Chapter 4 – Surprises and Shocks

A few minutes earlier, Jack had left the canteen and was passing the school entrance on his way back to the assembly hall when he saw patients from the local hospital being brought in on hospital beds, their families at their side. There was a secure area at the hospital but it only had room for the most seriously ill and injured patients so the remainder were being transferred to the school to be accommodated in the school's medical room and a few other rooms, where doctors and nurses would be stationed to care for them.

A bed was brought in, on which lay a middle aged man attached to a heart monitor. His wife walked at his side, keeping him talking, and her son held her hand. Two other relatives followed behind the bed, another son perhaps, and a daughter, or daughter-in-law. The daughter or whoever she was suddenly turned her head to talk to the man beside her and Jack saw her more clearly. He was sure he must be imagining things. It couldn't possibly be…

'Florence?!' he gasped, unable to stop himself, immediately expecting funny looks that would confirm it had just been his mind playing tricks on him. But instead, the woman in front of him turned round and her face lit up when she saw him.

'Inspector… Jack!' Florence ran over and gave him a big hug. Neither was able to let the other go for several seconds.

'It's…really good to see you!' Jack was the first to speak'

'It's good to see you too. It's been a hard day!' she indicated the bed in front of her. 'Gerard, I'll join you in the medical room in a few minutes. I remember where it is, OK?'

'Sure' her brother caught up with the rest of his family.

'Is that your dad?' Jack enquired.

'Yes, he had a heart attack. I thought we were going to lose him. Thankfully he is out of danger'

'I'm so sorry you had to go through that. After everything else…'

'It's been tough. But…oh no! Not again!' Florence suddenly began to look unwell. She pointed at the corridor ahead as Jack went to hold her again before she fainted.

'Whatever is the matter?' he began to ask, sitting her down in a corridor chair before looking round in the direction she was pointing. He got a shock himself when he saw a British tourist holding a dead man and suddenly noticed the people screaming all around him.

'Oh Lord!...excuse me?!' he called to a passing nurse. 'I need to deal with this' he indicated the scene ahead. 'Could you please look after my friend here, she's had a shock and feeling a little unwell. Her family are in the medical room with her sick father. Could you take her there once she is able to walk?'

'Yes, sure' the nurse replied.

'I'll come and see you later, OK?' Jack left Florence in capable hands as he ran over to the art corridor.

'OK, everyone away from this corridor, please. Except you!' he pointed at Adam, who was still holding the body. The crowd dispersed, leaving only Jack and Adam, and Tiffany who was still howling uncontrollably.

'He killed my fiancée!' Tiffany yelled, pointing at Adam. Jack turned to the accused.

'Let's put the body down' He helped Adam to lay Gavin's body out on the ground, then took out his handcuffs.

'I'm Detective Inspector Jack Mooney. I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder. You are not obliged to say anything…'

'But I-I didn't…!' Adam began to find his voice.

'You'll come with me and we will talk. You will get the chance to give your defence' Jack pulled Adam to his feet.

'Can we help?' two army officers approached the scene.

'Could you please arrange for this corridor to be sealed off? It is now a crime scene. And could you find the Police Commissioner and ask him to meet me in the Head Teacher's office urgently? He should be in the assembly hall. Oh, and could you also get some of your officers to relieve my two police officers who are stationed in the gym, and ask them to begin the examination of the body?'

'Yes, Sir' the soldiers got to work.

Karen and Jenny were on their way back to the assembly hall carrying two steaming hot cups each, when they saw Adam being led away from the scene in handcuffs.

'Adam!' gasped Karen. What…no!'

'Oh my God!' Jenny also saw the corpse in the distance and Tiffany being led away as the corridor was cordoned off. They both left their cups on a nearby window sill, and Jenny went over to the young woman as Karen ran after Adam.

'Here, here' Jenny took Tiffany's hand and led her to a chair. What happened?'

'Your friend, Adam, he…he killed Gavin!'

'Killed Gavin?!...that's his body?'

Tiffany nodded and sobbed.

'Oh God, are you sure?'

'He was standing in the corridor holding his body. He must have stabbed him!'

'I…I don't know what to say!' Jenny held Tiffany, not believing Adam capable of such a deed, but at the same time not wanting to upset her young friend any further by questioning her accusation.

'Jen? What's goin' on? Where is everyone?' Pete had left the hall to investigate when his wife and friends had not returned by quarter to midnight.

'Oh you won't believe this Pete! You'd better sit down' she told him the story while still holding Tiffany.

