How to Get Ahead Without Murdering your Boss (11 page)

He adjusted his wet weather jacket and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Tie it steady Davies," he shouted. He received a wave in return from the young man scampering around on deck. He turned back to Lou. "I don't think you've met young Davies. Only transferred up from the big smoke a couple of months ago. Got a face only a mother could love but he's willing."

Lou exchanged a smile with Dr Chen. Samuel had a reputation for giving his recruits a hard time. "The big smoke" was any place with a population of more than twenty thousand.

He stood with legs astride while a young Constable clattered down the ramp, loaded with gear. Samuel shook his head. "You right Constable? We're not trekking the Amazon you know."

Constable Davies was obviously keen to make a good impression and had packed enough equipment for several investigations. He was trying to fit it all in a bulging backpack.

"Yes sir," said Davies as he nearly dropped a camera.

Samuel rolled his eyes at Lou as they set off towards the van and she began to explain the retrieval of the dummy and then the discovery of the body. Samuel asked few questions but Lou suspected that he was listening and didn't miss much.

"Looks like you've done well for yourself here Lou," Detective Samuel looked around as the van pulled up in front of the lodge. "Now I know why your Mother keeps raving on to me about how proud she is." He stretched as he got out and attempted to button up his jacket in a losing battle against an expanding stomach.

Lou shook her head. "Sorry you've had to endure that."

"It's a Mother's job to be proud of her kids," Samuel was keeping the conversation light but he was having a good look around and had seen the cliff-face.

"Is that where the first incident happened?"

Lou came and stood beside him. "Yes. Do you want to look at that now?"

Samuel looked at the heavy purple clouds still hanging around the coast. "No, the body first. We'll have a look at that later."

They skirted around the lodge and squelched through the grounds to Arnold Strong's cabin.

"You've done a good job Lou," said Detective Samuel noting the tarpaulin covering the body and the ropes tied efficiently to stakes. "It couldn't have been an easy weekend."

"Not the best I've had," Lou forced a smile.

"What? Not so keen on finding out your guests are dying to leave?" joked Constable Davies. When he saw Samuel narrow his eyes in his direction he started to quickly photograph the covered body from different angles.

"Not so keen on potential guests finding out what's been going on," said Lou.

"Well we'll just see what we can do to keep it all low-key shall we?" Detective Samuel had known Lou since she was fifteen and took an interest. "Dr Chen, lets get started." Despite his casual air Detective Samuel was serious about his work. The three men methodically checked the scene before uncovering the body. Dr Chen knelt down at the edge of the tarpaulin and started his examination. Lou stood back giving them plenty of room.

Samuel spotted Lou watching. "We could all do with a cuppa to keep out this cold."

Lou nodded. "Of course. Sorry. Tea all round?"

Davies looked from his camera and smiled. "Coffee please." Chen was absorbed in his task and didn't hear her. Samuel answered for him. "Tea. We'll be done soon and then we'll wrap it up and move the body to the coolroom while we chat to everyone. Can you arrange that for us?"

"Certainly." Feeling as if she had been politely but efficiently dismissed, Lou headed back to the lodge.

She returned half an hour later, carrying a tray full of steaming mugs and some brick-sized brownies. She hadn't really meant to eavesdrop but just as she approached the group she overheard Dr Chen. "I'd say between three and five A.M. this morning but being outside in this weather it's hard to be more accurate."

Samuel was crouching over Chen and the body. "And it was instant?"

"Oh no, it would have taken a few minutes for him to drown."

Samuel stood up quickly. "Drown?"

Chen also got to his feet. "Well I have to do a proper examination but falling down the stairs and the blow to the head wouldn't have been fatal. It was landing face-first in this puddle of water that made the difference."

"Well I'll be." Samuel shook his head and looked around, spotting Lou and waving her forward.

Samuel took the mug of tea gratefully and paused until after he had a couple of deep sips. "Thanks love. That hits the spot."

Constable Davies reappeared, having presumably photographed the inside of the cabin. He grabbed a brownie and swallowed it in two enormous bites and then reached for a second.

