C&Q04,5 - Dark Paradise

by Lee, Catherine

  "Oh, come on, Detective. I'm not stupid. You left earlier this evening, and now you're back guarding Zara's room with your lives. You've found something suspicious. It's obvious. She was murdered, wasn't she?"

  Cooper figured there was no point denying it. She'd find out tomorrow when the press turned up anyway. They all would.

  "Yes. We had word from the pathologist conducting the autopsy earlier this evening. Zara was murdered." He let the idea settle for a moment before taking advantage of the situation with a question for Martha. "Can you think of anyone here who would want Zara dead? Any of the remaining contestants have a reason to kill her?"

  "Yes," Martha answered immediately. "All of them."

  7

  Cooper's eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting that answer. He looked around to make sure they weren't overheard, but all was quiet in the direction of upstairs. The house was big enough, he felt they were safe.

  "All of them?" he repeated, just to make sure he'd heard correctly.

  Martha shrugged. "Some more than others."

  "Care to explain?" Cooper half expected Quinn to whip out his notebook, but instead the Senior Constable finished off his hot chocolate and started searching the kitchen for food. Cooper ignored him and gave Martha his full attention.

  "Take Lucas, for example," Martha began. "He had a thing for Zara. Why, I don't know. He's a forty-something truck driver, and she's a twenty-something socialite. But this show is about transforming your life, so maybe he thought he had a shot. It was ridiculous, watching a grown man chase after a girl like that."

  Cooper wanted her to get to the good part, the part where the whole cast had a motive to murder their victim, but he sensed he was going to have to sit through quite a story to get there. Lucky they had all night.

  "So Lucas showed an interest in Zara," he summarised. "What was Zara's reaction?"

  "She played him. She was so hot and cold with him the rest of us couldn't keep up. It became a running joke in the house. Whenever the two of them interacted, the rest of us would whisper 'hot' or 'cold' to each other, depending on how she was with him. The big lug had no idea half the time."

  "Did he figure it out eventually?"

  "Yes. I don't think he's as stupid as he makes out to be, to tell you the truth. Maybe the two of them were playing things up for the cameras, I don't know. One minute she'd be all over him, asking him to do things for her in that sweet little-girl voice she'd put on, and then the next thing she's putting him down and treating him like a second-class citizen. It was exhausting to watch."

  Quinn started pulling food items out of the fridge. "Okay if I make myself a sandwich?" he asked Martha.

  "Go ahead. I'm not in charge of the fridge contents. You'll have to watch yourself if there's not enough for the rest of us for lunch tomorrow, though."

  Quinn gave it a moment's thought, then shrugged. "I'll deal with that tomorrow."

  "What specifically about the way Zara treated Lucas makes you think he had a motive to kill her?" asked Cooper, regaining Martha's attention.

  "The way she spoke to him, mostly. Zara had a way of making you feel inferior. I don't know whether she meant it or not, but I suspect she did. I suspect she knew exactly what she was doing. Zara never had any intention of starting any kind of relationship with Lucas, but she certainly led him on. Then she'd suddenly change direction, and it was as if she couldn't stand the sight of him. Lucas has quite the temper, as I'm sure you've been told. There were plenty of times I feared for that girl's safety."

  "You think it's possible Lucas could have lost his temper and hurt Zara?"

  "I would have, if it'd been me. Look, I'm no fan of Lucas. He's got some serious anger management issues, and they haven't been fixed by this show. Not at all. But if he did snap and kill her, I can't say she didn't bring it on herself. How did she die, by the way?"

  Cooper almost slipped and told her. It was like having a conversation with Liz's mum, Ann. He loved Ann and Bob, was very close to them after losing his own parents. Martha reminded him a lot of Ann, who was forever asking him questions he couldn't answer.

  "I'm sorry, Martha, we can't disclose that at the moment."

  "No, of course not. Sorry to put you on the spot."

  Cooper watched as Quinn, who'd kept out of the conversation, put the finishing touches on his masterpiece of a sandwich. He picked it up and was about to take a bite when he looked up and saw Cooper watching.

