by Jaden Skye
“Based on what?” asked Mattheus, looking at Cindy oddly. “Right now everything points to an accident, a drowning. There’s nothing in her background to suggest anything else was going on.”
Cindy was about to bring up Alfred’s emails then when the phone abruptly rang.
“I’ll get it,” said Mattheus wearily, reaching for it. “Yeah, it’s Mattheus,” he started slowly and became quiet. “What are you telling me?” Mattheus bolted up suddenly, electrified. “Okay, okay, I got it. Where’s the body, exactly?”
Cindy gasped. “The body? They’ve found Kara dead?”
“We’ll be down at the beach in a few seconds,” Mattheus uttered, flashing a desperate glance at Cindy.
“Oh no!” Cindy exclaimed, breathing hard. It was over, they’d found her, hope was gone. Oddly enough, Cindy felt worse for Alfred than for Rowley. She couldn’t imagine how Alfred would be able to go on without his best friend.
“The body washed up on the sand, just where Kara went swimming!” Mattheus could hardly get the words out. “This has got to be her. Come on, let’s go.”
“Oh God,” Cindy breathed, devastated, as she flew to join him.
“Poor Rod, poor Rod,” Mattheus mumbled as the two of them raced to the door.
*
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?”
“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 o
perating 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.
“No, but it’s certainly possible,” Mattheus continued. “It’s not that Rod feels so bad about Shane, either. It’s Kara he’s focused on.”
Cindy took exception to that. “Why doesn’t Rod feel bad about Shane? She’s also a young woman, she also has a father somewhere who will be devastated when he finds out.”
“Of course, of course,” Mattheus quickly corrected himself. “Nobody’s saying it isn’t a tragedy for Shane’s family. It’s just that Shane is one case, and Kara’s another. You can’t expect Rod to feel bad for the entire world.”
Cindy didn’t know what to make of Mattheus’s comment. It wasn’t like him at all. Somehow he’d gotten deeply under the influence of his old friend and it was affecting his own feelings and behavior. Cindy shuddered. Even though Rod was going through a tragedy, she didn’t like anything about him or the effect he had upon Mattheus.
*
When they arrived at Darrin Frank’s office, a young man with dark hair sat there looking turbulent and grim.
“Come in,” Darrin said as Cindy and Mattheus appeared in the doorway. “Sit down here.” Darrin motioned to two chairs close to the desk the young man was seated at. “This is Vinny Jezze, Shane’s boyfriend.”
Vinny threw a quick, distraught glance over at Cindy and Mattheus, then looked away. He was handsome, intense, and obviously agitated. Cindy felt badly for him.
“We thought you’d want to be here when we questioned Vinny,” Darrin went on. “If there’s anything you need to ask, please feel free to do so. Vinny’s already given us his alibi, and it’s completely checked out. He and Shane were in the casino the night before she turned up dead. Lots of people saw him. They saw her there too, until about eleven o’clock. After that, people still saw him there at the tables, but not her.”
Vinny ran his hands through his thick, wavy hair.
“So, where was Shane after eleven p.m., Vinny?” Darrin started the questioning.
“I don’t know,” Vinny spoke in a nervous tone. “We always played different tables and did different things all night along. I had no idea she wasn’t still around.”
“That’s been confirmed,” Darrin said then to Mattheus and Cindy.
“When did you realize Shane was gone?” Mattheus joined right in.
“Not until it was time for us to leave, around six in the morning,” Vinny answered glumly.
“You guys didn’t usually leave until six in the morning?” Mattheus’s voice became round around the edges.
“That’s right, we played all night long and slept most of the day.” Vinny picked up on Mattheus’s attitude and became antagonistic as well.
Mattheus took him on, readily. “You were the last one to see her alive?”
Vinny glared at Mattheus. “No, I wasn’t. Some people at other tables saw her playing just before eleven. Last I saw her was around ten.”
Mattheus looked up fast at Darrin, who nodded quickly, confirming Vinny’s response.
“You spoke to those people?” Mattheus asked Darrin.
“Yes,” Darrin replied. “Nothing was out of order, it was normal for her to be there at that time. She seemed fine to everyone.”
“So, who in hell was floating around the casino?” Mattheus flared up. “Who could have grabbed Shane? The same person who grabbed Kara, maybe?”
“Speculation,” Darrin flung back.
“All kinds of people float around the casino.” Vinny jumped on it. “But there’s plenty of security, too. Shane was a pro, she knew her way around. She wasn’t someone you could just grab. She would have made a commotion, shouted for me.”
“But the place was so noisy, how could you hear her?” Mattheus confronted him.Agitated, Vinny stood up quickly and then sat down again. “If someone grabbed her, you just bring him to me, and he’ll never stand up straight again,” he exclaimed. “I’m begging you guys, let me go find him. I’ll take care of it for you, rip him limb from limb.”
“You can help us more by staying calm,” Darrin said to Vinny. “Tell us all about how else you and Shane spent your time. Who was Shane in contact with? Who had something against her or against you?”
“I swear to you, no one.” The color drained from Vinny’s face. “Everyone loved Shane, she was fantastic, smart, strong, loyal, and she’d been through a lot.”
“What?” asked Darrin.
“Everything,” said Vinny. “Life isn’t easy for anyone, is it?”
“We can’t get hold of her parents,” Darrin continued. “Why not?”
“They couldn’t care less about Shane.” Vinny was practically growling. “They moved all over the country since she was a kid. First they’re here, then there. Right now they’re in Europe. Shane hadn’t spoken to them for months. There’s no way they’ll be coming down here any time soon.”
“How l
ong were you guys dating?” Darrin zeroed in on him.
“Year and a half,” said Vinny. “We were gonna get married as soon as her divorce was done. It was gonna be soon.”
“How many times was she married?” Darrin looked quizzically at Vinny.
“One time only, no kids,” Vinny answered on the spot.
Cindy liked Vinny immensely. Everything he said was direct and heartfelt. She could feel how much Shane had meant to him.
“Her ex have anything against Shane?” Abe chimed in.
“In the past , yeah,” said Vinny, “but it was over now. The idiot met someone and is happy. He can’t wait for the divorce to go through, too.”
“Does the ex also live back in the States?” Darrin asked.
“Yeah, so what?” asked Vinny. “He lives in Connecticut too, a few blocks away from my used car dealership. That’s how I met Shane, she came in to buy a used car.”
Cindy breathed deeply. It was interesting that both Kara and Shane came from Connecticut, but so far that fact didn’t add up to anything. No matter what came up, there was nothing sticking that the police could hold onto.
“What do you think happened to Shane, Vinny?” Darrin asked loudly then.
Vinny hands twisted into tight fists. “I don’t know, I don’t know.” His voice sounded strangled. “But just let me loose, give me a chance. I’ll track down whoever did it if it’s the last thing I do.”
*
After Vinny left, the police took a ten-minute coffee break. “Stay if you want,” they said to Cindy and Mattheus, “we got Rowley and Kara’s dad coming in next.”
Mattheus was startled. “Why Rowley and Rod?” he asked.
“Just trying to see if there’s any way these two cases are connected,” Darrin remarked.
“You’re not going to hold Vinny?” Mattheus asked then.
“Everything he says checks out,” Darrin replied. “We can’t hold him for anything, and there’s no reason to think he had anything to do with it, either.”
