“Just getting a flavor of everything,” said Cindy. “We’ve got quite a cast of characters. The next step should be to speak to Tad’s family. See if they have anything different to add.”
“I’m up for that,” said Mattheus. “Let’s make an appointment to see them early in the afternoon. I’ve set up an appointment for us to meet with the police in the morning. Then, I’m going to Petrovich’s Villa for a party in the evening. The Senator is getting me in.”
Cindy raised her eyebrows. “Good work,” she said. “We’re both going, or you’re going alone?”
“I think it’s best the first time I meet him that I go alone. I’ll stay more under the radar that way.”
Cindy smiled. She didn’t love the idea of Mattheus going alone.
“After all, Petrovich is quite a ladies man,” said Mattheus. “Once he sees you, his concentration will be gone.”
Cindy felt a shot of warmth go through her. She enjoyed it when Mattheus joked around this way. It never left the realm of joking though, and she took it for what it was worth.
“Now, let’s get some dinner ordered,” he said. “We need fuel to keep going.”
Cindy agreed. She was tired and hungry and the hotel was also known for its incredible French gourmet food.
Mattheus called downstairs for diner and included a bottle of aged French wine. He also asked them to send up a drink before dinner for both of them.
Cindy felt badly for stopping and enjoying herself when there was so much left to be done. And, yet, the more she researched online, the more she felt they were on the wrong track.
“I’m not sure we’re even in the ballpark,” Cindy said then to Mattheus after he’d ordered the drink.
“What do you mean?”
“For all we know, it’s none of the people at the party,” she went on. “It’s Christmas on the island. The place is packed. Could be there’s a random lunatic floating around. Maybe he hates the wealthy and is hiding out somewhere, just waiting for revenge.”
“Could be,” said Mattheus somberly. “But why would a random killer focus on the Senator’s daughter? Doesn’t make sense. If the Senator has been fighting building on the island, it makes more sense that he’s stirred up some powerful forces that want to teach him a lesson. There have been demonstrations on Guadeloupe against developing on St. Bart’s. The ruling forces there have shot people down for it. Guadeloupe is only forty five minutes away.”
“Think it’s spilled over here?” Cindy asked stunned.
“Makes sense,” said Mattheus, “there’s millions of dollars involved in this battle.”
The doorbell rang and their drinks arrived. Mattheus took their glasses out to the patio, and they sat down and drank slowly, as the ocean beneath them roared.
“Or, the murderer could be hiding in plain sight,” Cindy mused, picking up the train of thought they’d been following. “Much closer - only a few steps away, right in front of our noses.”
“Stranger things have happened,” said Mattheus, as they stared together into dark night.
CHAPTER 6
The first thing the next morning Cindy and Mattheus were scheduled to meet with the local police in town. Crime was so rare on St. Bart’s that the police station was small, located in an oversized clapboard house on a narrow road, lined with flowers and huge trees. The road, near a mountain, was in a hilly area, slightly apart from the main section of town. Mattheus and Cindy parked down at the bottom of the hill and climbed up on foot. Cindy wore sandals and it was fun walking up the pebbly road in the warm, morning sun. Little lizards jumped out at them as they walked, a slight breeze blew and the air was full of bird song. It was a place you could totally relax in, be yourself, let loose, and deeply unwind. Cindy could see how easy it was to be lulled into a sense of perfect safety here. Nothing in the environment gave the slightest suggestion that anything could ever go awry.
The policemen, called gendarmes, got around the island both on motor scooters and in cars. A few vehicles were parked outside. When Cindy and Mattheus walked in, three gendarmes were waiting for them, sitting at a round table, having coffee and croissants.
The station had an untouched, even lazy atmosphere. There were filing cabinets against the far walls, a few round tables with computers and phones. Some files and newspapers were scattered around. Basically, the place had the feeling of nothing much happening here at all.
One of the gendarmes stood up as Cindy and Mattheus entered. He was tall, fair and elegant looking, in his early forties. He walked over to them and extended his hand.
“Jean Pierre here,” he said in a slight French accent.
“Mattheus and Cindy,” Mattheus replied cordially.
Jean Pierre nodded and then smiled at Cindy.
The other two sat where they were, and continued to drink their coffee.