Death by Engagement (3 page)

Albert
grinned and rubbed his hands, apparently pleased to have Cindy and Mattheus
with them. “Nice to see you guys,” he went on. “What are you two doing down
here?”

“Just
got engaged,” Mattheus commented, taking them all by surprise. “We’ve come down
to find a wedding venue.”

Albert’s
eyes opened at that. The other cops, taken aback, took a moment, too.

The
round cop at the front stood up and joined them then. “Ben Silte, Chief,” he
introduced himself. “Sounds like congratulations are in order.”

“Thanks
very much,” said Mattheus, smiling.

Cindy
shuddered. The very last thing she wanted was to be congratulated on her
engagement at the moment. A young woman who had recently been engaged had just
died. This wasn’t the time to focus on her and Mattheus.

“Who
did you guys speak to about the case, so far?” Cindy turned professional,
joining the cops at the table.

Alfred
seemed to like having her there. “There’s no case to speak of,” he said,
grinning at Cindy unabashedly. “We’ve got a suicide note.”

“Who
found the body?” Cindy continued, unwilling to take it as lightly as they were.

“Actually,
a tourist found her,” Ben broke in, taking over the conversation. “He called
the police right away, first thing this morning.”

“Where
was Shari’s fiancé when the body was found?” Cindy was appalled.

Ben
filled Cindy in methodically. “Apparently Doug went down to have a few drinks
in the bar with Shari’s father last night and she decided to take a walk by
herself,” he said. “Looks like she went up to Lavendar Cliff, about half a mile
from here. It’s a beautiful spot in the day, but pretty steep and slippery at
night. Can also be quite gloomy. After the drink Doug came back upstairs and
went to sleep, thinking Shari’d be back in a little while. When he woke up in
the morning, she’d just been found. We came over as soon as we heard the news
and informed him. Poor guy looked like he was going to have a heart attack on
the spot. When we looked around, we found a note on Shari’s dresser in plain
view. She apparently wrote it right before she left.”

“Open
and shut,” echoed Alfred.

Ben
gave Alfred a friendly slap at the side of his head. “Nothing is open and shut,
dummy,” he said, then turned to Cindy and Mattheus. “As you can imagine, Doug’s
in complete shock now and so are Shari’s family. They spoke to us for a little
while and now they’re all holed up in their rooms.”

“Body’s
with the coroner?” Mattheus joined in.

“Definitely,”
said Ben. “From the early looks of it, though, there was no struggle, no
wounds, just a little bruise on the top of her left arm. Doug said the bruise
was there for a few days. She must have bumped into something.”

“What
did the note say?” Cindy wanted to slow this all down.

“What
does any suicide note say?” Ben frowned. “All of them ramblings of sick minds.”
Ben clearly had no sympathy for any of it. “Do you think these notes bring
comfort to the family? They don’t, nothing does. You got to be crazy selfish to
do something like this. You leave a lot of wrecked lives behind.”

“Shari
must have been suffering terribly,” Cindy broke in, not wanting to hear her
vilified. “The note can tell us more about what was going on.”

“We
got the note stashed in evidence,” Ben replied. “If you want you can read it
for yourself.”

At
that Mattheus, interrupted. “Cindy doesn’t have to actually read the note. From
what I’m hearing nothing irregular is going on. It doesn’t sound like there’s a
need to get more involved.”

“No,
there’s nothing irregular at all,” Ben agreed.

“A
young woman killed herself after she became engaged and was on the verge of
finding a wedding venue,” Cindy repeated. “If that’s not irregular, what is?”

“Engagements
can be tough times,” Albert piped up then. “It’s not all roses and champagne.
You’re getting in deeper, but not there yet. Every reason in the world to break
if off comes along. The families have different opinions about everything and
lock horns. The couple starts to see trouble on the horizon they never knew was
coming.”

“Listen
to this guy.” Ben shook his head. “Sounds like a perfect advertisement for a
destination wedding.”

“How
would you know all this, Albert?” Mattheus couldn’t help but smile.

“I
know, I know.” Albert nudged Mattheus in the ribs. “After all, there’s a reason
I’m not married all these years, isn’t there?”

Before
Cindy and Mattheus left the hospitality suite and walked to the elevator, she
had the police promise to stay in touch with them about any new developments.

“Sure
thing,” Ben promised, “but don’t expect to get much more than what we have now.
This is all routine, I promise. It’s nice of the two of you to check in,
though.”

