I HADN’T WANTED to get involved, but it was looking as though Dad might be right. I believed Tony the plumber. He hadn’t been trying to impress anyone, least of all me, with his story.
Plus I hadn’t liked Catherine, the jewelry-store clerk. She looked shifty to me. Not that I’m a good judge of character, as my recent failed engagement might indicate.
Neither is my dad. But he likes to think he is.
Alan and the Victoria and Albert police would do their best. I knew that. But I also knew they didn’t have the resources to devote much more time to one tourist’s apparent accident or suicide. Alan would be spending his time now clearing up the hotel robbery. The entire economy of this country is based on tourism. And tourism is based on the country’s reputation as a low-crime, family-friendly destination.
The death of Paul Saunders would soon slip off Alan’s plate.
I respected the fact that my dad wanted to get to the bottom of what had happened to his friend. But I didn’t want him running off in all directions. Not in a country he didn’t know. I’d handle this myself.
“I have to go to the restroom,” he said. “Be right back.”
I watched him cross the floor and disappear down the back corridor. Then I whipped out my phone and called Darlene. I kept one eye out for Dad’s return.
In the three months I’ve been living on the island, Darlene and I have become friends. Not long after my arrival I helped her solve the murder of one of her cousins, a hotel chef. Darlene was born on Grand Victoria and has lived here all her life, except for some time away at university in Toronto. She is related to half the islanders. Her mother, or one of her many aunts, plays bridge or caters church suppers with the other half.
“Good morning,” she said. “I hope your parents are having a good day.”
“Sorry, but I’ve no got time to chat,” I said. “Do you know anything about Island Jewelers? At Stone Mills Center. Do you happen to know who owns it?”
“Why do you want to know?” she asked, as I knew she would.
“No reason,” I said.
“Of course you have a reason, Ashley. I’ll guess it’s to do with Paul Saunders. I liked him. He was quiet and polite.”
“Did he say anything to you about what he was doing here?”
“No, and I didn’t ask. I assumed he was here on vacation. He mentioned once that his late wife would have loved it here. The thought of her, I could tell, made him very sad.” She sighed. “Island Jewelers is part of a big chain. They have stores all over the Caribbean. Both in towns and at cruise-ship ports. They’re owned by a man named Claude Erasmus. Claude’s grandfather opened one little jewelry store on Grand Victoria, catering to locals. When tourism began to grow everywhere in the Caribbean, Claude’s father expanded throughout the islands. Claude now runs the company. My grandma used to work as a housekeeper in his parents’ house.”
“Claude Erasmus. I recognize the name.”
“Everyone on the islands knows that name. And a lot of folks don’t like it. Claude’s into a lot more than the jewelry business these days.”
“Like what?”
“Property development. Resort management. Some say his business practices are not always on the ethical side. Sometimes they skirt the law. He has a great many important political friends. Although friends might not be the right word. Step carefully, Ashley.”
“I will,” I said. “Thanks for this.” I hung up and turned to see my dad approaching our table.
“What did you learn?” he asked.
“Darlene doesn’t know who owns the store. But her aunt…uh…once owned an art gallery in Stone Mills, so she’ll ask her.” I jumped up. “Let’s go. I’ll call Mom and tell her we’ll join her for lunch. She’ll be wondering where we are.”
My dad gave me that look. The one he used to give me when I was late getting home from “studying” at a friend’s house. I gave him my sweetest smile in return. The one I’d used in high school to say, “I am totally innocent.”
I did not want my father rushing off to confront Claude Erasmus. As Darlene had said, Mr. Erasmus was an important man around here. I’d been to his house once. The ambulance had been called. A dinner guest had suffered what he thought was a heart attack. The guest hadn’t had a heart attack though. He’d simply over-indulged in too much rich food and expensive wine.
I remembered the house. It would be hard not to. All sparkling glass and weathered stone. A dinner party had been underway around the pool. A huge blue infinity pool set into the side of the cliff, with an incredible view out to sea. Tables on the patio, covered in crisp white cloths, sparkling crystal, polished flatware. Candles flickering in the dark. Golden light spilling out from the house. In this job I see a lot of different places, and I’ve been to some nice houses. The Erasmus home had really impressed me.
I didn’t remember meeting Claude Erasmus or his wife, if he had one, that night. We weren’t there long and didn’t have a chance to see much. Security guards had escorted Simon and me to the location of the party and our patient.
I convinced myself I was saving my father from wasting his time. Claude Erasmus wouldn’t know anything about Paul Saunders. Erasmus owned a chain of jewelry stores. It was unlikely he would know what went on in one of them with one customer. Still, I’d tell Alan what I’d learned.
