A/N - I don't own Death in Paradise.

The episode 'Murder from Above' is one of my all-time favourite Death in Paradise episodes since the Marston siblings had a tacky and one-dimensional motive for murder, but what I liked the most was the case was complicated by a bunch of spoilt brats, and there was plenty of character drama.

Please let me know what you think.

The End of the Marston Siblings.

DI Jack Mooney walked out of the veranda of the shack, a blissfully cold beer in his hand - just what he needed for the humidity and a case well solved. He smiled as he beheld the peace, and the warm breeze as the sun began to set, casting a gorgeous red-orange light in the otherwise darkening blue sky. The sight had never failed to awe or inspire Jack, especially since the view of the sun from this angle was vastly different from the one he had commonly seen while working in London.

He often stood outside - he had gotten into the habit as soon as he had arrived on the island for the very first time following Humphrey's unexpected decision to return to London and give him the keys, metaphorically speaking to the island as the chief of police, Siobhan would sometimes be with him whenever she wasn't out with the friends she had quickly made in Saint Marie; like himself, Siobhan had an easy-going friendly attitude which had made it easy for people to like her. It was sad she had moved back to the UK to go through with her higher education. He was happy for her, but as Catherine had told him, kids were the ones to cut the apron strings. She was right of course, parents worked long and hard to make children independent so it was ironic on the day they actually made the preparations to leave as soon as they could.

But not the Marston siblings.

Jack grimaced as he thought about the recent case he had just wrapped up tightly and the case he had just finished writing his report on, the case which had tasked his patience to the upper limits of its endurance, the case which Philip Marston and the Commissioner had both put their respective foot down on for him to close quickly, both of them assuming Diane Smith's death was a tragic suicide.

But he hadn't been convinced. If there was one thing he had learnt from his wife - God rest her soul - and Siobhan, especially when he had accidentally left that bottle of nail varnish half on, which had nearly dried the foul-smelling substance up, you did not just leave a bottle of nail varnish open unless you planned to get back to it quickly before it set.

However, there had been other indications her death had been far from a suicide, and the more he had learnt of her character such as how she had made a major racket when Stephen, probably the most reasonable of the siblings, was accused of sexual assault, or when Pearl refused to accept a job at the firm - Jack actually agreed with the woman, Pearl might believe she had a career by promoting the Marston brand online, but he didn't think that was what a career should be.

It was Karen Marston's own attempts to bully Diane into signing a prenuptial agreement which had clinched in his mind the woman was not the type to be bullied, nor turn a blind eye as Philip would. The newspaper article about Diane abandoning a child when she was younger had upset her, he accepted that, but now Jack knew the siblings had deliberately hired a private investigator and then passed the information onto the sleaziest reporter they could find, he believed the news had shaken her but not as it appeared to be. The siblings had merely used it as a reason for suicide, but as the investigation had gone by, Jack had accepted Diane was actually of stronger character than what was first believed.

Diane Smith had been a workaholic. She had been an only child, she had fought hard to achieve a great deal in the tourism industry before she was hired by the Marston Group 3 years ago, and the more they'd learnt about her during the course of the investigation, the more convinced Jack had become they weren't dealing with a weak-willed idiot. People like that did not just commit suicide by jumping off a balcony.

Even Philip Marston had fallen into the trap of feeling his fiancé committed suicide because of the article.

Jack scowled as he thought about Philip Marston, and the lecture he had received when the hotel brand owner had asked him quietly if he, Jack, had any children. While he agreed in principle with what Marston had said to him, Jack had clearly seen the major difference between Siobhan and Pearl; while both were young women of close age, both were vastly different.

Siobhan had learnt from a young age she would need to be responsible and find her own way in life, and while he did accept Philip's lecture had some truth to it, Jack had begun to see enough of the siblings to see they were more than a little spoilt and entitled. Pearl had gotten into an argument with Diane when Pearl didn't want to get a proper job, and if that wasn't a sign of a father putting his foot down, Jack didn't know what wasn't.