“Good
enough,” Mattheus broke in, relieved, nodding to the officers thankfully.
“We’ll be on our way then,” he continued as he opened the door and shepherded
Cindy into the posh hallway.

“Before
we go we should stop a minute and visit the family,” Cindy objected as Mattheus
led her toward the elevator. “I’m sure they would appreciate our condolences.”

“We’re
not part of this case, Cindy,” Mattheus said as they got to the elevator and
quickly pressed the button. “We met this couple in passing, remember? That’s as
far as it went.”

Cindy
realized that, but her thoughts still were with Shari. “It’s hard to just toss
this away,” she murmured. “After all, we all just sat down and toasted to one
another.”

 “I’ve
got great plans for us for the day.” Mattheus tried to break into her train of
thoughts. “We’ll start with a hike at Arikok National Wildlife Park. There’s
incredible tropical flora and fauna there, just the kind you love. After that
there’s another wedding venue nearby for us to check out.”

“Great,”
said Cindy, trying to muster enthusiasm, though she was reluctant to leave so
fast.

Mattheus
pressed the elevator button again. “What’s taking so long?” he grumbled.

“There
must be lots of guests in this hotel,” Cindy remarked as she turned and saw an
older man walking hurriedly along the hallway toward them. His body was bent
over and his hands clutched nervously to the side of his pants.

“Wait
a minute, wait a minute,” the man called in a creaky voice, clearly agitated.

Cindy
took a few steps toward him. “Yes?” she said. “Are you calling us?”

“You’re
C and M Investigations, aren’t you?” The older man got closer. He had thin,
sandy hair and his gray, watery eyes darted frantically back and forth.

“Yes,
we are, I’m Cindy Blaine,” Cindy replied, wanting to calm him.

“Thank
goodness I got hold of you before you left.” His voice became jagged. “I heard
you two were at the hotel and coming up to our floor to talk to the police.”

Cindy
wondered how he’d heard that.

“We’ve
already spoken to them,” said Mattheus, as the elevator finally arrived. He
touched Cindy’s arm lightly then, indicating it was time to go.

“How
can we help you?” Cindy paid no attention to the elevator door, which promptly
shut.

“I’m
Shari’s father, Edward Twain.” The man’s words tumbled over one another.

“Oh,
I’m so sorry.” Cindy took a swift breath. “What happened is awful.”

“My
daughter did not commit suicide.” Edward’s voice grew suddenly stronger. “I’m
absolutely positive of it.”

Cindy
knew it was hard for the family to believe that someone they loved could end
their own life. “There was a note left behind, wasn’t there?” she asked softly.

“Note
or no note, Shari didn’t do it.” Edward’s eyes became focused and more
determined.

“We
are so sorry.” Mattheus stepped forward now. “I know how hard it is to suddenly
lose a daughter to suicide.”

“Please
believe me.” Edward grabbed Mattheus’s arms. “I’ve known Shari since she was
little. There was no way in the world she would end her own life, especially
now. She was thrilled, she was happy. She and I planned a surprise party for
Doug when they got home. His birthday is coming. She told me many times how
much she loved him and how happy she was to be getting married. Everything was
falling into place for her.”

Cindy
felt every inch of Edward’s body shaking. “The amazing thing about
suicide”—Cindy spoke gently—“is that it often happens when a person suddenly
feels good, especially if they’ve been depressed awhile. The desire to end it
all can come suddenly, like a thunderstorm in the middle of a beautiful day.”

Edward
turned the full force of his attention upon Cindy. “That’s not how it was in
this case,” he insisted. “Shari would have spoken to me if she were slipping.
You don’t understand, we were very close. We shared everything. There was
nothing she held back from me. There were so many nights I talked her through a
feeling of darkness.”

Cindy
didn’t know why she wasn’t surprised to learn that Shari had been depressed.
There’d been no indication of it in the short time they’d met.

“Sounds
like you had an unusual relationship with your daughter,” Mattheus responded to
Edward. “Most daughters don’t talk to their fathers like that.”

“Yes,
we did.” Edward began to splutter. “And there’s no way Shari would do something
like this to me. She loved me, she cared about the way I felt.”

“Shari
taking her life doesn’t mean that she didn’t love you.” Cindy tried to comfort
him. “When a wave of despair comes, it can block everything out. You forget
those close by who love you.”

Edward’s
jaw clenched fiercely, and his voice rose. “She didn’t kill herself, I’m
positive of it!

Please,
please check it out at least. Shari deserves that much. Take the case, I beg
you.”