I’d forgotten how determined my dad can be.
We grabbed a cab from outside the coffee shop and went back to the Ocean Breeze. We found Mom stretched out in a lounge chair, reading, on my small patio. She looked up at the sound of our footsteps and gave us a big smile. The vacation, I thought, was doing her good. Her skin had turned a light golden color, and a spark was in her blue eyes. My parents love each other very much, but trying to keep my dad out of trouble had to be mighty stressful.
As I was finding out.
“Any luck?” she asked.
“Luck?” I said.
“With your errand. About Paul.”
“Oh, that. I have some feelers out to my island contacts. It might be a couple of days before I hear back. How about lunch out?” I said. “My treat as an apology for missing the trip to Lesser Victoria.”
Mom put down her book. “I’ll accept that. Frank?”
Dad grunted. “You two go. I’ve had enough running around. I’ll make myself a sandwich and try to catch last night’s game on TV.”
Dad went inside, and Mom and I set out. We walked along the beach for about half an hour. We took off our shoes and strolled on the wet sand. The tide was coming in, and the warm ocean waves licked at our feet. Another perfect day in paradise.
We had a lovely lunch on a patio overlooking lush tropical gardens. Mom tried to find out more about Alan Westbrook, but I did my best to change the subject. I was paying the bill when my phone rang. Darlene.
“Ashley,” she said. “I think I’ve made a mistake.”
“What sort of mistake?”
“Did you ask your father to follow up with what you and I talked about earlier?”
“No. What happened?”
“He came into the office about half an hour ago. He told me you wanted him to check the spelling of the name of the guy who owns the jewelry store.”
I groaned. “Don’t tell me…”
“Sorry. I was on the phone with an unhappy guest and didn’t pay much attention. I spelled it out. Claude Erasmus.”
What’s happening? my mother mouthed.
I rolled my eyes in explanation. “You didn’t tell him where Erasmus lives, I hope.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Thank heavens for that.”
“He called Henry.”
“What?”
“On his way out of the office, he phoned Henry. They’ve already left. I should have called you sooner, but I’ve had a few things to deal with here. I’m sorry.”
I threw money on the table and jumped to my feet. “Thanks for calling, Darlene. When my father comes back, tie him up and throw him into a closet.”
“What’s happening?” Mom asked, aloud this time.
“Dad,” I said. “Who else. Still determined to cause trouble. Can you walk back to my place by yourself, Mom? I’m going to run back.”
Her face turned pale under the fresh tan. “Is he all right?”
“He’s fine. He’s gone off to question someone about Paul. He’s interfering where he shouldn’t. If he does learn something, I’m worried he’s going to mess up the police investigation.” I was worried about a lot more than that, but I didn’t say that to my mother.
“Don’t worry about me, dear,” she said. “Off you go.”
I set off at a good clip. It’s not easy running on wet sand, and I’ve never been a runner. But I’ve taken up running since I arrived on Grand Victoria Island. Mainly to give me something to do.
Believe it or not, a person can get mighty tired of the beach.
I was breathing heavily when I ran into Darlene’s office. “Any sign of him?”
She shook her head. Her earrings tinkled. “No.”
They’d been gone about forty-five minutes by this time. The Erasmus home was a five-minute drive from here. I called Henry, but it went to voice mail. I called my dad. Same thing. I left a message.
I took a seat on the couch in Darlene’s office. Mom strolled up the walkway from the beach about twenty minutes later. She didn’t see me and headed toward building one, where I live.
Another ten minutes passed. I jumped when my phone rang.
“Hey, Ashley,” Henry said. “You might wanna get down here.”
“What’s happening? Where’s my father?”
“He’s okay. I’m watching him now. He’s… uh…questioning people.”
“What does that mean?”
“I called my cousin Eddie. He’s coming to get you. Should be there in a couple minutes.”
At that moment a battered old Toyota Corolla pulled up in a cloud of exhaust. The driver’s side mirror was held on by duct tape, as was much of the rear door. The back bumper was twisted, and the right side had a big dent. With no salt on the roads, cars here don’t get much rust. They just sort of fall apart eventually.
“Does Eddie drive a once-red Corolla?” I asked.
“That’s him.” Henry hung up.
I ran outside as Darlene called, “Good luck!”
I wrenched open the front passenger door in a screech of protesting metal. “Are you Eddie?”
“Yeah. You must be Ashley. Henry sent me. You can toss all that stuff.”
