Death by Jealousy (4 page)

“Since
I wasn’t here the hundred times, I have no idea,” said Cindy, coolly. “But I do
think Peter’s a special young man and I’m going to do my best to find out what
happened to his bride.”

“He’s
more than a special young man,” Mac declared. “He’s a prince and always has
been.”

Peter
looked at Mac with appreciation.

“There’s
no way Peter hurt his gal. I’d give my life for that,” Mac insisted.

Cindy
was overwhelmed by the strength of Mac’s conviction, his feelings for Peter and
devotion. It seemed as though he were the kind of guy would tear the world
apart to protect someone he loved. Peter was fortunate to have a friend like
that.

“Peter’s
lucky to have you in his life,” Cindy remarked.

“I’m
lucky to have him, too,” Mac replied, “and we’re both lucky to have you on the
case. It changes the vibe completely. And, I’ve got a feeling that you’ll get
to the bottom of things, fast.”

“With
Mattheus’s help I will,” Cindy commented, wanting to include him, and make sure
Mac knew she wasn’t here on her own.

Mac
turned to Mattheus for a fleeting second, “Nice to meet you,” he said, in
passing.

Mattheus
shifted in his seat glumly, and did not reply.

*

In
a few minutes, the door opened again and the police returned. Dana and Edward
came in behind them.

Mattheus
got up to join the cops immediately. “What’s next?” he asked.

“We’re
going to make another visit to the Captain of the boat Allie dove from, a guy
named Jared Flay,” one of the policemen said. “He’s runs one of the best Dive
Shops around. We’ll talk to him again and look around again.

“Count
me in,” said Mattheus, obviously eager to go.

“First
you come back with us to the station,” the cop went on. “We’ll go over what we
have so far, show you photos, documents. That will probably take the rest of
the day. We can hit the Dive Shop tomorrow.”

Mattheus
looked pleased, “Terrific,” he said, as he walked to the door with the police.
Before he left, he turned back to Cindy, “We won’t go to the Dive Shop without
you,” Mattheus promised. “While I’m going over the records at the station, you
can use the rest of the day to interview the guests.”

“Perfect,”
said Cindy, as Mattheus left. They always divided their time on different parts
of the investigation, it made the most sense.

Dana
and Edward then came closer to where Peter was sitting. “You’ve got quite a
partner there,” said Dana.

Cindy
wasn’t sure what she was getting at. “Mattheus is strong, thorough and does a
great job,” Cindy declared.

“Lucky
for you, I guess,” Dana declared, as Mac smiled with amusement. “I’m glad you’re
here without Mattheus for a few hours though,” she went on. “It’s good to have
a woman on the job, alone for a while. What do you want to do next?”

“I’d
like to speak to Allie’s parents,” Cindy replied.

“So
would everyone else,” said Dana. “The police have only had a little while with
them. They won’t talk right now, they’re grieving.”

Cindy
understood. “Give them some time. It’s too much right away.”

“But,
they’ll have to agree to speak to someone at some point,” Dana went on, “it may
as well be you. That would probably be easier for them anyway.”

“There
are others I have to talk to others as well,” Cindy continued. “What about the
wedding party?”

“Good
idea. Let’s start with them first, “Dana agreed. “I’ll introduce you to all of
them now. They’re usually downstairs at this hour in the cocktail lounge. Let’s
go and take them out to the front lawn where it’s quieter.”

Cindy
was grateful for Dana’s steady, clear guidance. The woman was determined to spearhead
an effort to clear her son. There was no way she was going to let this case go
unsolved.

Mac
stepped closer to Cindy once again. “Love to join you two, if I can,” he said
softly, to Dana.

Dana
looked taken aback.  “Peter needs you here, Mac,” she said, “this is where you
belong.”

“Of
course,” Mac replied not taking his eyes off Cindy. “There will be plenty of
time for Cindy and I to talk later.”