Pearl, on the other hand, was just content to sit back and enjoy massages, and whatever else she liked doing without doing anything else with her life and her father didn't seem to realise it. Her attempts to become an actress had ended, but Jack had the feeling she'd just become bored of the idea of doing work.

The more Jack thought about Philip's talk about doing what was best for their children in the long-term and letting them do what they wanted, the more he viewed the man as a blind hypocrite. When Siobhan was a toddler, Jack had been overjoyed to drop everything to help her although he had continued with his breakthroughs, he hadn't made the mistake so many other coppers made when they had kids which were to neglect them in favour of their work.

He had taken her out, he had given her every type of attention but at the same time, he had been firm with her. Siobhan was a smart lass, and she had learnt from an early age not to cross him or get on the wrong side of him, and Jack had never been afraid to discipline her if he felt she deserved it. He had encouraged her to work hard.

But the Marston siblings hadn't learnt that lesson. Their father had thrown money at them and let them do what they wished while he worked on his business, and while Jack could well respect the man for that, he didn't like or appreciate the comparison between his daughter and his own children.

Out of all of the Marston siblings, the only member out of that trio who came close to being as realistically minded as Siobhan was Karen, but truthfully the woman was just as arrogant as Pearl and Siobhan. Sure, she was a hard worker but she hadn't wanted Diane anymore than her brother or sister did.

In the end, that was what it had all come down to. The Marston children just did not want Diane to be their stepmother because for the first time they heard the word 'No.'

That was it.

That was the motive. It was just... unthinkably stupid, one-dimensional. That was the worst of it. Jack had encountered and experienced many cases where the perps had some weird motive, but this one was really low. Unlike their father, Diane had not been willing and nor would she turn a blind eye to their actions.

Diane had not had any intention of letting Pearl get away with not being employed. In fact, when she married Philip, there was no doubt she would use him to put pressure on the youngest girl and make him see things from her own point of view.

She would not allow Stephen to continue living in the hotels around the world and sexually assault the staff and let him get off because he was a Marston, and now he was thinking about it, Jack had little doubt there were more skeletons like that in Stephen's closet. He would have to look into it, and hopefully, now Philip knew what his children were really like and the employees of the Marston group now heard what they'd done, people who'd been afraid for their jobs would come forward. It would likely go both ways, of course, with people coming forward with lies aimed at suing the Marstons for every dollar or pound they had.

Well, it was not his problem. It was somebody else's problem.

Diane would also definitely not the type to allow anyone, not even her prospective step-daughter bully her into a prenuptial agreement. Diane wasn't the type to the bullied and the siblings had quickly realised it, and when they did… Jack didn't know yet who had come up with the idea - Stephen had panicked and claimed it was Pearl, but there was still time to work that out, or if they had simply come to the plan at the same time together. Personally, he believed it was an offhand idea that took root. That seemed more like them.

Still, Jack had to admit they'd come up with a brilliant plan; persuade Diane as the woman was getting ready for the party to visit Stephen for a chat, lure her onto the balcony and simply push her off while one of them was in Diane's room separated by only a single storey, fooling their father into thinking Diane was on the other side of the door about to jump off using simple misdirection. It was clever in a sick sense, but what made it even sicker was the why they had done it, and Jack had let that same disgust bleed into his voice as he reached the end of the reveal.

Once more Catherine's words had rung true; where most children were encouraged subtly by their parents to find their own paths, and make their own lives. Catherine's own daughter, Camille was a successful policewoman who had graduated at the top of her year. Siobhan was going to Uni.

But the Marston children did not want to change. No, and why should they when they'd had everything handed to them on a plate? What was the point of living if that was all you had?

Jack shrugged his shoulders, groaning a little bit; his back was still sore from Siobhan's farewell party when he had played 'How low can you go?' And he drank up his beer, thinking of Siobhan and wondering how she was doing. He would call her and see if she was okay, and settling in nicely.

Yeah, he'll do that.