Death by Engagement (Caribbean Murder Series, Book 12)

“Body’s with the coroner?” Mattheus joined in.

“Definitely,” said Ben. “From the early looks of it, though, there was no struggle, no wounds, just a little bruise on the top of her left arm. Doug said the bruise was there for a few days. She must have bumped into something.”

“What did the note say?” Cindy wanted to slow this all down.

“What does any suicide note say?” Ben frowned. “All of them ramblings of sick minds.” Ben clearly had no sympathy for any of it. “Do you think these notes bring comfort to the family? They don’t, nothing does. You got to be crazy selfish to do something like this. You leave a lot of wrecked lives behind.”

“Shari must have been suffering terribly,” Cindy broke in, not wanting to hear her vilified. “The note can tell us more about what was going on.”

“We got the note stashed in evidence,” Ben replied. “If you want you can read it for yourself.”

At that Mattheus, interrupted. “Cindy doesn’t have to actually read the note. From what I’m hearing nothing irregular is going on. It doesn’t sound like there’s a need to get more involved.”

“No, there’s nothing irregular at all,” Ben agreed.

“A young woman killed herself after she became engaged and was on the verge of finding a wedding venue,” Cindy repeated. “If that’s not irregular, what is?”

“Engagements can be tough times,” Albert piped up then. “It’s not all roses and champagne. You’re getting in deeper, but not there yet. Every reason in the world to break if off comes along. The families have different opinions about everything and lock horns. The couple starts to see trouble on the horizon they never knew was coming.”

“Listen to this guy.” Ben shook his head. “Sounds like a perfect advertisement for a destination wedding.”

“How would you know all this, Albert?” Mattheus couldn’t help but smile.

“I know, I know.” Albert nudged Mattheus in the ribs. “After all, there’s a reason I’m not married all these years, isn’t there?”





Chapter 3


Before Cindy and Mattheus left the hospitality suite and walked to the elevator, she had the police promise to stay in touch with them about any new developments.

“Sure thing,” Ben promised, “but don’t expect to get much more than what we have now. This is all routine, I promise. It’s nice of the two of you to check in, though.”

“Good enough,” Mattheus broke in, relieved, nodding to the officers thankfully. “We’ll be on our way then,” he continued as he opened the door and shepherded Cindy into the posh hallway.

“Before we go we should stop a minute and visit the family,” Cindy objected as Mattheus led her toward the elevator. “I’m sure they would appreciate our condolences.”

“We’re not part of this case, Cindy,” Mattheus said as they got to the elevator and quickly pressed the button. “We met this couple in passing, remember? That’s as far as it went.”

Cindy realized that, but her thoughts still were with Shari. “It’s hard to just toss this away,” she murmured. “After all, we all just sat down and toasted to one another.”

“I’ve got great plans for us for the day.” Mattheus tried to break into her train of thoughts. “We’ll start with a hike at Arikok National Wildlife Park. There’s incredible tropical flora and fauna there, just the kind you love. After that there’s another wedding venue nearby for us to check out.”





“Great,” said Cindy, trying to muster enthusiasm, though she was reluctant to leave so fast.

Mattheus pressed the elevator button again. “What’s taking so long?” he grumbled.

“There must be lots of guests in this hotel,” Cindy remarked as she turned and saw an older man walking hurriedly along the hallway toward them. His body was bent over and his hands clutched nervously to the side of his pants.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” the man called in a creaky voice, clearly agitated.

Cindy took a few steps toward him. “Yes?” she said. “Are you calling us?”

“You’re C and M Investigations, aren’t you?” The older man got closer. He had thin, sandy hair and his gray, watery eyes darted frantically back and forth.

“Yes, we are, I’m Cindy Blaine,” Cindy replied, wanting to calm him.

“Thank goodness I got hold of you before you left.” His voice became jagged. “I heard you two were at the hotel and coming up to our floor to talk to the police.”

Cindy wondered how he’d heard that.

“We’ve already spoken to them,” said Mattheus, as the elevator finally arrived. He touched Cindy’s arm lightly then, indicating it was time to go.

“How can we help you?” Cindy paid no attention to the elevator door, which promptly shut.

“I’m Shari’s father, Edward Twain.” The man’s words tumbled over one another.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Cindy took a swift breath. “What happened is awful.”