Murder in the Caribbean

by Robert Thorogood

  ‘That could just be a coincidence.’

  ‘Okay, but we know that someone came back to pick Pierre up in the grey Citroën, don’t we?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Do you really think Pierre would have gone off so happily with this person if it had been Conrad?’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Neither Pierre’s visually impaired neighbour – or the witness you found who saw Pierre get in the Citroën – said Pierre was in any way angry when he left that afternoon. He just got in the car, it did a three-point turn, and then it drove away. So it’s unlikely to have been Conrad. Seeing as he was most angry with him.’

  ‘Meaning it was either Jimmy Frost or Father Luc who came back.’

  ‘And of those two, I’d put my money on Pierre trusting Father Luc the most. After all, they’d continued their relationship over the years, hadn’t they? And it’s like I said, Honoré cemetery has got to have some spare keys to the crypts. If a priest wanted to get into the Morgan crypt, I bet he could find a way.’

  ‘Okay, so maybe Father Luc hotwired the car and then picked up Pierre. Are you then saying that Father Luc drove Pierre to the cemetery, led him to the Morgan family vault, and then shot him dead?’

  ‘At the moment, it’s a possibility we can’t rule out.’

  Without apparently changing speed, Camille spun the wheel, and the Police jeep lurched off the main road and started thumping down a dirt track.

  While Richard realised that he’d stopped breathing, Camille said, ‘So where does a Priest get a gun from?’

  ‘For the love of God, Camille, would you please slow down?’

  ‘We don’t have time to slow down, sir. Where did Father Luc get a handgun from?’

  ‘I don’t know!’ Richard squeaked as they banged into and out of a pothole. ‘But he’s a prison visitor. I bet he could get hold of a gun if he tried.’

  ‘Okay, that’s a fair point. But why would he kill at all? What’s his motive?’

  ‘And that’s the easiest part of it. Remember what Dwayne said? Father Luc was being lined up to be the next Bishop of Saint-Marie. And we’ve got to bear in mind, this isn’t your common or garden priest, this is someone who flew all the way to London all those years ago to rob a jewellery shop with baseball bats. Despite his protestations to the contrary, there’s violence inside Father Luc, have no doubt about it. And I think, after all these years of sacrifice, of dedicating his life to the church, he wasn’t prepared to have the prize of a Bishop’s mitre snatched from him.’

  With a thud of the suspension hitting the ground, the jeep finally left the sloped track and bombed out onto the flat white sand of the beach. Luckily, the sea was at low tide, so Camille was able to drive on an almost perfectly flat crust of fresh sand.

  Richard could see a little cottage a hundred yards away, at the far side of the secluded cove.

  The curtains were drawn, but the lights were on.

  ‘Is this it?’ Camille asked.

  ‘It’s the address Father Luc gave us.’

  ‘Then let’s see what he has to say for himself,’ Camille said as she slid the jeep to a juddering halt to the side of the cottage.

  Richard and Camille banged out of the jeep and each took a side of the house, meeting up on the further side where the front door was.

  It was already open.

  Richard and Camille were surprised.

  ‘Father Luc?’ Richard called out. ‘Saint-Marie Police.’

  There was no sound that indicated that anyone was inside. In fact, all Richard could hear was the gentle lapping of the sea nearby.

  Pushing the door open, Richard stepped into the cottage and found himself in a little room with ochre-coloured tiles, white walls and simple furniture. But he didn’t take much of the surroundings in, because all Richard had eyes for was the man who was lying sprawled on the floor.

  It was Father Luc Durant.

  Camille pushed past Richard and dropped to her knees by the body, putting her fingers to the priest’s neck to check for a pulse.

  ‘Sir,’ she said. ‘He’s dead.’

  Richard had guessed as much as he’d already seen a bottle of pills on a desk by the door. The pills were sitting next to a half-empty glass of water and a piece of paper with handwriting on it.

  Richard bent down to read what was written on the note.

  ‘“It was me”,’ Richard read out loud. ‘“Father Luc Durant. I did it. I killed them.”’

  ‘It’s a suicide note?’ Camille asked.

  ‘Can you see a ruby anywhere?’