Mattheus
stepped between Cindy and Edward. “There is no case,” Mattheus said calmly.
“There’s no evidence at all that foul play was at work, though it’s natural to
suspect it.”

“How
do you know if there was foul play or not if you don’t at least check? How can
you say there’s no evidence? No one looked for it!” Edward’s voice rose into a
wail.

Edward
was making a good point and Cindy couldn’t deny it. “You have a good point,”
Cindy concurred.

“Thank
you, thank you.” His eyes got teary. “Then you’ll take the case?”

“We
didn’t say that,” Mattheus interjected.

“Why
won’t you? Why not?” He couldn’t fathom it.

“We’re
down here on vacation,” Mattheus said simply. “Cindy and I are celebrating our
engagement. We’re here to find a wedding venue.”

Edward’s
eyes opened wide. “Just like Shari!”

“Yes,”
said Cindy sadly.

“What
are the chances of that?” Edward exclaimed. “Doug mentioned the two of you to
me. He said that he and Shari met a lovely couple, like them, looking for
venues. I had no idea it was the two of you.”

“Yes,
it was,” said Mattheus quietly.

“That
can’t be a coincidence!” Edward kept talking. “The four of you must have been
brought together to help. Nothing else makes sense.”

Mattheus
let out a long sigh. “I wish we could, I really do,” he responded, “but we’re
on vacation now, we’re celebrating our engagement.”

Edward
looked back and forth between them uncomprehendingly. “How can you stop and
enjoy a vacation when a murder has been committed right under your nose?
Another couple in the same position as you, and one of them is gone!”

“This
was a suicide, not a murder,” Mattheus insisted.

“That’s
not clear yet, though, is it?” Edward insisted. “There’s a chance it wasn’t,
right?”

“There’s
always a chance of anything.” Mattheus was growing irritated. “But what are the
probabilities? That’s what we consider.”

“My
daughter is more than a probability, sir.” Edward looked offended.

Cindy
stepped back in between them. “Of course there’s a chance it was an accident or
murder,” she had to agree, “though the odds are slim.”

“Just
give it a day or two, please! Look things over,” Edward began pleading again.
“You can spare a day or two from your vacation, can’t you? Believe me, I’ll
make it worth your while. I’ll pay you enough to take care of your entire trip
here, and more.”

“It’s
not a matter of money.” Mattheus didn’t like that.

“What
is it a matter of then?” Edward was relentless.

The
elevator suddenly stopped at their floor again and the door opened. Mattheus
looked at it and looked at Cindy.

“Let
Mattheus and I talk it over,” Cindy said to Edward then. “This entails a change
of plans, you realize.”

Then
the elevator closed abruptly, leaving the three of them still standing there,
face to face.

“Yes,
I realize, I realize.” Edward ran his hands over his face. “I’m disrupting your
plans, I’m disrupting your life, but what choice do I have? My daughter has
just been killed. Am I supposed to pretend that nothing happened?”

“You’re
not supposed to pretend anything.” Cindy put her hand on his arm. “Of course
you want the truth, of course you want justice.”

“Exactly,
exactly.” Edward’s eyes opened. “I have to have justice or I’ll never be at
peace and neither will Shari.”

“I
know just how you feel,” said Cindy.

“Thank
you, thank you.” Edward’s eyes filled with tears. “Then you’ll take the case?
You’ll take it?”

“Cindy
and I have to talk this over and come to a decision,” Mattheus interrupted.
“We’ll let you know in a little while.”

*

Mattheus
refused to say another word until he and Cindy were downstairs, out of the
lobby and back outside at the pool.

“We’ll
have breakfast at the pool and talk it over then,” Mattheus said as Cindy began
making comments about Shari.

Cindy
forced herself to remain silent until she and Mattheus were sitting outside
under an umbrella and their breakfast had been served. Mattheus would come to
his senses after he had something to eat, she hoped. First he needed time to
drink his coffee and wolf down his scrambled eggs. Cindy herself only picked at
her food. Her appetite left her as she wondered what really happened to the
fragile young woman she had shared time with only the day before.

“Okay,
let’s talk it over,” Mattheus finally said as he pushed his plate away and
stretched his legs out. “This situation has obviously taken hold of you.”

Cindy
put her coffee cup down gingerly. “How could it not?” she replied straightforwardly.

“I’ll
give you that,” Mattheus consented. “A case can certainly grip a person, but it
doesn’t follow that they jump to take it on.”