Death by Betrayal (Book #10 in the Caribbean Murder series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

scratches,” Cindy was right on it.
    “Usually
true,” said Trage soberly.
    “That
should clear things up quickly,” Cindy replied.
    “Not
completely,” said Trage. “DNA alone doesn’t speak to motive, or who engineered
the death.”
    Cindy
could feel that Trage suspected Frank, whether or not they found his DNA on the
scratches.
    “There’s
no sign of a break in either,” said Cindy, looking around.
    “No,
there isn’t,” said Trage definitively. “Which is why we’ve concluded that Ann
knew her killer, let him in.”
    “Or
the room could have been open,” Cindy remarked. “Ann was never one for locking
up behind her. She left doors unlocked all the time. She was a trusting soul.”
    Trage
shook his head, “sorry to hear that.”
    “Sorry
that she was trusting?” Cindy took exception. “I’m not, I’m proud of her. Ann
lived her life finding the best in everyone.”
    “Didn’t
do her much good now, did it?” Trage replied.
    “Better
to live and be trusting then curled up in fear,” Cindy had a burning need to
defend everything about her sister. Ann didn’t deserve this. Nothing she had ever
done in her life warranted her having such a horrible ending.
    Rob
came into the room for a second and said something to Trage that Cindy couldn’t
hear. Trage nodded and thanked him and Rob went back out on his post.
    “What’s
going on?” Cindy didn’t want to miss a thing.
    “Rob
said he heard your mother and uncles have landed at the airport and will be
checking in shortly. They’re staying in the hotel as well, on the sixth floor.”
    The
news gave Cindy no comfort.  The last one she wanted to see now was her mother,
or her mother’s brother, Ben. The two of them were joined at the hip and Cindy
was glad Ben was here with her mother, but Cindy had important work to do. This
was more than a family matter, it was a murder that she had to solve. She needed
to stay clear headed to do it, not get pulled into family sorrow and blame.
    Cindy
broke away from Trage’s side and started walking slowly around the room, taking
in whatever she saw. Everything was in its place. There was a sofa at one end
of the room with a coffee table in front of it. A bunch of yellow tulips was on
the coffee table, along with an opened box of chocolates.  Yellow tulips were
Ann’s favorite flower and those were the chocolates she loved. Obviously Frank had
taken extra pains to make her happy.
    “Ann
and Frank were down here for a vacation,” Cindy murmured.
    “So
we’ve heard,” Trage mumbled.
    “Nothing
in the room says otherwise either,” Cindy noted.
    “Not
to the immediate eye,” Trage replied. “We’re dusting for fingerprints and have
checked for footprints.  We’re also going over the room and body for DNA.”
    Cindy
took a quick, painful breath and as she scanned the beige carpet more closely,
her eye suddenly fell upon a tiny rhinestone, embedded in it.
    “What’s
that?” Cindy said, going over to pick up the rhinestone immediately.
    “Don’t
touch anything,” Trage shot back.
    Cindy
rushed over, picked up the tiny rhinestone and held it between her fingers.
Trage came over quickly and looked at it.
    “Could
have come off something your sister was wearing,” he said.
    “Could
have, could have,” Cindy held it more closely. Ann had a bathing suit, she
remembered with tiny rhinestones. Suddenly Cindy doubled over sobbing. “Ann,
Ann, she cried desperately.”
    Trage
put his arm around her shoulder and led her to the sofa. “It’ll be okay,” he
said in a hushed tone.
    “No,
it won’t, not ever,” Cindy gasped between sobs.
    “Does
this rhinestone belong to your sister?” Trage asked gently.
    “It
could have, I’m not sure,” sobbed Cindy.
    “We
have to find out more about your sister,” Trage went on. “Did she have any
enemies?”
    Cindy
wiped her face with the back of her hand, and looked up. “Definitely not.
Everyone loved her.  Ann never had an enemy her whole life