Murder in Aruba: An Anna Winters Cozy Mystery (Murder in Paradise Book 5) by Penelope Sotheby Page A
Authors: Penelope Sotheby
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her. Cassandra the Serial Killer. I would then end the string of murders and the ghoul ghost hunters and murder mystery fanatics would flock to the hotels. This has always been to drum up business. The economy of the world has changed. If there isn't a gimmick to get people in the doors, you struggle most of the year. Now, the other hotels are doing incredibly well and will for years to come. I'll throw out some rumors about them being haunted. It will work. Besides which the board have already promoted me to Chairman of the hotel group as they believe you have solved these murders under my direction. Its been very good for my career all this."
"Why me?" Anna demanded. "There were others you could have led astray."
"You were the only one who was committed to their job," Mr. Puccio sighed. "The others would have taken forever to solve the murders. It would have driven me insane. Plus, you also travelled with Cassandra. So, the murders could easily follow you and we'd mix things up a bit."
"How did you manage to get people to hire Cassandra?" Anna asked.
"That was easy," Mr. Puccio smiled. "There is always that one person at a wedding who has a vendetta. We just had to find that person, coax them into agreeing to hiring some help. Then have Cassandra go forward with it. Sure, some of them felt guilty, but Cassandra is great at blackmail. She managed to get them to keep silent. I just had to sit back and watch and wait."
"Why fire me and have me banned from the hotel?" Anna questioned.
"Because you were getting too close to me." Mr. Puccio replied, "I needed to know if you suspected me or not and so I played a game where I fired you, then pretended it was all a plot so that you would tell me who you suspected. You never suspected me at all did you?"
"You thought of everything didn't you?" Anna asked. "So what happens now?
"The tapes in the elevator and roof are damaged," Mr. Puccio sighed. "So, no one will ever know what happened up here and when. Cassandra will be up here soon and we'll have our big finale. Just as originally planned."
"What if she backs out of it?" Anna asked. "What if she betrays you and decides to side with me instead?"
"That's not going to happen." Mr. Puccio laughed.
"Why not?" Anna demanded.
"She hates you." His words stung. "I convinced her that you are holding her back. I finally gave her the job she wanted. I kept pointing out little things you did that any sane person would know was their job. But I made it look like you burdened her with menial tasks. As I did that, she grew to hate you more each day. Now, I can get her to kill you and then I can kill her. By the time I am done, nothing will ever be linked back to me."
Anna stopped and just watched the man with a shocked look on her face. Behind him, the door to the elevator sounded. Anna prayed as she watched as the doors open. She knew that soon, all of this would be over. He was right. Cassandra did hate her and it was an unreasonable hatred.
Until the bullet struck her, all Anna could do was hope that death would be fast and painless. After all, the alternative was suffering slow and painful death. Something that Cassandra seemed certainly capable of doing.
Chapter 9
The door opened to the elevator and Cassandra walked out and looked at Mr. Puccio and Anna.
"You said I could kill her," Cassandra hissed.
"She's yours for the killing." Mr. Puccio lowered his gun.
"So no one from the wedding party asked for the murders to take place?" Anna asked. "I know I should be pleading for my life but I am still not grasping this."
"You were always meant to die here," Mr. Puccio replied. "Demetrius was willing to take the fall. But he was too obvious and we all knew about his and Christo's past. Knowing you'd figure it out with a little mediocre detective work would be too risky so we didn't involve him in the end. Cassandra committed the Aruba murders herself. That's another reason Ithica and Henry both had to die. It would destroy
"Why me?" Anna demanded. "There were others you could have led astray."
"You were the only one who was committed to their job," Mr. Puccio sighed. "The others would have taken forever to solve the murders. It would have driven me insane. Plus, you also travelled with Cassandra. So, the murders could easily follow you and we'd mix things up a bit."
"How did you manage to get people to hire Cassandra?" Anna asked.
"That was easy," Mr. Puccio smiled. "There is always that one person at a wedding who has a vendetta. We just had to find that person, coax them into agreeing to hiring some help. Then have Cassandra go forward with it. Sure, some of them felt guilty, but Cassandra is great at blackmail. She managed to get them to keep silent. I just had to sit back and watch and wait."
"Why fire me and have me banned from the hotel?" Anna questioned.
"Because you were getting too close to me." Mr. Puccio replied, "I needed to know if you suspected me or not and so I played a game where I fired you, then pretended it was all a plot so that you would tell me who you suspected. You never suspected me at all did you?"
"You thought of everything didn't you?" Anna asked. "So what happens now?
"The tapes in the elevator and roof are damaged," Mr. Puccio sighed. "So, no one will ever know what happened up here and when. Cassandra will be up here soon and we'll have our big finale. Just as originally planned."
"What if she backs out of it?" Anna asked. "What if she betrays you and decides to side with me instead?"
"That's not going to happen." Mr. Puccio laughed.
"Why not?" Anna demanded.
"She hates you." His words stung. "I convinced her that you are holding her back. I finally gave her the job she wanted. I kept pointing out little things you did that any sane person would know was their job. But I made it look like you burdened her with menial tasks. As I did that, she grew to hate you more each day. Now, I can get her to kill you and then I can kill her. By the time I am done, nothing will ever be linked back to me."
Anna stopped and just watched the man with a shocked look on her face. Behind him, the door to the elevator sounded. Anna prayed as she watched as the doors open. She knew that soon, all of this would be over. He was right. Cassandra did hate her and it was an unreasonable hatred.
Until the bullet struck her, all Anna could do was hope that death would be fast and painless. After all, the alternative was suffering slow and painful death. Something that Cassandra seemed certainly capable of doing.
Chapter 9
The door opened to the elevator and Cassandra walked out and looked at Mr. Puccio and Anna.
"You said I could kill her," Cassandra hissed.
"She's yours for the killing." Mr. Puccio lowered his gun.
"So no one from the wedding party asked for the murders to take place?" Anna asked. "I know I should be pleading for my life but I am still not grasping this."
"You were always meant to die here," Mr. Puccio replied. "Demetrius was willing to take the fall. But he was too obvious and we all knew about his and Christo's past. Knowing you'd figure it out with a little mediocre detective work would be too risky so we didn't involve him in the end. Cassandra committed the Aruba murders herself. That's another reason Ithica and Henry both had to die. It would destroy
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