*
A crowd had already gathered down at the beach by the time Cindy and Mattheus got there. The police had roped off the space near the water so curiosity seekers could not get through. When Cindy and Mattheus came to the border of the roped off area, Abe was there, immediately recognizing them.
“You got her? She’s here?” asked Mattheus frantically.
“When exactly did Kara’s body’s wash up?” asked Cindy.
“We’ve got a body here,” Abe replied slowly.
“Let us in,” Mattheus demanded as Abe parted the ropes for them to get through.
Cindy, Abe, and Mattheus walked down toward the edge of the shore, pushed forward by a wind that was blowing in strongly from the east.
“Who discovered the body? When?” Mattheus was rambling. “What shape is it in? How long has it been here?”
“You sure have a lot of questions,” said Abe.
“Of course I do,” said Mattheus. “This is my friend’s daughter.”
“I recognize that,” said Abe. “The body was spotted by a guest at the hotel, about an hour ago. No one knows exactly the condition or how long it’s been in the water by now. It’ll be taken to the medical examiner immediately.” Abe spoke quietly, trying to calm their ruffled nerves.
“Has she been definitely identified?” asked Mattheus.
“Of course not.” Abe put his arm on Mattheus to quiet him down. “How can it be? She just turned up.”
Mattheus quieted down. This was personal for him, Cindy saw, way too personal.
“Did you get a look at the body yourself?” Mattheus continued questioning Abe.
“Actually, I did.” Abe spoke more slowly.
Both Mattheus and Cindy stopped walking and turned to him. “And?”
“To me it looked like the death was recent,” Abe continued carefully. “It didn’t seem as though the body had been in the water long.”
“What?” Both Cindy and Mattheus were startled.
“In fact,” Abe continued, “we’ve got a young woman about the same age as Kara, same color hair and general build. But otherwise, she doesn’t look like Kara.”
Cindy and Mattheus stopped stone cold.
“What are you talking about?” asked Mattheus.
“I looked at her up close,” Abe repeated with difficulty. “It’s not Kara.”
“This doesn’t make sense,” Mattheus breathed.
“Not right now,” Abe agreed as they got very close to where the body was stretched out on the sand. “In fact, right now, we’ve got more questions than we had a few hours ago.”
Cindy and Mattheus stepped up to the body and saw Darrin Frank, the Chief of Police, guarding the body and gazing into the ocean.
“I need to see her for myself,” said Mattheus.
“Take it easy, Mattheus,” Cindy said as he moved closer to where a poor, lonely girl lay completely dead on the sand.
*
Serial Killer Loose on the Island? Headlines screamed across the papers and TV stations blared the news. “The body washed up on the beach this morning was not the body of the young woman who recently went missing. New concerns are developing. Police are moving the search into high gear again. The body, now at the medical examiner’s office, is being identified. Is there a killer on the loose? Is this a case of mistaken identity? Are the two cases connected? If anyone has any information leading to the capture of the killer, a handsome reward is waiting.”
CHAPTER 10
St. Lucia was on alert, and a sense of panic was spreading. Cindy and Mattheus were called into the police station for an emergency meeting. Chief of Police Darrin Frank, Abe, and a host of other detectives and law enforcement officials who were charged with handling the situation were there. The gathering was being held in a large meeting room, where rows of chairs had been set up to accommodate those in attendance. Darrin Frank was chairing the meeting. Abe and a few other police officers sat beside him in the front of the room behind a desk, facing the attendees.
“Word has gotten out way beyond St. Lucia,” a man sitting in a back row started the discussion. “Hotel reservations are being cancelled. People are leaving ahead of schedule. From the looks of it we’ve got a killer on the loose.”
“I’ve heard that,” Darrin replied in a stately manner. “All precautions are being taken, additional police have been posted in key places. The search for the missing woman has been resumed. But please remember, there’s no direct evidence yet to show that either of these women have been murdered or that there’s any necessary connection between the cases.”
“Come on now,” the man in the back row piped up again. “Two young women who are the same age, body shape, and type come to harm. That points to a serial killer, doesn’t it?”