Page 161 of Sing with Me

Diehl missed her more and more. He buckled his seat belt in the passenger seat.

“The Greyhound clue panned out then,” Malik said from the backseat.

“Yep. And when Hans mumbled Romina, that added some weight.” Earl turned the car onto a street that Diehl was not familiar with.

“Romina?” It was a good thing that Diehl was buckled in. “I can’t believe it. Why?”

“Sort it out later. I’m telling last night’s story. So Hans didn’t want to talk to the police at all. Still protecting his girl.”

“That’s where you came in.”

Earl smiled. “Filling in the gaps is our specialty.”

“What did Hans say?” Diehl asked.

“He had a thing for your nanny. It was lust at first sight, and they only had less than a week before Romina had to leave Seaside Island and take the two kids back to Hawaii.”

“Well, in my own defense, I sent her and my kids to my parents’ home for Thanksgiving, but I didn’t go—as Malik would have told you,” Diehl said.

“Hans and Romina got cozy that week,” Jeong said. “Shortly before you fired her.”

“As I mentioned, we didn’t need her service anymore,” Diehl said.

“You’re not admitting that you fired her because she and Hans were frolicking on the private beach in the buff?”

“Did they?” Diehl glanced over his shoulder. Malik shrugged. “I had no idea. Was it at night? Did anyone notice?”

“Hans said no one saw them. Chef Pierre did not fire him. However, Romina thought that you somehow knew.”

“Frankly, I don’t care as long as they did not expose themselves to my kids,” Diehl said. Then he went silent. “Wow. Malik, you sure you didn’t know about it?”

Malik didn’t say a word.

“Malik?” Diehl asked again.

“Well…” Malik cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I only worry about the perimeters of Brooks Cottage and the guest house. Should I pay attention to what goes on at the beach beyond the dunes?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Besides, it was at night. And we’re just now finding out because Hans confessed to Earl, who then told Detective Jeong.”

“Should I even ask how you got a confession out of Hans?” Diehl asked.

“Better not ask,” Earl said, stopping at the light. “Well, if Romina hadn’t committed a crime, we wouldn’t be discussing their midnight dalliance. The bottom line is that Hans felt he was responsible for causing Romina’s marriage to fall apart.”

“What does all this have anything to do with my daughter?” Diehl asked.

“After the divorce, Romina was destitute. She burned through money like an incinerator and accumulated some credit card debts. She has lived with the rich and famous for several years, and now can’t live within her means.”

“So she called Hans?”

“She blackmailed Hans. Said if he didn’t help Elisa get away from the ‘evil grandparents’ that she would go to the police and report their tryst as a rape. At the same time, she gave the impression that she was still interested in him and would forgive him if he did that one thing.”

“Mixed signals.”

“He thought something didn’t seem right, but Romina sweetened the deal by offering to pay his rent. Since he was desperately poor, he agreed to help her.”

“Hans told you all that?”

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