"How are you doing?" "Ah, good so far." "Great." "Oh, I never tire of that view." "You OK?" "Yeah, I'm good." "You catch your breath." "I'll check the seismometer." "Well, I can't find anything wrong with it." "Sensors are clean." "OK." "Well, let's get back down." "No signs of malfunction as far as we can tell." "Wait, so the seismic readings we're getting are accurate?" "Well, we can't discount extraneous factors, Daniel." "Could just be a passing animal setting it off." "Wouldn't be the first time..." "But if that isn't the case, it's three nights in a row we've had amplitude signals at a level consistent with low frequency unrest." "We can't ignore that." "If it is an animal, the chances are it's nocturnal." "I'll go back up tonight." "At least, that way, we'll know for sure what's going on." "Oh, you've only just come back down." "Well, it's my turn on night duty." "Might as well spend it up there as down here." "What time's the mayor due tomorrow morning?" "Er, 9:30, isn't it?" "I'll be back for that." "And I'll expect a decent breakfast waiting for me." "One a day." "Can't hurt, can it?" "What happened to that paper you wanted me to read?" "There's still a few things I'd like to iron out." "Then get them ironed out." "Can't have my favourite protege slacking." "Your only protege you mean." "Right." "I better go e-mail the powers that be." "Update them on where we're at with these readings." "Thanks." "One hour." "Good morning, Victoria." "Mayor Richards." "Good morning." "Good to see you." "Everything all right?" "You better come in." "If you pick this up, Stephen, please just give us a call." "Let us know you're OK." "What's going on?" "We're not sure." "Stephen camped out on the volcano last night." "He hasn't come back this morning, he's not answering his radio." "I'm scrambling the helicopter." "Nothing this side." "Keep a look out." "Daniel, to the left, down there." "Oh, no..." "Bring us in, down there." "Stephen!" "Stephen!" "He's dead." "Sir?" "OK, what's the flight number?" "'Er... ends in "630." Do you know where I'm coming from?" "'" "Yes, Caracas." "'Ever been?" "' No, no, I've never been." "'You'd love it.'" "OK. 'Can't wait to see you.' And what time are you arriving?" "'4:30.' Perfect. 'Don't forget.' No, no, no, I won't forget." "Morning, sir." "Ah, Florence, morning." "Yes, come and say hello to Martha." "She's in Venezuela." "Martha, look, it's Florence..." "'Oh, hello, Florence!" "How are...?" "' Martha?" "Ma..." "Oh, dear." "She appears to have gone." "Must've got disconnected." "Why are you...?" "Something seems to have happened with my Wi-Fi." "Can't seem to get any sort of signal in the shack." "But there, it's perfect." "It's very odd indeed." "Anyway, Martha's flying in tonight, so if I achieve nothing else today, I must get to the airport... on time, 6:30 sharp." "OK, but, right now, we've got something else to worry about." "We've got a dead body halfway up a volcano." "Really!" "Well, this calls for some socks." "Are we nearly there yet?" "Oh, God." "Morning, sir." "Sarge." "Good morning, JP." "Chief." "The deceased is Stephen Langham, chief volcanologist at the Saint Marie Volcano Observatory." "Found this morning by his brother Daniel and Victoria Baker, both co-workers at the observatory." "He came up here last night sometime after 9pm to check the "seis-o-meter." "Seis-mo-meter" I think, Dwayne." "Er, yes, yes." "Seems there'd been some irregular readings coming through." "Now, they were expecting him back this morning around 9am, but he never showed." "Any clues as to cause of death?" "The paramedics think he died of natural causes." "He had a history of heart problems." "Heart attack?" "Six months ago." "No sign of any injuries or any kind of struggle." "Yeah, poor guy." "Dying up here in the middle of the night, all alone." "That's not a way to go, is it?" "Ah, no, JP, no, it is not." "What time was sunset?" "Just after seven?" "And he definitely walked up here?" "Yes, Chief." "There's no other way to access the volcano." "The terrain is way too rough." "And that helicopter is for emergency use only." "What are you thinking, sir?" "Well, what's missing?" "A torch." "There's everything else you'd expect a man camping out on a volcano to carry with him - a tent, binoculars, walkie-talkie, mobile, sandwiches, water canteen." "Now, you said he came up here around 9pm yesterday evening, which would've been dark, and yet there's no torch." "Which is odd, don't you think?" "Dwayne, JP, release the body, bag this little lot, and once you've done that, I'd like you to trace Mr Langham's route back to the observatory." "See if you can find any evidence of a dropped torch." "Yes, Chief, we're on it." "JP, come." "Florence, let's go speak to his colleagues." "I'd like to know a little more about Stephen Langham's movements last night." "Come along." "Oh, dear." "Inspector Goodman." "Joseph Richards." "Ah, Mayor Richards." "Yes, we've met." "Sorry, we were briefly introduced at a council drinks evening, a few months ago." "We were?" "Er, yes, we talked about cricket." "The 2012 West Indies tour, if I recall." "You know, it, er, it rained a lot," "Andrew Strauss got a century in the first Test, and then in the second he, er..." "Yeah, yeah..." "Ah!" "I'm sorry, you're here because...?" "I flew in from Guadeloupe this morning to meet with Stephen, to discuss funding for the observatory." "I see." "Hello." "We appreciate this must be a hard time for you." "If you wouldn't mind telling me who you all are." "Victoria Baker." "I'm the resident geophysicist here." "Sorry." "Er, yes, we understand." "Megan Colley." "Junior geologist." "You must be Daniel Langham, I presume?" "Yes." "I'm a volcanologist here." "And you're Stephen's brother?" "Yes." "That's