The
cocktail lounge was filling up as Cindy and Dana walked in. Beautiful women in
short, silk, summer dresses, men dressed casually, in open throated custom
shirts, were laughing, talking, charming each other.

“The
wedding party usually gathers at the center table,” Dana remarked quietly. “They’ve
been coming down here at cocktail hour late every afternoon to chill out. It’s
important to try to normalize things.”

Cindy
followed Dana as she wound her way through the crowds to a low, round table,
surrounded by a plush sofa in the center of the room. A group of beautiful,
suntanned young women and good looking young men sat around the table, looking
dazed and glum.

“Hi
guys,” Dana started, as they got closer, “this is Cindy Blaine, an old friend
of the family and  one of the best private detectives on the Caribbean.”

The
whole group looked up, startled.

“My
God,” said Nora, a bridesmaid with very curly hair, “no one told us you were
coming.”

“Hi
guys,” Cindy tried to be upbeat.

Some
of the girls moved a bit to make room for Cindy and Dana to sit down.

A
tall young man, with sandy hair, leaned towards Cindy. “Welcome,” he said,
extending his hand.

“This
is Tad,” Dana introduced him, “Peter’s best man, his rock of strength.”

“Pleased
to meet you, Tad,” said Cindy.

 “Thanks,”
said Tad, “but why a detective? Have they decided it was a crime?”

“They’re
not sure,” Cindy replied.

“No
one’s damn sure of anything down here in this place, are they?” It was a groomsman
with broad shoulders, dark hair and furrowed eyebrows. “I’m Bernard,” he added.

A
lovely, frail young woman with blonde hair, sitting to the right of Cindy, trembled
and began crying.

“Stop
it, Laura,” another bridesmaid burst in.  “Laura’s the Maid of Honor,” she
said, “And I’m Elizabeth.” Elizabeth was taller, with straight chestnut hair,
dark eyes and a firm manner.

“I
can’t believe this is happening,” Laura kept crying, “and to have a detective
down here with us, too. It only makes it worse.”

“Makes
it better,” said Elizabeth. “We don’t know for sure that Allie’s gone. We need
help searching. For all we know, she ‘ll turn up soon.”

“She’s
not turning up,” Laura’s crying got louder. “I know it.”

At
that the whole group fell silent and grim.

“We’ve
all been a mess since this happened,” Tad turned to Cindy, “not to mention
Peter, even though he continues to hold onto hope.”

“Why
shouldn’t he hold onto hope?” another groomsman, with short clipped hair,
interjected.

“This
is Roger,” Elizabeth introduced him.

“I
keep telling Peter that Allie’s gonna turn up fine,” Roger continued.

“There’s
no reason to say something like that,” Bernard was upset. “You’re raising his
hopes for no reason. After all this time, she’s not turning up alive.”

“Hey,
man, you don’t know that for sure,” Roger bit his bottom lip hard.

“It’s
the waiting that’s the worst of it,” said Bernard.

“I
know it is,” said Cindy, remembering how she’d waited to find out what happened
to Clint after he disappeared on their honeymoon. It was the not knowing that was
most brutal.

 “We
all feel we should be out there personally searching the Island,” Bernard
continued, “but the cops won’t let us leave the hotel grounds.”

“We’d
only get in the way,” Elizabeth insisted, “they’ve got it all covered.”

“You
don’t know that,” Bernard shot back. “If you ask me, the cops just don’t want
more trouble to deal with, don’t have the man power to follow all kinds of
leads.”

“Maybe
they just want to protect us,” said a regal looking bridesmaid who threw her
head back as she suddenly stood up and then sat down again. “I’m Robyn, Allie’s
oldest friend,” she said to
Cindy.

Cindy
nodded at her. “Investigations are complicated,” she replied. “It’s important
to keep them under control.”

“We’re
all in danger, aren’t we?” Nora piped up.

“There’s
no reason to think that,” said Cindy.

“And
there’s no reason to think we’re not in danger,” Bernard retorted.

