Death by Request (Caribbean Murder #11)

“How will you ever know if it’s true?” Mattheus asked.

“I’ll know it,” Cindy smiled slightly then. “I’ll know it the same way I know it when I suddenly realize who the killer really is in a case. The truth becomes clear all by itself. It will be that way with Ann, too. I’ll know and won’t have any doubts. It will free me from all the pain.”

Mattheus looked startled. “Wait a minute,” he said, “what do you mean the truth becomes clear all by itself? It becomes clear after we do hours of leg work, interviews, research. We look at the facts and then we come to a conclusion.”

Cindy saw the worried look in Mattheus’s eyes. Clearly, he cared deeply about her, didn’t want her getting lost in a fantasy or going off on a tangent. But this wasn’t a fantasy and Cindy knew it.

“Don’t worry about me, Mattheus,” she said. “Everything is not always a matter of gathering facts. I’ll know for sure if Ann is here with me.”

“Cindy,” Mattheus was becoming alarmed, “Ann is gone, she was killed. It’s a tragedy for you, a horrible loss, but you have to face that.”

Once again Cindy looked into Mattheus’s beautiful eyes. “But how is it possible that Ann could be gone forever? It doesn’t make sense,” Cindy replied.

Mattheus put his arm around Cindy gently as the taxi pulled up to the front entrance of the hotel.

“Things don’t always make sense,” he said softly, “but one thing does. I love you Cindy and always will, that’s for sure. You can always count on that.”

*

The cab stopped and Cindy and Mattheus got out. Instead of going up to their room, they wandered slowly hand in hand along the beautiful grounds of the hotel. There were winding paths, pools, tennis courts, and a sprawling golf course far behind. Two world class restaurants were situated on each side of the hotel. There was also an open café near the water for light dining.

Cindy and Mattheus chose the open café near the water, took seats at a table in front, ordered salads and fried salmon. Then they finally put their heads together to work on the case. Once they made a plan of attack, then they could think about going for the moonlight swim.

“I’d say we have to take everything Owen tells us with a grain of salt,” Mattheus started, surprising Cindy.

“Really?” Cindy replied. “I like him very much. I believed everything he said.”

“Like him or not is not the issue. We’ve got to look further into his background,” said Mattheus. “I’ll take that on.”

“We can both do it,” said Cindy, eager to learn more about Owen as well.

“There’s plenty of other things to look into,” Mattheus replied. “Eric Holder was right. Owen is charismatic, weaves a spell. In fact, I think he actually swayed you. It’s a better idea for you to focus on other leads.”

Mattheus picked up that Owen had touched Cindy. She’d left the interview completely prepared to fight for his innocence. Obviously, Mattheus didn’t feel that way.

“Owen doesn’t have the flavor of a guilty man,” Cindy went on. “I can see why it’s convenient for Eric Holder to position him that way, though.”

“What flavor does a guilty man have?” Mattheus looked at Cindy, irked.

“I believe Owen completely,” Cindy repeated.

“I know you do,” said Mattheus. “But the fact that you’ve jumped to that conclusion so quickly isn’t good, it bothers me. We have to check him out further.”

Cindy grimaced.

“We also have to speak to Alana, Tara’s nurse, look into Tara’s family, “Mattheus went on. “Let’s find out more about Tara and Owen’s marriage, too. He could say they were happy, but how many couples are as happy as he claims after twenty years? That struck me as odd.”

Cindy didn’t like that. “I hope to be as happy as that someday after twenty years of marriage,” she retorted.

“I’m speaking in generalities,” Mattheus defended himself. “Of course you’ll be that happy. You’re different.”

“What’s so different about me?” Cindy looked at Mattheus. Was it actually possible for a love like Owen described to go on for twenty years, she wondered. Did Mattheus believe it was possible?

Mattheus needed to change the topic, though. “I also want to check Owen’s general background and investigate the hospital and its administration,” he went on.

Cindy wasn’t going to make a battle out of this. As usual, Mattheus was just being incredibly thorough, wouldn’t come to a conclusion without considering every possibility that stretched out before him.

“Okay, let’s make a list of who does what when,” Cindy was back to her old self. “At least you’re not claiming Owen’s some kind of con man.”

“Of course, I’m not,” said Mattheus. “But I am wondering why you feel so called upon to defend him?”

“A gut instinct,” said Cindy quickly. “I don’t think he killed his wife.”