right." "I understand Stephen was on the volcano to check your equipment there." "The seismograph's been showing irregular output these last few nights." "He wanted to check the readings weren't being corrupted." "Corrupted?" "Seismometers can unintentionally pick up movement from animals, or even the weather sometimes." "So he decided to go up there himself to monitor it?" "It was his turn on night duty." "And he left at about 9pm?" "If you want to check, Inspector, there's a CCTV camera in the control room." "I'm sure that will show you when Stephen left." "Is there CCTV anywhere else?" "Any other security?" "There's the swipe system." "Swipe?" "On the door." "Logs everyone who goes in and out of the observatory." "We all have individual cards to make sure everyone's accounted for in case of an eruption." "Erm..." "If you intended to head up the volcano at night, in the dark," "I assume you'd need to take a torch?" "Of course." "You have to make your way through some pretty dense jungle up there." "It just appears that Stephen didn't have one with him." "But he... he must've done." "My thought exactly." "But, yet, he didn't." "Where do you keep your torches here?" "By the main entrance." "There isn't one missing?" "No." "Are you all right?" "Touch of flu." "Er, could I trouble you for the CCTV and the swipe card log?" "Of course." "Thanks." "So, when he left the observatory last night," "Stephen would've exited through that door, passing right by these torches." "Maybe he forgot to take one?" "It was already dark, Florence." "And on stepping outside and realising that, all he had to do was step back in again and get one." "So, what are you saying, sir?" "I just don't believe that our victim would walk just over a mile-long journey up a volcano in pitch-black without a torch." "You think it was taken from the scene?" "Possibly." "But if that is the case, then someone must've been up there with him." "So, er, Stephen left the observatory at 9:06pm." "I didn't check the CCTV, but I'm sure it'll tally." "OK." "So according to this, after Stephen left at six minutes past nine last night, the next person to swipe the door open was by Victoria Baker at 9:28 this morning?" "That's right, when the Mayor arrived." "Is there anything else?" "No, thank you." "So no-one exited or entered this building between Stephen leaving and Mayor Richards arriving this morning?" "Which means if someone did go up that volcano with Stephen, and then travelled back with the torch..." "How did they get back in the observatory?" "Yes." "Quite." "The exclusion zone." "I assume that's the bit no-one's allowed into in case there's ever an eruption." "It's been over 80 years since Mount Esmee last erupted but she's officially still active." "So, I've just been up an actual, real, live volcano?" "That's excellent." "Ah." "Phenolphthalein." "That rings a very distant GCSE chemistry bell." "Er, used for testing soil acidity, if I remember rightly." "Turns pink when an acid is added." "Or... or is it blue?" "Mr Langham was definitely what you would call "a creature of habit" - is that how you say it?" "That's exactly how you say it, Florence." "There's not much variety here, is there?" "Guess you're right." "Il aime son train-train, la routine." "Very good, sir." "Chief." "Yes?" "The body's on the way to the pathologist and we've loaded all the evidence from the scene into the Jeep." "Excellent, Dwayne." "We should also bag his laptop, personal documents, correspondence." "How'd you get on with the walk back - any sign of a torch?" "I'm afraid not, sir." "Someone was up that volcano with Stephen Langham last night, Florence." "I'm sure of it." "And now they're lying to cover it up." "Are you saying you think they might've killed him, Chief?" "I'm saying it's suspicious, at the very least, Dwayne." "And we should treat it as such." "But there were no signs of injury or assault." "And you can't murder someone with a heart attack." "No, no, you can't." "You're quite right, Florence." "I guess we'll have to wait and see what the postmortem brings up, eh?" "All this because of a missing torch?" "!" "Hm." "Hat?" "Yeah." "So?" "Yeah." "Yeah, really nice!" "Shall I come towards you?" "Yeah." "Ah." "Amazing." "Let me introduce Justine Tremblay from the Saint Marie Times." "Hello!" "Hello." "Morning, Justine." "They're insisting on doing a feature about me for the weekend edition." "So, I thought I'd show her the Caribbean's finest team of law enforcement officers." "The Commissioner is being incredibly generous with his time." "Well, I'm sure he is." "Inspector, I wonder if I might have a word in your ear." "If you can spare me for a few minutes." "Sure." "This business up at the volcano observatory." "Yes, early days, sir." "Stephen Langham appears to have died of natural causes but there are one or two things that don't quite add up, sir." "I believe Mayor Richards was in attendance this morning?" "Yes, sir, yes, he was." "Then, can I ask, are you treating him with suspicion at this stage?" "No, sir." "Quite the contrary." "He wasn't even on the island last night when the death occurred, sir." "He was in Guadeloupe." "Mayor Richards likes to present himself as a caring and well-meaning politician, man of the people, but I've known him a long time and I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him." "If any kind of foul play's involved, I'd advise you not to rule out that, er, Mayor Richards is connected in some way." "We'll keep an eye on him." "Justine, my apologies." "I'm all yours." "I notice it's lunchtime." "How are you with seafood?" "Great." "So, sir, at 8:47 last night," "Stephen comes into the control room, he packs some things into his bag, talks to Victoria Baker, and heads out at 9:05." "Which corresponds with the entry system that shows he swiped out at 9:06pm." "It also shows no-one went out or came in the whole night, until" "Victoria Baker opened the door to Mayor Richards at 9:28 this morning." "Er, excuse me." "So, the victim, Stephen Langham... 