Where would Clint hide something valuable? she asked herself.
Then she realized. His safe.
She crossed the room, removed the painting from the wall, and stared at the metal safe. It could only be opened with the key. And suddenly, with a pang, she remembered where the key was.
Clint’s mother’s basement. His favorite place to store things he deemed too valuable to keep lying around the house.
His mom would never let Cindy into her basement. Cindy wouldn’t even bother calling.
Cindy thought. She remembered that the basement in Clint’s mom’s home had a small side window that let in some light. Clint had once mentioned casually that the window was usually unlocked. Cindy could go there, push it open and crawl down inside. There were only three or four boxes of Clint’s files left there. She knew the key to his safe had to be in one of them . She remembered him saying he was putting it there.
It would be best to go later, when it was dark. Then nobody would see her in the yard, crawling in. Clint’s mom and dad upstairs would probably be sleeping or watching TV, and would never hear any noise downstairs. Cindy could jog all the way there, and no one would hear a car pull up or see her slip down through the window into the basement.
Cindy went back into Clint’s study to wait until it got dark out. It was familiar and comforting to be there now. She sat down on the old, navy shag rug, and ran her hand over it. So many times she and Clint sat on it together, holding hands. She wondered if he had any idea of what was going on in this world? If he missed it? Or, was he happy where he was?
Finally, it was almost dark out. Time to go.
As she jogged to Clint’s mother’s house, she could almost feel him jogging beside her in the misty, summer rain, urging her on. Once at the house, she moved swiftly on the soft, damp grass, under the blanket of darkness that had fallen.
Cindy went to the side basement window, bent down and pushed hard . It opened right away.
Cindy curled up, put her head in first, squirmed back and forth and slid the rest of her body in through the window. Holding onto the side of the wall, it was easy to lower the rest of her body down into the basement. So far all was going easily. Only a few steps left to get the key. Why did Clint’s family have to make everything so hard? She was doing this for them, too.
It was dark down in the basement, but Cindy remembered that the boxes were over against the far wall. She quickly made her way over. There were four of them there. In the dim light that came from the open window, she could barely make out what was in each of them. Two of them were opened. Whoever had opened them hadn’t even bothered to put back the tops. It had to be Ralph, looking for personal information. He wouldn’t have had any interest in Clint’s business files. That’s where Clint had said he’d put the key. Cindy dragged those boxes closer to the open window to get some light. Once there, she pulled off the tops.
The first box was filled with papers, filed carefully. No key.
She opened the second box. In the back of it she saw a sealed envelope. Cindy ripped it open. There it was. She held up the key and stared at it. Then she slipped it into her pocket. This was the prize. There was no doubt about it.
Cindy knew she should get out of there immediately, but, unable to contain her curiosity, she decided to rummage through the second box. Who knew what else Clint had buried in them? Time passed as she sat there, engrossed, reading his older presentations, and she didn’t hear the footsteps that came down the stairs.
Lights flashed on suddenly, shocking her. She screamed.
“Who the hell is down here?” a rough voice boomed.
Cindy jumped, terrified.
“Don’t make a move,” a person came closer.
Cindy looked over. It was Ralph. She was both relieved and distraught.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he came right over, up close, to her.
“I needed to get something that belonged to Clint,” she answered swiftly.
“Like hell. You’re looking for the money.”
“Look,” she motioned to the boxes,” they’re his business files.”
“You think I was born yesterday, Cindy?” His face was flushed and his mouth drawn tight. Cindy had never seen him like this before. “How did you even get down here? Who said you could come in?”
“Those boxes are Clint’s property,” Cindy stepped back a few feet. He was too close, breathing heavily on her.
“You got a lawyer? He told you to do this? Breaking and entering?”
For a quick moment Ralph seemed consumed, insane.
“I’m trying to find out who murdered Clint,” Cindy said. “I don’t care about your money.”
Ralph guffawed. “Who killed him?” He was mocking her, “You probably killed him for the insurance yourself. I got it figured out. You put something in his food, so when he went surfing, he wouldn’t be able to handle the waves. Then the insurance would be all yours. Now you’re trying to find the killer. Very smart, blaming it on someone else.”
Ralph was paranoid and terrifying, There was no reasoning with him .
“You know we tried to stop this marriage before it even took place,” he went on. “Clint wouldn’t listen. Damn guy was headstrong, and it cost him his life.”
“Who exactly tried to stop it?” Cindy was on the alert. “You and who else?”
“Clint’s best man, Al.”
Cindy was shocked.
“He took Clint out of town and talked to him about it all day long. He never liked you. He didn’t like that Clint was tying the knot in only a year. All Clint could say, over and over, was that he’d never let you go. Nobody understood why.”
Hot, stinging tears filled Cindy’s eyes. That explained his day in Boston with Al.
“I loved him, too,” she said, filled with pain. “I never would hurt him in anyway.”
Ralph sneered. “You loved him, huh? Did you know Al had a photo of one of Clint’s girls. The two of them had a kid together.”
Cindy felt devastated . “How did he know?”
“He saw the kid. He told me. He’s a dead ringer for Clint.”
Cindy breathed a little easier. That explained it.
“Clint didn’t know the first thing about the kid, for a long time,” Ralph went on. “But at the end, before the wedding, he knew. Al sent the photo to him. It was a last ditch effort to wake him up.”
Ralph didn’t know that Clint never received the photo in the mail.
He laughed. “I bet he didn’t tell you a thing about it?”
There wasn’t any length they’d go to, to rip her and Clint apart. Even after he was gone. But it wouldn’t work.
“He never got the photo, Ralph.”
Ralph coughed.
“I found it. After he died.”
“Well, he was damn stupid. And don’t think that woman isn’t going to come and claim insurance money for the kid as soon as she finds out. All you women - .”
All of a sudden he grinned. He had tiny teeth all crunched together. “Finding you down here like this, proves my theory,” he said. “Why in hell would anyone crawl down into the basement, if they weren’t out to fleece us? But whether you know it or not, we’ve got the Will and insurance policy. The insurance wasn’t signed right - and honey, there’s no mention of you in the will. He never bothered to change a word of the Will after he met you.”
Why would he, Cindy thought? They were young and healthy . And as for the insurance policy, she’d get a lawyer to straighten things out. And she’d be happy to give a nice chunk of it to Clint’s son. For now, she only wanted to get out of there.
But Ralph had other ideas. He closed in.
“Clint’s dad is coming to the end,” he said. “Marge knows it. There’s a lot of money that’s going to be passed around.”
He was too close, breathing in Cindy’s face again. Then he rubbed her shoulders with his hands.. She tried to shake him off, but he only came closer.
“I always thought you were a pretty lady,” he said, “much prettier than Marge.” Cindy felt like throwing up.