave me your address,” Cindy went on.
    The
woman’s eyebrows rose slightly.
    “I
apologize for disturbing you, but may I take a few minutes of your time?” asked
Cindy.
    “What
is this about?” asked the woman.
    “I’m
investigating a case on the island,” Cindy said.
    The
woman seemed completely uninterested.  “I don’t know anything about cases on
the island,” she said. “We live quietly here and don’t pay attention to the
messes all around.”
    “I
can see that.”
    Cindy
smiled, but the woman didn’t respond.
    “I’m
investigating a murder that took place a short while ago,” Cindy spoke with
greater urgency.
    The
woman shivered a moment.  “Awful,” she said.
    “Yes,
awful,” said Cindy. “And I need to talk to you for just a few minutes.”
    “Why
me?” the woman seemed truly disconcerted. “I have nothing to tell you about any
murder.”
    “But
you may know something that will lead me closer,” said Cindy definitively. “Heather
May said you might be able to.”
    The
woman looked perturbed and shook her head. “I barely know Heather May.”
    “Just
for a few minutes.”
    Reluctantly,
she opened the door a little wider and let Cindy in.
    The
home was gorgeous, immaculate, perfectly decorated. The woman showed Cindy into
the main sitting room and both of them sat opposite one another in high back
wooden chairs.
     “I
let you in because Heather May sent you,” the woman said quietly. “Even though
I barely know her, she’s rather close to a dear friend of mine. My name is
Margot Kowan.”
    “Pleased
to meet you,” said Cindy, looking around. “Your place is truly beautiful.”
    “Thank
you,” said Margot. “It’s a great relief to be here, apart from the turbulence
of the main island.”
    Cindy
could see how she would feel that way. “You live here with your family?” Cindy
asked.
    “With
my husband and son,” said Margot, speaking matter of factly, with little
emotion.
    “Your
husband works down here on the island?”
     “What
difference does that make?”
    Talking
to her was like talking to an ice glacier. Cindy needed some way to make
contact and felt as if she couldn’t get through. She decided to speak to her
straight.
    “Heather
told me that when I came to this address, I’d know all I needed to know about
the murder that took place on the mainland,” Cindy