  "What? Sorry, boss, did you want one?"

  Cooper couldn't even think about eating after the chicken parmigiana he'd put away earlier. It was one of the biggest he'd seen, and he'd polished off the lot. Liz would have been horrified. "Nah, mate. You just look after yourself." He turned his attention back to Martha.

  "What about Jerome," he asked. "He seemed pretty upset when we came back tonight and found him in Zara's room. Said he was saying goodbye. Were the two of them close?"

  "They were, up until last Friday.”

  "What happened on Friday?” Cooper prodded.

  "Jerome and Zara came from similar worlds. They're both from Sydney. Zara was big on the social scene there, from what I can gather. I suspect Jerome would have liked to be, if not for the fact he's so shy. Zara helped him come out of his shell in a lot of ways. She told him he was out now, courtesy of this show, so he might as well come all the way out and celebrate."

  Didn't sound like motive for murder so far. Cooper stayed quiet and Martha continued.

  "Zara kept telling Jerome she'd get him into the clubs she goes to, something about VIP passes, that sort of thing. I can't say I paid much attention, to be honest with you. Not my scene at all. But Jerome bought it, and he was really starting to blossom. It was good to see. Until he overheard Zara talking about him with Lucas."

  "What did she say?"

  "I wasn't there, so I can only tell you what I was told by Ivy, who says she was with Jerome at the time and overheard just as much as him. Not that she's a terribly reliable witness, mind, but that's another story." Martha was relishing her newfound role of police informant, and Cooper was starting to think she was more than the house mother. She was fast proving herself as the house gossip, too. Which was perfectly fine in Cooper's book – local gossips tended to be excellent sources of information.

  "We'll come back to Ivy's story. Tell me what she said about Jerome overhearing Zara and Lucas."

  "Right. Jerome and Ivy were outside on the back deck. Lucas and Zara were on the beach, arguing, obviously thinking no-one could hear them, but this day apparently their voices carried. It was one of the times when Zara was coming onto Lucas, she must have wanted something. Anyway, Lucas was complaining about all the time she was spending with Jerome, how she was promising to get Jerome into clubs and such when they got back home, and how she never promised anything of the sort to Lucas. Zara apparently told Lucas she didn't mean any of that with Jerome, she was only trying to help him overcome his insecurities, but the truth was she would never associate with him back in Sydney."

  "And Jerome overheard this?" Cooper felt like he was watching a daytime soap opera.

  "Yes, according to Ivy. He was devastated, ran to his room. That's when Zara looked over and realised he'd heard her. She went after him, but he barricaded his bedroom door and wouldn't come out for hours."

  "He must have gotten over it eventually," said Quinn between bites of sandwich. "He was pretty upset in there tonight when we found him."

  Martha shrugged. "You'll have to ask Jerome that. All I know is he hadn't spoken to her since. Maybe they made up last night. I went to bed early, everyone else was still up when I left."

  "Maybe," agreed Cooper, making a mental note to ask Jerome about the incident in his interview tomorrow. "Let's go back to Ivy Lennox. You said she wasn't a reliable witness – what's her story?"

  Martha finished the remains of her hot chocolate, then gathered all the mugs and put them in the dishwasher. "Ivy. Now there's a complicated lass if ever I've met one. She's ve
ry young, only twenty-two I believe. Fantastically talented singer."

  "I sense a but," said Cooper.

  "It might not be an issue in the entertainment industry, but it's a big issue in my book," said Martha. "Not something that's going to get you far in the school of life."

  "What?" Cooper was getting impatient.

  "I think Ivy Lennox is a compulsive liar."

  8

  "A compulsive liar?" Cooper repeated. "What makes you think that?"

  Martha glanced in the direction of the stairs before continuing, her voice quieter now. "She's always telling the group about meeting this super star or that famous person, and all of them fawning over her and telling her how talented she is."

  "And you suspect she's lying about meeting them?"

