Death by Request (Caribbean Murder #11)

“I’ll find out when I see her,” said Cindy.

The doorbell rang loudly then and Mattheus got up and went to get their dinner. While he was inside Cindy closed her eyes, wondering where all of this was leading. Had Tara woken up from the coma by herself and spoken, did she really want to die? Then, once again Skip’s words rang in Cindy ears - some patients are healing while they’re in a coma, only taking a long rest. Was that true for Tara? These were troubling questions with no easy answers. They also forced Cindy to wonder about her sister. Was Ann better off now, was she happy? Of course Cindy wanted to believe that Ann would always stay close to her. But how could she know for certain? Skip and Gloria had a faith and certainty that was daunting. Not only did it keep them going, it had to affect all aspects of their lives.

Mattheus returned with dinner on two trays, placing one down in front of Cindy, and one on a table near his lounge chair.

Cindy took hers and began to eat. She was tired and hungry and the delicious fried chicken helped her feel more grounded.

“Tell me about what you discovered today, Mattheus,” Cindy asked. She craved the clarity she felt when Mattheus shared practical information.

Mattheus seemed relieved to be changing the topic as well. “I learned a lot,” he started. “The Ranges hospital is supported and run by private donors.”

That made sense to Cindy. It was why the place felt like an exclusive country club.

“The Board of Directors have all kinds of connections in the community,” Mattheus continued, “they get a pass on certain government regulations that affect state run hospitals.”

“Is that safe medically?” Cindy suddenly felt concerned.

“There’s a definite effort to hire fine doctors and nurses,” Mattheus continued. “In fact, a job here is a plum. The hospital can hire the best staff available as they pay far more than elsewhere. It’s not so easy to work here either. You have to have connections to get in.”

“I don’t like that,” said Cindy.

“It’s the way of the world,” Mattheus replied. “That in and of itself isn’t bothersome to me.”

“What is?” asked Cindy, as she turned and watched Mattheus eat.

“I found a bunch of articles complaining about lack of sufficient oversight of the medical procedures here,” Mattheus continued. “That bothered me.”

“You’re telling me it would be easy for someone on the staff to get rid of a patient?” Cindy shot back.

“That’s putting it harshly,” Mattheus wasn’t quite there. “I think patients do well here, by and large. There’s patient error and malpractice everywhere. The rate here is probably less than any other hospital around.”

“But you don’t know for certain?” Cindy insisted.

“Not for certain, but I have to assume this place is better than most hospitals here which are generally crowded, dirty and sub-standard. Rich donors keep this place going for when they come to vacation and need it. They don’t want to go to the other hospitals.”

“What about the rate of patients dying unexpectedly?” Cindy pressed on. “Euthanasia can be secretly supported here, for all we know.”

“Good question, but there’s no way of knowing that. Euthanasia is illegal in Jamaica, so it’s not documented, obviously,” said Mattheus.

“There was another patient who died unexpectedly here a few weeks before Tara did,” Cindy reminded him.

“That case was cleared,” said Mattheus. “There was nothing similar between her and Tara. That patient had an embolism after surgery.”

It didn’t add up and Cindy felt frustrated.

“I believe that Konrad can give us more to chew on,” Mattheus continued. “I am going to talk to him and also Dr Padden, the one who was in charge of Tara’s care.”

“What do you want to know, exactly?” asked Cindy. “Your focus will have to be razor sharp.”

“I want something that will focus our suspicion in another direction, take the glare off Owen,” Mattheus replied. “Owen is sending me texts ten times a day asking what we’ve got so far. The guy is desperate to get free.”

“Of course he is,” whispered Cindy.

“Who else had something to gain by expediting Tara’s death,” Mattheus spoke briskly.

“Loretta possibly?” said Cindy then, thinking of the large life insurance policy Tara had left behind. Had Loretta been mentioned in it? Had her daughter come to claim her share?

“There are two roads to go down now,” said Mattheus, “the family and the hospital. Best case scenario is that suddenly someone spills the beans. We need a confession or an eye witness who saw something strange.”