Murder in Cuba

by Dianne Harman

  “Philip writes that his doctor gave him a prescription for calcium chloride, because he’s prone to muscle spasms. Evidently the doctor told him to be very careful if he gave himself an injection, because an overdose could cause his heart to stop beating. He says he was glad he remembered what the doctor told him, and he used a huge injection of calcium chloride to kill Dudley. He says the information he got on the Internet when he used his iPad indicated an overdose of calcium chloride was practically impossible to trace.”

  She continued reading. “Carola, he's written that last night when they were in the taxi coming back from the marina he asked Jack if he could fish with him today. He said Jack needed to have a bad accident, and that way he could become the exclusive representative for Bartolo. He says Jack is his final competitor for the fishing rights, and he needs to be eliminated."

  “Kelly, that means he's out in the boat with Jack right now and in this weather! He could do something to Jack and make it look like it was a weather-related accident.

  “Jack told me when they left the fishing club yesterday Philip told Guido he wanted to fish with Jack today, and they wouldn’t need a Cuban guide. Philip said he wanted to work for Jack if Jack got the Bartolo contract, and he wanted to show him what a good guide he could be. He said he's been here several times, so he knows how to run the boat, and they would fish in the zone closest to the marina.”

  Carola looked at Kelly with a terrified look of fright on her face as she slowly realized the enormity of the extreme danger Jack must be in at that very moment. The increasing fury of the howling wind and the rain pelting against the window didn’t help her fright, it only increased it. Kelly made an instant decision and said, “Carola, you're the one who speaks fluent Spanish. Go to the front desk, and tell them you need to speak to the constable immediately. Tell Mike what we've found out and tell him that the constable and Mike need to get to the marina as fast as they can.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  Kelly pulled a lightweight raincoat over her head and said, “I'm going to the fishing club and get Guido to take me out to where Philip said they were going to fish today. Pray we're in time.” Cayo sensed something was happening and jumped into the beach bag Kelly was carrying. She ran out the door and down the steps leading from her room, intent on getting someone to take her to the marina.

  CHAPTER 25

  Kelly ran through the lobby and over to where the security guard was standing. “I need a taxi! Right now!”

  “I'm sorry, senora, one just left and there are only two on the island. It will be perhaps half an hour before another one will be here.”

  She frantically looked around and saw a man getting into a maintenance truck with the logo “Compania Electrica de Cayo Largo” written on the side. Kelly ran over to him. “Senor, if you can take me to the marina, I will pay you well. Please, this is an emergency.”

  The man looked blankly at her, evidently not understanding a word she’d said. The burly Cuban security guard had followed her and translated what she’d said. He told the man it was an emergency.

  The guard turned to Kelly. “He wants to know what kind of an emergency.”

  “A friend of mine is going to be killed, if I don't get there immediately. Please, tell him someone's life is in his hands. I have one hundred Cuban pesos for him if he will take me there.”

  The guard spoke rapidly to the man. The mention of money seemed to make the difference. He spoke to the guard who opened the front door for Kelly. “Get in. Where do you want him to take you?”

  “I want to go to the Bartolo fishing club at the marina. The Grand Slam Club. Can he take me there?”

  Again the guard spoke rapidly in Spanish and turned back to Kelly. “He knows where it is and will have you there in a few minutes.” He closed the door, and the driver pulled out onto the road. Between the rain and the darkness it was almost impossible to see anything, but after a few minutes the man pulled into the parking lot of the building Kelly had visited a few days earlier and pointed to the building.

  “Gracias,” she said throwing the door open and giving him a one hundred peso bill. “Vaya con Dios,” the man said, “Go with God.”

  Believe me, I hope he's with me, she thought as she burst through the fishing club’s door and saw Guido sitting at his desk.

  “Senora Reynolds, what are you doing here on such a miserable day? You should be at the hotel, waiting out the hurricane.”

