Chaos in Cuba (A Starling and Swift Cozy Mystery Book 4)

by M. J. Mandrake

Kitty managed a smile. She’d thought it would be a lark to read Treasure Island while visiting the isolated nation of Cuba, but now she wondered how horribly similar the story would turn out to be.

  Straightening her shoulders, Kitty put a hand on Chica’s collar and turned to face the Havana police officers as they rushed into the room. Leander’s mouth was set in a grim line and he pulled his Embassy identification from his pocket.

  It was going to be a very long day.

  ***

  “I told you we should have gone up to the bell tower,” Penny signed. Her normally curly hair had wilted in the heat and she looked pale. The interview room at the Havana Police Station was clean, but the chairs were less than comfortable. Toto had stretched out in the corner of the room and looked like she was sleeping. Chica sat beneath the table and Kitty could feel her wakefulness. It was hard to describe, but she always knew if Chica was awake, even if she couldn’t see her.

  “You did not. You said you had vertigo and there was no reason to go up if you couldn’t look out the window.” Elaine rolled her head one way, and then the other. “I have stiff neck from looking up at all those windows. I need a massage. When do you think they’ll let us back on the ship?”

  “We’re still discussing the details,” Kitty said. She wasn’t feeling very optimistic but didn’t want to share her suspicions.

  “Not very optimistic, huh?” Penny asked.

  Kitty shrugged. It had been almost an hour since they’d been escorted to the police station and she hadn’t seen Leander since. She might not even see him before they were put back on the ship.

  “I didn’t mind being stuck in Cozumel for a little while, but I think I’ve had enough of Havana,” Elaine said.

  “I wouldn’t mind a few more days, but only if we’re allowed to go where we want.” Penny let out a yawn. “And if I got to change hotels. Señora Delores is going to be the death of me.”

  Kitty wondered if Señora Delores had already been responsible for one death. Maybe she hadn’t pushed Sabrina out the window, but she certainly had something to do with the balding man, and Sabrina had clearly been afraid of him. “If they offer us other lodging, I’m going to decline,” she said. “I think something is going on in La Casa Rosa.”

  They both sat up and looked at her.

  “Why? What did we miss?” Penny asked.

  “I don’t know anything for sure, but…” Kitty shook her head. “Just a hunch.”

  “I thought you didn’t believe in those,” Elaine said.

  “No, I said I wasn’t superstitious. There’s a big difference. Intuition and superstition are opposite, really.”

  She should have saved her breath because Elaine and Penny looked smug.

  “I’ve got a touch of ESP myself,” Penny said.

  “More than a touch.” Elaine squinted at the door as if it was going to open any moment. “And I have to say, I’m starting to feel mighty suspicious about that young man of yours.”

  “Who, Leander?”

  “Do you notice how he’s always around when someone dies?” Penny asked.

  “But so are you!” And for the record, so was Kitty herself. They were going to be banned from the tour group before long. They couldn’t seem to go anywhere without encountering dead bodies.

  “Yes, but we don’t know anything about forensics and things. He knows enough to plant evidence and wipe away traces of his own guilt.” Elaine’s eyes were wide, as if she’d already convinced herself that Leander was a mass murderer.

  “That’s ridiculous,” Kitty signed. “He wasn’t even near the others when they died.”

  “Oh, good point.” Penny yawned. “I’m just trying to think like a detective. We’re really going to need those business cards after this one.”

  The ladies had teased Kitty that Starling and Swift was a perfectly normal name for an investigative partnership, and that they would be the gumshoe assistants. Kitty had laughed about it at the time, but now she wondered whether they were right. It seemed odd not to acknowledge their crime-fighting success somehow.

  The door opened and two officers entered with Leander. The both had small mustaches, graying hair, and matching uniforms. They looked so similar that Kitty wondered if they were related to each other.