55." "Found dead on Mount Esmee this morning." "Paramedics at the scene concluded he died of a heart failure, consistent with a heart attack he suffered six months ago." "Natural causes." "Thank you, Dwayne." "Just saying, Chief." "Mr Langham was the chief volcanologist at the Saint Marie Observatory." "Has been working there for the last 15 years." "So, let us, for a moment, consider that" "Stephen's death may not have been natural causes." "Who might our suspects be?" "Megan Colley." "22." "From Dublin." "Got a First in Geology." "On a 12-month internship at the observatory, started six months ago, although an initial check with immigration showed no record of her arrival on the island." "JP's put a call into the Irish Passport Office to look into it." "Next." "Victoria Baker." "Clearly upset by Stephen's death." "Seemed a rather fragile thing." "Hm." "Miss Baker's had a very successful academic career." "Got her professorship from the Munich Institute of Physics and Technology." "Good for her." "And finally, Daniel Langham." "53." "Stephen's only close relative." "Also a volcanologist." "Yes, and not exactly a picture of health himself." "This is interesting." "Academic star at university, shot straight into a prestigious research position but somewhat went off the radar." "Mm." "Patchy employment history." "Joined Stephen on the island one year ago." "Bit of a motley crew, aren't they?" "We should also look into Mayor Richards." "But he wasn't even on the island last night." "Yes, I know." "I had a tip-off." "The Commissioner suggested that we don't entirely discount the mayor." "I bet he did." "Those two have never got on." "Any reason why?" "Two peacocks in the same pen." "This is a small island and those are two big egos." "Hm, well, let's do as the Commissioner suggested and check that he was, as he claims, in Guadeloupe last night." "Thank you very much." "I'll get on it, Chief." "Sir?" "Yes?" "I think you need to hear this." "What have you got?" "So, according to the Irish Passport Office," "Megan Colley isn't here on Saint Marie." "So, where is she?" "On a six months' work visa in China." "China?" "So, who's the girl we met in the observatory?" "You know, she did seem conspicuously quiet when we were questioning everyone earlier, Florence." "Megan Colley?" "Yes." "Or whatever her real name is." "Actually, Emer." "My name's Emer Byrne." "I knew you'd find out, so..." "Please." "So, why are you pretending to be someone else, Miss Byrne?" "Megan was my best friend at uni." "We lived together, did everything together." "Apart from graduate." "She got a first and then I..." "I failed." "So, how did you end up here?" "I'd lied to my parents." "I couldn't tell them the truth, they'd spent their savings to send me to uni." "I didn't know what to do." "And then..." "Please." "Sit there." "I saw an advert online for an internship here at the observatory." "I don't know what came over me but I thought," ""Finally, here's my chance."" "So, you applied." "As Megan Colley?" "I sent her degree, her results." "And then all you had to do is travel on your own passport and pretend to be her." "I don't know what I was thinking, I mean, I wasn't thinking." "Who at the observatory knows about this?" "No-one." "Did Stephen?" "No." "You liked him, didn't you?" "He sort of took me under his wing." "Called me his protege." "If Stephen had found out the truth, that you weren't who you said you were, how would you have stopped him from reporting you?" "I don't know." "But I could never have done anything to hurt him." "What do you think, sir?" "Well, I'm not sure, Florence." "I think she genuinely cared for Stephen, that much is clear, but something's not quite right." "Like she's not telling us the whole truth." "Ah, yes, thank you very much." "OK, Chief." "So I checked and Mayor Richards stayed at the Blue Orchid Hotel in Guadeloupe last night." "Air Caribbean confirmed he boarded the first flight back to Saint Marie this morning." "Oh, well, there's no arguing with that, I s'pose." "I also spoke to the Mayor's secretary." "She said that Mr Richards and the victim did cross paths from time to time." "Very much a working relationship, from what I can gather." "Yes, yes, good, good." "I'll update the Commissioner in the morning." "And how are you getting on, JP?" "Well, I've been working through Mr Langham's e-mail accounts on his laptop and there's a lot of correspondence that I don't understand, if I'm to be honest with you." "But there was something that caught my eye." "Oh, yes?" "Yes, about a week ago, a Dr Klein at the Carrington Institute in London e-mailed Stephen Langham." ""Stephen, I've just read Baker's paper" ""and am slightly taken aback by it." ""Don't tell me you're happy about this?" "Can we talk?"" "Victoria Baker, I assume?" "I tried calling the Institute to talk to Dr Klein but it was gone 10pm UK time and everybody had gone home." "I'll try again in the morning." "Er, yes, good, good." "Well, I suggest we follow the Carrington Institute's lead and call it a day ourselves." "I need to get to the airport." "Going to meet your girlfriend, eh, Chief?" "Er, what?" "No, I mean..." "Well, she's not a girlfriend." "She's a... just a friend who, er, who is a..." "A girl?" "I better get to the airport." "Oh, hello, Florence." "Martha?" "Erm, Humphrey was supposed to be picking me up from the airport but he didn't show and his phone's switched off." "You just missed him." "He got the time wrong, didn't