Samuel raised an eyebrow and Lou smiled. "Good appetite."

"What's that Constable?" Samuel pointed at the plastic bag hanging out of Davies' evidence bag.

Davies quickly swallowed the brownie and brushed the crumbs from his hands. He pulled a couple of bags out and held them up. "Some pills in his bathroom — lids off, contents spilled — and several bottles of alcohol. Looks to me like Mr Strong had been mixing his medications and his drinks, sir." Davies fairly bristled trying to impress.

Lou tried to look at the bottles without appearing too obvious. They looked like the same bottles she had seen in Yasmin's cabin. "You found them in there? In the bathroom?" she asked Davies.

"No the bedroom."

Samuel looked at her closely. "Something wrong?"

Thoughts flashed through her mind in a second. What was the probity of her looking through Yasmin's bathroom earlier? And how could she be sure that they were the same bottles? That would mean that Yasmin had somehow slipped the bottles back into the cabin in the last few hours after the discovery of Arnold's body. Lou bit her lip. She thought Yasmin was huddled in her cabin, recovering from the shock. Maybe it hadn't been such a shock after all?

She realized that Samuel and Davies were staring at her, waiting for a reply.

"No, all's well. I am just surprised. He came across as such a fitness freak."

"Older man trying to regain his youth," joked Davies. He quickly shut up when he saw Samuel give him a withering look. "Not every older man wants to be a young idiot again Davies."

"No sir." Davies back pedaled at lightning speed and picked up his gear. "I'll keep walking the perimeter will I?"

With a nod from Samuel he set off round the cabin, bumping into Paul who appeared around the corner.

"Sorry mate," said Paul heading towards the group.

Samuel stood up straighter and placed his hands on his hips. "Handy? What are you doing here?"

Paul ambled over to Samuel but stood a few paces away. "Oh you know Sarge. A bad penny me. Always showing up when you least expect it."

"I know that you always seem to show up where there's trouble. And I'm a Detective now." Samuel wasn't backing down.

"Have we got trouble then?" Paul looked over a Lou with mock seriousness. "I thought we just had some drunken idiot falling down some steps in the middle of a storm. Sarge."

The two men stood eyeballing each other, waiting for the other to blink. Lou stood back watching the two roosters marking their territory. Any other time it might have been amusing to watch but it had been a tough couple of days and she had no patience for the testosterone being whipped up by the cyclone. Although she was curious to find out more about Paul's reputation, she was saved from further speculation by the sound of Dr Chen snapping shut the lid of his examination kit. The sound seemed to jolt Samuel back to his surroundings and he turned away from Paul. "Just keep out of my investigation Handy, that's all."

Paul saluted sharply and winked at Lou before marching off back to the lodge. She shook her head at him and frowned.

Dr Chen stood up from where he had been concentrating on the body. He tugged off a pair of plastic gloves and reached for his tea. "Thank you."

Lou was reminded of something.

Lou addressed her question to Samuel. "I forgot to ask, did you manage to reach his wife?"

"Yeah a couple of hours ago. She ah," he looked at Chen, "she took it rather well let's say. Didn't seem particularly upset or surprised. She seemed to think that the business weekend was just an excuse to cheat on her." Samuel looked at Lou. "Do you think she was right?"

Lou leaned back with her arms crossed. "Let's just say I don't think she was too far off the mark."

"Well she gave us the name of a funeral home to have the body sent to."

Lou raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like she was very organized."

"Yes she was."

He smiled. "Okay now lets interview everyone shall we?" He turned to Chen. "Can we leave you with this or do you want to sit in?"

"I might need a hand to wrap and transfer to the coolroom."

"Okay get Davies to give you a hand while I set up inside," said Samuel.

"I'll get Clara to show you the coolroom," said Lou as she collected the mugs and picked up the tray.

"Righto then," said Samuel. "Lead on Macduff."

