Part 3 of 6

"Look," Fidel says, "there in the sand…" They all look. Footprints, little dents that weave from the boat to the tree-line. Fidel carefully presses his foot down beside one of them then lifts it away. His mark is much larger. He looks up, "The Chief didn't make these marks. His assailant did. Someone with much smaller feet." He can't help looking at Camille with concern but she is looking into the boat in confusion so he then nods at Dwayne to indicate they should step away to discuss the situation.

Dwayne understands and nods back, but first... "Camille, stay here next ta the boat and see iffn that helps jog yer memory. Fidel 'n me gotta talk, we won't be long."

Camille raises her head to look at him. If she suspects anything she is too shocked by what she has seen to say anything, "OK, Dwayne."

Once the two friends have moved a few meters away, they begin to talk but always without losing sight of her for her own safety.

Fidel goes first, "Dwayne, the Chief is one of the most methodical and orderly people we know, right? Something happened here that I don't understand at all but I'm afraid it might point to Camille. I mean, if she was alone here, with him, and they were drinking or mixed drinking with something they shouldn't have, maybe the situation got out of control and…"

Dwayne continues, "I see what yer sayin'. We know how they feel 'bout each other even if they don't. The difference bein' the Chief has patience mixed with rather a lot of fear and Camille is not like that at all. Maybe the wine, along with other substances, made her too aggressive and impatient? Maybe the Chief "rejected" her in some way and Camille lost her temper?"

Fidel looks scared, "I hope not, Camille would rather die than hurt the Chief." He thinks a bit and continues, "I think we're focusing on this wrong, by using our feelings. The Chief would tell us to follow the clues. We have to analyze the footprints on the beach, maybe there were other people involved. We need to check for fingerprints on the wine glasses. We need to look for witnesses although I don't think that's likely unless Harry saw something. One of us has to call Catherine. We have to analyze the blood. Once we have all the evidence then, and only then, can we start to find the truth. "

Dwayne beams proudly, "You know sumpthin', Fidel? The Chief is right about you, you ARE worth it." Fidel looks away blushing as Dwayne continues, "I can ask my contacts if they heard about a fight or anythin' else out of the ordinary last night. A course, if they did, I can't ask what they wuz doin' at the time else they'll clam up."

"I understand."

Dwayne then says low, "What do we do with Camille?"

Fidel thinks and answers reluctantly, "We'll have to call the Commissioner unless we can figure it out in the next few minutes by ourselves."

Dwayne groans and mutters, "Just what we DON'T need, another impossible deadline!" He sighs and claps Fidel on the shoulder, "OK, partner, let's dive in. You lead and I'll follow. The Chief trusts you and so do I! Time to call Catherine."

Fidel sighs and pulls out his cell phone as he watches Dwayne amble over and start talking calmly to Camille. Within moments he hears Catherine's voice in his ear. "Catherine? It's Fidel. Listen, did you see Camille last night around supper-time?" Then his face hushes as he listens to something awful.

Dwayne watches Fidel as he talks on the phone. He can tell by Fidel's face that he doesn't like what he's hearing but he can't spare a moment to question his partner because he's busy listening to Camille and he doesn't much like what HE'S hearing either. She insists that she has no memory after arriving at La Kaz last night. That isn't like Camille at all.

"And…" she finishes her recitation by tenderly fingering her temple, "I've got this horrid lump on my head! Maybe I was hit? Or attacked? Or… I don't know! Oh, Dwayne, what if I did something bad? To Richard? Richard… oh, I couldn't live with that!"

He shushes her like a doting uncle, "Hush, hush, I'm sure you didn't do nuthin'. Here comes Fidel. I'll just go talk to him. You rest and try to remember last night, OK?"

She smiles tremulously, "OK," and sinks forlornly onto 'Boaty's' prow, staring down at her abandoned shoes, frowning fiercely as she massages her brow.

Dwayne turns away and the smile drops off his face as he asks Fidel, "What did she say?"

Fidel rubs the back of his neck with a groan, "Camille came in and ordered a drink and supper then the Chief came in to order a pot of tea and HIS supper… and they started to fight."

Dwayne isn't surprised; fights are a daily occurrence, "What did they fight about THIS time?"

Fidel grimaces, "About his dinner choice. You know he always orders the same meal." Dwayne nods. Of course he knows. The whole ISLAND knows. "Anyways, Camille took him to task about not trying to assimilate and he argued his case against seafood and things got ugly."

This DOES surprise Dwayne. He blinks, "Ugly? Ugly how?"

"The Chief stormed off after only one cup of tea and without his supper and Camille ordered another of those wild-colour drinks she drinks. You know, the ones with the little paper umbrellas?" Dwayne nods. Those little paper umbrellas are always bad news. "THEN, about an hour and several more drinks later, she started muttering about Englishmen and how stuck-up they are. Catherine tried to calm her down but she just got madder and madder and then…"

Dwayne sucks in a sudden breath, "Then what, Fidel?"

Fidel brings up solemn eyes to pin Dwayne where he stood, "And then she said she was going to strangle the man with his own tie and raced off. Well, staggered off, more like. Catherine tried to catch her but La Kaz was jumping and she wasn't fast enough. By the time she got out onto the street, Camille was gone." He then whispers in horrified apprehension, "Gone here? To beard the Chief in his own den? Full of demon rum?"

Dwayne stares for a moment then nods, "Yeah, what you said. So, she comes here and…" he gestures to the little house then to the boat. Both men look up the beach then down the beach… and they don't look happy at all.

Fidel sighs sadly, "Catherine said something else too. It doesn't help."

"What? What did she say?"

"She said she's always hoped all their fighting would lead to grandchildren… not murder." At Dwayne's startled look, Fidel sighs again, "I'm sure she meant it as a joke but Dwayne… we have to consider… we have to keep our minds open. We have to… to…"

Now Dwayne sighs, "I know, Fidel, I do. The Chief didn't just rub off only onta you, ya know. I been payin' attention too. Yeah, we hafta keep open minds… even if we don't like it, hey?"

"Yes," Fidel agrees, squaring his shoulders. "OK, here's what we do. You take Camille back up to the veranda and keep questioning her about last night. I'll record the clues on my cell phone. THEN, if we have no other choice, we're going to have to start treating this place as a crime scene. I don't want to think it but… but…"

Dwayne groans, "Yeah, I don't wanna think it either but… we just may have a crime of passion on our hands here and the Chief ain't here to lead 'cause…" he swallows dryly, "…'cause HE's the victim! Oh, man, Fidel, this is gonna hurt! Worse than arrestin' Lily."

END – part 3