Murdered in Argentina: A Jack Trout Cozy Mystery by Dianne Harman Page A

face when I told you who had died.”
    Santiago took a deep breath and said, “I know it is not my place to tell you this, but there may be some problems with this death. It sounds like a murder has been committed, and you will probably not like what I am going to say. I would ask that this conversation go no farther. I have known you for many years, and I know you to be a man of your word. Can you assure me that this is between us?”
    “Yes, of course. What is it?”
    “My brother-in-law is a very good man, however his daughter, my niece, married an American man several years ago and left Argentina to go with him to the United States. The man she married is not a good man. My niece was given a great deal of money from our family here in Argentina as a wedding present. We asked that it be kept in her name, and told her if she ever needed to return to Argentina she was welcome to do so. We didn’t think the marriage would last. Evidently she told her husband about the money. Soon thereafter, my brother-in-law received a letter from her saying she would never return to Argentina, that her husband’s family had become her real family, and that she had given all the family money to her husband. It broke my brother-in-law’s heart, not to mention the fact that the money was gone.”
    “That is very sad, Santiago, but I fail to see what it has to do with the murder.”
    “It pains me to say this, but my brother-in-law, the police chief, has developed an extreme hatred for all Americans.”
    “I’m sorry to be so dense, but I still don’t see what any of this has to do with my client’s death,” Jack said.
    Santiago stopped walking and turned to Jack. “His hatred of Americans is so intense I don’t think he will do anything to find the killer. I believe he will simply feel it is a kind of karmic justice, your client’s life for his daughter’s life.”
    “You can’t be serious!” Jack exclaimed. “Doesn’t he have to uphold the law in his position, and wouldn’t that mean he has to investigate this case?”
    “He will go through the motions, but it will be at the bottom of his things to do. I have seen this before with him, although not with a murder. When Americans have had problems of one kind or another, they pretty much have to figure out what to do on their own. Jack, there is also the problem we have here with corruption.”
    “Yes, I’ve lived on and off in Chile long enough to know it exists in South America.”
    “It not only exists, there are plenty of people who like to give the police money in hopes that their problems will be the first ones to be taken care of, and they usually are,” Santiago said. “We are at the lodge now, and since so many lights are turned on, I would imagine your guests already know about the murder. There is one more thing I need to tell you before we go in.”
    “What is that?” Jack asked, his hand on the front door handle.
    “Your guests might as well go fishing for three days. There is only one flight out of San Martin each day. It goes to Buenos Aries, and it is booked for weeks in advance. There is no way your guests can get out of San Martin until the day on which they have already made their flight reservations.”
    “I’d forgotten about that. Carola mentioned she was glad someone had tipped her off that she needed to book the plane reservations so far in advance. I guess we’ll continue pretty much as planned, but that also means the victim’s wife won’t be able to transfer his body out of the country until their scheduled flight.”
    “That is correct, my friend, but at least if your clients fish for three days the guides will still get their tips. They need those very much. A guide’s life is not an easy one.”
     

CHAPTER 12
     
    Santiago was right. When he and Jack got to the top of the stairs, all of the guests were in the hallway as well as several of the ranch workers. Jack walked over to where Carola and Lisa were standing, Carola with