Seaside Secrets by Cindy Bell Page A

for certain that he was wearing those cufflinks about three weeks ago,” Suzie said and reached into the envelope in her purse. She pulled out the photographs from inside of it. “These are what your father left in the safety deposit box, Jason. I'm afraid that something might have happened to Samantha.”
    Jason's eyes widened as he sorted through the photos. “Are there more?” he asked in a grave tone.
    “ Not printed,” Suzie replied. “I have this flash drive that I haven't looked into yet,” she showed him the small drive. “Maybe there are more on here.”
    “ Let me have it,” Jason said, and extended his hand. Suzie looked at him with uncertainty. She was sure that the flash drive might have further proof of what really happened to Samantha, and in turn what might have really happened to her uncle. If she gave the flash drive to Jason there was a good chance that he would give it to Thomas.
    “ It's okay, Suzie,” Mary said from beside her. “You can trust him.”
    Jason looked over at Mary with surprise, and then back to Suzie. “You can,” he promised her. “I’ll look at it at the police station.”
    “ Call me the minute you find anything,” Suzie requested as she pressed the flash drive into the palm of Jason's hand. “And please be careful, Jason. I know that you value Thomas' friendship, but if what I suspect about him is true, he's never been a friend to you.”
    “ I will be,” Jason promised her as he tucked the flash drive into his pocket. When he walked back towards the restaurant Suzie wondered if she had made a terrible mistake.
    “ How did you know that I could trust him?” she asked Mary as they walked to the car.
    “ It's in his eyes,” Mary explained and smiled faintly. “I always knew when my kids were lying. They would get a little shine in their eyes. There wasn't any shine in his, just hurt. He needs to know the truth about Thomas, and about his father. If that flash drive helps him to find it, then no matter what comes of all of this, we will have had a good reason to be here.”
    Suzie nodded and unlocked the car doors. The entire drive home however, she couldn't stop thinking about that beer that had been left in the fridge.
     

Chapter Eight
     
    Early the next morning when Suzie woke up she found Mary was already awake and making coffee.
    “ Mary, they didn't haul off all of that garbage yet, did they?” Suzie asked.
    “ No, it's still in a pile on the side of the house,” Mary replied as she fixed their coffee. “Why?” when she turned around with the two mugs of coffee she found that Suzie was gone. Suzie was digging through the garbage bags. She could recall carefully placing the glass bottles she had found in the living room into the trash bags to make sure they didn't break. She found them fairly easily.
    “ What are you doing?” Mary asked with growing concern.
    “ This is what I think happened, Mary,” Suzie explained as she held up the beer bottles. “I think that Harry saw Thomas and Samantha walk down to the water. I think he took photos of what he thought was going to be a romantic evening. I think he took photos of them arguing, and then much more than that. I think Thomas killed Samantha because she threatened to leave him and expose him, and I think Harry saw it all,” she frowned as she carried the bottles back into the house.
    “ I think that when Harry took the photographs to be printed as proof, the clerk in the store spotted what was on the photographs and alerted Thomas, that's why all of the photos weren't printed. Before Harry had a chance to print them again, Thomas stopped by with some beer. At this point, after witnessing such a horrific crime, I think Harry was terrified of the man. So, when Thomas insisted on him drinking one of the beers, he probably did. He had no idea that the beer was poisoned. That's why Thomas was so bent on having this place bulldozed. He wanted to make sure that any evidence was turned into