he?" "It looks that way." "He said 6:30." "That was my flight number." "Oh." "Probably to be expected?" "Welcome back to Saint Marie, Martha." "It's lovely to see you again." "Ah, thank you, Catherine." "It's lovely to be back." "When you're ready to see your room, just let me know and I'll show you where it is." "Thank you." "In the meantime, enjoy." "These are on the house." "So, how long are you here for?" "Only a month, sadly." "Four weeks and then it's back to reality." "You'll have to make the most of your time together." "We will, when he finally turns up!" "Hi." "Oh, Justine!" "I think I left my camera bag here." "Well, let's see if we can find it, shall we?" "Sorry, I never caught your name." "Officer Myers." "I'm the longest-serving officer here at the station." "But call me Dwayne." "Might this be it?" "Thank you." "I wasn't sure where I left it." "It's been quite an exhausting day." "Mmm, yes, I bet." "You find the Commissioner can be a bit exhausting, too?" "Well, let me put it this way, Justine..." "This is off the record, right?" "Of course." "Now, my grandmother had a big, bossy goat." "We used to call it King Goat because no matter what you were doing on the farm, he was always sticking his nose into things and shoving himself about and always trying to get in on the action." "So, the Commissioner is like your grandmother's old goat?" "That's exactly what he's like." "Oh." "Martha!" "Oh, my God, I am so sorry." "I couldn't find you at the airport and I was going to call, but that's when I realised I'd left my phone in the Jeep, and I went to get it, I couldn't remember where I'd parked..." "Suffice to say, it's all been a bit of a disaster, my..." "Hello. back to you." "So, how are you?" "Oh, I'm good." "Erm, well, I'm a bit tired." "I think maybe the flight's caught up with me." "Erm, Catherine was just about to take me to my room." "But maybe Humphrey can show you." "Gosh, yes, the least I could do." "Let me help you with your bags." "So lovely to see you both." "And you." "Goodnight, Martha." "Night." "So I was thinking maybe I could cook you for dinner tomorrow?" "Sorry, I mean, cook dinner FOR you tomorrow?" "Obviously, I'm not a cannibal." "Er, me neither." "That would be wonderful." "Great." "Here we are." "Shall we say eight?" "Great." "OK." "OK, then." "Night." "Idiot!" "And that's all he said to you?" "Morning, Sarge." "JP." "Morning, Dwayne." "Well, thank you very much for speaking to me." "You've been very helpful." "I thought you'd like a coffee, Dwayne, so I put one on your desk." "Oh, thank you very much, Sarge." "Have you seen this?" "!" "Has the Commissioner seen this?" "!" "This is not good." "This is not good at all, at all, at all, oh, my!" "Morning, sir." "Morning, Florence." "Morning, Chief." "JP." "Dwayne." "Eh, Chief." "Everything all right, sir?" "Pathology report." "And?" "Well, the speculative diagnosis, based on the fact that Stephen Langham had a heart attack six months ago, is that he died of heart failure." "So, it was natural causes?" "Not necessarily, Dwayne." "There is no actual evidence of a further heart attack having occurred yesterday." "No clot, no scarring." "So, he didn't die of a heart attack?" "Well, we can't know for definite, JP." "Technically, the cause of death is hypoxia." "Hypoxia?" "Yes." "In layman's terms, he ran out of air." "Which means?" "Which means it could be that his ticker's packed up, or, in theory, he could have been murdered." "But how?" "Well, he could've been smothered." "But wouldn't there have been signs of that in the postmortem?" "There would." "And there weren't." "Well, then, if the pathologist can't find any evidence to indicate" "Stephen Langham was murdered, surely that means he wasn't." "Yes, I know." "Everything is pointing to death by natural causes... if it wasn't for that blasted torch." "You see, the question remains - why did Stephen Langham appear to set out on a mile-long walk up treacherous terrain in the pitch-black without a torch?" "So, er, what have we got?" "Any joy with financial checks?" "Well, Chief, I've been through both the victim's and the suspects' financial records." "Seems none of them were exactly rolling in it." "Now, Daniel Langham's the only one who's actually in the red." "Maxed out on his cards, you know, that kind of thing." "And the victim?" "Some savings put away, about $12,000, but that was dwindling fast." "How come?" "Well, it looks like he was taking out $400 in cash every week." "To do what?" "Search me." "Now I've gone through all his outgoings and everything seems to be accounted for." "But this money just seems to vanish!" "Strange." "Keep digging." "Yes, Chief." "See if you can find anything." "Er, Florence?" "So, I've been through the phone records." "Calls to and from the victim's phone seem to match with friends and family." "But the call list from the observatory landline did show up something." "This number here has been called several times the last few nights." "It's pay-as-you go, so no registered user, but look at the times." "2am, 4am." "That's what I thought." "Someone in a different time-zone maybe?" "Have you dialled it?" "Goes straight to the voicemail." "Keep trying." "Whoever it is must turn it on sooner or later." "Er, JP, did you manage to speak to Dr Klein at the Carrington Institute yet?" "Yes, it turns out Dr Klein was trying to get hold of" "Stephen Langham to talk to him about an academic paper recently published by Victoria Baker." "Yes, according to Dr Klein, it was a fairly ground-breaking study." "I sense, however, there's a "however" coming, JP." "However, apparently the work is all Stephen Langham's, not Miss Baker's." "See, Stephen Langham sent Dr Klein a draft of the same paper two months ago." "It was