19
Cooper and Quinn were at the house bright and early Tuesday morning. Dave was serving breakfast, and the contestants were all gathered around the dining table when the detectives were invited in.
"Morning everyone," said Cooper, receiving a range of responses for his trouble. Martha was enthusiastic, the others greeted them with varying degrees of interest. Cooper pressed on. "I was hoping to follow up on a matter with all of you," he said, taking a seat at the head of the table while Quinn stood close by. "Do you mind if we chat while you eat?"
Noncommittal shrugs seemed to be the order of the day, which was good enough for Cooper. He turned to Ivy. "Yesterday you told me you thought Zara might have been sneaking out of the house at night. We've found some evidence that would indicate you were right."
"Nice to be believed for a change," said Ivy with a scowl.
"Does anyone else know anything about Zara leaving the house at night? We have evidence pertaining to last Thursday at ten pm, but according to Ivy there could have been multiple instances."
Cooper scanned the contestants, but they were all shaking their heads. All except Jerome.
"Jerome, do you know anything about Zara sneaking out? You were the closest to her in the house, weren't you?"
"No. I mean, yes, we were close. But I don't know anything about her sneaking out." He pushed eggs around his plate with a fork, piling them up in the corner next to a mound of cooked mushrooms and tomato.
"Are you sure?" Cooper asked.
Jerome nodded.
"Does anyone else have anything to say about this?" Cooper asked the group.
"When can we go home?" asked Dax.
"I told you yesterday, that's not up to me."
"Yeah, but they're not telling us anything. Just that we're stuck here until your investigation is over. How much longer is that going to be?"
"As long as it takes," said Cooper. He was about to say more, but stopped himself when the front door opened and in walked Garry Adams, followed by two uniformed police officers.
"Morning all," said Adams. He introduced the officers – one male, one female – to the group, and explained they were there mostly to keep the journalists and sticky-beaks away from the house. The contestants and Dave all seemed grateful.
"Right, we'll leave you to it then," said Cooper. He got the keys to the Land Rover and the police station from Garry, who was going to stay on at the house for a while to make sure the crowd gathered outside was well-behaved.
"What now, boss?" asked Quinn once they were on the road.
"Let's check in with Zach and Nora quickly, see if they found anything after we left them last night. Then we'll pick up Kyle Aren and take him to the station for a little chat."
"Won't that light the journos up? Us taking him to the station? There’s probably still a few of them there."
"At this stage, Joe, I don't really care. I just want to get to the bottom of this and go home, like the contestants. I know it takes a special kind of person to go on a show like that, and they knew what they were signing up for, but Dax is right. One of their own has been killed. If they're innocent, they should be allowed to go home."
They found Zach and Nora in familiar poses in the editing room, both staring at monitors, one hand on the mouse, the other on the keyboard. Neither looked up when Cooper and Quinn entered.
"Anything?" Cooper asked.
"Nothing," said Zach. "We've been over everything from that back camera going back a month, and we've found nothing else. Thursday night was either the only night anyone left that way, or it was the only time the camera caught them. As you know, the camera isn't there to cover the door. Plus there's no sound when it records at night, we checked with Rebecca."
"So even though we don't have it on camera, it's possible a person or persons could have entered and exited the house via that door at any time."
Zach nodded. "I tested it last night. Went over there and snuck up, touched the door, and came back, trying to avoid the camera. Nora watched it live, and replayed it for me when I got back. It's as if I wasn't there."
Cooper let out a long sigh. "Shit. All right, keep watching the rest of the show. Pay particular attention to Zara's interactions with Kyle Aren, and also Jerome Kokinos. I still think he's hiding something. We're off to interview Kyle."
Kyle was just finishing up his breakfast when they caught up with him.
"We need to have a word," said Cooper, standing over his table.
"I was just about to head over to the house," said Kyle.
"That can wait. We'll drop you off there once we're done. Come on."
"Where are we going?"
"Police station."
Kyle didn't argue, and they were at the station inside ten minutes. There were only two journalists out the front, and Cooper again ignored them as he guided Kyle through the front door. The host's presence raised cameras onto shoulders again, but Cooper was beyond caring.
"Did you really have to march me in here like that?" asked Kyle once they were inside. "What's this about, anyway?"
Cooper opened the door to the private office and told him to take a seat while Quinn searched for something to record the interview. It took a few minutes to set up, but they were soon underway. Cooper got straight to it.
"Have you been seeing Zara King outside of the recording of the Transformation in Paradise show?"
"What? No. What are you implying?"
"I'll ask the questions. So you didn't interact with Zara in any way, except for what was required of you by the filming of the program?"
"Again, no."
"Have you ever returned to the house after hours, and used the back door to gain entrance?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
Kyle rested his arms on the table and turned them palm out, in an 'I don't know what you're talking about' gesture. "It would be a breach of contract for me to be at that house after hours, not to mention a breach of the contestant's trust. I wasn't there. What is this, Detective? What are you getting at?"
Cooper again pulled the printouts from his pocket and smoothed them on the desk in front of Kyle.
"What's that supposed to be?" asked Kyle, voice defiant, but Cooper noticed the colour drain from the host's face.
