Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry(17)

Klaus nodded.

“Tell me everything you remember about her.”

“I meet a lot of people at the shop, but she is easy to remember.”

“Why?”

“Because, not like you, she was a very experienced rider.”

“How do you know that?”

“You may have noticed that the skis at the shop are made by different manufacturers.”

“I didn’t, but go on.”

“After I gave Cathy’s tour the instruction on how to operate the skis, she noticed the newest Kawasaki model that was recently added to the fleet. She said she had ridden the others and asked if she could try that one.”

“And what did you say?”

“I said yes. The others on the tour didn’t care which ski they rode.”

“Aside from being knowledgeable about skis, do you remember anything about her mood? Was she happy? Sad?”

“She was friendly, but quiet. She didn’t smile much. She reminded me a little bit of you.”

“Me?” Gina asked, surprised.

“Yes. There were three guys thirties age in the group. They tried to get her to talk. She wasn’t rude, but she made it clear she wanted to be on her own.”

“Did the tour go to lunch at the Tierra Mar restaurant, the same one we went to?”

“Yes.”

“Did you sit at the same table?”

“Yes. Is that important?”

“It might be. Klaus, it will be easier if I tell you what I am trying to do. Can I trust you to keep this conversation confidential?”

He nodded.

“The Aruba authorities conducted an investigation of Cathy Ryan’s death.” Gesturing to her bag, she said, “I’ve read the police report. They quickly concluded it was an accident caused by operator error and that Cathy was drunk at the time of the collision. In other words, it was entirely Cathy’s fault. I have reason to believe that it may not have been an accident.”

Klaus took a long sip from his beer. “I want to help you if I can.”

“Did you see the accident happen?”

“A little bit. I was last to leave the restaurant. I meet with the manager to make sure the names on the reservation are the same as those people on the tour. I was just walking outside when I heard someone yelling. I looked and saw Cathy smash into the yacht.”

“What did you do?”

“I ran to my ski and rode out to try to help.”

“Did the people on the yacht try to help her?”

“I saw the man and woman. They were very old. Maybe seventy-five years. They could not help. They told me they called the police.”

“Where were the other people on the tour?”

“They had started to ride back toward the shop. As you know, the skis are very loud. Unless they turned around to look, they would not know about Cathy.”

“What happened next?”

“When I got to Cathy, she was not conscious. Her face was down in the water. She was floating because she was wearing her vest. I pulled her on the seat of my ski and I came back to the dock. Very quickly a police car came, followed by an ambulance. They started pushing on her chest.” His face took on a pained expression. “Then they put her on a bed, put a mask over her face, and carried her to the ambulance. I could tell they believed it was too late.”

“When you were with her, did she ever regain consciousness?”

“No.”

“The police report concluded that Cathy panicked. She kept accelerating until she hit the yacht.”

“That is very surprising.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because we have so many beginners rent the skis. And so many idiots who all they want to do is race. Cathy was experienced and careful. She was not the type to panic.”

“Klaus, when we were at the lunch table today, I couldn’t see our skis from where we were sitting. If someone wanted Cathy to have an accident on her ski, is there something he could do to it?”

“You mean, sabotage it?”

“Yes.”

Klaus exhaled. “The ski is designed to lose power when you release the hand grip with your right hand. You could put a small cover with a spring on the hand grip to cause it to stay at full power even after you let go.”

“What would you do if the ski you were riding kept going at top speed even after you released the grip?”

“It’s a strange situation. The safest thing, and the smart thing, would be to jump off the ski. You would hit the water hard, but you would be okay. I would probably spend a few seconds trying to fix the grip that was stuck.”

“Would you be looking at the grip?”

“Probably.”

“And that means not looking at what’s ahead of you?”

“Again, probably yes.”

“Do you know what happened to Cathy’s Jet Ski after the accident?”

“It was badly broken apart. I saw pieces in the water when I rode to help Cathy.”

“Do you know if anyone examined the ski after the accident?”

“I don’t know. The police spoke to me for a few minutes on the dock before the ambulance took Cathy away. They told me to go back to Paradise Rentals and wait. An investigator would speak to me there.”