pretty much word for word what was later published under Victoria Baker's name." "So, Miss Baker had stolen Stephen's research?" "It's rather brazen, isn't it?" "Dr Klein wasn't sure how it all happened." "But when they finally spoke, Stephen was regretful about the whole thing." "Said he'd discuss it with her." "Next thing Dr Klein heard, Stephen was dead." "Stephen gave me his permission to publish with sole credit." "Sole credit?" "This was his work, wasn't it?" "Or have I misunderstood and you worked on this together?" "I contributed some material." "But, ultimately, yes, it was Stephen's baby." "Hm." "So then why would he agree to have his name taken off, and yours added?" "Because Stephen couldn't care less about recognition or notoriety." "Whereas you do?" "So, let me get this right." "You saw this as your ticket out of here and convinced Stephen to give you the credit for his work?" "I wouldn't put it quite like that, but, yes." "Stephen was happy to help." "Not sure why, but I wouldn't have imagined you as a smoker," "Miss Baker." "Then you imagine right." "I'm not." "I was sleeping with him... as I sense you've already worked out." "When exactly did you start sleeping with him?" "Does it matter?" "Mm-hm." "A couple of months ago." "So, right about the time that he'd finished his draft of the paper and was due to publish?" "So, now you've uncovered my shady, little secret, is there anything else?" "Oh, I'm afraid we're not quite done yet." "We believe Stephen may have had a change of heart." "He was going to discuss it with you." "Perhaps re-publish?" "We did discuss it." "And?" "I managed to dissuade him." "How?" "I certainly didn't kill him, Inspector, if that's what you're insinuating." "Well, it's almost lunchtime and there's been no sign of him yet." "Maybe he hasn't seen it." "Maybe!" "And maybe no-one's mentioned it." "Officer Myers." "Good afternoon, Commissioner." "Commissioner." "Is everything all right?" "I was hoping to find the Inspector here." "But it appears he's out." "Ah, yes, sir." "He and DS Cassell are interviewing a suspect." "Well, in the absence of the Inspector, perhaps you'd care to help me, Officer Myers." "Me?" "Yes." "We're going on a little trip." "Officer Myers, I'm waiting." "So... how's your morning been, Commissioner?" "Anything untoward?" "Untoward?" "Or just a normal morning at the office?" "I haven't been to the office yet." "Oh." "I've been doing a little digging into our mayor." "The mayor?" "That's what this is about?" "Why?" "Is there something else we should be talking about, Officer Myers?" "No, of course not, Commissioner." "So, erm, what has your digging dug up?" "Mayor Richards has been meeting with Stephen Langham at the Yacht Club recently." "Apparently, they've had quite a few lunches that got rather heated." "They argued?" "It would seem so." "I'm wondering if it has something to do with the fact that Mayor Richards applied for planning permission to build a hotel on this very beach." "And what might this have to do with Stephen Langham?" "You may not have noticed, Officer Myers, but this beach sits at the foot of the volcano." "And this land was previously designated exclusively to the observatory for research purposes." "Until Richards bought it?" "Exactly." "But if Joseph Richards owns the land, there's nothing Langham and his team can do about it, is there?" "There isn't." "But those heated lunch meetings must have been about something." "Speak of the devil." "Commissioner!" "Is there anything I can help you with?" "Only, you are aware that you are trespassing on private property." "As a matter of fact, there is." "My officer here would like to ask you a few questions." "Ah?" "Wouldn't you?" "Oh, yes, Commissioner." "Now, we understand that you and Stephen Langham had been meeting up at the Yacht Club?" "Is eating lunch a crime, officer?" "No, sir, but we understand those meetings became quite heated." "Listen, over the last five years, the Volcano Observatory has seen its funding reduced." "Stephen was naturally very angry about that." "Hm." "And what about the fact that you're building a hotel on land the Observatory previously used for research work, hm?" "What about it?" "Did that make Stephen Langham angry, too?" "No, not at all." "The beach itself wasn't an issue for Stephen." "There were plenty of other sites they could use." "It is a very big volcano, after all." "Was there anything else?" "That Mayor Richards is a slippery fish." "The slipperiest." "You know why I detest the likes of Joseph Richards?" "Because he's interested in one thing and one thing only - himself." "He doesn't give a damn about this island or the people that live on it and they deserve better than that from their mayor." "I'll speak to the Inspector, Commissioner." "See if we can do a bit of digging of our own." "So, erm... is that everything?" "Nothing else you want to talk about?" "Erm..." "That's it." "For now." "Hello!" "Come in." "Oh, so this is your shack." "It's lovely." "Yes." "It's not bad, is it?" "Welcome to the lounge-come-bedroom." "Ah, gosh, look at the view." "You are so lucky waking up to that every day." "Yes, I do often pinch myself of a morning." "Well, not literally, obviously, I don't er..." "Yes." "Would you like a drink?" "I have wine." "Ah, yeah, that'd be lovely." "Good." "Why don't you make yourself at home on the veranda and I'll..." "OK." "Yes." "Sorry." "Here we go." "Thank you." "So, here we are." "Yeah." "Here we are." "Yes." "To us." "Yes." "To us." "Here." "You know, it's really nice having you here, Martha." "Really nice." "It's really nice being here." "I'm glad I came back." "Yes." "Is that a lizard?" "No!" "Oh, yes, this is Harry." "Sort of a flatmate." "Oh, he's adorable." "Is he?" "Ah." "He