  “I am Detective Solis and this is Detective Larindo.” The man didn’t offer his hand but he did remove his police issue cap. His Spanish was fast and sharp. “Mr. Estornell informed us that you are a fluent Spanish speaker and will be translating for your deaf group. He is here as an attaché to the Embassy and therefore will have diplomatic privileges, but although he is also present on your behalf, his diplomatic immunity does not extend to you.”

  Well, that was frank. Kitty glanced at Leander and he nodded very slightly, but his expression didn’t change. He’d clearly decided that keeping his distance was the best course of action. Kitty understood but she wished that just once, they would be welcomed into a police station with some ice water and a comfortable chair. It really was annoying to be considered a suspect over and over through no fault of their own.

  “Yes, I will translate.” Penny and Elaine watched her worriedly while she signed. “And may I ask how many of us you are interviewing?”

  Detective Larindo flipped open a notebook and offered it to Detective Solis.

  He glanced at it and said, “All of you.”

  Kitty glanced at Leander. “Not all of us were present when Sabrina fell.”

  “Yes, I understand, but she was your tour guide and the circumstances of the visit to the monastery seem… suspicious.”

  “In what way?” Kitty wasn’t trying to be difficult. She honestly wondered what was suspicious about a tour guide bringing her guests to a local historical site.

  Detecive Solis leaned over and whispered into Detective Larindo’s ear. The other man nodded.

  “She had permission to take your tour group on a prearranged list of places throughout the two days you would visit Havana. These places were submitted and approved weeks in advance. Here in Cuba, we take our national security very seriously.” He leaned forward, brows drawing together. “We seek to avoid situations like this.”

  “You mean dead people?” Penny signed. “I don’t know who wouldn’t.”

  Kitty translated her comment but tried to lighten her tone. They were all tired and weary, but poking the Detective wasn’t going to earn them any points.

  His eyes narrowed. “Americans watch too much TV and own too many guns. You think murder is funny? In Cuba we are not so…” He waved his hands. “Cosmopolitan.”

  Leander stepped forward and said softly, “Let’s move on to the questions. I am sure we’re all eager to catch Sabrina’s murderer.”

  Detective Solis slowly opened his notebook and looked over the three of them. “I have your original statement. Do you have anything to add?”

  Penny and Elaine exchanged glances. They both shook their heads.

  “You may return to the hotel. An officer will escort you. Do not attempt to board the ship. We will contact you when you are cleared to leave.” He stood up.

  Kitty was barely finished translating when Penny waved to get his attention. “Don’t you have any other questions? We’re your main suspects.”

  “No, you are not.” He opened the door and looked back at Kitty. “Come. We have more important interviews.”

  Kitty hastily stood up from the table and motioned for Chica to follow her. Waving to Penny and Elaine, she hurried after the two detectives and Leander.

  More important interviews. Her mind raced as she tried to think of how Brooke and Katie, or Victor and Lola could be implicated in Sabrina’s death. Walking down the short corridor, she thought back to the conversations she’d had with her tour group members, scouring her memory for clues to some motivation. Chills crept down her spine as she realized that she really knew very little about the people with whom she’d been spending her days and nights. Any one of them could be hiding a terrible secret, some dark
connection to the young, beautiful woman who had died a shocking death just hours before.

  Gripping Chica’s collar as they stopped in front of the next interview room, Kitty knew their best chance of catching the killer wasn’t going to be grilling a suspect across from a metal table in a dingy police station. It was going to be the German Shepherd next to her. Chica had known Sabrina had been in danger long before she had died, and she would surely be able to lead them to her killer. All Kitty had to do was to pay attention, and she was determined not to miss a single sign.

  Chapter Seven

  “It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.”

  ― Albert Camus

  Kitty stepped inside the interview room and felt shock flash through her body. The balding man was seated at the table across from Victor and Lola.

  Glancing at Chica, Kitty almost expected her to point her nose at the man but she scanned the room, then settled by Kitty’s side. Victor and Lola’s service dog moved restlessly behind them. Twinkle looked uncomfortable on the hard tile floor, as if her old joints were protesting.

