EMMELINE REFUSED TO go to the police station. Alan told her she could come willingly or be arrested. She huffed and agreed to come. Her bodyguard was not arrested, but neither were Dad and I. Dripping wet, we all went to the police station and made our statements.
“The only intelligent thing you did was call me before going to meet her,” Alan said to me when it was my turn to be questioned. “I can testify to that, if necessary.”
“What do you mean, testify! We caught a killer. Why were you so late getting there anyway? We might have both been killed. Dad would have been, if he’d come alone.”
“Accident on the highway,” Alan said. “We had to take a long detour. Mrs. Erasmus’s lawyer is saying your father was trying to extort money from her.”
I harrumphed. “If that were true, she’d have had no reason to meet with us.”
Alan stood up. He rubbed his hair. “Go home, Ashley, and take your father with you. He’s not to leave the island without my say-so.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “How long’s that likely to be?”
“I can’t say.”
“What happens now? About Paul Saunders, I mean. You aren’t just going to let her go.”
Alan’s face cracked into a smile. “She’s not under arrest”—he held up one hand to stop my protest—“but now I have cause to investigate her and her business.”
“Her husband will use his political influence to get her off,” I said. “That’s not the result we wanted.”
“Maybe not. One of his lawyers came down as soon as she contacted him. He got a phone call a few minutes ago and left the station rapidly. He told Mrs. Erasmus to find someone else.”
“What?”
“Claude’s cutting her loose. He’s in a mess of legal trouble himself. Something about offering bribes to government officials. I’ve been told charges are coming on that. Plus, his brother, Pierre, has come to the attention of the FBI in Miami. I’ve been working with them on that. Claude needs to distance himself from any activities his wife’s been up to. I’ve seen the pictures on your phone. It’s obvious her hired man is threatening your father. She appears to be about to attack you, not the reverse. We have forensic accounting people at Island Jewelers right now. If there’s something going on there, we’ll find it.”