Free Dead Down East by Carl Schmidt Page B

the entire weekend.
    “When we drove out of Augusta, I sat in the back
seat. The windows of his car are heavily tinted, so no one could
see that I was there. Whenever we came to a stop in town, I simply
ducked down to avoid being seen through the windshield. Just before
we got on the interstate, we found a quiet place to pull over, and
I got in front. We drove the rest of the way side by side.
    “When we arrived on Sebascodegan Island, we found
another spot to pull over, and I got into the back seat once again.
Being concerned that the guard posted outside William’s summer home
would see me, I stayed tucked down on the floor as William stopped
at the gate. He greeted the guard in his usual friendly manner and
reminded him that he didn’t want to be disturbed for the weekend.
We then passed through the gate and into the garage. From there we
were secluded in his beautiful summer home on the bay.
    “By the way, William and I planned to be married. He
and Rebecca had already agreed to a divorce. They hoped to keep up
the appearance of a happy couple until sometime after the election.
Win or lose, the marriage was over. If he won reelection, there
might be a mild scandal over the ‘other woman,’ but nothing that
would interfere with his position as governor.”
    Cynthia’s story didn’t shock me, but it did come as a
surprise. She closed her eyes and so did I. There was little I
needed to say at this point. I just waited for the story to
resume.
    “We spent all of Saturday lounging inside the house.
We didn’t want to be spotted by the neighbors or from the boats in
the bay. We were content to just be together.
    “We decided to go to the theater on Saturday evening.
The movie, Lincoln , was making a rerun at the Royal in
Brunswick. Neither of us had seen it the first time around, so we
were eager to go. It would be a little tricky to remain unnoticed,
but we worked out a ruse. Actually, we reveled in it. It felt like
a college caper.
    “It’s only four miles to the theater. I would ride in
the back all the way. William had already informed the guard that
he was going out, so when we approached, the guard opened the gate,
and we drove right through. When we got to the theater, William
parked in an out of the way spot. He got out alone and walked
inside. We had arranged to meet and sit in the back. The film had
been out for quite some time, so the theater was not likely to be
full.
    “About a minute later, I got out of the car, locked
it and walked inside. He was sitting alone in the back row, and I
joined him. Really, it was all very simple. We not only enjoyed the
movie, but we took pleasure in the escapade. It was a lovers’
adventure.
    “When the movie was over, we took separate paths back
to the car. I went first because we knew I wouldn’t attract
attention. He followed about a minute later. I would already be
hidden in the car in the event someone noticed him on his way out.
It worked fine. We left the parking lot about 10:15 and headed back
to the island.
    “We drove down the highway and over the bridge, but
as we approached the intersection at Cundys Harbor Road and began
turning left, William noticed a car stopped along the side of the
road, heading in the opposite direction. The driver was standing in
front of his car, waving what looked like a white towel.
    “There was very little traffic so late at night, and
the guy obviously needed some help. William decided to stop and see
what he could do. He told me to stay down in back so that I could
not be seen when he lowered his window. William pulled the car off
to the right, rolled down his window and called across the road,
‘What’s the trouble?’
    “The guy told William that his right front tire was
flat. He had jacked up his car, but the jack had slipped and was
now wedged in such a way that he couldn’t extract it. He wondered
if William could spare a few minutes and loan him his jack so that
he could finish changing the tire.
    “Without even