  “This is Señor Martinez. He has been working with us to stop human trafficking between Cuba and the United States, collecting information on a group running out of La Casa Rosa,” Detective Solis said.

  Leander formally introduced himself to Victor and Lola. “Mr. and Mrs. Barrio, I’m an attaché of the American Embassy. I’ll be present at this interview unless you waive the right to have an embassy official with you during your questioning.”

  Detective Larindo took out a pen and opened his notebook again. “Please tell us your connection to the victim?”

  Kitty translated and Victor looked at Lola. She nodded.

  “Sabrina helped my uncles and two nieces get to Miami.”

  Mr. Martinez spoke for the first time and Kitty was surprised to hear a slight American accent in his Spanish. “Did you come here to arrange for more relatives to travel illegally to the United States?”

  Victor shook his head. “No. We didn’t even know she had helped them until she told us. She said she knew our family here in Havana.”

  “Have you ever lost a member of your family to the sea?” Mr. Martinez asked.

  Kitty held her breath as she translated the question. There was something about the way Detective Solis didn’t bother to pick up his pen that told her he already knew the answer.

  “Yes,” Lola signed, and the motion was slow and sad. “My nephew, a year ago.”

  There was a long pause and Kitty shot a look at Leander. If only he had witnessed the killer running from the bell tower. Could it have been two people? Victor must be nearing seventy, but he was strong enough to push a healthy young woman out the window, especially if she hadn’t been expecting it. Lola was short, but solid, and her arms looked strong. Together they would have had a good chance of surprising Sabrina and then forcing her out the window, leaving only a red shoe behind.

  “Did he pay the victim or any of her associates for helping him leave Cuba?” Mr. Martinez asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “He paid them five thousand dollars and they tugged him out to sea on a rubber raft. They said the motor was good, but it quit working right after they left the harbor.” Her eyes filled with tears. “They drifted for days. By the time a fishing boat found them, it was too late.”

  Horror flooded Kitty at the idea of the slow, painful death Lola’s nephew had endured. She could imagine how the woman could have been driven to take revenge.

  “But as much as I hated her bosses, I knew Sabrina was just trying to make a living, like a lot of people.” Lola shrugged. “I even told her I forgave her.”

  “How did she respond?” Detective Larindo asked.

  “She told me to…” Lola’s mouth went thin. “Something rude. She said she didn’t need my forgiveness because she hadn’t done anything wrong.”

  “And that made you very angry,” Detective Solis said.

  She shook her head. “Yes, but not the way you think. I did not hurt her. Neither did my husband. We were not up in the bell tower when she fell.”

  “You were seen coming from the opposite end of the monastery after she fell.”

  “Our taxi had dropped us off at the other entrance. We weren’t coming from upstairs,” Victor said. He closed his eyes. “You have to believe us. We weren’t anywhere near Sabrina before she died.”

  “Since we have not been able to find your taxi driver, we are not able to verify your alibi,” Detective Larindo said coldly.

  As Kitty translated this, both Victor and Lola started to protest.

  Detective Solis interrupted them by standing up. “You will be escorted back to your hotel. Do not leave without permission and do not return to your ship. We will be in touch.” He looked at Kitty. “Come with us, please.”

  He left the room and Detective Larindo and Mr. Martinez followed.

  Kitty quickly signed, “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Elaine and Penny should be at the hotel. I’ll contact the captain and let him know what’s happening. ”

  Lola gave her a tight hug. She looked exhausted and sad. “See you at dinner, I hope.”

  Leander and Kitty walked out of the room, Chica leading the way.

  Glancing behind them, Kitty quietly asked, “How’s the international cooperation coming along?”

  Detectives Solis and Larindo had stopped in front of a door about twenty feet down the hallway. They both watched Kitty and Leander closely. Kitty felt a surge of guilt, and then irritation at herself for feeling it. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

  “Let’s just say it hasn’t been a warm reception,” he said out of the side of his mouth. “It’s the first time I’ve had to really insist on being present during the interviews. For a while there I thought I was going to be booted and replaced by someone in the Havana office.”