“That’s
why I’m here,” Cindy replied, “to figure it all out. And I’d love to speak to
each of you personally in greater detail.”

“Each
of us? About what?” Bernard looked agitated.  

 “I
need to find out as much as I can about Allie and Peter, and their relationship,”
Cindy spoke calmly and clearly.

Tad
stood up. “Listen, you’re way off track if you think that Peter had anything to
do with Allie’s disappearing.”

Cindy
stood up and faced all of them.  “I don’t think anything yet, just have to find
out.  Each of you can be holding a piece to the puzzle you don’t realize you
have. When we talk you may remember a fact that doesn’t seem like anything, but
leads us to whole new trail.”

Robyn
didn’t like it either. “This has nothing to do with Allie and Peter’s
relationship,” she chimed in. “Peter and Allie were happy, they were fine.
Allie was excited about the wedding and especially having it here. There are
over a hundred guests who came down for it.”

A
hundred guests - Cindy wondered if they’d all been interviewed. Probably not.

“Money
was no object either,” Bernard, interjected. “We were all set for a fantastic
time.”

“I
want to go home,” Nora piped up. “I want to see my parents. “How long are they
keeping us down here?”

“You’ll
all be allowed to leave as soon as we know more,” Cindy tried to reassure her.

“But
it’s not safe to go now, is it?” Nora continued. “For all we know there’s
someone loose on the island who wants to kill us all?”

“There’s
no reason to suspect that,” said Cindy firmly. The wonderful thing about
investigations was that you depended upon facts, didn’t allow wild imagination
to create terrifying scenarios that chewed up your energies and threw you off
base.

“Can
you give me a guarantee that we’re safe?” Nora’s eyes flared.

“There’s
no point in letting fear run wild,” Cindy replied. “It confuses the issues,
undermines clarity.”

“I’ve
heard that crime on these islands is increasing every day, and no one’s talking
about it,” Nora replied. There’s all kinds of drugs, gangs and smuggling
seeping in from other places.”  

“It’s
normal to think the worst at a time like this,” Cindy tried to calm her. “It’s
normal to have catastrophic expectations when you’ve had a terrific shock.”

“Why
would someone want to kill us all?” Nora couldn’t stop, and Laura started to
cry again. again. “Things look so beautiful here on the outside, but underneath
they aren’t,” Nora continued. “I asked Allie a few times if she was sure she
wanted her wedding away from home?”

“What
did she say?” asked Cindy.

“She
said Peter wanted it here badly. He grew up in the Cayman Islands, works here
now and loves it here. Allie said she was okay with it. But she never thought
this place would kill her, that she was going to die.”

 “Oh
brother,” said Tad.  “Some great cocktail hour. Listen you guys, we’ve got to
cheer up. At least for Peter’s sake. We’ve got to keep his spirits up!”

“Tad’s
always been a wonderful friend to Peter,” Dana suddenly interjected, “he’s been
a shoulder to lean on all through the years.”

“Thanks,”
said Tad staunchly. “And I’m not gonna stop being here for him now. The guy
needs support!  Chins up! We’re his wedding party. We’re his team!”

 “I’d
like to speak more to each of you about this personally,” Cindy repeated. “It
will help me a lot. Who would like to come to the table over there with me and
start?”

There
were no volunteers. That surprised Cindy.

“Maybe
it would work better to first talk to the bridesmaids alone together and then
to the groomsmen,” Dana suggested quietly.

 “Okay,”
Cindy said, “let’s start with the bridesmaids. We’ll all go down to the beach that’s
in front of the hotel and talk there. After I’ve talked to the gals, I’ll talk
to the guys.”

“Sounds
good to me,” said Dana, throwing Cindy a grateful glance.

The
girls got up then, and all together, wound their way out of the cocktail lounge.
Cindy and Dana followed behind them through the lobby, down to the pink, sandy
beach, a few hundred feet away.