23

Lou had warned everyone that they would be needed and all the guests and staff had gathered in the lounge. One by one everyone entered Lou's office and then came out, looking wary but relieved. Finally, as it was nearing dusk, it was her turn. Detective Samuel sat behind the desk with Davies by the window, a tape recorder and notebook by his side. They looked like they were looking forward to the end of what had been a long day. They started with a few routine questions and she answered as truthfully and factually as she could.

"Well that seems to wrap it up then. Death by misadventure if I'm not mistaken, but we'll have to wait and see what the coroner says." Samuel eased back in his chair and Davies turned off the tape recorder and started to shuffle his papers together.

Lou didn't realize it but she sighed aloud.

Samuel looked at Lou. "Is there something else?"

Lou wondered whether she should say anything. She only had a theory and in the tough light of day it all seemed a bit silly somehow. But.

She placed her hands on her knees and looked straight ahead at Samuel. "Well I just wondered if he could have been pushed. If it wasn't an accident," Lou looked from one impassive face to the other, trying to gauge their reaction.

Samuel leaned forward over the desk. His voice was low and expressionless. "And what makes you think that?"

"Well, he was obviously hated by all his staff," she began.

"Yes I think we worked that out. Go on."

"And they all had a reason to want him dead. And Arnold was alone last night. Anyone could have slipped out of the lodge or their cabin." The sentences came out more quickly than she would have liked. Lou licked her lips.

Samuel leaned back and looked at his notes. "You and Mr Handy and the chef were in the lounge, and Ms Perfect, Ms Humann, Mr Senior and Mr Clearview were in their cabins."

Lou nodded.

"And you think that someone snuck out in the middle of a cyclone, got Mr Strong outside his cabin and then gave him a push."

"Well when you put it like that it does sound a little paranoid but I just have this feeling…" Her voice trailed off and she looked into Samuel's eyes and saw what was reflected there. He was looking at her with pity. God, he thought she was nuts!

"It's been a tough couple of days for you here. I can understand your reasoning," said Samuel in a voice which suggested that he didn't think she was being reasonable at all. He continued to pack up his notes. "Why don't we just wait and see what the coroner thinks, okay?" The police both stood up and put on their jackets. "Now how about a drink before you drive us back to the boat?"

24

"I'm getting used to spending time in this shed in the dark with you. It's almost like we've got our own song." Less than an hour after the police had left, the power had gone out again, and Paul and Lou were back at the utilities shed.

"You're crazy," Lou laughed.

"Yes I am," said Paul. "But at least I'm not the one running around trying to prove one of my guests is a murderer." Paul saw Lou's face cloud over. "Okay Sherlock, what makes you so sure?"

"Well all of them had a motive." Lou ticked them off on her fingers. "Kylie because she was being demoted and sent off to Darwin, Nathan because Arnold was making his life a misery, Yasmin because she found out that Arnold wasn't leaving his wife and Ed because he was going to get the sack."

Yeah. All reasons to hate him, but to kill him?" Paul shook his head. "Sounds pretty far-fetched to me."

"They all had motive — and they all had opportunity. Everyone was in their own cabin last night — alone!"

"Except for you and me unfortunately," muttered Paul.

"Sorry?"

"I said — there's no more I can do tonight. Another dinner by candlelight I'm afraid."

"Damn."

"Sorry." Paul began putting his tools away.

"No, it's fine, it's not your fault. You've been great." Lou sighed. "We'd better get back and break the bad news. Luckily the stove runs on gas so we'll at least have something hot to eat."

"Yeah." Paul looked thoughtful as he zipped up his coat. "You know there is one thing about this whole Strong thing."

"What's that?"

"You're assuming that someone killed him, but what if he just decided to take some pills and end his miserable existence? He underestimated the effect they'd have on him and he changed his mind. Tried to get to the lodge in the dark but just fell down the steps."

"Strong's not the suicidal type." Lou was emphatic.

Paul stood up and stretched his creaking knees. "You seem sure about that. How do you know?"

Lou paused for a few seconds before replying.

"You're right. I don't." Lou turned away from Paul. "Ready?"

"Just a minute. I don't know whether I should show you this but it seems like you're determined, so..." Paul fished around in his pocket and pulled out some twisted fishing line.