Cooper pointed to the first picture. "That's your arm and shirt sleeve entering the Transformation in Paradise house at ten pm on Thursday night. And that," he added, pointing to the second picture, "is your arm and the arm of a second person leaving the house moments later."
Kyle took an age to study the photos. "That could be anyone," he said eventually, pushing the pictures away.
"It's quite a distinctive shirt, Kyle. We've been told it belongs to you. It won't be hard to get a warrant to search your hotel room, where I'm betting we'll find that shirt. Do I need to get a warrant, Kyle? It could take a while, but this office is comfortable enough."
Kyle sighed. "All right, fine. It's my shirt. It's my arm. I was there on Thursday night."
Finally. This case was draining all of Cooper's mental resources. He'd only been here two nights, and yet he longed to see his family. Was this the breakthrough that might send all of them home soon?
"Tell me why you were there," he said, leaning back in his chair.
"Zara was having trouble adjusting to the fact she was going home soon. All the other contestants wanted to go home, but Zara was happy here. She was in no rush to return to everyday life. Jerome, too, for that matter. But Zara was the one who was most anxious about it. She asked me to talk to her, so we agreed I'd come and get her on Thursday night and we'd go for a walk to chat."
"Why so late? I mean, you've just spoken about contracts and breach of trust. Why take such a risk when you could easily have spoken to her during the day?"
"Zara wanted to make sure no-one else knew how she was feeling. She particularly wanted to keep up appearances for the cameras. She thought the only way to do that would be for us to meet at night. I know it was w
rong, but Zara could be very persuasive. She wasn't someone you said no to."
"Was it just Thursday night, or did you have other late night meetings as well?"
"No, just Thursday. Honestly, Detective. I had nothing to do with Zara's death. I had no reason to want her dead. She was so young, and beneath the tough, cool exterior, she was still a kid. I was trying to help her."
They questioned him for a while longer, trying to trip him up with his whereabouts on the other nights leading to the murder, but he stuck to his story. They eventually let him go, to the delight of the camera crews outside. News had somehow spread of Kyle's appearance at the police station, and the number of crews out there had tripled. Mustn't be anything going on over at the house. He and Quinn watched through the window as Kyle gave an interview, proclaiming he had nothing to do with Zara's tragic death, and he was happy to help the police with their investigation.
"You believe him?" asked Quinn, when the commotion died down.
"Not a word of it," said Cooper.
"Then why'd we let him go?"
"We've got no evidence, Joe. Him being there two nights before the murder doesn't prove anything, even if he is lying about the reason why."
"You think he was sleeping with her?"
"I think something was going on. I don't think Garry and Maeve were the only ones keeping each other company on this island these past couple of months."
20
Kyle Aren chose to walk to the Transformation in Paradise house, followed closely by the journalists and camera crews from the police station. Cooper was amazed at how Kyle worked them, turning an embarrassing situation into a positive one. They couldn't hear what he was saying as he walked off, but he seemed to have them wrapped around his little finger as he spoke directly to the cameras. Cooper watched for a minute then turned away.
"He's definitely a showman," said Quinn.
Cooper nodded. "I don't like guys like that. They're very persuasive. They can make anyone believe anything if they're vulnerable enough."
"You think he had Zara fooled?"
"I don't know. From what we've seen and heard, she didn't seem the vulnerable type. She seemed the most in control of the lot of them, to be honest. That's what makes Kyle Aren's story so hard to believe. Would she really have been nervous about going home? And even if she was, would she have gone to him for help? Under cover of darkness?"
"Yeah, I agree," said Quinn. "It's iffy."
The station's phone rang, and Quinn answered it like he'd worked there all his life. Sounded like it was Garrett. Cooper tuned the conversation out while he went back over the interview with Kyle in his head. The guy had been adamant he'd never been to the house at night, it would be a breach of trust, etcetera. He'd been convincing, too, right up until he was presented with the evidence. If they hadn't had that evidence, Cooper might have believed him. Which meant he was a bloody good liar.
Quinn was furiously writing as he spoke to Garrett. There must be a development. Cooper waited patiently for the phone call to finish.
"Well?" he asked when Quinn finally put the phone down.
"There was no phenobarbital in Zara's system, which means she didn't get the belladonna alkaloids from Donnatal."
"Which puts Garry in the clear. So where else could it have come from?"
"According to Garrett, we could be looking for a plant. Specifically there are two plants containing the alkaloids that might be on the island." Quinn consulted his notes. "Atropa belladonna, known as deadly nightshade, and brugmansia, or angel's trumpets."
"Plants? How does it get from being a plant to being in our victim's system? Did she eat berries, or something?"
"Garrett says the berries of the atropa belladonna are toxic, as are the leaves and roots. Angel's trumpet is that tree with long, trumpet-shaped flowers. The flowers, leaves, and seeds are all poisonous. Apparently some people make it into a tea and drink it for hallucinogenic purposes."
Cooper took a moment to digest this information. Had Zara eaten some poisonous berries by mistake? Or was it deliberate? And if it was a deliberate attempt to get high, how would a rich, connected person like Zara, who back home would presumably have been able to get her hands on whatever drug she wanted, know that these plants even existed?
