Murder in Cuba

by Dianne Harman

  “I agree, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it is,” Mike replied.

  “Nor can I,” Kelly said, “but there are a number of things that bother me, and they just don't add up. First there's his family life, which seems very sad, and I hate to say it, but from all appearances it looks like he's abandoned his wife in her hour of need. Secondly, from what you've said, it appears that he's bleeding her bank account dry and depositing those funds into an account in his name in the Cayman Islands. That smells. Then there's the fact I've never seen him at dinner since we’ve been here. I've seen him get two glasses of ice in the bar and then leave. I'm curious why he's getting two glasses of ice. Does he have someone in his room? And where is he eating? You say you've seen him at breakfast, but that's it.

  “All the other fishermen want to tell war stories and brag about their day, so they all congregate together before the dinner hour but not Philip. And lastly, what about taking over Dudley's group of fishermen and having those cheesy business cards made? Hate to say it, but he would be real high on my list of possible suspects.”

  “It almost kills me to say this, Kelly, and please pretend like you never heard it from me, but I value your insights, and I have to tell you I think you may be on to something. Maybe I'd better look at Philip a little closer. I've been looking at Stewart and Patricia, primarily Stewart. Maybe I just don't want to see some American like Philip committing murder on the off chance he can get an exclusive contract to fish in the waters surrounding Cayo Largo. Gotta go, sweetheart, Francisco’s motioning to me. Don't know what's happening. I'll probably be late. Go ahead and eat without me.”

  “Will do. Be careful. Carola told me the front desk told her a category one hurricane is on its way. I love you.” She hung up the phone and turned to Cayo, “Well, guess this goes with being married to someone in law enforcement.” He answered her by lifting up his head and purring, but a few moments later he was fast asleep. Meanwhile, Kelly listened to the whistling of the wind as its intensity seemed to increase with every passing minute.

  CHAPTER 22

  As Kelly and Carola had discussed earlier, the three of them, Kelly, Jack, and Carola met in the bar at 7:00. After they’d seated themselves at a table, Kelly said, “Jack, Mike just called, and it looks like you passed the litmus test, and you’re no longer a suspect in Dudley’s murder. Seems like the only thing the constable could find on you was simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the wrong place being the ocean at the time Dudley was murdered.”

  “That's a relief,” Jack said. “I mean, I know I didn't do anything wrong, and I've never been arrested for anything, but there's always the chance that law enforcement will find something they don't like, and I’d end up in jail. I definitely don't want to find out what the inside of a Cuban jail looks like.”

  “Don't blame you. Looks like there's going to be some weather tomorrow. Are you planning on going fishing?”

  “Yes. My guide said they fish in all kinds of weather, and unless it's a category two hurricane or more, I’ll be going out. I'm assuming Mike won't be able to join me again. Correct?”

  “That’s right. He said the constable has pretty much narrowed it down to three people, and he and the constable will be continuing their investigation during most of the day tomorrow.”

  Jack turned and said, “Hi, Philip. I thought I heard your voice. Hear you qualified for the Grand Slam Club today.”

  “Yeah, I’ve really been lucky,” Philip said as he stood next to their table. “It was an awesome experience out there today. Definitely have to put that in my diary. Don't see too many fish like those. The pictures the guide took of me turned out great. Got to add them to my Facebook page and maybe even have a new business card made with a picture of one of the fish on it or maybe all three, since it’s representative of fishing in Cuba. By the way, Jack, I'd like to talk to you when we get back to the States about becoming partners in this Cuban fishing thing.

  “I've got a lot of ties in the Florida Keys, and I know you're the number one guide whose name appears when anyone searches for fly fishing on the Internet. Since all the fishing here at Cayo Largo is fly fishing, I think we could work really well together as a team. I'll give you a call when we get back. Now that Dudley isn’t around, looks like it's just you and me competing for the Bartolo contract. We might as well join forces. What's the old saying? Something about when we're united we stand stronger. Anyway, you know what I mean. Looking forward to fishing with you tomorrow,” he said as he walked away from their table.

  Jack looked at Kelly and Carola. “That guy is really a good fisherman. Maybe I should join forces with him. He could have the East Coast, and I could have the West Coast.”

  “Don't even think about it,” Carola said. “Something about that guy is downright oily. I don't trust him as far as I could throw him.”

  “Ditto,” Kelly said.

  “What are you talking about?” Jack asked. “Do the two of you know something I don't?”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Kelly said wiggling the palm of her hand back and forth. "Let's put it this way. There is nothing he can bring to your plate but heartburn, and that you don't need.”

  “I have no idea what you mean,” he said as he stood up. “I'll be back in a minute. I need to visit the men’s room and then let's eat. Fishing all day in this heat and humidity really tires me out."

  As soon as Jack was out of earshot, Carola leaned toward Kelly and said, “Did you hear Philip say he kept a diary? I would love to see what's in it. I wonder how we could go about getting a quick peek at it.”

  “That thought occurred to me as soon as the word diary came out of his mouth. I know tomorrow is supposed to bring some bad weather, but with Mike helping the constable and Jack and Philip out fishing, maybe we can find a way to get into his room. Have you developed a relationship with any of the maids?”