'Did I miss something?' David then appeared and Pete filled him in during a walk along the nearest corridor.

Karen caught up with Jack and Adam outside the Head Teacher's office.

'Adam! What on earth is going on?!' she looked between her boyfriend and the man leading him into the office in handcuffs.

'And you are?' Jack enquired.

'Karen Marsden. This man is my partner. Why have you arrested him? What has he done?!'

'Oh Karen, that young man from earlier, Gavin, is dead, and this man and Tiffany think I killed him!' Adam had finally taken in what was happening.

'But that's ridiculous! It can't have been him. You've got the wrong man – he's been with me all night except for the few minutes I went to get drinks with my friend!' Karen pleaded with Jack heatedly.

'That's all it takes, Miss Marsden' Jack defended himself. 'This man was seen holding the dead man and that can't be ignored. Now if you'll excuse me I have to interview your partner. If you wish to give a statement in his defence you can come forward when asked'

'I would like to stay with him during this interview. Normally he would be entitled to have a lawyer present, would he not? And we are in the middle of an exceptional situation!'

'Are you a lawyer, Miss Marsden?'

'No, but is there one we can call on in here?'

'Not that I know of, but police interviews on this island are not as formal as they are in the UK and there is rarely a lawyer present in my experience to date'

'All the same, he is surely entitled to have some counsel if he so wishes, is he not?'

'Well, Sir, would you like your partner to be present during our interview?' Jack now addressed Adam, who was still in shock.

'I…yes' he agreed.

'OK, come in then, both of you' Jack unlocked the door and led them in, and indicated two seats in front of the Head Teacher's desk. Jack took one of the two seats behind the desk to show who was boss. Two minutes later the Commissioner arrived.

'Ah, Inspector, I have just heard what happened in the art corridor. Is this the suspect?' the Commissioner glared at Adam accusingly.

'This is the man seen holding the victim in the corridor, yes. A young woman, the victim's fiancée, I think, said he killed him'

'I see. And this is?' the Commissioner regarded Karen.

'This is the accused's partner who we have agreed can be present while we interview him'

'Very well' the Commissioner took his seat beside Jack.

'This is Police Commissioner Selwyn Patterson and I am Detective Inspector Jack Mooney. Now, can you begin by telling us your name?' Jack addressed Adam.

'Adam Williams' Adam replied.

'OK and you are Miss Karen Marsden, did you say?' Jack continued.

'Actually it's Mrs Marsden. I'm divorced' Karen corrected him.

'OK, sorry' Jack continued to take notes. 'Now, Mr Williams, you were seen in the art department corridor by dozens of evacuees, including children, holding the body of a young man who appeared to have been stabbed. Yet you say you didn't kill him. Can you tell me then how you came to be holding the body in a public place?!'

'It…it just fell from the display into my arms! I thought it was a mannequin!'

'The body just fell into your arms?!' the Commissioner gasped in disbelief.

'I know it sounds far-fetched but that's what happened!'

'And did you know the victim?' Jack continued questioning.

'His name was Gavin. He was sitting next to us on the plane earlier today, then he and his fiancé were seated at the table next to ours at dinner at our hotel. They ended up spending the evening with us and our friends. We hadn't met him before today'

'And did you all get along?'

'Yes. I wasn't sure if Gavin liked us at first but we were getting along well by the end of the evening'

'And was there anyone the victim didn't get on with?'

'Not that I met'

'Except for that man who was making trouble for the waitress' Karen reminded him.

'Oh yes, there was a right prick of a man who was dissatisfied with the service and was behaving abusively towards the waitress. It was Gavin who stood up to him but he looked at us all and scowled. I wonder…'

'I see' the Commissioner looked at Jack.

'OK so this is what will happen' Jack went on. 'You will be held in this room tonight and in the morning we will begin the detailed investigation and interview witnesses with a view to determining your guilt or otherwise, although I don't know exactly how it will proceed. Normally the body would be flown over to Guadeloupe for a post-mortem and other lab tests, but with the airport and harbour being closed I am not sure what is going to happen as yet?' he turned to the Commissioner.

'I'm afraid we haven't had a murder in these circumstances during my time in the police either but I can't see that we can do anything until transport systems are up and running again' the Commissioner declared solemnly.

'Are you saying Adam is going to be locked up here until the storm is over and you can do the post-mortem?!' Karen protested.

'I see no other option. We can't allow him to stay in a hall full of people when he has been seen holding a murder victim'

'But you can't prove he did it and I know he could never do something like this!'