  "We all do. Zara called her on it a couple of times, when the names Ivy dropped were actually people Zara knew. Zara would say something like, 'oh, that's funny, I've never heard so-and-so mention you', and Ivy would backtrack and try and play it down. I know someone back home who's a compulsive liar, and it's exactly the same with them. I recognise the traits in Ivy."

  "Do you think Zara confronting her in this way was enough of a motive for murder?" asked Quinn. He'd finished eating and was now clearing up his mess.

  "I don't know, Detective. I can only tell you what I've seen. There have been quite a few instances where we know Ivy was lying, but we all let it go. I think it's a way for her to cope with her insecurities. She certainly wasn't happy with Zara calling her out. She'd sulk for hours afterwards."

  "Is she that good a singer?" Cooper asked.

  "Oh yes," said Martha. "Her talent isn't in doubt, she can clearly sing. She should be a star with a voice like that. Maybe she is already, what with this show giving her publicity. Who knows. Like I said, we have no idea how they're portraying us back home, or how the public is reacting. They could have relegated us to midnight or daytime viewing, for all we know."

  Cooper found himself desperately wanting to tell Martha that Transformation in Paradise was the most-watched show in the country, but a promise was a promise. He made another mental note to ask Zach and Nora to keep an eye out for Ivy's supposed lies when they watched the show's recordings, before moving Martha along.

  "What about Dax? What did he have against Zara?"

  "Oh, Dax didn't like Zara at all. She teased him. Dax has quite a few eccentricities, shall we say. Zara made fun of them all at different times. She thought it would endear her to the public. Why, I don't know."

  "We've heard he has issues with anxiety," said Cooper.

  "Yes, that's the medical diagnosis. But Dax doesn't like being labelled, and that's fair enough. He's different to most people in a lot of ways, but that doesn't make it wrong."

  "Then why is he here trying to transform?" asked Quinn.

  "He finds his lifestyle quite difficult. Back at home, before the show, Dax never went anywhere. He was afraid of open spaces, groups of people, and loud environments. That makes it quite difficult to meet your basic living needs. I've spent a lot of time talking with Dax. He doesn't want to change his personality, he just wants to overcome some of his bigger fears so he can live a more normal life."

  "That sounds reasonable," said Cooper. "What was Zara's problem with him?"

  "She didn't have a problem with him. She said she found him cute. Actually, I think 'quaint' was the word she used. But she made fun of him quite a bit. She thought it was funny, that it would help him to 'harden up'. I spoke to her about it a couple of times, said she wasn't helping him, but she just brushed me off. She said she didn't mean any harm, but she didn't realise the effect it was having on Dax."

  "What effect was that?" asked Cooper.

  "He'd retreat again. Every time it looked like the therapy was making progress, Zara would shoot off some one-liner or something and he'd be back in his shell. I don't know whether she was being deliberately malicious, or she just had bad timing. It was like he'd take one step forward, then two steps back, mostly due to Zara."

  Cooper was starting to wonder whether anyone liked Zara. She sounded like a right bitch. "What about you?" he asked. "Did you get on okay with Zara?"

  Martha finished putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher, and wiped down the bench top. "I wasn't a huge fan, to be honest. She's the type of person my husband would call a 'show pony'. I don't usually have much time for people like that. But everything's different here, of course. We had our moments, Zara and me, but for the most part we stayed out of each other's way. She kept things entertaining, I'll say that for her."

  Cooper looked at the clock; it was past two am. He needed to get at least a couple of hours rest if he was going to function properly during the interviews tomorrow. He stood and stretched, hoping Martha would take the hint. She did.

  "I'll leave you to it then," she said, draping the dish cloth over the tap and stepping back to admire the clean kitchen. "See if I can get some sleep now I've got a hot drink in me. It's amazing what hot milk and a good gossip can do." She winked at Cooper, then headed off up the stairs.

  "She's certainly got the gossip part down," said Quinn, once they'd heard her bedroom door close.

  Cooper smiled. "Good for us. Did you get all that?"