  “I've talked to the one who's cleaned our room the last couple of mornings, but I have no idea where Philip's room is, or if she cleans his room. What do you have in mind?”

  “I'm just wondering if there's any way we can get into his room and look at that diary. If we could find something in it, maybe it would be enough for the constable to arrest him and charge him with murder.”

  “I’ll ask our maid. I'm sure there are strict rules about something like that, but it's been my experience people are often willing to help, particularly if money's involved.”

  “You think she would take a bribe?” Kelly asked.

  “I have no idea, but it wouldn't hurt to have some Cuban money on hand in case she’s interested. She and I did talk about money, and I found out she doesn't make much. Having a little extra cash with no questions asked might interest her.”

  “Jack's almost here. Let's meet in my room at 8:30 tomorrow morning and figure out what we're going to do.” She looked up as Jack walked towards them and said, “Hi, Jack. I'm ready to eat. Let's go see what terrific things they have for us at the buffet tonight.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Kelly tossed and turned all night, listening to the wind and just before dawn, she heard the sound of rain over the hum of the air conditioner. Mike left at 7:30 for breakfast and to meet Francisco. After he left she got up and opened the drapes. The trees were swaying back and forth in the strong winds, and rain pelted against the windows. The sea looked angry.

  She quickly dressed and hurried down to the restaurant. It was filled with people needing their morning jolt of caffeine, but unlike every other morning, no one was seated at a window table. The servers had taken the linens off of those tables due to the slanting wind-driven rain which had covered them with rainwater. “Hola,” Kelly said to the server whose area of the restaurant she had been seated in for the last few days. “Cafè, por favor.” A moment later the server set a hot cup of coffee in front of her. In broken English she said, "We have much rain. It will last all day and get bad about noon, but we will be okay. Do not worry.”

  “Gracias,” Ke
lly said inwardly thinking that it was easy for the server to say not to worry, but she was definitely worried. She took a napkin from the table and walked over to the buffet, put some sausage and scrambled eggs on a plate, and then stood near the restaurant entrance, dreading the walk back to her room. Cayo had made his rounds, but evidently he’d been watching her, because as soon as she walked out of the building into the rain, he was right beside her. She was glad someone had thought to put an umbrella in her room, and she gratefully opened it as she hurried back to the room. Although it was almost 8:30 in the morning, the sky was very dark. She shivered and couldn't decide whether it was from the unusual quiet or a sense of foreboding. Usually whenever she walked out of her room she could hear music playing and the lilting voices of the workers talking to one another echoing across the hotel grounds. Not this morning.

  Kelly had barely closed the door when there was a knock on it. “Who is it?” she asked. She knew it was probably Carola, but Mike had made it very clear she was never to open a door without knowing who was on the other side.

  “It's me, Kelly, open up. I'm beginning to feel like a drowned rat out here.”

  Carola walked in, leaving her umbrella on the porch outside the room. “I don't know who had the foresight to put that in my room, but I'll be forever indebted to them. This is horrible. I didn’t bring a raincoat, but even if I had I wouldn't have worn it, because it’s too hot and humid for one. And from what they told me at the front desk this morning, it's going to be a little worse than they thought."

  “That's just great. Now what?”

  “I called the front desk last night after dinner when Jack was taking a shower and asked them if I could have my room cleaned at 7:30 this morning. They said that would be fine. Shortly after Jack left for breakfast and fishing, the maid I've spoken with several times came to the room to clean it. I made small talk with her, and then I told her I had a problem. I said I was sure she was a woman who understood that sometimes a man and a woman are attracted to each other outside of one's marriage. I told her there was a man I was very attracted to, and I would like to surprise him by going into his room and waiting for him, but I couldn't let my husband or anyone else know. I asked her if I gave her the number of a room if she could let me into it. I could tell she didn't want to do it, so I took a hundred peso Cuban bill out of my money belt and put it on the table next to where we were talking. I saw her eyes keep straying to it. I never said anything. She became very quiet, and then she told me if I would give her the bill she would do it.”

  “Carola, that's brilliant. I just hope this thing doesn't backfire. I don't think Jack would be very happy with you.”

  “I'm sure he wouldn't, but if it saves his career and helps catch Dudley’s killer, I'm sure he'll overlook it. I also called the front desk last night and found out that Philip’s room number is 2706. My maid is meeting us there at 9:00, so we probably need to try and find it. I'm not looking forward to going out in the rain again and then stumbling around trying to find his room. I couldn’t find my site map of the resort anywhere.”

  “You won't have to. I’ve still got mine. Just a minute.” After a quick search of her suitcase Kelly said, “Here it is.” She looked at it for a moment. “Actually, we won't have to walk far at all. His room is only two buildings away. Carola, you're going to think I'm nuts, but when we were researching what to bring to Cuba, Mike read that we should bring some small plastic bags.” While she was speaking she pulled four plastic bags out of her suitcase. “I know this sounds strange, but when we search Philip's room for the diary, we should both put our hands in these plastic bags. That way, if something goes really wrong, they won't find our fingerprints on anything.”

