Chapter 16 #2
I left him to his coffee and went over to explain to the two police officers that Foster hadn’t been present when the victim’s death had been discovered, so this had apparently come as a very unwelcome surprise to him.
I stood alongside them for a minute or two, studying the crime scene.
The impact of the victim’s head on the table had tipped over a glass and a wine bottle, and a trail of red wine showed the track of the bottle as it had rolled off the table to smash on the ground by Lucy’s feet.
The overturned glass still had a little puddle of red wine left in it, and I felt sure that this would be worth careful investigation.
There was one other wine glass on the table, but it was empty, and in front of the body were the remains of a half-eaten bowl of the excellent fruit salad Valentina had prepared as a healthy alternative to the no fewer than three different cakes, tarts and puddings she had served as dessert.
If I’d been the investigating officer, I would have directed Forensics to study the fruit salad most carefully as well as the wine residue.
A matter of minutes later, the next wave of police officers arrived, and this time, I was secretly pleased to see it headed by Inspector Giulia Trevisan, with the sergeant by her side.
She was accompanied by half a dozen other officers, some already wearing forensic overalls, and it looked as though they were now giving Lucy’s death the serious investigation it merited.
When the sergeant led the inspector over to me, she held out her hand.
I shook it but, before she could say anything, I was determined to get in a few words first.
‘Good evening, Inspector. It’s good to see you again, but it’s a pity about the circumstances.
’ I used the polite form of the pronoun ‘you’, although she and I had happily used the familiar form the previous day.
‘I fully understand that, like everybody else here on the island, if it turns out to be murder, I’m a potential suspect, so if you want me to retreat into the background, just say the word. ’
She gave me a little smile. ‘Let’s wait until we know one way or the other, Dan.
In the meantime, there’s no need for you to be so formal.
’ To make the point, she was using the familiar form of ‘you’.
‘While the pathologist and his team get on with their work, why don’t we find somewhere we can sit down, and you can tell me what you meant when you told Sergeant Scarpa that things here on the island had been “fraught”? ’
I led her and the sergeant along the terrace until we came to a couple of benches positioned outside the greenhouse, a fine old-fashioned, cast-iron lamp illuminating our surroundings. We sat down opposite each other and I didn’t waste any time.
‘The island belongs to Alice Graceland and the victim’s name is Lucy O’Connell.
’ I saw recognition on the faces of both officers.
‘That’s right, two of the biggest stars in the movie business.
Lucy O’Connell had gone downhill fast in the past few years and I’m almost certain she was a long-term drug addict, so it’s very possible, as the sergeant quite rightly pointed out, that her death has been the result of an overdose.
However, the situation here on the island has been awkward, to say the least, for completely different reasons. ’
I went on to give them a breakdown of what I’d learned over the last twenty-four hours, particularly Alice’s intention to confront the people featured in her autobiography, against whom she bore a grudge.
I ran through the list of guests, actors and staff here on the island, and both officers made copious notes as I provided a brief description of each of the guests.
Giulia Trevisan whistled under her breath as I reeled off their job titles.
‘Wow, it sounds like we have half the movers and shakers in Hollywood here. When the media get wind of this – and I’ll do everything I can to see that they don’t – there’s going to be all hell to pay.
’ She gave me a helpless smile. ‘By which I mean that Scarpa and I are going to have our superiors breathing down our necks.’ She glanced across at him.
‘Thank God you’ve done everything by the book so far. ’
The sergeant shot me a sheepish look, and I gave him a smile and a wink in return, before continuing with my account of tonight’s murder mystery.
I started by mentioning the cards handed out by Alice that had caused such outrage among at least some of the guests.
I related what Alice had said about the character played by Dirk Foster in the murder mystery and his incandescent reaction, and she immediately instructed the sergeant to collect all the cards, making a careful note of which had been given to whom, and she added a direct command.
‘First things first, Scarpa, I want you to make sure that every officer, every paramedic, the doctor, any sailors or crew, all get the message that anything or anybody they’ve seen here tonight is strictly classified information.
If anybody so much as mutters a word about who’s here on the island, I’ll see that they regret it.
Make sure that the message is understood. I mean it. Not a word to anybody.’
As the sergeant jumped to his feet, a thought occurred to me. ‘How’s your English, Sergeant? Would you like me to give you a helping hand?’
He shook his head. ‘My English isn’t too good, but it should be sufficient for this. Thanks for the offer but, if need be, I can ask one of the serving staff to help me with the translation.’
After he’d disappeared along the terrace, Giulia leant forward towards me. ‘Thanks for making sure Scarpa called me in. With big names like these involved, this case is going to come under a lot of scrutiny.’
I smiled back at her. ‘No problem. The thing is, the sergeant might well be right about it being an overdose, but with all the background jealousies and anger bubbling away here, I felt it was better to be safe than sorry. By the way, you told me your English wasn’t particularly fluent, so if you’d like me to help with interpreting, I’m at your service. ’
‘Thanks, Dan, I might take you up on that, but probably not until tomorrow. All I need for now is to check through the list of who’s here, and for the pathologist to work overtime to establish the exact cause of death.
If it turns out to be suspicious, then I’ll be back first thing in the morning to take statements from everybody.
I’ll give orders that nobody is to leave the island until I say so. ’
I nodded approvingly. ‘Sounds very sensible. What I can do in the meantime is to take a quick look through Alice Graceland’s book.
’ In response to a raised eyebrow from the inspector, I explained.
‘A copy of the first draft of the manuscript of her autobiography has been delivered to each of the guests this evening, including to me, and I can’t wait to take a look at it.
Certainly, if Lucy O’Connell’s death turns out to be suspicious, I feel pretty strongly that the murderer’s real target must have been Alice Graceland and, depending on what she says about each individual guest in her book, that might help us establish who had the strongest motive for trying to murder her. ’