Death by Seduction (Book #13 in the Caribbean Murder series)

Cindy left the medical examiner’s office unsatisfied. The visit had actually raised more questions than she had at first. Cindy wondered about what happened between the time Pete died and when his body was found. What was Charma’s alibi? Had it even been checked? This lackadaisical attitude extended through every aspect of law enforcement down here. They probably saw so many cases like this, they did a superficial examination and jumped to a quick conclusion. It was easier and cheaper that way as well. Most people probably went along with their conclusions, didn’t even think about taking the system on.

As Cindy jumped into a cab back to the hotel, she was glad she was down here investigating. Loretta was right, nothing was what it seemed. There was more here than met the eye, much more. And for all anyone knew, Loretta’s life could be in danger as well.

*

Once back in the hotel, Cindy called for lunch up in her room. Before she called Loretta and reported what she’d found Cindy wanted to take some time to herself. She hadn’t taken time alone since she’d arrived and she badly needed it. She would change into shorts and a shirt, eat her lunch and then spend the rest of the afternoon out on the patio looking into Pete’s life. She had to go through his social media and check emails and it would take time. Usually this was something Mattheus would be help with. But it was good to be as busy as she was now though, unable to think much about Mattheus, where he was or how he was doing.

Cindy changed and washed up. Then she ate the crisp salmon, home fries and salad that was brought to the room. She ate slowly, savoring each bite, intermittently wondering whether Mattheus was thinking of her at all?

After lunch Cindy decided to check her own emails before investigating into Pete. She scanned through them quickly, and as she got to the end, despite herself, her heart missed a beat. There was nothing there from Mattheus. So much for that, Cindy thought, as she grabbed her laptop and went out on the patio to get to work.

*

It was warm and moist outside, but good to be outdoors under the sky. Cindy quickly went onto Pete’s Facebook page. Before she even arrived, Cindy had Loretta send her Pete’s passwords and access to his emails. Cindy trusted that Loretta had sent all of them. At least Cindy would start with what she had, if she needed more she’d ask her.

Pete’s Facebook page showed an upstanding, handsome, successful guy, in the prime of life with a beautiful wife and lots of good friends. A pillar of the Midwestern community he lived in. He and Loretta didn’t have children, so that part of his life was absent from his page. His time seemed to be filled with sports, travel, wild life excursions, and community activities. At most of the community activities, Loretta was as his side, smiling for all the world to see. At the bottom of the page there were also photos of endangered species with Pete standing bravely beside them.

Cindy tried to remember anything she could about him back in college, but she’d only met him briefly and it was now a blur. Cindy then flipped onto Loretta’s Facebook page to see the other part of the marriage. Loretta’s life was spread out in its glory, filled with many friends, parties, and social activities she attended, some with Pete, some not. Her well known, wedding gown boutique was front and center, claiming attention immediately. The boutique catered to those who could afford a wedding of their dreams. The caption read, “Come to the boutique and become the princess on your wedding day that you always wanted to be.” How ironic, thought Cindy, that Loretta’s own marriage should end with her husband found stabbed to death in a whorehouse.

Cindy sighed and turned away from the page, thinking of the wedding venues in Aruba she and Mattheus had just been searching through. Most likely that phase of Cindy’s life was now over forever. She couldn’t imagine that she would ever again need or want a wedding dress of her own again.

Cindy put her head back and looked up at the sky. Thick, white clouds were passing overheard, with random birds flying by. From the looks of what she’d seen about Pete so far, Loretta seemed to have a point. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who would want or need to frequent prostitutes. He was great looking and successful. If he’d needed something on the side, he certainly could have had any woman he wanted.

Cindy’s phone rang suddenly then, interrupting her thoughts. She picked up grateful to talk to someone now.

“How’s it going? What happened in the whorehouse?” Loretta asked. “Did you talk to the girl?”

“Which girl, Charma?” asked Cindy.

“Who else?” said Loretta, irritated. “It’s creepy enough that you actually went there, I didn’t imagine you’d be spending time talking to the low life girls who live there.”

Cindy thought for a second of the girls she’d seen lounging around. It was painful to see how they were living but they’d seemed friendly and pleasant in their own way. Cindy hardly thought of them as low lives.

“Charma’s in custody,” Cindy reminded Loretta then. “She wasn’t there to be spoken to.”

“I know that,” Loretta’s voice rose. “So, why did you even go there? What was really the point of it all?”

“We always go to the scene of the crime first,” said Cindy. “I told you, it’s routine.”