  ‘I don’t think so, sir.’

  Richard quickly scanned the room, and there didn’t appear to be a ruby anywhere.

  ‘You were right,’ Camille said. ‘He was the killer all along. And now he’s taken his own life. Before we could bring him in.’

  ‘Yes, it’s what it looks like, isn’t it?’

  Richard tried to feel happy that the case was so self-evidently closed. After all, the scene really was presenting as a straight-up-and-down suicide. So much so, in fact, that he couldn’t imagine how else it could be interpreted.

  And yet, Richard couldn’t help feeling that he was being manipulated somehow. It was all too neat, with all the loose ends tied up.

  But all four members of the original gang were now dead.

  So how could Father Luc’s death be anything other than suicide?

  I didn’t expect Pierre’s body to be found. Not that it mattered much. I’d already got that covered. That’s why I got Luc Durant to write out a suicide note before he died. And guess what? Luc wasn’t even surprised when I walked in on him with my gun. He said he’d never known how it would end for him, and now he did. Mind you, all the pious hypocrisy he was spouting, I was tempted to shoot him dead there and then. But he swallowed the sleeping pills alright. And then he talked. About his life. About his regrets. I didn’t listen. Didn’t care. I just wanted to watch the moment he slipped into death. In the end it was hard to tell. His breathing became shallower and shallower. I had my face right up against his. Was it actually possible to see the exact moment his soul left him? In the end, I think he’d been dead for a few seconds before I even realised. There was no change. He was alive. He wasn’t. It was all the same. Unlike with Pierre. His death was what made all of this worthwhile. Putting my gun to his forehead and squeezing the trigger. You see, he’d known his life was in danger from the moment we got to the cemetery. That’s when I pulled the gun on him. He was weeping by the time I made him get into that old stone coffin. I didn’t plan it. It was just there, and it occurred to me. But he was sobbing and begging me to let him live as he opened it up. And he was just telling me how it was his first day of freedom after twenty years in prison when I shot him so he’d shut up. And my beloved André saw it all.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  ‘I hear congratulations are in order,’ Police Commissioner Selwyn Patterson said as he strolled into the Police Station as if he’d just been passing and wanted to kill a few minutes – which, Richard realised, was very possibly the case.

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ Richard said, but he knew the Commissioner of old. His view of the world and Richard’s weren’t always in alignment. ‘And why would congratulations be in order?’

  ‘Our killer has finally been revealed.’

  ‘You mean Father Luc Durant?’

  ‘Obviously. Although I should say, the Bishop has communicated his disappointment to me that you weren’t able to arrest him before he took his own life. Or before he’d even committed a single murder. But as I told him, how could you have caught him before he’d even struck?’

  Richard observed that only the Commissioner could offer up a compliment that, by the time it arrived, sounded like a criticism.

  ‘Don’t worry, sir,’ Richard said. ‘I’m not sure Father Luc Durant took his own life.’

  ‘You aren’t?’

  ‘I’m not.’

  ‘But I understand you’ve confirmed th
at the suicide note was written in the priest’s own hand.’

  ‘Indeed, sir. It’s very definitely his handwriting.’

  ‘And I also understand the sleeping pills that were on the table in the room were also prescribed to him?’

  ‘That’s right, sir. I’ve just spoken to Father Luc’s doctor, and he confirmed that he’d been prescribing sleeping pills to Father Luc for a number of years. And the pills he prescribed are the same brand as the pills we found.’

  ‘And as for fingerprints at the scene . . .?’ the Commissioner said, turning to Camille as she sat at her desk, the glass, suicide note and bottle of pills from the retreat on the desk in front of her.

  ‘The only prints on the glass belong to Father Luc,’ Camille said. ‘It’s the same with the pill bottle. Only Father Luc touched it. And although we’ll need to send the suicide note to the labs to be sure, there’s nothing about it so far that raises suspicion.’

  ‘Camille’s right,’ Richard said. ‘It very much looks as though the note was written entirely of Father Luc’s free will.’

  ‘Then perhaps there was a sign of a struggle or a fight that suggests that Father Luc was coerced somehow?’ the Commissioner asked.