  “I don't have time to tell you. I need you to take me to where Philip and Jack are fishing. I know Philip told you he didn't need a guide today, and that he and Jack would go out by themselves. You must know where they are. You have to take me there immediately, and if you have a gun, bring it. My husband and the constable will be coming shortly.”

  “Senora, I don't have authority...”

  Kelly cut him off. “You better assume whatever authority you need, because if you don't Jack is going to be murdered and even if you're not charged with being an accomplice to murder, I'll make sure that everyone knows you had a chance to save a client's life and didn't. If that happens, I don't think you'll need to worry about assuming authority, because I'll bet you will no longer be employed as the head fishing guide here.”

  Guido hesitated for a moment and then reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and took a gun from it. “Follow me. My boat is tied up at the dock.” He pulled a raincoat over his head and put on a rain hat. They ran through the courtyard and down to the dock. He quickly untied the rope securing the boat to the dock and started the boat’s motor. “Sit behind me,” he said as he stood at the steering wheel and sped away from the dock. “All of our boats are equipped with a GPS system, so I can tell where each boat is located at all times. I can locate their boat using the GPS. It will take me a moment, but I'll head in the general direction where I think they are and soon the GPS will show me exactly where their boat is. It’s accurate to a distance of ten meters.”

  Kelly set her beach bag down on the floor of the boat and was surprised at how heavy it was. She hadn’t been aware of it on her way to the marina. She looked down and saw two eyes looking up at her. Good grief, I completely forgot about Cayo. Poor thing must be terrified to be in a boat and on the water.

  “Senora, I have found their boat’s location on the GPS. It's not too far from here.”

  “Guido, when we pulled away from the dock I noticed there weren't any other boats around. I think you met Jack's wife, Carola. She's calling my husband, who's a sheriff, and the constable, but how will they find us without a boat?”

  “The constable has his own boat at the marina, and there is a radio on his boat. He will be able to call me, and I can tell him where we are headed.”

  “In this weather even with your GPS system, how will you ever be able to find their boat?”

  “Each boat is equipped with the best GPS system that is made. It could locate where a fly was if we programmed it for that. Don't worry, we'll get there in time for whatever it is you’re worried about. Please, Senora, could you tell me what is the problem?”

  Kelly spent the next few minutes filling Guido in on what she and Carola had discovered in Philip's diary. She told him when it was all over she would tell him why she’d become suspicious of Philip. Guido slowed the boat down and turned off the engine. She could make out the running lights on a boat that was about fifty yards ahead of them.

  Guido looked back at her and said over his shoulder, “That's their boat. Now what do you want me to do?”

  “Do you have binoculars on the boat?”

  “Yes, they're in the dry storage bin beneath where you're sitting.” She stood up, and he pulled the top of the storage bin open and handed her a pair of binoculars. She could make out two figures in the boat and said a silent prayer as it looked like they’d gotten there in time. The wind dropped suddenly, and the water became very calm. Voices carry considerable distances across quiet calm water and she heard Jack ask, “What are you talking about?”
>
  She leaned close to Guido and whispered, “Why did the wind drop?”

  “Senora, I think we're in the eye of the hurricane. Often it gets very quiet before the torrential rains come.”

  “So the rains we've been having haven't been torrential?”

  “No, Senora. In about twenty minutes it will be very bad. What now?”

  “Can you quietly pole our boat close to them? I seem to remember you saying that's what the guides did when they got to where they wanted to fish, and with Jack and Philip both looking forward, maybe we can get close to them without being noticed.”

  “Si, Senora. I can do that." They heard angry voices coming from the boat in front of them.

  Jack, who was usually very mild-mannered, angrily said in a raised voice, “No, Philip, I don't want to be your partner. The company contacted me, not you, and I have every intention of being their representative in the United States.”