never lets ME do that." "Oh, bless him..." "Yes!" "Bless him." "Morning, Florence." "Morning, sir." "I'm afraid you need to get back in the Jeep." "Do I?" "Yeah, we've had a call-out." "There's been an assault reported at the observatory." "Dwayne and JP are already at the scene." "Oh, crikey." "Chief!" "JP." "So, the postman called it in." "He arrived about half an hour ago to find Daniel Langham on the ground having been assaulted." "He said the two guys who did it were shouting at him, something about money being owed." "When they saw they had company, they got straight into their car and drove off." "Loan sharks maybe?" "Yes, maybe, Florence." "We know he had debts but..." "'Touch of flu.'" "'He was taking out $400 in cash every week.'" "Oh, gosh, of course!" "The long sleeves, the runny nose, that "absent" demeanour." "What took me so long?" "!" "Dwayne." "Chief." "He's in the medical room." "Thank you." "You can go." "I'm not pressing charges." "No, I don't imagine you are." "So, how long this been going on?" "What do you mean?" "Your drug habit?" "I assume that's who did this, your dealers." "It's been on and off... a while." "You'd be surprised how dreary the world of science becomes when you reach a certain level." "Not everyone was like Stephen, go into raptures at the sight of a crater." "So, he knew, I take it?" "He didn't get it." "Why someone so "gifted" would lose his way like this." "After all, I had the same parents, same opportunities." "Very similar path." "After all this time, he still thought I'd kick the habit." "But he still gave you money, didn't he?" "He supported your habit?" "He gave me an allowance." "Yes, but you needed more." "That's why you got beaten up this morning?" "Well, what's $400 a week?" "It's nothing." "All I asked was to take it up to 500." "It's not as if he had a family to support." "What?" "We never actually checked Stephen's will." "But I assume that if something happened to him, you'd inherit?" "Yes, I would, but it's no more than a few thousand dollars." "No." "That's not enough to make me want to kill him, believe me." "Yes, well, I would never underestimate the lengths an addict would go to get their next fix, Mr Langham." "So..." "Daniel Langham, a functioning drug addict, denies having killed his brother for money." "Victoria Baker says she didn't do it either, despite Stephen being on the verge of ruining her career." "And Emer Byrne arrived on the island assuming a false identity, claims she's not our killer either because Stephen was unaware of her deceit." "Which leaves only Mayor Richards." "Yes, indeed, Florence." "So, chaps, how are we getting on with digging a little deeper into his affairs?" "This is really hard going, you know, Chief." "This guy's finances are spread all over the place." "Different bank accounts." "Investments." "Hedge funds." "Seems he's got three different accountants working for him." "One thing I am sure of," "Mayor Richards is not short of a bob or two." "Yes, well, keep at it, Dwayne." "JP?" "Well, sir, I got the file on Mayor Richards' beach hotel proposal from the Planning Office and I've been going through it." "Now, it seems like the mayor needed the observatory to sign off the development plans." "See, the exclusion zone had to be moved by a couple of hundred metres to exclude the beach, but, er, there's been no objections." "Good." "Right, Florence, let's you and I go back to where it all started two nights ago, halfway up Mount Esmee volcano." "Now, perhaps we could help ourselves with a visual aid." "So... ..Stephen Langham decides to spend the night on Mount Esmee." "He is discovered dead the next morning, and everything points to his death being natural causes." "Specifically, a heart attack." "However, because there was no torch left with the victim's body, we are left questioning whether Stephen Langham was up that volcano alone, whether someone was there with him, someone who needed his torch to make their journey back" "to this observatory... here." "However... according to the entry log, none of our suspects left the observatory and then re-entered between Stephen Langham setting off at 9:06pm and then Mayor Richards arriving the next morning." "So... if one of this lot did kill him, how did they manage to get out of this observatory here, make it up to this volcano here, and then back again... unnoticed?" "Sir, shouldn't Mayor Richards have his own whiteboard?" "Like, considering he wasn't on the island when it all happened?" "Yes, I suppose he should." "OK." "Right, let's imagine, JP, your computer monitor is Guadeloupe." "Oh, dear, no, that's no good at all." "What isn't, sir?" "Well, I can't see the mayor now." "And if I'm looking at Mayor Richards, then I can't see the observatory or the volcano, that's not good at all." "Erm..." "Wait a minute..." "Of course I can't..." "Can't what?" "Well, I can't see Mayor Richards if I'm looking at that volcano." "Equally, I can't see the observatory if I'm looking at Mayor Richards." "And for that matter, if I'm looking at the volcano, then I definitely cannot see the observatory, which could very possibly explain how it was done." "'He came up here last night to check the seismometer.'" "'It was his turn on night duty.'" "'Can't murder someone with a heart attack.'" "'Called me his protege.'" "'A slippery fish.'" "'The cause of death is hypoxia." "It turns pink when an acid is added.'" "'My name's Emer Byrne.'" "'Daniel Langham, a functioning drug addict.' 