  ‘There wasn’t, sir.’

  ‘Then let’s see. Who even knew that Father Luc was staying in that particular retreat?’

  ‘That’s what I’m struggling with, sir. Because as far as I can tell, the only people who knew where Luc was hiding were the Bishop of Saint-Marie and the people in this room.’

  ‘And I take it you’re not suggesting the Bishop of Saint-Marie just murdered one of his priests, are you?’

  ‘No, sir,’ Richard said, but his mind had started to turn as he realised that the Commissioner was right. Seeing as the Bishop was unlikely to be a multiple murderer, and the same was true of Richard and his team, Father Luc must have confided the address of where he was hiding to the killer – by mistake or on purpose, there was no way of knowing just yet.

  But who would Father Luc have told?

  And when you got down to it, Richard realised, with Conrad, Jimmy and Pierre dead, who else did Father Luc even know who was connected to the case that he could confide in?

  ‘Inspector?’ the Commissioner said, and Richard snapped out of his reverie.

  ‘Sorry, sir,’ he said. ‘It’s just, I think you’re right. If he was killed, then why did Father Luc tell the killer where he was hiding? It doesn’t make a whole heap of sense.’

  ‘Father Luc can’t have known that the person he told about the retreat wanted him dead.’

  ‘That’s my thinking exactly, sir.’

  Selwyn looked at his Detective Inspector, and then he sighed.

  ‘You really think it could have been murder?’

  ‘It’s the rubies, sir.’

  ‘The rubies?’

  ‘When we discovered the bodies of Conrad, Jimmy and Pierre, we also found large fake rubies at each murder scene.’

  ‘Yes. They were left by the killer.’

  ‘As a message. To the rest of the gang. Or to us. I don’t know. But that speaks of a killer who is hugely arrogant, sir. Or seriously unhinged. I mean, how warped do you have to be to leave extra clues behind at a murder scene? It’s not normal. You see, Dwayne’s checked, and there’s not a single shop anywhere on the island that sells fake red rubies. Or any kind of fake jewels at all. So where did our killer get them from?’

  ‘And you don’t think this case can be solved until you’ve worked out where the fake rubies came from?’

  ‘I don’t, sir.’

  The Commissioner smiled. He couldn’t help but admire his lead investigator’s dogged determination.

  ‘Then have you considered this? Perhaps Father Luc was already in possession of the rubies? After all, clergy often have various beads and pearls and other bits of haberdashery sewn into their robes, don’t they? Why not Father Luc?’

  Richard’s attention sharpened.

  ‘Say that again, sir?’

  ‘I’m just pointing out that a priest’s robes are often ornate. Studded with jewels that I’m sure are plastic. So, maybe the rubies belonged to him and came from wherever priests get their vestments from? What do you think?’

  Even though Richard wanted time to work out why his mind had just twitched, he couldn’t ignore his boss, so he refocused his attention on the Commissioner.

  ‘It’s a possibility, sir,’ Richard said. ‘But it’s not just the rubies. All the evidence seemed to be pointing to Pierre Charpentier being our killer, but now it looks as though he was very possibly killed on the same day he came out of prison. Or so soon after as makes no difference. And that speaks of a degree of pre-meditation on the killer’s part. So why would Father Luc have already decided to kill Pierre and the rest of the gang? Unless he already knew that Conrad had spent all of Pierre’s cash – which he also knew would send Pierre rogue. What’s his motive? And while I’m on the subject, why would Father Luc shoot and hide Pierre in the Morgan family crypt? I mean, I know that that’s where André is buried, but I still don’t get it.’