Quinn had brought one of the office computers to life and logged in to his email, where he was now looking at pictures of both of these plants. Cooper studied them over his shoulder.
"Garrett sent these so we could see if there are any out here on the island," said Quinn. "Give me a few minutes to do some research, boss." He opened a web browser and started typing atropa belladonna. Cooper left him to it.
"I'll go get us some coffee."
The short walk across to the Ocean View cafe Brandon had recommended yesterday gave Cooper more time to think. Zara had supposedly kicked a drug habit while out here on the island. It was her biggest transformation, obviously made easy by the fact she had no access out here to her drug connections. Was it possible she knew about these naturally-occurring drugs before coming here? Or did someone else put her onto them? Or was it simply that she ate a few berries without realising how harmful they were?
The autopsy revealed enough belladonna alkaloids in her system to incapacitate her, but not to kill her. Their working theory up until now had been that someone drugged her without her knowledge to subdue her so they could kill her without a struggle, and without the rest of the household hearing a commotion. But what if she took the drug knowingly? That changed everything.
Cooper got a couple of coffees and managed to resist the pastries at Ocean View. Back at the police station, Quinn was still glued to the computer monitor.
"You find anything?"
"Yeah. Both of these plants are used by people wanting to get high. They have hallucinogenic properties, but they are also very dangerous."
Cooper placed a coffee in front of his partner, then pulled a chair over for himself.
"Thanks," said Quinn, taking a sip. "Look at atropa belladonna first. That's the one with the berries. Apparently for a regular sized adult, one or two berries mildly affects perception for a couple of hours. Three to four acts as a psychoactive aphrodisiac, while four to ten berries is a hallucinogenic dose. Anywhere from ten to twenty can be lethal."
"So if you were taking them for hallucinogenic purposes, you'd need to know this stuff," said Cooper.
"You'd be pretty bloody stupid taking them if you didn't."
"Pretty stupid anyway, I would have thought. What about the other one, angel's trumpet?"
"That one's a bit more complicated. Apparently you have to mash it up into a tea, and you drink the tea to get the drug effect. It's got a very bitter taste, so it would be difficult to poison someone with it without their knowledge."
Cooper took a sip of his coffee as he contemplated what all this meant. "Did Garrett mention any other prescription drugs that use these ingredients?"
"Nothing that ties with the rest of the toxicity tests. He's pretty confident she got it through one of these plant sources."
"So either someone managed to feed her poisonous berries or toxic, bitter-tasting tea without her knowledge, or we've got it all wrong and she actually took the drug willingly."
"That about sums it up, yeah." Quinn raised his paper cup. "Good coffee." It was a high compliment coming from him.
They each spent a little more time researching the plants online, Cooper taking angel's trumpet and Quinn looking further into atropa belladonna. Before long Garry Adams joined them at the station, bringing sandwiches and drinks for lunch courtesy of Dave the dietician.
"Everything okay at the house?" Cooper asked, once they'd divided up the food and tucked in.
"No problem. Kyle arrived with an entourage, gave the journalists a story to file, so they're all relatively happy. The contestants are bored staying inside, which is understandable. Maeve and Johnny were devising some sort of challenge for them when I left, to try and take their minds off it all.
They were supposed to be going home today, so the script is out the window."
"I know they're keen to get home. So are we. Looks like we could have had a breakthrough, and we're going to need your help."
Cooper explained about the two plant sources of belladonna alkaloids, and Garry was visibly relieved to be officially off the suspect list. Cooper showed him the pictures they'd managed to print of each plant, along with a close-up of the berries and flowers.
"Do you know if there are any of either of these plants on Lord Howe Island?" Cooper asked. "I don't recall seeing any as we've walked around, but then I wasn't looking for them."
"Same here," said Garry. "I'm not really into gardening and plants, to tell you the truth. I could have walked past one of those a thousand times and not registered it." He had another look at the angel's trumpet. "Although that one looks pretty distinctive. Don't remember seeing one around here, but then that doesn't mean much."
"Do you know anyone who might? It's pretty important we find out whether one or both of these plants are out here."
Garry thought for a moment, then nodded. "Rosie, my next-door neighbour. She knows everything there is to know about this island, including the flora and fauna. I reckon she's your best bet."
"Can you take us to her?"
"Sure. She's retired, so she's usually always home. I'll just give her a quick call, let her know we're coming. She doesn't like drop-ins."
While he did that, Cooper turned back to his partner, who was busy polishing off a cheese sandwich. "You right to go looking for these plants?"
Quinn smiled. "Always up for a field trip, boss."
21
Rosie McNicholl was a take-no-shit kind of person, and Cooper liked her immediately. She knew of an angel's trumpet on the island, but it was a fair walk and she asked if they wanted to go to the resort first and change out of their long pants. Cooper appreciated the offer, but couldn't bring himself to work in shorts. Even though they were on a holiday island, someone had died, and if the investigation led to a remote part of the island and a lot of sweat to get there, so be it.
C&Q04,5 - Dark Paradise Page 9