Spoilers for the double-bill, which is already shaping up to be a thriller.
Enjoy and please tell me what you think.
Returning Home.
She had planned for a return trip to Saint Marie for a while, just to reunite herself with her mother and the friends she had left behind after she had accepted the transfer from Saint Marie to Paris to do the kind of police work she had always found a passion for. But she would have preferred to have done it on her own terms, and as she sat in her passenger seat on the plane bound for the Caribbean where she would need to go through the tedious roundabout trip to the island she'd called home for her whole life, she was terrified.
It was rare for Camille Bordey to admit such a thing; she had been terrified when she had been inspired to become a police officer and she had learnt what the work would entail before she had graduated at the top of her year, and she had won medals for bravery in the line of duty, and she had been terrified when she had faced down the barrel of the gun which had put her in hospital and had made her mother go insane and demanded she change her career, but she was scared.
Her mother had been attacked in what Commissioner Patterson had told her was an attack staged to look like a burglary, and the old policeman had made it very clear to her the current DI investigating the attack was currently in the middle of investigating a complex murder case involving a classical musician of some fame and repute who was murdered in pretty much the same way. However the message had been very short, concise and only given her the basics, but there was a great deal Camille knew she would need to pick up from Humphrey's twice successor to learn what had happened, although she had made a point of contacting her old boss to learn more about her mother's condition.
Getting permission to fly out to Saint Marie hadn't been difficult; Patterson might have been construed by some as a political animal who was more concerned for public image, but while there was a degree of truth to that, Camille knew the man had to be that way in order to ensure the Saint Marie police force was kept as up to date as possible and ensure there was a working police force on the island. But on top of that, she knew he was deeply loyal and caring to the people under his jurisdiction. And in this case, Patterson had pulled a few strings with the police authorities in Paris for her to fly out as soon as possible, and her superiors had been sorry to see her go even if she was positive she would return.
In the meantime, Camille was trying very hard not to break down and cry over what she had learnt what had happened to her mother and put her trust into DI Parker's abilities to see some of the case being solved by the time she arrived at Saint Marie. Camille had heard quite a bit about the DI who'd taken over from DI Mooney who'd replaced Humphrey a few years ago and had returned to the UK not long ago, some of it had come from her mother, who'd told her Parker was a cross between Humphrey and Richard, except he lacked some of Richard's stiffness but was slowly beginning to become accustomed to life on a Caribbean island even with his health problems.
Camille had heard about everything that had been happening on the island from the time she'd left; she knew about Florence's promotion, Humphrey meeting and dating a woman before leaving Saint Marie to be with her (she hoped he was dearly happy, and she regretted the way she had treated him at times despite how well the pair of them had worked during their time together), Florence's tragedy with her fiancé being murdered and then leaving before DS Madeline Dumas, an acquaintance who had briefly spoken to Camille personally before she had shipped out to Saint Marie herself in order to determine if Florence's injury was the fault of DI Mooney's.
Madeline had come back to Paris with Patterson's niece, who had quickly fallen in love with Paris and had opted to stay for a much longer period, and Patterson had opted to replace Ruby with a young offender who was given a fresh chance to have a different life; she had never imagined Patterson opting to make such a decision, but she guessed times were changing especially with Florence back in the DS role on the island. But they had both told her about DI Parker along with the emails and phone calls between herself and her mother, how he was a good detective despite his sometimes irritating habits. Camille had laughed at the time, reminded of two other British detectives who'd come to Saint Marie, but this was not how she had imagined herself meeting the man personally. She only hoped he'd made some progress with the case which looked more and more like it was connected with their current investigation. She was reminded of the times she had worked with Richard and Humphrey; blocks appearing during investigations was expected, and she had learnt a long time ago never to judge a book by its cover where British Detective Inspectors were concerned; they were usually very thorough and left nothing to chance, no matter how complicated the investigation or the problems involved.
That and her faith in the team on Saint Marie even if there were none of the old crowd like Fidel or Dwayne still involved with the police force on the island was the only thing keeping her going, and the only thing stopping her having a breakdown out of terror for what could happen to her mother. While she might have worked some things out with her father, it was her mother who'd been the biggest parental influence in her life, and she was terrified about losing her. She and Catherine only had each other and the thought of losing her was frightening.
Camile took a deep breath to steady her thoughts and she sat back to try to get some rest, although whether she'd get it was up for debate. She only hoped the team sorted through enough of the details of the case before she arrived back.
