Death by Jealousy Read Online Free PDF

in a low tone, “one
minute they’re happy, the next they’re gone. Go figure it out.”
     
“I’m sure you loved Allie,” Cindy interjected, “nobody is questioning that.”
    Peter
looked at her gratefully and Mattheus eased up a bit then.
     “If
someone at the wedding could have possibly wanted to harm her, who do you think
it would be, and why?” Mattheus asked bluntly.
    “No
one,” Peter answered sharply.
    “There
was no one who wanted to harm her? No one who could have been jealous of all
those jewels?”
    “That’s
ridiculous,” said Peter. “Her friends were close to her for years, and were
happy for her.”
    “As
far as you know,” Mattheus inserted.
    “Allie
was proud of those jewels. The first one she showed them to was her mother. It
made her proud of herself in her mother’s eyes.”
    “Her
mother wasn’t proud of her otherwise?” Mattheus was quick on the draw.
    Peter
made a fist and drummed it on the table. “What are you getting at?”
    “You
got to let it all out,” Mattheus insisted. “There’s trouble in paradise and you
can’t protect anyone here.”
    “Who
am I protecting?” Peter’s shoulders lifted.
    “Look,
you’re a top banker and trader,” Mattheus lifted his chin and stared straight
at Peter, “you’ve learned how to figure the angles. Are you telling me you can’t
imagine that someone here might have been jealous of the two of you?”
    Peter’s
eyes glass over. Not only was he exhausted, he seemed to refuse to even
consider such a thing.
    “No,
I can’t imagine who,” said Peter.
    “Peter,”
Cindy came closer to him, “you have to think hard now. We need your help. We’re
on your side.”
    “There
are no sides,” Peter burst out, “no one’s hurt Allie. Can’t it be she’s still
alive somewhere? She was a strong swimmer, isn’t it possible she swam up to the
surface? Maybe she’s lost on the island and doesn’t know where she is?  She
could have panicked when she realized she didn’t have enough air, pulled
everything off, hyperventilated, wasn’t able to exhale thoroughly!  She could
have had too much nitrogen! That happens all the time, it impairs judgment and
coordination, she may still be suffering from it now. Or maybe she came up too
fast?” The words rolled desperately off his tongue.
    “Got
the bends?” said Mattheus.
    “It’s
possible,” said Peter, “but I don’t think so. I think she’s lost on the island
and is alive.”
    Cindy
and Mattheus shot each other a quick glance. Neither of them wanted to be the
one to say that it seemed unlikely that Allie survived.
    “I
realize the police don’t agree,” Peter continued. “I see it in their eyes. They
think she’s gone, and that someone could have killed her.”
    “Why
would they think that?” Cindy asked gently.
    “Because
that’s their job,” said Peter. “It would be a feather in their cap to find a
killer. But who could have killed her? That’s just nuts. We got separated, the
visibility was bad, the tides too strong and she couldn’t find her way back to
me. When she saw she was so low on air, she must have panicked. It didn’t take
much for Allie to panic these days. I did my best to help her all the time, I
did my best.” Peter’s face grew pale and he closed his eyes. “When I realized Allie
was gone, I thought I would die. You think I wanted to come back up alone
without her? I didn’t. They had to struggle to get me back up on the boat.”
    “Who
could have tampered with the air gauge?” asked Mattheus.
    “Tampered
with it, or did something just go wrong?” asked Peter fitfully.
    “Where
was it kept? Who had access to it?” asked Cindy.
    “Hell,
we kept our diving equipment in our hotel room.  Both families and the wedding
party came in and out all the time. You’re telling me someone came in and did
something to the equipment? Wanted to harm her?”
    “I’m
not telling you anything,” said Cindy. “It’s our job to check carefully