CHAPTER 4
“YES,” INSPECTOR PIERRE SAID AFTER THEY HAD SETTLED AT THE conference table, cups of coffee in front of them.
For a country with an average daily temperature in the mid-eighties, coffee was an oddly popular drink in St. Lucia.
Sidney had the interview recorded from multiple angles.
The first was a shot over Sidney’s shoulder that captured the inspector’s responses straight on, with an occasional glance of the back of Sidney’s head.
Other viewpoints came from a second cameraman, who moved from side to side, recording for a few minutes before moving to a new location, which occasionally framed Sidney’s face as she asked her questions, but which mostly concentrated on Claude Pierre.
“After Julian’s body was discovered, we were called onto the scene,” Pierre said. “The beach was cleared and taped off, and the medical examiner was brought in to handle the body. Our forensic team as well.”
Sidney had notes on her lap that the cameraman was careful to leave out of the shot. The goal, when Sidney was in the scene, was to give the appearance of a neutral journalist curiously asking questions about the case.
“What do you remember about Julian Crist’s body from that morning?”
“When I arrived, the body was floating in shallow waters off the beach. I remember the way he was inverted, even to this day. His feet came in first and his torso and head were still underwater, like the sea was trying to take him, but the beach wouldn’t allow it.”
“Do you remember anything specific about Julian’s body?”
“I remember most vividly the head trauma. It was nearly all I could notice when the medical examiner’s crew pulled him onto land.”
“It was determined Julian had died from a blow to the back of the head. Is that correct?”
“Ultimately, yes. But at the scene that morning, it was assumed he had fallen from Gros Piton.”
“And why was that assumption made?”
“He was a guest at the resort, and Gros Piton is a popular attraction. It was a reasonable assumption to begin with, assuming the tranquil and isolated nature of the resort.”
“And when did your assumptions change from an accident to homicide?”
“My first clue was a blood splatter that we discovered on the bluff.”
“The blood you found,” Sidney said, imagining the crime scene photos that would run over the audio of her interview, “made you suspect foul play?”
“Of course. If the original assumption was that Julian had fallen accidentally, then there was no way to explain the blood splatter.”
“With the discovery of blood, you figured someone had struck him.”
“That’s correct.”
Sidney paused for a moment before asking her next question.
“More than one hundred guests stayed at the resort on the night Julian Crist was killed. How did you so quickly settle on Grace Sebold as the one who killed him?”