I threw chip packets, soda cans, newspapers and several coffee cups into the back. I decided not to try to clean off the front seat. Obviously Eddie had a dog. A large, very hairy dog.
I pulled the door shut, and we took off. I would have clung to the door handle, but it looked as though it would come off at any minute.
“Do you know what’s going on?” I asked.
“Nope. Henry said to hurry.”
Eddie tore through the intersection. Approaching cars screeched to a halt. Horns blew. Pedestrians leaped out of the way.
I gripped the edges of my seat. Palm trees, white houses, tourists on bikes flew past. We hit the highway and traveled for about two minutes. Eddie made the turn on two wheels onto the road that winds up the side of the hill.
This is the most expensive area on the island. The properties are large, set far back from the road. The trees are tall, the gardens lush and the walls high. At Claude Erasmus’s house, the tall iron gate was firmly closed. Henry’s taxi was parked on the other side of the street.
Eddie pulled up next to it, and I jumped out. Henry gave me a wave. I leaned down and spoke into his window. “Where’s my father?”
Henry pointed toward the Erasmus house. A window was set into the high wall surrounding it. A man watched us. He didn’t look at all friendly. He had a shaved head and small eyes. He did not smile at me.
Henry then pointed down the street. A man and a woman were chatting on the sidewalk. The woman was large and round, wearing a cheap housedress. The man was my father.
“What’s he doing?” I asked. “Who’s that he’s with?”
“I don’t know,” Henry said, “but I figured you’d want to know what’s going on. Claude Erasmus isn’t a man you want to annoy. If I’d known your father was going to cause trouble, I wouldn’t have come here. Now that we’re here, I don’t like to leave him.”
Eddie put the Corolla in gear and lurched off. He passed my father and disappeared around the next corner.
“What’s Dad done?” I asked Henry.
“Frank said he had some business with Mr. Erasmus. I thought nothing of it. When Frank spoke to the guards, they wouldn’t let him in. He insisted he wasn’t leaving until he’d seen Mr. Erasmus.”
“Maybe he’s not home,” I said.
“One of the guards called up to the house,” Henry said. “He’s home. But not interested in talking to your father. When they told him to go away, Frank started yelling, shouting for Erasmus to come out and talk to him. The guards said they’d call the police. Told me to get him out of here.”
“Obviously that didn’t work.”
“I tried to talk him into leaving,” Henry said. “To go back to the hotel. He said I could leave, but he wasn’t going anywhere until he spoke to Erasmus.”
“My dad can be mighty stubborn,” I said.
“Claude Erasmus didn’t come out,” Henry said. “But his wife did.”
“She spoke to Dad?”
“Yeah. I was here in my cab, you understand, so I didn’t hear it all. But she was friendly. She laughed, smiled at your dad. Said her husband was off-island for a few days. Frank asked her about Paul. She said she knew nothing about him. If he’d come to the house, she hadn’t been here, and the guards had said nothing about it.”
“Do you think she was telling the truth?”
“I don’t think that one knows what the truth is, Ashley.”
“What does that mean?”
“The current Mrs. Erasmus is the fourth. She’s…younger than her husband. Much, much younger. She hasn’t settled well into the quiet island life.”
I glanced at the house, at the watching guard. “What are you saying?”
“Emmeline Erasmus is an American. From New York, I’ve heard. She has quite the reputation on this island.”
“Reputation for what?”
“She’s a party girl. Loves parties. Loves giving them, loves going to them. Often without her husband. No one will say more, for fear of Claude, but there are plenty of nudges and winks when people talk about her.”
“I can’t see how that has anything to do with Paul Saunders. He’s unlikely to have been her type.”
“No,” Henry said.
“I’ll go and get Dad,” I said.
Before I could move, my father trotted down the street toward us. He waved at me. I jumped into the cab next to Henry. “Let’s go.”
Henry pulled up beside Dad, and he got in. “What are you doing here, Ashley?”
“Trying to keep you out of trouble. It would appear I am not being successful.”
“You told me Darlene didn’t know who owned the jewelry store. You lied to me.”
“So sue me.” I twisted around to face him. “Dad, you can’t go running all over the island interfering with people and accusing them of things. Claude Erasmus is very rich and very politically connected.”
“I don’t care if he’s the prime minister’s brother. Do they have a prime minister or a president here?”
“We have a governor,” Henry said. “As we’re still a British colony.”
“Then I don’t care if Erasmus is the Queen’s brother. I want answers.” Dad grinned at me. “And I’m getting them.”
“What did you learn?” I asked.
“Don’t tell now,” Henry said. “The less I know, the better.”