Just then the folding doors opened and two more policemen entered. A tall one introduced himself quickly.

“Captain Eric Holder, Chief of Police,” he said to Mattheus, extending his hand forcefully. “I’m the guy you’ve been talking to on the phone.”

Mattheus stepped forward and shook his hand quickly, seemingly glad to meet him.

“Mattheus, of C and M Investigations,” he replied. “It’s good to finally meet you in person.”

Eric smiled as the two men took each other in.

“This is my partner Cindy Blaine,” Mattheus immediately included Cindy.

Eric looked at Cindy for the first time. “Pleased to meet you,” he said formally. “This is my assistant, Kevin Watt,” he motioned to a policeman beside him. Then he turned to the cop who’d been on duty. “Everything okay here, Baron?”

Baron looked at him quizzically. “Same as ever. Everything’s perfect, what could go wrong?” he replied.

Eric walked deeper into the room, motioning to Mattheus to look around. “All fingerprints have been taken and the space has been dusted for forensic evidence a few times. Nothing unexpected or out of order has been found. If you want you can sit down on one of these chairs,” he offered.

Cindy and Mattheus sat on the frail chairs beside the empty bed where Tara had died.

As Cindy looked around she had to agree that nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except the strange pallor that filled the air, a dense feeling of sorrow and heaviness. Otherwise, every speck of dirt, mess or life had been swept away by now.

“Why are you so convinced Tara’s death was a result of euthanasia?” Cindy broke into the stiff silence and started questioning. Eric had spoken with Mattheus on the phone, but not with her. She wanted to hear what he had to say for herself.

Eric looked momentarily thrown off guard. “There’s no question about whether or not Tara’s death was euthanasia,” he replied high handedly. “No one has disputed that point at all.”

“I am,” said Cindy.

Eric didn’t like that. “The initial medical examiner’s report showed a lethal substance in the patient’s body,” he reported tartly. “There was no way it could have gotten there except by someone putting it into her IV.”

Cindy pondered that a moment. “There was no other way she could have died?”

“The full medical report will be here in a few days,” Eric continued, “but as soon as we had this initial information there was no question left about the manner of death.”

“Was the patient ever awake at any time throughout her ordeal?” Cindy asked. “Had she ever expressed her wishes?”

That question stopped Eric Holder cold. He stared at Cindy strangely. “The patient was in a coma. She didn’t come out.”

“How can you be certain about that?” asked Cindy.

“If she’d woken up, we’d all have known about it,” Eric Holder became ill at ease.

“Sometimes they wake up and no one even realizes,” Baron said under his breath, looking deeply at Cindy.

“What’s that you said?” asked Cindy, wanting him to say it more loudly.

“I said sometimes they do wake up,” Baron repeated more loudly. “Then they go right back in, so the people around them don’t realize they’ve been awake because they can’t say anything.”

“That’s crap, Baron, and you know it,” Eric objected.

“There’s stuff we don’t know, Chief, lots of stuff,” Baron insisted.

“Some Jamaicans are very superstitious,” Eric turned to both Cindy and Mattheus.

“Very religious,” Baron corrected him.

Eric shut his eyes a moment, as if to block Baron out. “Some believe strongly in spirits and things like that,” he directed his comments to Mattheus. “Some don’t even believe a person really dies, they think their spirit goes somewhere, or hovers around.”

Baron grinned softly.

“But we’re not priests here, Baron, we’re cops,” Eric growled. “You’re messing with facts, creating confusing.”

Cindy stood up. “No, he’s not,” she broke in, “he’s bringing up interesting considerations. You’ve got a man in jail now for murder and there’s a lot to find out before you can pin this on him.”

Eric got up as well. “So, what are you saying?” he confronted Cindy, face to face. “We should try to find out if the patient is still alive somewhere, if her spirit is floating around?”

Eric’s brusque manner hurt Cindy. It also made her wonder about Ann. Was she totally gone forever, or was her spirit still here on a new journey now?

Eric’s assistant, Kevin Watt, got up then and calmed the atmosphere. “It’s a fair question Cindy’s asking, Eric,” Kevin said. “She just asked if Tara ever woke up during her coma. It happens. People wake up, sometimes even say a few words and then go back to sleep.”

“What difference would it make if she did?” Eric asked. “There was a deadly amount of toxins in her blood. They didn’t get there by themselves.”

“Why are you so convinced that Owen is the one who did it?” Cindy held her ground.

“Owen was with her night and day. He slept in the room, never left the beside,” Eric continued quickly. “He had opportunity.”

“Who else was with her?” Cindy didn’t like Eric and he obviously didn’t like her. He wanted someone to go along with him, acknowledge his facts as absolute.

“Tara’s nurse, Alana was with her,” Eric answered, “and Dr Padden, head doctor on the case checked in a few times a day. Other than that, only family can visit coma patients and each for only a small amount of time.”

“Is Tara’s family down here in Jamaica?” Cindy went on, determined to find a weak link in his story.

“They are,” Eric answered, monosyllabically, looking over at Mattheus for support. “They came down soon after the accident.”

“Where are they? We need to see them,” Mattheus quickly agreed.

Eric Holder shook his head. “This is the last thing I expected,” he muttered. “There’s no reason in hell to suspect anyone in her family. Every single one of them is going through hell.”

“Just want to know who they are,” Mattheus repeated, “and where they’re staying now.”

“They’re staying at the Villa Owen rented when he and Tara came down for vacation,” Eric replied. “Tara’s mother and father are here, her sister Jenna and brother Hank, as far as I know. All of their visits with the patient were totally supervised.”

“But how can you be sure it was Owen who did it?” Cindy wouldn’t stop.

“When we looked a little further, we found out that Owen just happens to be the recipient of his wife’s huge insurance policy,” Eric’s face grew red. “So, not only did he have opportunity, but plenty of motive as well. It was enough to detain him.”

“Why would the money make a difference to him?” Cindy retorted. “He’s rich as hell.”

“The rich always need more money,” Eric’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Cindy. “It’s never enough. The more they have, they more they want. Didn’t you know that?”

Mattheus stood up and got between Cindy and Eric. “I didn’t hear that Owen was going to receive a huge life insurance payout,” he said. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“Why should I have had to?” Eric replied. “The evidence in Tara’s body speaks for itself.”

“But the evidence didn’t tell you how it got there,” Cindy interrupted.

Eric threw a half desperate look at Mattheus. “I didn’t know you guys were going to make it hard for us,” he murmured.

“We’re down here to do a job,” Cindy interjected. “All kinds of questions need answers before you can prosecute a man for murder.”

Eric looked at the floor disgruntledly. Clearly, he wanted this over with. “This case created a stir when Tara had the accident two months ago, and it’s creating a bigger stir now,” he said. “It doesn’t look good for anyone.”

Baron got up suddenly then, went to the window, and looked out.

“Where the hell are you going, Baron?” Eric jumped at him heatedly.

“Going to the window, Chief,” Baron replied.