Read Online Death by Betrayal (Book #10 in the Caribbean Murder series) by Jaden Skye - Free Book Online

“That’s a terrible thing that happened to your sister,” he
said quietly. “I didn’t hear about it.”
    “Horrible,”
Cindy agreed. “Please try to remember her!”
     
    “Let
me think,” he replied, scanning his memory. “Describe her to me.”
    “She
was in her early forties, beautiful, gracious,” Cindy started, her eyes quickly
smarting with tears.
    Alain
closed his eyes, seeming to scrutinize his memory. “Yeah, yeah,” he said
suddenly, “was she married to a big, heavy set guy?”
    “That’s
right, she was!” Cindy got excited.
    Alain
got excited, too. “The guy came down first and then the wife joined him a
couple of days later?”
    “That’s
it,” said Cindy, trembling. “You remember her?”
    “I
do,” Alain got excited.  “I remember the husband mentioned to me that his wife
was coming down and where could he get yellow tulips?  He said she loved yellow
tulips!”
    Cindy’s
heart began beating terrifically. “That’s right, that’s my sister. She loved
yellow tulips, they were her favorite!”
    “I
noticed he got them,” Alain spoke quickly.
    “He
was excited she was coming?” asked Cindy.
    “Yeah,
it seemed that way to me,” Alain said.
    Cindy
was thrilled to hear this. It was wonderful to talk to someone who had actually
seen Ann before she died. She leaned over towards Alain now. “Did you see Ann
too?”
    “I
saw the wife once,” Alain was doing his best to remember details. “They ordered
breakfast in the room in the morning.”
    “Yes,
Ann loved having breakfast in,” Cindy agreed.
    “Yeah,
yeah, I definitely remember.”
    “How
did she look?” Cindy hung on every detail, “did she seem happy?”
    “Honey,
I really hope so. I can’t say, I didn’t look at her so closely. I brought in
the tray and the husband signed the check. I saw her sitting there, though. She
looked okay to me.”
    “She
wasn’t okay,” Cindy’s voice started to crack into pieces, “she was in danger
and had no idea about it. She died later that afternoon.”
    Alain
stood up disconcerted. “I’m really sorry to hear this. Truly I am.”
    “There were horrible scratches
all over her neck,” Cindy went on, “and then she was
    smothered.”
    “May
God, save us,” Alain muttered.
    Cindy
knew she had to plough on with the interview, go deeper, no matter how lovely
Alain seemed.
     “I
heard you were just fired from your job,” Cindy mentioned.
    “Yeah,
it’s true,” he said, “damn rotten luck. I’ll get another one though. It’s not
getting to me.”
    “Why
were you fired?” Cindy dug deeper.
    Alain
started to answer and then fell silent. “Why do you want to know? What’s all
this about, anyway?” he asked swiftly.
    “You
were one of the last ones to see my sister alive,” Cindy answered softly.
    At
that he spun around in a crazy circle. “You think I did it? It’s me?” he was
totally amazed.
    “No,
I don’t think that,” Cindy answered quickly, “I just need to talk to anyone who
saw her and can tell me something.”
    “Then
why did you ask if I was fired?” Alain only half bought it.
    Cindy
rose to the occasion. “Sometimes distraught employees who get fired take it out
on the hotel guests,” she replied.
    “So
you thought I might have killed her?” his eyes opened wide again.
    “Just
a possibility we’re checking on,” replied Cindy.
    “Who’s
we?” Alain countered.
    “I’m
also a detective,” Cindy decided to come clean. She didn’t want to hide
anything from him and he appreciated it.
    “This
was your sister killed and you’re a detective?” he wanted to get it straight.
    “Right,”
said Cindy. “She was found dead in her room late in the afternoon, the day you
were fired. You were fired a little after noon.”
    “Whew,”
Alain looked relieved. “Yeah, I was fired at around twelve thirty and then I
went to a local bar right after and hung out there all afternoon. Lots of
people saw me. I ate, we talked. Random firings of help