'A creature of habit.'" "'There's the swipe system.'" "'Where do you keep your torches?" "' 'Victoria Baker.'" "'I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him." "But why..." "Why kill him?" "Chief, I think I might have found something." "Dwayne?" "Mayor Richards has an offshore bank account in Guadeloupe." "That's why he was there yesterday." "He made a cash withdrawal." "How much?" "Four million Eastern Caribbean dollars." "In cash?" "Oh, yes, Chief." "That's the kind of money you just might kill for." "JP, the planning document," "I need to know who signed off on it." "Of course it was." "I take it you..." "Yes, I have." "And I assume you want us to..." "Yes, I do." "But, first, Dwayne, JP, I might need you to go on a little hunt." "What for, Chief?" "A mobile phone." "And, Florence, we need to go and have a look at one of the suspect's bedrooms." "Whose?" "Victoria Baker's." "Oh, so obvious..." "Now, if I'm not mistaken..." "Bingo." "Look at that!" "Mount Esmee." "A thing of awe and wonder." "No-one understood more than Stephen about the power and danger of volcanoes." "It's for that very reason that he was found murdered on one of Mount Esmee's slopes." "The question is which of you did it?" "I wasn't even on Saint Marie on the night that Stephen died." "In many ways, Mr Richards, you are responsible for Stephen Langham's death." "But, no." "It wasn't you that killed him." "So who did?" "It was you, Victoria." "Me?" "!" "And you, Daniel." "And you, Emer." "You all killed Stephen Langham together, didn't you?" "This is ridiculous." "You're not serious?" "I'm deadly serious." "You all three of you murdered Mr Langham and staged it to look like he died of natural causes." "A second heart attack, brought on by the walk he made up that volcano the same night." "That's what happened." "He died of a heart attack." "I admit it very much looked like that." "I mean, even the pathologist was ready to sign it off as natural causes." "There was one thing that niggled me." "The absence of a torch at the crime scene." "How did Mr Langham manage to walk just over a mile up a volcano in the dark without a torch to light his way?" "Well, the answer to that is that, er, he didn't." "It very much looked like that's what happened." "What actually took place was an incredible piece of misdirection." "All along, we were looking at the volcano as the scene of the crime." "When, actually, the truth of the matter is" "Stephen Langham didn't die on the side of Mount Esmee." "He was murdered in his own bedroom here inside the observatory." "See, on the evening he was killed," "Stephen Langham decided he needed to go up Mount Esmee and spend the night." "'I'll go back up tonight." "'At least that way, we'll know for sure what's going on.'" "'It was... his turn on night duty.'" "But the truth is the irregular readings that were coming through on the seismograph, they weren't down to either seismic tremors or animal activity - they'd been manufactured by you." "The phone records of calls made from the observatory landline showed up a mobile number we couldn't trace." "One that was being called from inside this building at odd hours during the night." "It was in one of the rubbish bins, sir." "Thank you, JP." "Florence, er, do you have the number?" "So, who did the phone belong to?" "It belonged to you lot." "And I believe you placed it up there with the seismometer." "You then dialled it intermittently over a three-night period to upset the readings from the extremely sensitive instruments and lead Stephen to think it was cause for concern." "The afternoon of his murder, you both headed up to supposedly check on the seismometer." "Having removed the phone first, you convinced Stephen there was nothing wrong with the equipment." "'Sensors are clean.'" "Thus forcing him to make the decision that someone needed to spend the night monitoring the situation on Mount Esmee." "And, as he went off to his room to prepare, that's when your plan to kill him kicked in." "'Let's go.'" "How do you kill a man with a heart attack?" "Well, once I realised that he wasn't actually killed up that volcano, then, er, things became a little clearer." "The postmortem showed that Stephen died from hypoxia." "Which means he stopped breathing." "Now, we know he wasn't smothered." "You'd gas him." "You keep canisters of CO2 in your medical room here." "And up to 5% CO2 can be added to pure oxygen to help provoke breathing and stabilise balance in blood." "But CO2 on its own - pure carbon dioxide - is lethal." "And that's what was used to kill Stephen Langham." "You gassed Stephen in his own bedroom." "How can we be sure of this?" "Phenolphthalein." "There were vials of it on Stephen's desk." "I assume he'd been using it for some kind of soil analysis." "It didn't really mean anything at first." "And I couldn't quite remember how the stuff works." "But once we'd worked out what you'd done, I double checked." "You see, its natural colour is pink." "But the phenolphthalein in Stephen's room was colourless, which is caused when acid is added." "And CO2 is an acidic gas." "With Stephen dead, you took the stretcher from the medical room, and you placed Stephen onto it." "Daniel." "We know that Stephen's choice of clothing was, erm, limited." "I can't imagine it would have been too hard to find another outfit that would have matched the one he died in." "And with Stephen's cap as the finishing touch, keeping your face slightly concealed, it was no surprise that we didn't notice it was you seen on the CCTV that night." "All of which made us believe Stephen left the observatory just after 9pm." "And, as you used his swipe card, it was also confirmed by the log." "You then walked the stretchered body a mile up the volcano and then left it there to be discovered the next morning." "And then all the pair of you had to do was be patient and wait outside the observatory because for the final piece of your plan to work, you needed Mayor Richards to arrive and act as an unwitting accomplice" "that