“It could.” Darrin Frank wasn’t ruling anything out. “But at the moment that’s pure speculation. It could be entirely coincidental that the two women happened to be swimming at the same beach and both of them drowned. One body returned to shore, the other did not.”
“Unlikely that it’s coincidental,” the man in the back row rebutted Darrin.
Cindy was impressed with the way Darrin was handling the meeting. There were too many factors that had to be considered, and naturally, rumors were spreading wildly on their own. The only way to halt the rumors was by staying anchored in the facts. Darrin was presenting a calm, orderly presence that was badly needed at a time like this.
Mattheus leaned over and whispered to Cindy, “Darrin’s doing a great job.”
“Yes, he is,” Cindy agreed.
“Who’s this girl who was found dead?” another member of the audience called out then.
“The young woman’s name was Shane Mallory,” Darrin informed them. “The body’s with the medical examiner. As soon as we have results, we’ll know more how to proceed.”
“But who was she?” the person continued. “Someone said she was a massage therapist from the States.”
“Correct,” said Darrin. “As far as we know Shane and her boyfriend, Vinny, were vacationing down here. Seems as though they came down regularly. Several people who knew her have called into the station, offering to help.”
“What kind of people? Where do they know her from?” the person continued.
“Apparently Shane spent a lot of her time at the casino when she was down here,” Darrin continued. “Seems she was a regular there. We’re checking the casino thoroughly, and finding out all we can about the young woman.”
Mattheus whistled under his breath. “Not good,” he murmured. “Probably addicted to gambling, with all the traps that go along with that. She could have been involved in a drug deal, or a debt gone bad. The police told Rod that there’s a nasty drug ring operating down here on the island.”
“Why did they tell that to Rod?” Cindy was startled that this was the first she’d heard about it.
“They told him because most of the trouble in St. Lucia can be traced either to the drug ring or to offshore banking,” said Mattheus. “The police had to rule both out when they were searching for Kara.”
“Did they?” asked Cindy.
“Yes, they did,” Mattheus assured her. “Rowley was questioned in depth about his finances. Fortunately, he had nothing to do with the banks down here.”
“What about drugs?” asked Cindy.
“Rowley told the policed that neither he nor Kara did any drugs. Rod confirmed it. In fact, Rod was offended that the police would even ask something like. He told them that Kara
worked in a shelter for abused women and saw firsthand what drugs could do.”
“Good,” said Cindy, somewhat relieved. From what she knew about Kara it certainly didn’t seem that she would be involved with a drug ring.
“It’s looking more and more like Kara drowned,” said Mattheus, sadly.
Cindy wasn’t ready to go that far. “Right now it doesn’t look like anything to me,” she responded. “There’s no reason to think Kara was murdered and also no reason to think she drowned.”
“So where does that leave us?” asked Mattheus.
“Completely in limbo,” said Cindy bleakly.
“That’s exactly how I feel”—Mattheus grimaced—“about everything.”
*
The meeting at the station went on for a while longer and different assignments were given out. The overall plan for finding a culprit and keeping the island safe was laid out. The police work on this island certainly far exceeded those on others, thought Cindy. And yet, she still didn’t feel confident that they would uncover what happened to Kara. This new case could be a detour. It would certainly change their focus, possibly even be a relief. At least they had a body to work with. There was, of course, also the off chance that the new case was somehow connected to Kara and would help them locate her as well. As of now, Cindy wasn’t sure about anything.
After the meeting was over Abe tapped Cindy on the shoulder and said that she and Mattheus were welcome to come with him into Darrin’s office now. Shane’s boyfriend, Vinny, was there and would be questioned in about ten minutes. Abe thought it might be helpful to have Cindy and Mattheus there.
Cindy was thrilled by the invitation and so was Mattheus.
“I’ve got to gather every detail I can find to give to Rod,” Mattheus murmured as they walked down the long hallway together to Darrin’s office.
Mattheus seemed obsessed with Rod, thought Cindy, and with doing right by him. She actually felt uncomfortable saying anything about it, fearing that Mattheus would take it the wrong way.
“What does Rod think about this new case that’s turned up?” Cindy asked instead.
“Not good, not good,” said Mattheus. “Now he’s terrified that Kara could have been killed and thrown into the water, like Shane.”
“There’s no proof that Shane was killed and then thrown into the water,” Cindy quickly retorted.