  ‘Very well. Then what if Pierre really did murder Conrad? Just like you always suspected. And then he smashed in the window of Conrad’s house so he could leave a ruby there. In fact, having killed Conrad, what if Pierre then went on to kill Jimmy Frost next? But having struck twice, Father Luc found out what was going on – that Pierre was killing off the old gang one by one. And again – somehow – he also knew that Pierre was hiding out in Honoré cemetery. So it was a case of kill or be killed, and Father Luc was prepared to kill Pierre if only to save his own life. I mean, look at it from Father Luc’s point of view, Inspector. Pierre had killed André Morgan in the past, and now he’d gone on to kill Conrad Gardiner and Jimmy Frost in the present. I could imagine even a man of the cloth believing that Pierre deserved to die for what he’d done. And then, to cover his tracks, all Father Luc had to do was find Pierre’s stash of rubies and leave two of them over Pierre’s eyes, and voila!, we’d think that Pierre’s murder was all part of the grander scheme. When, in reality, Father Luc was merely taking down the man who’d just murdered Conrad and Jimmy.’

  ‘Then why did Father Luc need to commit suicide afterwards? With Pierre dead he was in the clear. And why would he also leave a note saying that he’d killed them all? Surely, if he was writing a proper confession, he’d have explained that Pierre had killed Conrad and Jimmy, and now he’d killed Pierre and was taking his own life in remorse.’

  ‘Oh,’ the Commissioner said, disappointed. ‘Yes. That seems a fair point. In which case, it seems to me that you’ve got two options. One, Father Luc is the killer. He really did kill them all. Or option two, there is some other person out there who’s behind the murders. But think on this, Inspector, because I know how hard you and your team work. Is it really possible for someone to have remained so well hidden from you for all this time?’

  Richard was grateful that the Commissioner at least acknowledged how hard they worked. Unlike his boss, he couldn’t help noticing, as Selwyn slipped his peaked cap back onto his head, announced that he was late for a drinks party at Government House, and ambled off.

  ‘Father Luc didn’t commit suicide,’ Richard said, but his team could see that he was trying to convince himself. ‘We interviewed him in this very room. His fear was real. And, if he was already a killer – having killed one person – two – or three, even – why did he confess anything to us first? And why even go to the retreat? If you’re about to take your own life, you want to be somewhere familiar. I just don’t believe he’d go to the retreat, write out his confession and then take his own life.’

  ‘But sir,’ Camille said. ‘If it wasn’t suicide, how did the killer make it look like it was?

  ‘Oh, I’d say that was the easy part, Camille. Because, when Father Luc came to us he was riddled with guilt, wasn’t he? And full of shame for what he’d done in the past. And we know from the murders of Conrad and Jimmy that the ki
ller’s got a gun, don’t we? All the killer had to do was turn up at the retreat, point their gun at Father Luc, and I imagine they could have pressured him into writing a fake suicide note. After all, I think Father Luc would have felt that he was implicated in all of the deaths already. So there are pressure points the killer could exploit with him. I’m sure of it. And I could imagine the killer offering Father Luc a stark choice. Either write the note and take an overdose of sleeping pills – allowing him the chance of a peaceful death – or the killer would shoot him dead. And if they were suitably sadistic, which I think we can say is true of our killer, they’d point out to Father Luc that they could shoot him somewhere extremely painful like the stomach so he’d bleed to death slowly and in excruciating pain. When faced with such an impossible choice, and knowing the guilt that he was already carrying, I could well imagine Father Luc taking the easy choice and writing the note and swallowing the sleeping pills.’

  ‘Okay. But how did the killer even know that Father Luc had sleeping pills on him?’

  ‘Oh,’ Richard said, realising the truth of what Camille was saying. ‘Bugger. That’s a good point.’

  But then Richard remembered something Father Luc had told them, and he scrabbled out his notebook and turned to the relevant page.

  ‘What was it Father Luc said? Here we go,’ Richard said, handing his notebook to Camille so she could see for herself. ‘There was a burglary in his house five weeks ago, wasn’t there?’

  ‘Assuming Father Luc was telling us the truth.’

  ‘But it was a burglary where nothing was stolen. That’s what he said. So what if it wasn’t a burglary as such, it was really a fact-finding mission by the killer? He breaks in to see what leverage he can get on Father Luc, and he discovers in the man’s medicine cabinet that he has a tub of powerful sleeping pills, and that the tub is almost full.’

  ‘But the burglary was weeks before Pierre was released from prison.’

  ‘Which is good news, Camille, because it fits with my theory that there’s some other killer out there, and all of these murders were far more premeditated than any of us have hitherto considered.’