“Not that I know of,” Owen seemed confused by the question. “Some people thought she would. They said it was just a matter of time. I insisted we let the coma go on as long as it had to.”

“Had to?” asked Mattheus.

“Until she woke up, or passed on her own,” Owen said suddenly anguished. “Did I think she would pass? Not for a minute. How could a young, beautiful woman leave you so suddenly like that?”

Cindy took a deep, stabbing breath. She’d grappled with that question herself twice now. How could Clint have left, and now her own sister?

“Tell us more about the accident,” Cindy recovered herself. “What happened exactly?”

“It’s written up in all the papers,” said Owen, clearly reluctant to go over it again.

“I know, but I want to hear about it from you,” said Cindy. “You m ay suddenly remember some little detail that skipped your mind before.”

“Oh God,” it was obviously hard for Owen to re-live the memory once again. “Tara and I were out on a boat we’d rented. She loved the water and so did I. The day was incredibly beautiful. I remember flashes of sun on the water, making amazing shapes. Tara said they were there just for us.” Owen got quiet.

“Then what happened?” Cindy gently urged him on.

“All of a sudden it got windy,” he continued in a scruffy tone.

“Did the weather forecast predict wind or storm?” Mattheus asked carefully. “Was it wise to go out on the water that day?”

“I don’t know,” Owen replied sadly, “I didn’t check. It was beautiful when we got out on the boat. That was enough for me.”

“Doesn’t one usually check the weather before going out onto the water for the day?” Mattheus was pushing, trying to unnerve him and get more.

In response, Owen just brushed his hand in the air casually, as if brushing cobwebs away. “Then the wind suddenly blew up,” he continued, ignoring Mattheus’s question completely. “Our boat started rocking, and Tara was standing near the edge.”

“Didn’t you yell at her to get back?” asked Mattheus.

“Of course, I yelled and I reached out my arm to pull her back in the boat,” Owen added hastily, “but I also had to steer the boat, make sure we didn’t topple over completely. The wind got worse, Tara let out a little yelp, then I heard the huge splash. When I saw her bobbing in the water, I was completely shocked. So was she. She called out to me, I answered. First thing I had to do though was to steer the boat away from her. But it locked, swerved, I couldn’t control it. Next thing I knew the tip of the boat was driving into her head, over and over.”

Cindy shut her eyes. The picture of it was horrible, terrifying. “What did you do then?” Cindy asked, shaking.

“What could I do?” Owen’s voice got louder and stronger. “Finally, I had to jump into the water and pull her out. She was alive, she was breathing. I put a call in for help immediately!” He stopped then, had trouble continuing.

“Help came quickly?” Mattheus asked.

“In just a little while helicopters surrounded us, landed on the water and air lifted the two of us to the hospital. Tara was still breathing. She was alive then. She wasn’t killed, she didn’t die.”

“It’s okay, calm down,” Cindy said to him gently.

“When we got to the hospital they said she was in a coma,” Owen went on uncontrollably. “They put us up on the third floor.”

“I’m sorry, so sorry,” Cindy murmured.

Owen looked at Cindy through glassy eyes. “Thank you,” he uttered. “I knew you would be, I knew it.”

“Go on,” said Mattheus, irritated.

“I called the best doctors in,” Owen continued. “There was nothing they could do, but keep her comfortable and wait. I was sure she’d recover, positive.”

“I’m sorry,” Cindy repeated.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too, but what good does it do me now? After Tara died, things went from bad to worse. The papers jumped in then and now they’re having a field day with me.”

“There’s serious evidence against you,” Mattheus commented, abruptly changing the tone.

A look of fear flickered across Owen’s face and quickly subsided.

“Really? What evidence? As far as I can see there’s nothing.”

“For starters,” Mattheus went on, “they found toxic material in your wife’s body. She did not die of natural causes; someone put a lethal substance into her IV.”

“I heard that, of course,” Owen remarked. “But why do they think it was me? It’s preposterous. There’s absolutely no evidence that I would ever do something like that. I have no history of any crime or foul play.”

“Secondly,” Mattheus continued unemotionally, “you’re the beneficiary of your wife’s huge life insurance policy.”

“They’re grabbing at anything they can find, don’t you see that?” Owen cried out. “I have no need for the money, none at all.”

“Why did she even have such a large policy?” Cindy asked deftly.

“We took it out for her brother and sister,” Owen answered quickly. “Neither of them have the resources we have. We thought that if God forbid Tara ever passed before they did, it would be a good support for them.”

“But you’re the beneficiary, not them,” Mattheus commented.

“Just a formality,” Owen exclaimed. “Tara trusted me to give them the money in careful payments so they wouldn’t squander it. Neither of them are any good with money. Tara worried about them. The policy was no secret, she told her sister and brother that she’d taken the policy out about six months ago.”

“But what were the chances anyone would collect on this for a very long time?” Mattheus continued. “Tara was a young woman. There must have been other ways she could have helped them.”

“There were,” Owen insisted, “and she did. She was good to them, she was generous. We gave them large gifts all the time.”

“Did you tell this to the police?” Cindy questioned.

“Of course I did,” Owen insisted, “they just listened blankly and couldn’t care less.”

“I can see why not,” Cindy interjected. “These are inconvenient facts.”

“I like that phrase,” Owen replied, leaning closer towards Cindy. “You’ve got it right. If the facts are inconvenient, they’re just dropped down here.”

“Everywhere,” Cindy murmured, as her eyes and Owen’s locked again.

“Inconvenient or not, facts will surface,” Mattheus insisted. “They’ll stand up for you, build a solid case.”

“What other facts do you have that we don’t know about?” Cindy continued quickly. She liked Owen and believed him completely, was proud to be working for him.

Owen’s eyes brightened. “Plenty,” he started, talking heatedly, relieved to finally be heard. “I don’t know if you know this, but another woman died at the Ranges Hospital unexpectedly, a few weeks before Tara did.”

“Was she also in a coma?” Cindy felt a chill go through her.

“No, she had just recovered from surgery, was doing well and about to be released,” said Owen. “Then, suddenly, she died out of nowhere.”

“Did you mention this to the police?” Mattheus joined in.

“Sure,” said Owen, “they claim the cases were completely unrelated. Said the other woman died of a sudden blood clot that went to her brain.”

“Okay,” said Mattheus, “that’s got to be verifiable.”

“But, blood clot or not, I’m not so sure it was unrelated,” Owen wouldn’t let it go. “The woman was young and healthy, like Tara. There was no reason for a sudden blood clot to go to her brain. I’d say check the damn nurses at this hospital.”

“That’s a leap,” said Mattheus grimly, “these things happen, especially after surgery.”

“That’s not a good enough answer,” Owen’s eyes began glowing. “The records should be checked carefully to see exactly what happened to the other patient. Check it and follow the course of her recovery.”

Cindy made note of that. “What else?” she asked. “What do you think happened to Tara? Who do you think killed your wife?”

Owen’s face suddenly sagged at the notion of his wife having been killed.