by Vicki Delany
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 call
ed 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.”
NINE
HENRY DROPPED US off at the Ocean Breeze, and Dad and I headed for my apartment. We found a note from Mom saying she’d gone back to the beach. Dad went straight to the fridge and got himself a beer.
“You can’t go—” I began.
“But I can.” He popped the cap. “And I did. Paul Saunders was at Erasmus’s house on Wednesday afternoon around five. He asked to speak to Claude Erasmus, but the guards wouldn’t let him in. They seem to have a habit of doing that. Not at all friendly.”
“It’s not their job to be friendly.”
“Paul refused to leave.”
I didn’t mention that that sounded exactly like my father himself.
“He yelled and shouted and made all kinds of threats. The guards told him to go away or they’d call the police.”
“How do you know this?”
“Neighboring maid told me. One thing rich people don’t understand, Ashley, is that their staff often don’t like them. They’re happy to spread gossip when they can. If not about their own employers, then about their friends’ employers. I spoke to a gardener from next door and a maid from farther down. The gardener was working on the flower beds next to the wall. He heard it all.”
“Heard. It could have been someone else then.”
“The maid saw Paul. She’d been at the store, getting ingredients for dinner. She walked by when Paul was kicking up a fuss. She made a positive ID.” Dad beamed at me. “It was him, all right.”
“And this maid just happened to be standing outside when you arrived today?”
“Of course not. I rang the bell and asked to speak to anyone who might have information. I didn’t say I was with the police.”
“But you implied it. You can’t do that, Dad.”
“The other houses on that street don’t have the security Erasmus has. I wonder why he’s hiding behind those walls and guards.”
To get away from nosy Canadians, I thought but didn’t say.
“Give your friend Alan a call. He’ll want to know this.”
I had to admit Dad was right. The police would want to know that Paul Saunders had paid a call on Claude Erasmus in the hours before he died.
“Did this maid see Paul leave?”
“No. She just walked by, her ears flapping, and went to work. Are you going to call Alan, or shall I?”
“I’ll do it,” I said. “But first, you can’t be making a nuisance of yourself on the street, Dad. The guards at Erasmus’s house would have been within their rights to call the police.”
“I would have left by then.”
“Henry said you met Mrs. Erasmus?”
Dad smiled. “Such a nice lady. Pretty too. She came out to tell me her husband wasn’t at home. I asked her about Wednesday and she said she wasn’t in when Paul called. She knew nothing about him or what business he might have with Claude.”
“I’ll call Alan now,” I said. “Why don’t you go and sit with Mom for a while? You’re neglecting her on this vacation, you know.”
“She doesn’t mind,” he said.
I didn’t reply. I went outside to make my call.
“That is interesting, Ashley,” Alan said. “I’ll follow up with Erasmus. But it’s unlikely to mean anything. If what your father’s sources say is correct, Erasmus never met with Paul and Paul didn’t go inside the house.”
“Doesn’t hurt to ask.”
“No. But a word of warning. If I do find something we can take to court, the maid and gardener who spoke to your father won’t testify. It’s one thing to chat to a friendly stranger on the street. It’s another to testify against a man like Erasmus or even one of his employees.”
“Understood.”
“Claude Erasmus has a younger brother, Pierre, who’s been in trouble in the past. The sort of trouble a wealthy man can buy his way out of. I’ll try to find out if Pierre’s currently on the island.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Don’t thank me, Ashley. I’m not doing your dad any favors. But, once again, I have to ask you to stay out of this.”
“I’m trying, Alan. Believe me, I’m trying.”
Dad was even more restless than usual that evening. He wanted to be doing something, anything, about Paul’s death. But he couldn’t think of another thing to do.
That night I grilled steaks on the barbecue and then we watched TV. My parents were going home on Monday, the day after tomorrow. On the one hand I was sorry to see them leave. I’d rarely spent any time alone with my mother, and I’d enjoyed getting to know her better. On the other hand, my parents were living in my one-bedroom apartment. Not to mention the stress of trying to keep Dad entertained.
Alan called as the program came to an end. Mom was washing up the teacups and Dad was yawning mightily.
“Hi, Alan,” I said.
Dad’s ears pricked up. Mom turned around quickly.
I listened to what he had to say. “Okay. I understand. Right. I’ll tell him.
”
“What’d he find out?” Dad asked.
“Are you seeing him tomorrow?” Mom asked.
“Alan went to the Erasmus house and spoke to Claude,” I said.
“So he got in, eh?” Dad said. “That’s good.”
“Of course he got in. He’s the police. He told Mr. Erasmus he was investigating the death of a man seen at his house the day he died.”
“And?”
“And Mr. Erasmus was not home on Wednesday at the time Paul called. He was in a business meeting at the Blue Water Vista Resort. A boardroom full of people can testify to that. Important, politically connected people. As well as hotel staff. He went from there to a private party.”
“How does he know what time Paul called if he wasn’t there?” Dad asked.
“Because Alan told him, Dad. And because his guards had written the incident down in their log book. Alan checked the log.”
Dad grunted.
“The guards recorded your visit today. Mr. Erasmus told Alan that if you come there again, he’ll have you charged with trespassing and creating a disturbance.”
“Frank!” Mom said. “Don’t you dare.”
My father’s eyes gleamed. “That means I’m onto something. He’s running scared.”
“He’s scared of crazy old Canadian men bothering his household.”
“I am not that old,” Dad said, ignoring the crazy bit.
“And you have to stop bothering his employees. Erasmus told Alan you’re banned from Island Jewelers and every other place he owns.”
“I’m off to bed,” Mom said. “If you get arrested, Frank, I am not spending the rest of my vacation money bailing you out.”
“Might as well join you,” Dad said. “There’s nothing more we can do tonight.”
“There’s nothing more you can do period, Dad,” I said.
My parents kissed me good night and disappeared into the bedroom. I unfolded the sofa to make up my bed. Before getting comfortable, I called Alan back. He’d mentioned that he had received the coroner’s report on Paul. I hadn’t wanted to ask about that while Dad was listening.
Alan answered with a smile in his voice. “What is it now, Ashley?”
“Just curious. What did the coroner have to say?”
“Paul Saunders died between eight and eleven p.m. Wednesday evening. Death by drowning in salt water. He’d suffered a blow to the back of his head.”