  “Then you leave me no option. I’ll have to kill you just like I killed Dudley. I was afraid that's what you’d say, and that's why I didn’t want a Cuban guide to come with us today. I’ll tell everyone you fell overboard, and even though the water is shallow, it was raining so hard, and it was so dark, I couldn't find you. By the time your body washes up on shore, the fish will have had their share of you, and it's very hard to determine the cause of death from a body when all that's left are the bones.”

  “Senora, what do you want me to do?” Guido asked in an alarmed tone of voice.

  “Get as close as you can to their boat. Get your gun out and be ready to shoot Philip, if need be.”

  “But Senora, he's qualified to become a member of the Grand Slam Club. I can't do that.”

  “Then hand the gun to me. I have no problem shooting him.”

  He handed her the gun, as he quietly poled their boat to within ten feet of Jack’s boat. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Cayo had gotten out of her beach bag and had walked up to the bow of the boat.

  They were so close to the other boat that Kelly could clearly see Philip reach into a bag at his feet and pull a syringe out of it. “Jack, this won't hurt. It will all be over in a matter of...”

  “Cayo,” Kelly yelled as the calico cat hissed and leaped the short distance from her boat to Jack's boat. He sprang at Philip, biting him on the neck and clawing through his shirt with enough force to draw blood.

  “Don't move, Philip. I have a gun and being married to a sheriff, I know how to use it,” Kelly shouted. “Drop the syringe, or I’ll shoot.” Philip meekly complied and dropped the syringe on the floor of the boat.

  “Senora, the constable's boat is coming. I'm turning my lights on and starting the engine. We need to get back to shore. I fear the heavy weather will start very soon.”

  The constable pulled up next to them. “Kelly, Jack,” Mike yelled, “Are you all right?”

  "Yes,” they both answered. Jack continued, “Philip was getting ready to kill me. Kelly saved my life.”

  “Senor Mike, hurry! We don't have time to talk. The worst of the hurricane is coming, and we need to get off the water,” Guido said.

  “Mike, take my gun and keep it on Philip,” the constable said as he pulled Philip over the side of the boat he and Jack had been in and into the constable's boat. “I'll handcuff him. Senor Jack, drive your boat back to the dock. Guido, stay right behind us, so if he tries anything either the Senora or Mike can shoot him. With two guns on him, I don't expect much trouble. We need to go now!”

  The three boats sped back to shore as best they could in the water which was now becoming wild and angry. As they pulled up to the dock, the heavens opened, and the full strength of the hurricane blew over and around them. A terrible roar filled the air. “Follow me, the fishing club is safe,” Guido yelled. “It was built with something like this in mind. We will be okay there. Run.”

  They ran as fast as they could through the deluge of pouring rain, Cayo safely back in Kelly's beach bag. The force of the wind had flung the door of the fishing club open, and the floor was covered with water. Guido yelled to them, “Get in the back room, away from the windows. The wind could blow them out. Stay as far back in the room as you can.”

  He pushed open the door of the back room, and they huddled on the floor against the back wall. The constable unceremoniously pushed Philip down on the floor and told him to stay there. He pressed his foot on the back of Philip’s neck as all of them anxiously waited for the storm to subside. For the next two hours there was silence in the room as the six of them listened to the raging storm and watched the slanting rain pounding against the windows. Kelly and Mike had never been in a hurricane and the two hours they spent huddled on the floor in the back room of the fishing clubhouse felt like a lifetime to them.

  “Kelly, Carola stayed at the hotel, right?” Jack asked.

  “Yes, and it’s fully prepared for hurricanes. I noticed evacuation signs on the grounds, and when I left they were calling people to come to the lobby so they could be evacuated. Don't forget, the hotel is on a cliff, so she should be fine. When I last saw her, she was in the lobby, getting ready to call the constable. I'm sure she's okay, just frightened, like all of us are.”

  After nearly two hours of enduring the thrashing of the violent storm it became eerily quiet. The rain stopped, and the sun broke through the clouds. “It is over,” Guido said. “We are fine, and so is the fishing club.”

