Death by Request (Caribbean Murder #11)

“Why are you so convinced that Owen is the one who did it?” Cindy held her ground.

“Owen was with her night and day. He slept in the room, never left the beside,” Eric continued quickly. “He had opportunity.”

“Who else was with her?” Cindy didn’t like Eric and he obviously didn’t like her. He wanted someone to go along with him, acknowledge his facts as absolute.

“Tara’s nurse, Alana was with her,” Eric answered, “and Dr Padden, head doctor on the case checked in a few times a day. Other than that, only family can visit coma patients and each for only a small amount of time.”

“Is Tara’s family down here in Jamaica?” Cindy went on, determined to find a weak link in his story.

“They are,” Eric answered, monosyllabically, looking over at Mattheus for support. “They came down soon after the accident.”

“Where are they? We need to see them,” Mattheus quickly agreed.

Eric Holder shook his head. “This is the last thing I expected,” he muttered. “There’s no reason in hell to suspect anyone in her family. Every single one of them is going through hell.”

“Just want to know who they are,” Mattheus repeated, “and where they’re staying now.”

“They’re staying at the Villa Owen rented when he and Tara came down for vacation,” Eric replied. “Tara’s mother and father are here, her sister Jenna and brother Hank, as far as I know. All of their visits with the patient were totally supervised.”

“But how can you be sure it was Owen who did it?” Cindy wouldn’t stop.

“When we looked a little further, we found out that Owen just happens to be the recipient of his wife’s huge insurance policy,” Eric’s face grew red. “So, not only did he have opportunity, but plenty of motive as well. It was enough to detain him.”

“Why would the money make a difference to him?” Cindy retorted. “He’s rich as hell.”

“The rich always need more money,” Eric’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Cindy. “It’s never enough. The more they have, they more they want. Didn’t you know that?”

Mattheus stood up and got between Cindy and Eric. “I didn’t hear that Owen was going to receive a huge life insurance payout,” he said. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“Why should I have had to?” Eric replied. “The evidence in Tara’s body speaks for itself.”

“But the evidence didn’t tell you how it got there,” Cindy interrupted.

Eric threw a half desperate look at Mattheus. “I didn’t know you guys were going to make it hard for us,” he murmured.

“We’re down here to do a job,” Cindy interjected. “All kinds of questions need answers before you can prosecute a man for murder.”

Eric looked at the floor disgruntledly. Clearly, he wanted this over with. “This case created a stir when Tara had the accident two months ago, and it’s creating a bigger stir now,” he said. “It doesn’t look good for anyone.”

Baron got up suddenly then, went to the window, and looked out.

“Where the hell are you going, Baron?” Eric jumped at him heatedly.

“Going to the window, Chief,” Baron replied.

“What the hell are you looking at?” Eric’s face flushed.

“Looking, just looking,” Baron muttered back. “There are answers out there somewhere, the heavens know more than any of us mortals here on earth.”

“Oh brother,” Eric growled, “oh brother. You’ve been sitting in this room for too long, it’s gotten to you.”

“Cases like these are never simple,” Baron drawled slowly, turning to Cindy and giving her a wink.





Chapter 3



After Cindy and Mattheus left the hospital the very next stop was to the jail to meet Owen personally and hear what he had to say. Eric insisted upon accompanying them, at least up to the interrogation room. After that they had the right to speak to their client in private. Baron stayed on guard in the hospital room and Kevin joined them in the back seat of the car.

“Owen’s gonna tell you all kinds of things,” Eric said as they drove to the jail. “Be careful, he’s charming as hell and convincing. Con men always are.”

“Looks like you’ve already made up your mind about him,” quipped Cindy. “Seems like he doesn’t stand a chance with you.”

“We’ve been talking to him for days,” Eric’s voice got gruffer. “The guy slips and slides all over the place.”

“Any specific inconsistencies?” Mattheus asked as Kevin cleared his throat in the rear of the car, as if warning Eric to lay low.

“Con men are great at all kinds of inconsistencies,” Eric shot back, paying no attention to Kevin. “They cover their asses beautifully. First you’re talking about one thing, and before you know it, they’ve got you off on a completely different subject. You completely forget what you were there for in the first place. I’ve seen it a million times.”