Death by Request (Caribbean Murder #11)

Just then the folding doors opened and two more policemen entered. A tall one introduced himself quickly.

“Captain Eric Holder, Chief of Police,” he said to Mattheus, extending his hand forcefully. “I’m the guy you’ve been talking to on the phone.”

Mattheus stepped forward and shook his hand quickly, seemingly glad to meet him.

“Mattheus, of C and M Investigations,” he replied. “It’s good to finally meet you in person.”

Eric smiled as the two men took each other in.

“This is my partner Cindy Blaine,” Mattheus immediately included Cindy.

Eric looked at Cindy for the first time. “Pleased to meet you,” he said formally. “This is my assistant, Kevin Watt,” he motioned to a policeman beside him. Then he turned to the cop who’d been on duty. “Everything okay here, Baron?”

Baron looked at him quizzically. “Same as ever. Everything’s perfect, what could go wrong?” he replied.

Eric walked deeper into the room, motioning to Mattheus to look around. “All fingerprints have been taken and the space has been dusted for forensic evidence a few times. Nothing unexpected or out of order has been found. If you want you can sit down on one of these chairs,” he offered.

Cindy and Mattheus sat on the frail chairs beside the empty bed where Tara had died.

As Cindy looked around she had to agree that nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except the strange pallor that filled the air, a dense feeling of sorrow and heaviness. Otherwise, every speck of dirt, mess or life had been swept away by now.

“Why are you so convinced Tara’s death was a result of euthanasia?” Cindy broke into the stiff silence and started questioning. Eric had spoken with Mattheus on the phone, but not with her. She wanted to hear what he had to say for herself.

Eric looked momentarily thrown off guard. “There’s no question about whether or not Tara’s death was euthanasia,” he replied high handedly. “No one has disputed that point at all.”

“I am,” said Cindy.

Eric didn’t like that. “The initial medical examiner’s report showed a lethal substance in the patient’s body,” he reported tartly. “There was no way it could have gotten there except by someone putting it into her IV.”

Cindy pondered that a moment. “There was no other way she could have died?”

“The full medical report will be here in a few days,” Eric continued, “but as soon as we had this initial information there was no question left about the manner of death.”

“Was the patient ever awake at any time throughout her ordeal?” Cindy asked. “Had she ever expressed her wishes?”

That question stopped Eric Holder cold. He stared at Cindy strangely. “The patient was in a coma. She didn’t come out.”

“How can you be certain about that?” asked Cindy.

“If she’d woken up, we’d all have known about it,” Eric Holder became ill at ease.

“Sometimes they wake up and no one even realizes,” Baron said under his breath, looking deeply at Cindy.

“What’s that you said?” asked Cindy, wanting him to say it more loudly.

“I said sometimes they do wake up,” Baron repeated more loudly. “Then they go right back in, so the people around them don’t realize they’ve been awake because they can’t say anything.”

“That’s crap, Baron, and you know it,” Eric objected.

“There’s stuff we don’t know, Chief, lots of stuff,” Baron insisted.

“Some Jamaicans are very superstitious,” Eric turned to both Cindy and Mattheus.

“Very religious,” Baron corrected him.

Eric shut his eyes a moment, as if to block Baron out. “Some believe strongly in spirits and things like that,” he directed his comments to Mattheus. “Some don’t even believe a person really dies, they think their spirit goes somewhere, or hovers around.”

Baron grinned softly.

“But we’re not priests here, Baron, we’re cops,” Eric growled. “You’re messing with facts, creating confusing.”

Cindy stood up. “No, he’s not,” she broke in, “he’s bringing up interesting considerations. You’ve got a man in jail now for murder and there’s a lot to find out before you can pin this on him.”

Eric got up as well. “So, what are you saying?” he confronted Cindy, face to face. “We should try to find out if the patient is still alive somewhere, if her spirit is floating around?”

Eric’s brusque manner hurt Cindy. It also made her wonder about Ann. Was she totally gone forever, or was her spirit still here on a new journey now?

Eric’s assistant, Kevin Watt, got up then and calmed the atmosphere. “It’s a fair question Cindy’s asking, Eric,” Kevin said. “She just asked if Tara ever woke up during her coma. It happens. People wake up, sometimes even say a few words and then go back to sleep.”

“What difference would it make if she did?” Eric asked. “There was a deadly amount of toxins in her blood. They didn’t get there by themselves.”