Death by Marriage by Jaden Skye Page A

said.
    Margot’s
eyes opened wide. “I can’t imagine why she’d say a thing like that. As I told
you, we hardly bother down here with what happens on the mainland. This is our
own little world. We like to keep it that way.”  She spoke quickly and
breathlessly.
    A
long chill went up Cindy’s spine.  Margot lived in an encapsulated bubble and
didn’t want anything bursting it. She had no interest at all in being drawn
into something that was painful or sordid. Cindy decided to try another tack.
    “How
do you know Heather May?” she asked.
    “As
I mentioned, she’s a friend of a friend. The friend thinks the world of her. I’ve
met Heather once or twice. Seemed like a wild card to me. The hair, I mean,”
and she smiled slowly. Everything about Margot and her home were in perfect
order, not a thread out of place. Cindy could see why Heather would make her
uneasy. Cindy felt she couldn’t find an entrance way into any of Margot’s true
feelings at all.
    Just
then the large French doors leading to the sitting room opened, and a tall,
lanky young man walked in. He had dark hair, dark eyebrows and a sculpted face
that reminded Cindy of someone, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly who.
    “This
is my son Graham,” Margot said quietly.
    Graham
looked over at Cindy and smiled shyly.
    “Cindy
has come to talk to us about matters from the island,” Margot said to him.  “Seems
there was a murder there recently, and she’s trying to find out more.”
    Graham
flinched.
    Cindy
noticed with surprise how sensitive he was. “I’m sorry to come and disturb you,”
she said.
    “Who
was murdered?” asked Graham, ill at ease.
    “A
man named Paul Robbins,” said Cindy. “A pretty well known criminal defense
lawyer. Have you heard of him?”
    Graham
shook his head and so did Margot.
    There
seemed little else to be said here or done. Cindy couldn’t help wondering why
in the world Heather had given her this address.
    Graham
turned his back to Cindy then and started walking away.
    Cindy
didn’t want him to leave. He seemed more available than his mother. “Do you
spend time on the main island, Graham?” Cindy asked.
    “Graham
goes to high school on the main island now,” Margot answered for him. “All the
children in this area commute there for high school. Graham is a senior now and
has spent the past four years there.”
    “And
after high school?” Cindy tried to make conversation with him.
    “That
is exactly what his father and I are trying to decide now,” Margot said and
stood up, as if to announce that the interview was over.
    “Will
his father be here later on this evening?” Cindy asked, suddenly curious to meet
him.
    “He’s
out of town for a few weeks right now on business,” said Margot, irritated. “Why?”
    Graham
turned and looked back at Cindy then, over his shoulder. “He’s away on business
most of the time,” Graham said, sullenly.
    Margot
didn’t like that. “But he provides a wonderful life for you Graham. For both of
us.”
    Graham
turned back then and continued walking to where he’d been headed, soon leaving
the room.
    Margot
sighed. “He can be difficult at times,” she said, “recalcitrant. Teenagers are
that way often, I hear. He was perfect as a child growing up though, never said
or did a thing to upset us.”
    “Everything
changes,” remarked Cindy, “it can’t be helped.”
    Margot
seemed to like that. “You can say that again,” she said with more intensity. “Listen,
I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. I just don’t know anything about what you’re
doing. I have no idea why Heather sent you to me.  My guess is that she can be
a trickster at times. Gets pleasure out of creating dramas.  It’s something I
sensed the first time I met her. I wouldn’t take what she says too seriously. I
have no idea what my friend sees in her at all.”
    Cindy
had briefly thought the same thing herself. “Of course,” said Cindy, “I
understand.”
    That
seemed to