Death by Request (Caribbean Murder #11)

“What was that?” asked Cindy, feeling as though a whirlwind had blown around her.

“It’s a guy doing what a hospital administrator does,” said Mattheus, “protecting his hospital’s reputation.”

“Could it be there’s a cover up at the hospital?” Cindy remarked tartly.

“Could be a million things,” said Mattheus. “but I don’t think we’ll find out much tonight. From the looks of the schedule, we’re in for a long, boring night.”

Cindy smiled. “We could slip away, go downstairs and get lost dancing with the crowd below.”

Mattheus grinned for a moment. “Love to do that,” he said, “but it’s going to be useful to sit through some of these speeches and hear more about the hospital’s operation.”

“We’re just going to hear people patting each other on the back,” said Cindy. “We won’t hear a word about what happened to Tara at the end of her life.”

Mattheus looked at Cindy oddly. “Of course we won’t. Why would anyone talk about euthanasia on a beautiful night like this?”

*

Cindy and Mattheus sat at a small table together in the center of the room right in front of the podium. One speaker after another, stepped up to speak of the wonderful advances the

Ranges Hospital had made and the unique service it offered to the island. Wealthy, beautifully dressed investors, seated on tables around the room, drank champagne and smiled at one another. An elderly man and his wife at the table with Cindy and Mattheus nodded and applauded at whatever was said.

“Lovely hospital,” Mattheus said to them.

“Couldn’t be better,” the elderly gentleman replied. “We adore having it here waiting when we visit. Worth every penny we donate to it.”

Mattheus smiled back graciously, as a short, slender Jamaican man slipped over to their table and stood behind him.

“Hi,” the slender man whispered to Mattheus, “my name is Todd.”

Mattheus turned around and looked at him. “Hi, Todd, grab a chair and join us, if you like.”

“No, no,” Todd seemed nervous.

“What can I do for you?” Mattheus asked.

“I’d like to sit down, but I can’t,” said Todd.

Mattheus and Cindy rose to speak to him.

“I’m Konrad’s assistant,” Todd said in a hushed tone. “I know who you are. Konrad told me he was expecting you.”

“C and M Investigations,” Cindy murmured.

“I’d like to meet the two of you later on,” Todd smiled feebly. He had lovely eyes which darted back and forth as he spoke.

“Of course,” said Cindy, taking her card from her evening bag. “Here’s our card, get in touch with us as soon as you can.”

Todd grabbed her card and stuffed it in his pocket. “Definitely, definitely,” he said under his breath and scuttled away.

*

After giving Todd her card, Cindy wanted to leave. The speeches blurred into one another as did the people who were making them.

“I think all in all, we came to meet Todd,” she finally said to Mattheus. “He’s got something to tell us. The rest of it is a formality only, a waste of time.”

“We’ll see,” said Mattheus, “you never know. An important piece of information can pop up anywhere.”

“Come on, let’s go,” Cindy was feeling restless.

“We’ll go in a few minutes,” Mattheus agreed. “We can’t just walk out in the middle. It will look odd.”

“We’re not here to make an impression, we’re here to solve a crime,” Cindy felt irritated. “I want to get back so I can get up early, get to the hospital and talk to the nurses. That’s where our answers will lay.”

“You can talk to the nurses in the morning,” said Mattheus, “I’m going to spend time checking into how the hospital’s run, find out about its funding and get to know Konrad.”

“You won’t get anything from Konrad, ever,” said Cindy. She felt bitter about him, didn’t like him. “If anything, he’ll only lead us astray.”

“That’s a strange thing to say,” said Mattheus. “You’re making lots of snap judgments these days.”

Cindy realized that Mattheus was right. But snap judgment or not, she had a strong feeling that Konrad had no intention of helping them, was nothing like what he seemed.

*

Cindy felt strangely restless when they returned to the hotel. Even though it was quite late she couldn’t fall asleep. All kinds of thoughts and images rose in her mind and then drifted away. Everything at that hospital party was so slick and formal, Cindy was sure that if they knew it, the truth about what happened To Tara had been carefully buried away. Cindy was also struck with the fact that Konrad never once mentioned that he felt badly about what had happened to Tara. That simple fact might have been irrelevant, but Cindy was bothered by it.

Cindy got up of bed then and started pacing, trying to figure out what was upsetting her so.