  “Senor Mike, would you ride in the car with me?” the constable asked. “I need to take Philip to jail, and then we will fly him to the main island. Thank you so much. You solved the case, or rather, the Senora did. Gracias, Senora. I don't know what we would have done without you and your cat.”

  Kelly didn't look at Mike as she answered him. “De nada, it was nothing, and he’s really not my cat. I was lucky. Who knew Cayo was some sort of a killer attack cat? I'm going to hate to leave him.”

  “Kelly, Mike, I can never thank you enough, and I have to say that Carola was right,” Jack said. “She had a sixth sense about Philip, and I didn't listen. It almost cost me my life. Mike, you haven't even been able to fish which is the main reason you came to Cuba.”

  "Senors, tomorrow you will go with Landy. He is my best guide. You will fish with him as my guests, without charge,” Guido said. “Needless to say, Philip will not be getting the Grand Slam certificate or his photograph on the wall. He is not qualified to become a member of the prestigious Grand Slam Club. He dishonors what so many have come to prize.”

  "Senor Mike, Senora Reynolds, I am so sorry, but could you come to the station and make a statement?” the constable asked. “Mike, you're going to be fishing tomorrow, and I believe you told me you were leaving the day after tomorrow for Havana. I think now is the only time you can do it, plus I would like to have you keep my gun on Philip while I take him to jail. We have so little crime on the island that I don't have a deputy. I need to arrange for Philip to be taken to Havana and charged with murder. Your statements will be indispensable.”

  “Of course,” Mike said. “Kelly that's all right with you, isn't it?”

  “Yes, but when we get back to the hotel, I want to get a special treat for Cayo. He's the one who should get the credit of thwarting a murder. I know dogs are protective, but cats? That's something I never knew. He's an island cat and part of the flavor here, but I'm really going to miss him.”

  “I know what you're thinking, Kelly,” Mike said, “and the answer is no. We have two dogs, one of which was given to us, and more or less under protest I agreed to take her. We are definitely not going to add any more pets to our menagerie.”

  “Constable, do you have any sway with the taxis on the island? I know you need to get Philip to jail, and Guido has business here at the clubhouse, but I sure would like to get back to the hotel and see if Carola's all right,” Jack said.

  The constable picked up his phone, punched a number in, and said something rapidly in Spanish. He turned to Jack, “The taxi will be here momentarily. When t
he constable asks the taxi driver to do something, it takes precedence over his paying customers. I'll call your hotel and make sure all is well there, and everyone survived safely.” After another conversation in rapid Spanish, he said, “Everything is fine. I told them to call your room and tell your wife that you are all right. The hotel escaped damage, and about the only thing that happened was some of the guests got wet. All in all, I guess one could call that a successful hurricane.”

  As soon as they arrived at the constable's office and Philip was safely locked behind bars in the only jail cell in the building, the constable said, “Please, give me one minute. I need to call headquarters in Havana and ask them to send a couple of men out on the early afternoon plane. That way they can take him back on the evening plane. If he stays here, I may not be responsible for what I might do to him. We regard our fishing opportunities very highly, and to think that a man who could have possibly become a member of the Grand Slam Club did something like what Senor Montgomery did is simply a slap in the face to all of us.”

  When they got back to their hotel room after giving their statements to the constable, Mike said, “Kelly, I didn't want to say anything in front of the constable, but paying a chambermaid to get into someone's room and searching his room? If you were in the United States you could be arrested for trespassing, as well as breaking and entering.”

  “That's not true. There was no breaking and entering or trespassing. Who says there was? Certainly not the constable. I've always kind of gone along with what Machiavelli said in his famous book, ‘The Prince,’ about the ends justifying the means, and in this case Jack's alive. That's what's important.”

  Mike looked at her and shook his head.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the beautiful Caribbean beach which had been magically restored with no remnants from the violent hurricane other than where the ocean had crept up on the shore at the height of its intensity.