you were all present at the observatory that morning." "That way, when we came and checked the door log, it would appear that no-one left or re-entered the building between Stephen leaving and the mayor arriving because Victoria held the door ajar after letting you both back in." "An elaborate yet very clever plan indeed." "And, you know, it almost worked." "If it hadn't been for your one mistake, not taking a torch up to leave with Stephen's body." "You know, if you had, well... ..even I'd've been convinced it was death by natural causes." "But why?" "Why would they do such a thing?" "Oh, I think you already know, Mr Richards." "It's because of you." "We know that you needed the observatory to officially sign off on your planning proposal because you needed them to move the volcano exclusion zone so you could build your hotel." "'You are aware that you are trespassing on private property.'" "I think that's what you and Stephen Langham were arguing about at the Yacht Club." "I think he was against the idea." "I imagine you offered him an incentive or two." "A rather healthy back-hander no doubt." "But I assume he was unwavering and he refused to take the risk to move the exclusion zone, even if it was only a couple of hundred metres." "On the same day Stephen's body was found, the deadline for your hotel planning application was up." "That's why you'd come to see him that morning." "We think a meeting was due to take place in which you expected" "Stephen to sign off on moving the exclusion zone, thus granting you planning consent." "But how could you be so sure that he would sign after he'd been so adamant he wouldn't?" "Because you'd enrolled someone to help you." "Someone who maybe had Stephen's ear." "Someone who was more amenable to your offers of money than Stephen was." "But things didn't quite go to plan, did they, Victoria?" "Stephen wouldn't budge on his decision." "I mean, you might've been able to use certain ways and means to get him to accredit you on an academic paper." "But when it came to something like moving an exclusion zone, something that will affect the lives of other people, he would not be moved." "Which is when you decided the only way to get the money was to kill him." "Now, I'm not quite sure how you managed to convince them to help you kill Stephen." "But I'd say the splitting of four million Eastern Caribbean Dollars wasn't too much of a sell." "I mean, we knew Daniel had grown frustrated with his brother and needed the money." "And in his permanent drug-induced state," "I'm sure it wasn't that hard to wear down his defences." "And Emer." "I think you genuinely cared about Stephen." "I'm guessing that Victoria found out about your secret, didn't she?" "And used it to bully you into joining them in their plan." "So, that's how they did it." "And that's why they did it." "They might each of had their own motive to take Stephen's life... ..it was you who provided the extra incentive." "The final nail in the coffin, if you will." "If you weren't an accessory before the fact, you certainly were after it." "Arrest them all." "You seem to be in good spirits, Dwayne." "Well, JP, let's just say the day ended a lot better than it started." "And I have to admit, there's no-one more surprised about that than me." "Good evening, Officer Myers." "Commissioner." "I believe a number of arrests have been made." "Including Mayor Richards." "Oh, yes, Commissioner." "Though we couldn't have done it without you." "Team work, Officer Myers." "Always team work." "Well, enjoy your evening." "Thank you, Commissioner." "You, too." "Oh, um..." "One more thing, Officer Myers." "Regarding yesterday's article in the Saint Marie Times," "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were wildly misquoted." "A case of journalistic hubris." "That's exactly what it was, Commissioner." "Hubris." "And the thing is that Justine..." "But... if I ever hear you refer to me as a goat, or, indeed, any other sort of farmyard animal again, you can be sure I won't be so forgiving." "No, Commissioner." "Sorry, Commissioner." "I think I should buy you a drink." "And three beers." "Thank you." "So, there's something I'd like to talk to you about." "Something's been playing on my mind." "Oh." "Sounds serious." "Well, I wouldn't say it was serious, necessarily." "But to the same extent, I wouldn't want you to think it was something I took lightly." "Er, and in that respect, er, it would be great to get your thoughts on the matter..." "I agree." "We should kiss." "Do you?" "And I think we should do it now." "Really?" "Right now, in fact." "Blimey." "Well, I mean, if you absolutely insist..." "I do." "MUSIC:" "Right By Your Side by Eurythmics" "That's very er..." "Nice?" "Yes, great word." "Sorry, can I just....?" "♪ I need to be right by your side... ♪" "Gosh." "I think I could do with a drink after that." "Ah, yes, er, me too." "Catherine... two beers, please, and maybe I'll have a rum as well." "Coming right up, Humphrey." "Thank you." "Everything seems to be going well with Martha, Sir." "Yes, yes, it does, doesn't it?" "Very." "♪ Give me two strong arms to protect myself" "♪ Ooh, give me so much love that I forget myself" "♪ I need to swing from limb to limb... ♪" "Body of a young woman's just been found on the beach of the Malbonne estate." "That's Sylvie Baptiste's home." "She wrote a novel we all studied at school." "If Esther was pushed to her death, it has to be one of them that did it." "I went to school with her." "It's not your fault Esther died, Florence." "These girls are young, they're hormonal, they do flirt." "Do we take it things are going well with Martha?" "She's moving in for the rest of her stay." "Er, excuse me!" "Can we take your name?" "Nice to meet you, too!"