S1 E6 – An Uneasy Explanation

The two officers assemble the white board with photos beneath the scoffy scornful eyes of their temporary superior officer then step back swiftly and take deep breaths, ready to show this rude DS Young how Team Honoré operates! As she steps in and starts scribbling info beneath each mug shot, the men nod to each other then turn to face the board…

… and freeze.

Their eyes dart from one photo to the next and the next before slamming back to each other in wondrous dread. They don't dare speak aloud for fear DS Young will hear them as she busily crams more notes onto the board. Instead, they step back and lean towards each other.

"This is… is…" Fidel mutters then bites his lip, afraid to say it.

Dwayne nods small, "Yeah, it is. I knew it wuzn't no prank that first time."

"But… but…" Fidel stutters, "how can this be? It's impossible. I'm not dreaming, am I?"

Dwayne frowns, "No, Fidel, you ain't, unless this whole day is a nightmare we're sharin'."

They eyes slide sideways to check on DS Young but she is ignoring them as inconsequential furniture again. They look back to each other in consternation.

"What do we do?" Fidel finally whispers.

Dwayne sighs, "There's only one thing we CAN do." Then he smiles and rounds to face his Chief's inadequate substitution, "Ma'am?"

DS Young's tightly bunned head shoots up. "Yes?!" she barks, "What is it?"

Dwayne hooks a thumb at the board, "This thing's ready t' fall down. I'm gonna take it t' the shop fer fixin', iffn you don't mind?"

She steps back, drops the marker, waves an annoyed hand, "Fine, I don't care, take Freddie with you and make yourselves useful; go question that man on the boat, take more photos of the crime scene, and bring me back a vegan gluten-free sandwich on 12-grain bread with a non-dairy cheese slice." She drops into the Chief's chair and begins writing furiously.

Fidel gives Dwayne a questioning glance but takes his cue and helps throw a cover over the easel and carry it down to the Jeep. Once at the bottom of the stairs he breaks his silence, "We don't have a 'shop', Dwayne, so where are we really going?"

Dusting his hands after closing the Jeep's rear door, Dwayne replies, "We're gonna show this t' the Chief. He needs t' know."

Fidel jumps into the passenger seat, "He does? Why?"

"'Cause," Dwayne gusts low, "this proves somethin' whut's bothered me fer a while now."

The Chief is semi-lucid and happy to see both his officers at the same time. Sitting up in bed, he calls out, "Am I glad to see you! Catherine is drowning me in soup and I have some theories about the case that I'd like to…" He pauses when he sees the whiteboard, "Er, what's this?"

Dwayne steps back with one hand on the board's top corner, "This is proof there's more goin' on here than meets the eye." He whips off the cover and gives his Chief a dark look.

DI Poole stares blearily at the board for a moment or two then slowly gets out of bed and stilts very carefully to the board and stares at it for another moment or two before looking up at Fidel then to Dwayne. His hazy eyes narrow slightly and he mutters, "Is this some sort of joke? If so, it wasn't funny the first time and even less so now."

Fidel shakes his head, "No, Chief, no joke. We assembled this board about 10 minutes ago and we're just as stumped as you are to explain it." The three men study the board together before Fidel murmurs, "It's the same, isn't it? Exactly the same… right down to the strange hand-writing…" His eyes flare suddenly and he swings to face his companions, "THAT'S why we didn't recognize the writing! This is DS Young's writing and she… she…"

Dwayne nods sharply as if this confirms everything, "An' she wuzn't onna island a week ago when we all saw this fer the first time." He steps smartly away, "I'm gonna call Camille."

DI Poole's head jerks up, his eyes glittering a tad brighter, "You are? Why?"

Dwayne gives Fidel a look then turns his back. At his boss' look, Fidel says low, "Because Dwayne and I think this is no mistake, not now and not a week ago either."

"No?" Poole frowns, wipes his forehead, "Well, if it's not a mistake then what is it?"

"Chief," Fidel continues, "We all know that evidence is NEVER left lying around. You finding these photos on the board a week ago was a complete surprise but that was nothing compared to what I'm feeling right now."

"Why? What are you feeling right now?"

Fidel presses his lips together, "Afraid."

Poole stares up at the young man then turns to Dwayne who is pocketing his phone. "Dwayne, Fidel seems to be catching my fever. Can you please explain this conundrum to me? If it wasn't a prank then it must have been a mistake, yes?"

"No, Chief," Dwayne hushes, "it wuzn't a mistake and it couldna been a prank." At his boss' raised eyebrow, Dwayne adds, "Think about it, Chief. How could anybody know these people would be involved inna murder today, hey? I mean yer good but yer not THAT good! Besides, how did they sneak inta the station t' do it? There's only one thing that kin explain this and you ain't gonna like it."

"I ain't… I mean, I won't? Why not?" Poole asks, seeing Fidel nodding.

Dwayne sighs hard, "'Cause the only thing that makes sense is…" his voices lowers "… voodoo."

Three pairs of eyes return to the board, see the familiar faces, read the unfamiliar hand-writing. Poole looks back to Dwayne, "Voodoo? You sure?"

Dwayne nods solemnly, "Yeah, pretty sure. Camille agrees with me an' she's catchin' the next plane. She don't want you caught up in any more voodoo business."

Poole's eyes light up even brighter, "She don't? I mean, she doesn't? Why not?"

"'Cause voodoo kin be dangerous, Chief."

Poole looks down at his bare feet and mumbles, "I was already coming down with this fever when I first saw these photos," he looks up, "otherwise I wouldn't have thrown such a wobbly. I apologize, officers, I should have known that you would never be so unprofessional."

"And," Fidel mutters, "as Sherlock Holmes says, once you eliminate all the impossibilities, whatever is left, no matter how absurd, must be the explanation." This earns the young man askance glances but no one challenges him.

Finally, Poole sighs, "Yes, as someone once told me, sometimes there's more to Life than life."

Fidel blinks and smiles as Poole continues, "Gentleman, I can only apologize again for my bad manners of last week. You were clearly blameless and I should have seen that if I hadn't been so distracted by the ferry stabbing."

Dwayne grunts, "That's OK, Chief, at least we now know who really played this trick on us."

Poole is beginning to sway as another fever bout builds. He turns away and starts for his bed, calling over his shoulder, "We do?"

"It's gotta be the Loa, who else?"

Poole stalls for several seconds then gingerly eases onto the bed, folds himself up, and groans, "Oh, I haven't got the strength to deal with this. So, OK, our suspects were pointed out to us a week ago. I don't suppose the answer is there too?"

Fidel gusts a sigh, "No, Chief, and we're still collecting evidence for DS Young." He swings to face Dwayne, "Speaking of which, we'd better get out to that boat and question our spy before he sails off." He turns back, "Sorry, sir, but we…" He hushes when he sees his boss is asleep.

The two officers quietly fold up the whiteboard and slip out after making sure there is a fresh glass of water at the Chief's bedside. As they climb into the Jeep, Fidel grunts, "The Loa, Dwayne, you really think so? I was hoping we wouldn't run into any more of that sort of thing."

Dwayne puts the Jeep into gear and slowly rolls up the driveway, listening to the wind in the trees and the crash of waves on the beach. "Fidel, iffn it's one thing my granny taught alla us kids, it's always the Loa even if they don't show themselves. I'd say this little joke a theirs is a pretty convincin' show, hey?"

He glances in the rear view mirror once last time before turning out onto the coast road, "An' I gotta wonder what they got in mind fer the Chief."

END