Death by Jealousy by Jaden Skye Page B

piled Cindy and Mattheus into their little truck and
drove them there.
    “We
combed every inch of the Dive Shop right at the beginning,” Douglas said. “Jared
Flay owns it. He’s a seasoned diver and diving instructor.”
    “He’s
the one who took them out on the boat, right?” Mattheus was checking.
    “Yes,”
Douglas answered. “They all knew each other for years. Jared had taken Peter
and Allie out many times.  As soon as this happened, we talked to him. There
was absolutely nothing out of order. The guy couldn’t believe what had
happened, said there was absolutely nothing different about this dive.”
    “Except
that it happened right before the wedding,” Cindy chimed in.
    “So?”
asked Lance, giving her an oblique glance. “What does that imply? Did you find
something?”
    “There
are lots of guests who came down here for the wedding,” said Cindy, “one of
them could have had a motive to get Allie out of the way.”
    “A
good motive and ten cents will buy you a cup of tea down here,” said Douglas
promptly.
    “Everyone’s
got some kind of motive. We’re looking for hard evidence.”
    “Exactly,”
Lance seconded the opinion. “So far there’s not even a body. Without a body it’s
all speculation. For all we know she’s alive somewhere. There’s no case.” Lance
was adamant.
    “Did
Peter and Allie usually go diving alone?” Cindy asked.
    “Sometimes
alone, sometimes with friends - it varied,” Douglas joined in. “They were both
certified so whatever they wanted to do was fine.”
    “We’d
like to look around anyway,” Mattheus finally supported Cindy.
    “That’s
why we’re going,” Douglas remarked, “I mean, heck, you never know what could
drift up from the sea.”
    “Or,
what’s hidden in some corner,” Cindy added, as Lance looked at her out of the
corner of his eye and the car bumped over the rocky roads.
    The
Dive Center was located at the end of a long road, right near the water. They
drove up to a medium sized wooden building, parked the truck and got out.  As
they walked inside you could smell the water and see the ocean spread out in
front, with a boat moored a few feet away. Inside, air tanks were lined up
against a wall, along with diving vests and fins.  Big photos of fish were hung
on the walls along with a few spears. Behind a counter a young woman in her
late twenties with sandy hair was talking to some customers who wanted to book
the next dive.  Next to her stood a muscular guy, with big shoulders and a
permanent sun tan, whose eyes looked a little bleary, as though he’d been up
late, drinking last night. Must be Jared Flay, thought Cindy.
    The
guy looked up as soon as they came in, walked out from behind the counter right
away and stuck out his hand.
    “Jared
Flay,” he announced looking at Cindy and Mattheus.
    “Pleased
to meet you,” Cindy replied.
    “Let’s
go over here to talk,” he said, ushering them to a far side of the shop, away
from the customers, out of earshot.
    “It’s
terrible what happened,” Jared looked straight into Mattheus’s eyes, “how can I
help you?”
    “We’d
like to look around,” Mattheus said.
    “Absolutely,”
said Jared. “The cops looked around already, but you’re welcome to look as much
as you like. Can you tell me exactly what you’re hoping to find?”
    “When
we find it, we’ll know,” said Mattheus.
    Lance
nodded appreciatively at that comment.
    “Tell
me about your place,” Cindy interrupted. “I hear it’s one of the best Dive Shop’s
on the island.”
    At
that Jared’s face lit up.  “Sure is,” he said, “we’re proud of it too. The East
End of the Island offers world class diving. We’ve got incredible coral reefs,
wall diving and custom build dive boats waiting at the end of the dock. We’ve
also got an award winning dive staff so we provide both safety and adventure. Something
like this never happened before at our place.” His face looked drawn for