François' Quest

8

"You've got to take me to the cave, right now!"
"Now!?"
"Yes! Right now!"
He was rushing her from the table. François felt they had spent enough time there. They had to go! Right now!
"What is it? What's the matter?" She was urging him.
He didn't say a word.
"Please be patient with me. Just show me the cave where they found him."
They hurried out of Yellow Cup and semi-ran to his car. She stopped, then pulled at his arm.
"This is your car?"
"Yes! What's the problem?"
Most women were totally impressed with his BMW. Lowdian on the other hand started laughing.
"You think we are going to that cave in this thing?" She continued to laugh. "Come on! We will take my vehicle." As they approached François understood everything. She had a SUV. She laughed, "Such a 'Kingstonian-city-boy!'" Making quotation marks in the air.
He laughed too.
As they drove François was looking out the window front, left to right, then behind, determining where they were going and how far off the main road they were.
Lowdian was so fascinated by François. She couldn't get over it. He amazed her. She could see the workings of his mind.
"Do you get bored easily?" She asked him a question about himself, finally.
He was surprised and reacted that way. That was the first question, a personal question, she asked him. He liked the question. And he liked it that she asked a question like that.
"Yes! I do get bored easily....."
She opened her mouth to ask something else, he stopped her with his index finger in the air, "......BUT....." She closed her mouth, kept watching the road and waited for him. "I do....love....getting lost in my own thoughts."
"Hmmm......" She nodded her head in recognition and a perfect understanding of what he said. She was the same. Another thing they had in common. Then she thought to herself, 'I wonder what it would be like to live with someone that you had so much in common with? I wonder if two people could get lost in thought at the same time?' That thought made her shiver.
"Are you cold?" He asked, taking note that she got quiet then shivered.
"No, no! I am fine, thanks." There is no way that she could have told him what she was thinking.
He continued to look out the window. 'Hmmm she likes to get lost in thought too. I could tell by her reaction. I wonder what it would be like to be with someone twenty-four-seven that was the same as I was. Could we get lost in thought at the same time? Or would she want to talk when I wanted to be lost in thought? Or visa a versa?
They had driven for an hour already. François was wondering if they were close to the cave yet. The sea came into view.
"Where did you and Denzil live?"
"Huh? What? Sorry! I was just thinking about something else."
"Where did you and Denzil live?"
"Oh, we lived in Long Mountain Country Club."
"Long Mountain?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's in Kingston!" He said to himself as he was calculating, "Did you have a cottage out here in the country?"
"No."
"Does your family live out here?"
"No."
"What reason would Denzil have to come out here?"
"None."
"NONE?" François shouted whipping his head around, looked at her with total surprise on his face by her answer. "NONE?" He raised his voice again.
She repeated and shaking her head in sadness, "None." She almost whispered it. She felt so sad that no matter what she told the police they didn't want to listen to her. "Why didn't the police want to listen to me François, why?"
He loved the way she pronounced his name in French.
"I don't know. But I am going to find out."
Finally they reached the water's edge. In the harbor of Port Antonio there was an island just off shore. But you needed a boat to get over there. She pointed in the direction where the cave was. "There." She pointed across the water to a small island.
"Where?" François wanted confirmation. "On that island?"
"Yes." She didn't look at him but straight ahead. "It's called Navy Island."
"Your husband was found dead in a cave?! On an island?! And there wasn't a policeman or detective that thought that was suspicious?!"
There were large sailboats anchored in the marina. François managed to get one of them to agree to take them over to the island in a dinghy. He was more than interested at this point.
As soon as they got on land they began walking through dense jungle. Climbing over vines and fallen trees.
"I can't believe this......this fabrication on the part of the police!" François exclaimed. "Impossible!"
"I agree!" Lowdian was so thrilled that François was listening to her and believed her. Maybe she would get somewhere after all. For a good portion of the walk through the jungle François wanted to hold her hand to make sure that she didn't fall from snagging her foot on a vine. He loved the feel of her hand in his. She was thinking the same thing. He was so protective. She liked the feeling. She missed being taken care of by a considerate, loving man, just for the sake of being considerate and loving to another human being.
"There it is!" She pointed in the distance. There were vines with huge leaves, flora and fauna, hanging over the entrance of the cave. There was an overhang of earth above their heads when they reached the mouth of the cave, but not that far above them. François could almost reach up and touch it.
"See there!" They shielded their eyes from the afternoon sun to look up. She pointed, "There........there is where they said he fell from."
"Well, then how the heck did he get into this cave?"
The mouth of the cave was set-in, the earth curved overhead like a thick thatched roof.
"They said he rolled into the cave after he fell down here."
"Pheff! That is ridiculous!" François was both disgusted and angry at the same time. He had indignation. "Show me where they found the body."
They entered the cave. It was very dark as the opening was facing east. The sun was setting behind the cave. François turned on the flashlight on his cell phone.
Lowdian took him into the cave a ridiculous distance. He could see for himself where the footprints were and the scrape marks in the dirt where they had examined then shifted the body.
"There!"
By the time she spoke François could see for himself. He shook his head, "How stupid? Da police dem id-ee-ot!" Then he couldn't speak. He was puffing, kissing his teeth and cussing under his breath at the stupidity of the police.
"N'importe quoi!" He shouted in French.
"I know it is rubbish." She agreed with him.
"Je cherche la vérité." He shouted. "La vérité, je dis." His French echoed in the cave loudly. He was visibly upset. That made her very happy.
"I know you are searching for the truth." She repeated his French in English. "So am I." She was so very, very grateful that he believed her!
"Do you see how stupid their assumptions are? How could anyone roll all this way? Not even the height from the edge of the overhang to the ground could kill a person. To conclude that he had fallen fifteen feet, give or take, killed himself in the fall then rolled into the cave to this distance.....? Well, then, UFOs are for real. That is my conclusion." Throwing up his arms then slapping them down at his sides again in frustration and disgust.
"You make me laugh." She started laughing.
He just stopped what he was saying and thinking and quickly turned towards her because of what she said. She had told him before that Denzil made her laugh. Now she was saying that he did. His heart swelled. He leaned down and kissed her. She was surprised. But it was such a sweet kiss. The kiss said, 'I believe everything you told me,' 'I am going to help you,' 'I am on your side,' 'you can count on me,' 'I want to be in your future.' It was all there in that one, gentle, sweet, kiss. It made her feel warm inside.
"Wait for me here." He disappeared into the cave deeper. Eventually she couldn't see him but only the flashlight searching all around. She was in the darkness instantly. She turned on the flashlight on her cell phone. The cave gave her an erie feeling and she felt nauseated because she was standing right at the spot where the man she loved was murdered. Poor Denzil. This was where his life ended. Tears sprang up again.
"WOW!"
She could hear François deep in the cave shouting.
"What is it?" Her voice echoed.
"BATS!" He shouted back. "Hundreds of them on the ceiling. I scared a few of them."
"Be careful!" She shouted back to him.
Before she could see him she could see the light from his phone. Then she saw him and breathed easy again. He carried something in his hand.
Lowdian looked at him with a big question mark on her face.
"LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" He shouted proudly.
With a big smile on his face he was carrying something in his hand that looked like a snake. He carried it away from his body by his finger tips because it was filthy.
With her face scrunched up she asked, "What is that?"
"It's a hose attached to a bag."
"A hose and a bag?" She asked again. "Why are you so happy?"
"Beecuzzz.......I found the murder weapon!" .........