  Quinn tapped the side of his head. He pulled his notebook out of his jacket pocket and started writing, leaving Cooper to his own thoughts. Listening to the house gossip was a great starting point, but they were going to have to come up with their own theories if they had any chance of finding out who killed Zara King. He settled himself down on the couch and closed his eyes. Sleep would probably elude him, but he could at least rest his body for a few hours before the busy work began tomorrow.

  9

  Cooper woke to the unmistakable sound of a spoon and bowl making repeated contact in the kitchen. He yawned and stretched then pushed himself up from the couch. A crick in his neck reminded him he was too old for sleeping in uncomfortable places.

  "Morning, boss," said Quinn. Cooper's head swivelled to find his partner sitting on the same kitchen stool he'd occupied last night, now eating a bowl of cereal.

  "Made yourself at home, then, I see."

  Quinn shrugged. "It's just Weet Bix. You sleep okay?"

  "Never better," Cooper lied. "Anyone else up?"

  "Not yet. The sun's barely cracked the horizon."

  Cooper joined Quinn in the kitchen and looked out the window, which overlooked the beach. It took him a moment to realise the sun rose from the opposite direction here. Having lived in Sydney all his life, he was used to the sun rising over the water, but this house was on the western side of Lord Howe Island.

  A key in the front door interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to see a man coming through with arms full of groceries. He went over to help the guy, who introduced himself as Dave the Dietician.

  "I've seen you on the show," said Quinn, once they'd shown Dave their identification. He was maybe early-thirties, Cooper guessed, clean-shaven with tidy dark hair. He wore knee-length shorts and a polo shirt, which made him look similar to the staff back at the resort.

  "Yeah, I tried to stay out of the picture as much as possible," said Dave, "but the producers wanted to show we were doing the right thing by the contestants, giving them proper nutritional plans and guidance." He hoisted the shopping bags onto the kitchen bench.

  "So you're responsible for everything they eat on the show?" asked Quinn.

  "Yes," Dave replied, one eye on the bowl of cereal Quinn was consuming.

  Quinn smiled. "You might be short a few sandwich ingredients."

  "It's all good. The supply boat came in yesterday, so we can restock."

  "Supply boat?" said Cooper.

  "Comes in from the mainland once every two weeks. All the locals stock up then. Most have their own vegetable gardens, so I've been able to negotiate some fresh items with them, but mainly we've been reliant on the boat."

  "Must make it hard," said Quinn, finishing his breakfast and pu
tting the bowl in the dishwasher.

  Dave shrugged. "Just need to plan well, that's all. It's easier now there are less people. Oh, shit, sorry, I didn't mean… I meant as contestants were eliminated, not Zara." He started unpacking the bags. "Do you know what happened to her?"

  "That's what we're here to find out," said Cooper.

  "Of course." Dave put some groceries away in cupboards and the fridge, but left a selection of vegetables and fruit out, along with a carton of eggs. "I'm making omelettes this morning, you want one?"

  Cooper nodded. "That'd be great, thanks."

  "Detective Quinn?"

  "No, thank you. I'm okay. So do you come here every day?"

  "Every meal time. When the show started we were quite strict, didn't leave any food in the house between meal times at all. As it's gone on we've tried to let the contestants have more say in their diet, to encourage them to make healthy food choices. That's why the kitchen is now reasonably stocked. But I still come for most of their meals, whether I prepare them myself or supervise as they make their own."

  Cooper thought of another show that used to be on television, where contestants were isolated in a house and put on restricted diets and made to participate in full-on training sessions and challenges. Liz had watched some of it, and as a doctor she'd been horrified by some of their methods. Surely encouraging rapid weight loss for a television program wasn't healthy for contestants in the long term. He said as much to Dave.

  "I know the show you're talking about. It was very successful as a television program, but not so successful for the long-term health of the contestants. We've tried to learn from that. That's why Transformation in Paradise is about a whole body and mindset transformation, not just short-term results."

  Cooper was sceptical. Still, it wasn't his concern. Finding out who killed Zara King was.

  "We're going to need to interview you formally," he said, changing the subject, "but can you tell us where you were the night Zara King was murdered?"