The Dream Casino was one of the largest casinos in St. Martin, a place that never went to sleep. Cindy and Mattheus walked through the big, front doors and looked around. There were more than 500 machines and gaming tables offering roulette, baccarat, three card poker and plenty of terrific restaurants. People sat at slot machines, staring, fervently pulling the levers, waiting for the big hit.
Before doing anything else, Cindy and Mattheus walked over to a Shak’Eat to grab a quick bite. Then they would see what they could dig up. Mattheus had made some calls and found the names of a few guys who could be helpful. Mattheus’s close friend Rodney was the best of all. A cop on another island who was hip to everything that went on, Rodney gave him Mattheus name of the right guy to talk to. He even said that he’d personally contact the guy to let him know that Cindy and Mattheus would be arriving soon. No worries, Rodney would do everything in his power for them.
As soon after they sat down at a table for lunch, Mattheus called and let Rodney know they’d arrived at the casino. Rodney was all over it. Before Cindy knew it, she saw a large, heavy, somewhat greasy man sauntering over to them.
“C and M detectives?” he asked, rubbing his face as he pulled out a chair and joined them. “Edwin Case here.”
“Thanks for coming by,” said Mattheus.
“When Rodney calls I jump,” Edwin grinned. “Your wish is my command. You guys having a good time? Can we make it better?”
“We’re here to find out about Lynch Sprain,” Mattheus jumped right in.
Edwin’s eyebrows raised a bit. “Lynch Sprain?”
“You know who he is?” asked Mattheus.
“Everyone down here knows Lynch Sprain,” Edwin answered, “the guy’s a big fish. His company owns half the island and the wedding’s all over the papers. What’s up?” Edwin was waiting for more from Mattheus, uneasy about saying anything more. He was tossing the ball back into Mattheus’s court.
“You tell me what’s up,” Mattheus countered.
Edwin took a quick look over his shoulder and then focused dead square on Mattheus. “What are you up to? What do you want to know?” he repeated.
“Lynch comes here to play the tables much?” asked Mattheus, as if he knew more about him than he actually did.
“Not that I noticed,” said Edwin, nervous.
“Tell me about his company,” Mattheus continued.
“On the up and up. It’s a good company, I never heard anything different.” Edwin rubbed his fat hands on his knees then and threw a quick glance at Cindy.
“This is Cindy Blaine, my partner,” said Mattheus, so Edwin wouldn’t be concerned about her listening in.
“Pleased to meet you,” Edwin replied.
“The family pay off the casino?” Mattheus asked, overly familiar, his voice dropping an octave. It was an old trick of his, to take his opponent off guard.
“Not that I heard,” Edwin mumbled. “Why the hell are you asking me this? Is something wrong?”
At that Mattheus’s eyes flashed open, “Is there?” he asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Edwin.
“I believe you do,” said Mattheus, “or Rodney wouldn’t have suggested you come over and talk.”
At the mention of Rodney, Edwin got restless and shifted in his seat. “What’s this all about?” Edwin was on the offensive now.
Mattheus took a bold leap. “I happen to know there’s trouble in the family and there’s money in it for you to tell me what it is.”
“What kind of money are we talking about?” Edwin replied, taken off guard.
“Plenty of money,” Mattheus whispered.
“Look, I don’t know a thing about it,” Edwin repeated in a slurred tone. “But I know someone who knows whatever trouble is going on within a hundred square miles.”
“Perfect,” said Mattheus, breaking into a grin.
Edwin seemed distressed. “Someone blackmailing Lynch?”
“I wouldn’t put it like that,” said Mattheus.
“For what? He’s a damn nice kid, hasn’t done anything wrong all the time I’ve ever known him. Treats everyone good, treats everyone fair.”
It was easy to see that Edwin liked Lynch and wanted to protect him. Cindy wanted to break in and say something to ease his feelings, but she had to let Mattheus’s line of questioning take its natural course. It was Mattheus’s way to get information out of people.
“Lynch’s had a rough time with his father dying,” Edwin went on, mulling. “He was just getting back on his feet now. We’re all happy about his wedding. People wish him well.”
“Nice to hear that,” said Mattheus, acting totally unimpressed.
“We wish him well, too,” Cindy couldn’t contain herself. “This is just a routine investigation.”
Edwin wasn’t buying it. “Nothing routine about it,” he spit out. “You guys coming down here undercover, snooping around right before the big day. Who put you up to it?”
Mattheus simply smiled.
“Okay, okay,” Edwin looked troubled. “I’ll give you the name of someone else to talk to. But I’m only doing it because Rodney called. If he hadn’t, I’d toss you guys out on your ears – coming down like black crows, hunting for bad news, a couple of days before the kid gets married.”
Cindy felt flustered, but Mattheus showed no reaction at all.