  There were nearly within earshot of the detectives and Kitty murmured, “Would that have been so bad?”

  “I’d rather stay close to you.” He looked her in the eyes and said very softly. “Don’t trust anyone.”

  Kitty wanted to ask what he meant exactly by ‘anyone’. Did that mean she shouldn’t trust Leander himself? Of course he didn’t, but was she supposed to be suspicious of everyone in the group or just the officers at the station? She decided she would trust only those she had always trusted, and that was a very small group of individuals. On a good day it might include some old friends and a few new ones. On a bad day, it was only Chica.

  With that dire warning, they followed the detectives and Mr. Anderson into the interview room. Brooke and Katie were seated side by side and Jackie sat between them, ears up and an expression of confusion on her face. Kitty was sure the service dog could feel the anxiety in the room.

  Detective Solis introduced himself and Detective Larindo. He had a small sheet in front of him and Kitty could see it was a print out of a timeline, with notes scribbled in the margins.

  Leander explained his role again, and Detective Solis introduced Mr. Martinez. At the mention of human trafficking, Brooke went pale and glanced at her sister.

  “Do you have any connection to Sabrina’s human smuggling group?” Mr. Martinez asked.

  As Kitty translated, she felt a hard pit of worry in her stomach. Again, the detectives weren’t ready to take notes. They already knew the answers and were testing Katie and Brooke.

  Katie nodded. “A man she works for knew our grandfather.”

  “How did he know your grandfather?” Detective Solis asked.

  Neither of them signed a word and for a moment, Kitty wondered whether they would ask for an attorney or refuse to answer. “He blackmailed our grandfather while he was alive,” Brooke said.

  “You have to understand, we didn’t know any of this when we booked the cruise. Our uncle told us the story when we were packing for the trip.” Katie swallowed hard. “He told us to make sure we avoided Señor Artemio Flores who ran an extensive criminal enterprise in Hava
na. When we asked how he knew, he told us the story.”

  Mr. Martinez leaned forward. “Of how Flores extorted the families of the people he’d smuggled to Miami.”

  Brooke nodded. “They were intercepted right off the coast, then held for ransom. My grandfather had no choice but to pay thousands more to get him released.”

  “Because they were afraid your uncle would be turned in to immigration?” Detective Solis asked.

  Katie shook her head. “Those whose families could not pay were thrown into the ocean.”

  Leander looked at Kitty and she knew what he was thinking. The human smuggling operation that employed Sabrina certainly was just as dangerous as the Mexican drug cartels. Kitty’s tour group had been wandering around Havana with a member of the Cuban mafia and it was a wonder nobody else had been hurt or killed. It was still awful that Sabrina lost her life, but Kitty shuddered to think how badly it could have been with a whole tour group rotating around a circle of vicious criminals.

  “Did your grandfather refuse to pay at first?” Mr. Martinez said. “Did he try to contact the kidnappers, either in Miami or in Cuba?”

  Brooke shook her head. “He knew they were evil. They told our grandfather that since our uncle was deaf, it would be a mercy to throw him in the ocean. Of course they were just saying that to be cruel because they really didn’t want anyone to decide not to pay. But he never forgot it. Our Papa and our uncle are both deaf, and in Cuba they weren’t allowed to finish school. They had no chance to go to university even though they’re both very smart.” She seemed to remember where she was and looked at Kitty, silently asking her to soften her words. Kitty caught her expression just as she reached the last sentence and she did her best to make it less accusatory than it had been.

  “You have to understand,” Brooke said, looking desperate, “besides those small things, we’d only heard wonderful stories about our family’s homeland. We’re so proud to be Cubanas. Our parents never told us anything about organized crime or smugglers.”

  “It’s true,” Katie added. “They said it was much safer than Miami. We weren’t afraid to come here at all. And we certainly weren’t looking for Señor Artemio Flores or anyone connected to him. We just wanted to walk around and see the old neighborhood.”