'I'm sorry, Mrs Marsden but the public would more than likely be unhappy about him being free. We will see what can be done tomorrow, but for tonight we must hold Mr Williams in custody. You can have a few minutes with him, then I must ask you to return to the assembly hall for the night'

Karen realised she could not contest this ruling so reluctantly hugged Adam and told him 'Don't worry, the storm will pass quickly and they will soon be able to prove you had nothing to do with Gavin's death. We'll call Robyn, pay for her flight over if necessary, and she will get the charges dropped, I'm sure'. She left him sitting with his head in his hands as Jack and the Commissioner also left the room and the door was locked.

Nikki had queued for forty minutes for a coffee and, finding there were no seats available in the canteen, she decided to take it back to the hall to drink. She had been allocated a mat in a cramped corner of the hall where there was next to no personal space, even to stretch out her legs. She felt very lonely and isolated here in the school since the people around her did not seem very friendly. Some did not speak English and Nikki's French was limited, but even the English-speaking people had shown little interest in conversing with her. She earnestly wished Matt had been able to get to the island before the airport had closed as having him here would have made this experience slightly more bearable. She heard the commotion coming from the art corridor and immediately went to see what was happening. She was shocked to see a crime scene containing a dead body – it was the last thing she had expected to see on holiday. However, as she was not the kind of person who would sit and do nothing when there was a situation like this unfolding, she put her coffee cup down on a windowsill and addressed the army soldier stationed at the entrance to the crime scene.

'Excuse me' she addressed him.

'Pardon?' he replied in a strong French accent.

'Um…excusez-moi'

'Oui?'

'Is there anything I can do to help? I'm a pathologist'

'Pardon?' He had clearly not understood her.

'Um…Je suis medicin. Je voudrais aider'

'Medicin? C'est trop tard, il est mort!'

'No, je suis une autre sorte de medicin, une…pathologist, je ne sais pas le mot francais'

'Je n'ai pas compris'

Nikki tried another tactic. 'Il y a une persone la qui parle anglais?' she looked over at the two police officers examining the body and looking around the corridor for clues.

'Non' the soldier was unhelpful and did not even call the officers over. Nikki had to assume none of them spoke English and admit defeat. She would speak to the Chief of Police, who might hopefully speak English, if an opportunity presented itself either later that night or tomorrow, but in the meantime, she retrieved her coffee and reluctantly returned to the hall.

As Karen returned to the hall to rejoin her shocked friends, Jack was obliged to return to the art corridor to see how J P and Ruby were getting on and to work out what on earth they were going to do with the body. The Commissioner remained with him which only made him feel extra tense.

'What have we got?' Jack got straight down to work.

'Well, Sir, it looks like this man was stabbed with some kind of small knife' J P began. The wound is small and there is no exit wound'

'OK and is there any sign of the weapon?' Jack continued.

'We've checked all the bins and in the gaps under the chair frames and around the mannequin display but haven't found anything yet, Inspector Mooney' said Ruby. 'Would you like us to have a look in the classrooms?'

'I'll order a search of the whole school in the morning' said the Commissioner. 'It is going to take a lot of people. Do you have the victim's name? Our suspect Adam Williams only seems to know his first name'

'Yes, I spoke briefly to his fiancee' J P advised. 'His name is Gavin Harper and is twenty nine years old, engaged to Tiffany Smith who he was on holiday with. He lives in York, England and is a reporter at the Northern Gazette'.

'Did you speak to any of the people who saw our suspect with the body?' Jack asked.

'Two witnesses reported seeing the body fall from the mannequin display into his arms' J P confirmed.

'OK, so that proves that part of Mr Williams story is true' Jack rationed, looking at the Commissioner who nodded in agreement. 'Have you been able to shed any light on how the body got there in the first place?'

'No, nobody we spoke to saw anything' Ruby hung her head.

'Don't worry, you have done well for tonight and it's now one o'clock in the morning. Could you maybe go and see that school janitor who holds the keys and arrange for us to get a room to lock the body in for the night? And while you're there ask him if anyone else asked him for the keys to any of the classrooms or if any keys went missing?'

'Yes Inspector Mooney' Ruby headed for the janitor's office and when she returned the four of them lifted Gavin's remains onto a stretcher that had been provided and carried him into a store cupboard at the back of the nearest art classroom.

'The janitor didn't notice any keys disappearing at any point, nor did anyone ask for them' Ruby advised.

The team thnm made sure the room was securely locked and headed back to their stations to attempt to get some sleep.