  “Kelly, you probably are nuts, but it's a brilliant idea. I'm ready to go when you are. I'd like to get this over with.”

  “Me, too. I don't technically think this qualifies as breaking and entering, but I really don't want to find out if my semantics are off when I talk to the Cuban constable. To say nothing of the fact that Mike would be furious if his wife was arrested for breaking and entering when he's working with the constable to solve a capital crime. No, that definitely would not be a good thing.” She opened the door to a sheet of blinding rain as they both stepped out into the fury of the ever increasing storm.

  CHAPTER 24

  Kelly and Carola hurried down the path to the building where Philip's room was located. As usual, Cayo tagged right along next to them. They saw the maid’s cart next to the building sheltered by an overhang. “Kelly, I better go by myself, and you can come in when you see the maid leave. She might think it’s a little over the top for two women to be meeting Philip. With our age difference, it would kind of look like a mother-daughter thing, and that might be beyond the scope of believability.”

  “Why don't you stand under the overhang of the building next door? You'll be out of the rain, and there's no one around, so I don't think anyone will question why you're standing there. I brought a flashlight for two reasons. One, I doubt that Philip has made friends with the people in the nearby rooms, but I'd rather people didn't see lights on in his room if they know he's gone. Secondly, there will probably be a power outage at some point today, and I wanted to be prepared. Wish me luck.” She blew a kiss to Kelly, and with that she walked towards Philip's room. The maid opened the door when she knocked and let her in. A few minutes later Kelly saw the maid leave the room and walk down the path, a clear plastic tarp covering her head and her cleaning equipment.

  Kelly hurried over to the room she’d seen Carola enter and knocked. If I've got the wrong room, this could get real interesting, she thought. I could always say I became confused because of the darkness and the rain. Fortunately Carola opened the door and Kelly and Cayo walked in.

  “Kelly, I've never done anything like this, and I don't have a clue where to start.”

  “Start by putting one of the plastic bags we brought on each of your hands. I hope you remembered not to touch anything in the room after the maid let you in. Why don't you take the bedroom, and I'll take his closet and bathroom? We're looking primarily for the diary, but if you find something else of interest, take it. Of course the bad news is that we don't know if he meant he wrote in his diary when he was here, or whether he kept one at home. Let's hope for the best.”

  They were both quiet for a few minutes as they started searching the room and then Carola said, "Kelly, I found something interesting. His iPad is here, and I turned it on. You can't access the Internet from the rooms, but the iPad opens to the last place the person using it was reading. It looks like he's copied and pasted information about calcium chloride. I don't know what this means, but I think we should take it and show it to Mike.”

  “I agree, but I may hide it for a few days. I know Mike would definitely not approve of what we're doing at the moment. Let's keep looking for the diary, but yes, that is very, very interesting. Why would he have information on his iPad about calcium chloride? I don’t even know what it is.”

  “Carola, I found it,” Kelly said about fifteen minutes later. “Let's go to my room, I'm really uncomfortable here. I read that the Santeria religion is practiced here in Cuba with juju and stuff like that, and right now, I'm feeling a lot of really bad energy or juju. I just want to get out of here.”

  They quickly glanced around to make sure nothing had been disturbed. “Carola, I just thought of something. You got the maid to let us in, so we could find this stuff. Now we're leaving. Question is, how do we get back in if we need to replace the iPad and the diary?”

  “I have no idea. Let's just hope it's not necessary. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We can talk about it once we look at the diary.”

  They looked around the room one final time and decided it didn't look like anyone had been in the room other than the maid. Kelly opened the door and peered out from side to side. “Coast is clear, let's go. Cayo, come.” Moments later they were back in Kelly's room, out of the rain, the diary in front
of them.

  “What do you think's in it?” Kelly asked. “Maybe it's nothing more than him recording thoughts he has like maybe his shrink or someone told him to do.”

  “I have no idea, but let's find out.”

  They both put plastic bags back on their hands. “You do it, Kelly. I really don't know what to look for.”

  “Well, if it's any consolation, I'm not so sure I do either.” She began leafing through the diary. “From what I'm seeing, he must keep a separate one for each year. Obviously, this one is for this year.”

  “And?” Carola asked.

  “I'm looking for the entries he made last week. I think that's what would be relevant. Give me a couple of minutes.” She was quiet for several minutes and then said, “I think we just hit the mother lode.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Last week he wrote he was going to Cuba and was going to see what he could do to become the United States go-to person for fishing in Cuba. From that day forward he lists the people he's met, how they can help him get an exclusive contract to represent Americans wanting to fish in Cuba, and there’s a large section devoted to Dudley. Oh, Carola, I don't believe this,” she said, her breath catching.

  “What did you find?” Carola asked.

  “He says it was necessary to kill Dudley, because after he caught the bonefish, the tarpon, and the permit, and was eligible to become a member of the Grand Slam Club, he had to die. Philip wrote that if Dudley became the only English guide to ever do that he would almost certainly get the contract from Bartolo. That would mean he would have the exclusive rights to Europe as well as the United States, and he couldn't allow that to happen.”

  “I knew something was wrong with him!” Carola exclaimed.