Death by Engagement (Caribbean Murder Series, Book 12)

Just as he’d promised, Mattheus was in their hotel room waiting for Cindy when she walked in.

“That was quick,” he said, looking up from his computer, surprised. The table he was working on was strewn with papers. It looked like he’d gotten a lot done since she’d left.

“The people down in Amaneuten know who the killer of those other two women is,” Cindy started, putting the bags of jelly down on the table.

“Who?” Mattheus was taken aback.

“A guy named Billy Sears. A big woman at the grocery down there told me she thought he was down in Venezuela right now.”

“Wow,” Mattheus mused, “the guy’s probably cooling his heels.”

“People down there feel nervous about him,” Cindy went on.

“Wait a minute.” Mattheus lifted his hand as if to stop an oncoming train in its tracks. “It’s all very interesting, but as of now, that’s a completely different case. If we can’t find a connection between him and Shari, we leave that to the authorities.”

Cindy was about to say that the authorities had declared the case cold and had no real interest in warming it up now, but she decided to hold back. She knew that she and Mattheus couldn’t launch into two cases at the same time, especially not in Mattheus’s current frame of mind.

“I guess there’s a lot of cases that stay open, like low-hanging fruit on trees that never get ripe,” Cindy mused out loud.

“That’s a good way of putting it.” Mattheus got up from the table he was working at and stretched his legs. “You’re getting the point.”

Cindy wasn’t sure what point she was getting exactly.

“You’re realizing that we can’t solve every single case that comes out way.” Mattheus went over to her. “Sometimes there’s a nest of cases tucked into one another,” he said as he put his arms around her lovingly. “I’m happy you’re back so quickly.”

They hugged for a few minutes and then, satisfied, Mattheus returned to the table he was working at.

“Find anything interesting so far?” Cindy asked.

“I talked to the police,” Mattheus started filling her in, “and did some of my own footwork, called some contacts and dug into the computer. Looks like Doug’s a rising star at work. He gets in early, works late hours, driven to be the top of the heap.”

Cindy wasn’t surprised to hear that. It was the sense she had about him. “What else?” She wanted more.

“Turns out that Shari wasn’t his only love interest since college,” Mattheus continued. “The two of them broke up now and then and kept getting back together. The longest breakup lasted about six months, when he saw a woman named Cayenne.”

“That’s an unusual name.” Cindy was struck by it.

“Yes, it is, but there was nothing particularly unusual about the woman, though. She’s someone he met through work, a paralegal for a firm a few blocks away,” Mattheus continued.

“How did Shari feel about that relationship?” It was interesting information and Cindy wondered about it.

“I have no idea about that,” said Mattheus, “but the person who told me about it said that Doug wasn’t really himself when he was seeing Cayenne. He seemed better and happier when he and Shari got back together again.”

“Who told you this?” Cindy was curious.

“A cop I know who has contacts at Doug’s firm. It’s a big firm, with plenty of branches. One of Doug’s colleagues spoke to my friend. It wasn’t particularly confidential or earth-shattering information, just popular knowledge, it seems.”

“What I’m interested in is how Shari took the separation. Did she also see someone else then? Who initiated the breakup?” Cindy was wondering out loud.

“That shouldn’t be too hard to find out or take too long,” Mattheus intercepted her questions.

“We probably need to know more about Shari in general,” Cindy concluded.

“That’s always the bottom line.” Mattheus seemed to be truly on board now. “Dig around. Talk more to her family and friends. I’ll talk to Doug’s friends and family. It should all become clear, quickly.”

Cindy felt the pressure Mattheus was still under to get this over with and move on. She decided to sum up the steps she would take so Mattheus could have an overall timetable in mind.

“I’ll have to check with her friends and family more fully,” Cindy started, “take a look at the crime scene and talk to the coroner. If you take on Doug’s friends and family, this should then all be clear shortly.”

“Okay,” Mattheus agreed, “but why do you have to talk to the coroner?”

“Routine,” Cindy reminded him, “and further results from the autopsy should be back in a day or two as well.”

“That’ll sum it up, then?” Mattheus looked over at Cindy searchingly.[cl8] . He obviously needed an assurance that this wasn’t going on forever.