“I
have no idea why they didn’t want to talk to me personally,” Cindy said to Dana
as they walked.

“I
imagine they might feel as though they’re revealing personal information,
betraying their friend,” Dana conjectured.

“Their
friend has disappeared – her life could be at stake! How could revealing personal
information be a betrayal at a time like this?” asked Cindy.

Dana
drew a deep breath. “I don’t know,” she said, “but I don’t think the reality
has sunk in yet.”

*

They
gathered together on the sandy pink beach that was stretched out luxuriously in
front of the hotel, surrounded by palm trees. Dana collected a group of empty
beach chairs, placed them in a circle and they all sat down. The sounds of soft
waves lapping up on the shore and the early evening breeze circled around them
as they sat there.

“We’re
gathered here to find Allie, to bring her home,” Cindy started. “Tell me
whatever you can think of that could be of help.”

“Allie
was a terrific diver,” Laura started, “she loved the water. She loved diving
with Peter.”

“Peter
loved diving with her as well,” Dana jumped right in

A
few of the other girls glanced over at Dana. Cindy suddenly realized that the
presence of the groom’s mother was an inhibiting factor. How could they speak
frankly with her around? Cindy needed raw information, and she wasn’t going to
get that with Dana around.

“Dana,
I’m really sorry,” Cindy said abruptly, “but I’m going to have to ask you to go
back up to the hotel until I’m finished down here.”

Dana
drew a sharp breath in and the girls seemed suddenly flustered as well.

 “Why?”
asked Dana.

Cindy
wanted to be as kind as she could, but the truth worked best. This was no time
for playing games.

“I’m
sure the girls will feel freer to talk if the groom’s mom isn’t here,” Cindy said
directly. “I know you want to join in, but I need to hear every little thing.”

Dana
stood up swiftly. “Of course, you’re right,” her voice was husky, “I didn’t
think of it. It never occurred to me.”

“That’s
why I’m here,” said Cindy, “to cover details that would go unnoticed. Time is
of the essence. I hope you understand.”

“I
understand.” Dana gathered herself together, “I’ll take a back seat, lay low.
The investigation is in your hands now.” Then she waved to everyone as she
walked back along the sand to the hotel, alone.

All
eyes were turned to Dana, as she left.

“That
was gutsy of you,” Elizabeth said to Cindy, when Dana was out of sight. “Dana’s
a good woman, but you’re right.”

“Thank
you,” Cindy replied. “I need full cooperation. I need to know anything any of
you can think of - the most personal details about Allie, Peter, their
relationship, and anything else!”

“Is
this being recorded?” asked Nora quickly.

“Everything
is in total confidence,” Cindy assured her.

“There
are cameras and recorders hidden everywhere in the hotel,” Nora continued.  “Any
fool can realize that.”

“Is
there something you want to tell me, Nora?” Cindy asked quickly.

“I’m
scared,” said Nora, “terrified. I think someone among us knows something that
they’re not willing to reveal.”

At
that the girls shuddered, as if a wave of fear encompassed them all.

“Nonsense,”
Elizabeth interrupted. “Nora exaggerates things in her mind. There’s no reason
to think that anyone here is hiding anything. There’s nothing to hide. Allie
lived her life straight out. She had two boyfriends before Peter and the minute
she met him, that was it.”

“They
fell in love?” asked Cindy.

“That’s
putting it mildly,” said Elizabeth. “Peter was all she could talk about, or
think about. She couldn’t stand being away from him for a minute. He was
definitely the man of her dreams.”

“What
about him?” asked Cindy.

“That’s
a strange question,” Elizabeth paused. “Who knows what it is about a guy that
makes a woman feel he’s her dream?  Personally, I could never see it. But then,
Peter’s not the one for me.”

“Peter’s
a wonderful guy,” Robyn defended him. “He’s been good to Allie, extremely generous
- gives her incredible gifts all the time, and I mean incredible.”