“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.