Chapter 13: This is what happens when Richard forgets his past and only cares about his future
Summary:
Camille never asks Richard for proof of his love for her. Well, almost never. Of course, sometimes that's not necessary. ...
Chapter Text
The next day, after a night, or dreams, in which the feelings between Richard and Camille have been clarified, everything goes smoothly at the Saint Marie Police Station.
True, the murder of Lucas Talbot has not yet been cleared up and, as a result of the night watch of officers Dwayne Myers and Fidel Best, not only has a friend of Dwayne's named Greg been arrested for trafficking in endangered species, but they have discovered that the Knights have disposed of something compromising by taking it to a nearby landfill at night.
A fruitful night indeed.
After Richard, this time with great professionalism without ever letting go of his innate gentlemanliness, has served Mrs. Talbot her coffee with sugar, he turns his attention to Dwayne's friend Greg, the turtle egg dealer.
They make a great team, Richard and Camille. It's obvious when they both interrogate Greg. Both of them, without leaving aside the shameful and dangerous crime of Dwayne's friend, are interested in what Greg saw on the night of Lucas Talbot's murder.
Because Saint Marie may be a very small island, but Greg is a regular on the beach and a very important unwitting witness.
And the DI and DS are lucky. They discover that, while it is true that Megan Talbot shot her husband, the body was no longer there when Greg returned to retrieve his gun.
And there is no such thing as zombies. Richard knows that the Loa exist because of the dreams he shares with Camille. But not zombies.
That much is clear to Richard.
Reason enough for him to organize a test at the beach to verify whether Megan Talbot could have killed her husband, lacking, as she does, experience with firearms.
"Richard..." begins Camille a little tired of her lover and friend's excessive obsession with detail.
He interrupts her with his more than famous gesture in which he raises his hand asking, nay, demanding! silence, as he explains his point of view to her:
"We have the victim's stopwatch, the button, a corpse that has enough vitality to get the hell off the beach where he has been shot not once, but twice. And a witness who claims that Talbot was no longer there when he went back to retrieve his gun."
Camille looks at him expectantly and amused.
"Details count, Camille. Everything fits when you know where you understand the details. "
Camille smiles broadly at him. She knows that all too well.
"How are you with firearms, Sergeant?" asks Richard with wry grin.
"Pretty good. I'm the best in this Police Station, so..." she says in a very low voice approaching him under the pretext that she is going to get her purse, "...you better not provoke me."
Richard, his smile cocked to one side and, looking down to grab his briefcase, then turns to Fidel and Dwayne with these words:
"OK, team, let's move. Are there any coconuts on this island, Fidel?"
"Quite a few, sir." Fidel replies amused.
"Better that than a human head. Let's go!" Richard continues to joke.
Of course they discover that Mrs. Talbot could not have killed her husband, and besides... all the pieces start to fit together.
The path leading from the beach where Megan shot her husband to the Knight house, the button that belongs to the deck chair, also belonging to the Knights, the mobile phone, everything ...
Of course, the fact that the couple, friends of the Talbots, are trying to flee the island is almost the most tangible proof...
Everything comes rushing in for the Knights, especially Patrick, who was the one who killed Lucas because he was involved with Lucas' wife Megan.
"Megan, you didn't kill your husband, that's true, but you're a long way from being considered an innocent party in this whole affair." Its Richard who has addressed Mrs. Talbot with these words.
Later, in the garden of the Talbot house, when Megan steps forward to thank Richard for getting her out of that predicament with a kiss or a hug, he doesn't quite know, Richard steps forward and, before Megan even gets to brush against him, takes Camille's hand in a rather intimate and personal way as he addresses the following words to his love:
"Camille, as soon as we're done with the paperwork on this whole sorry affair, we can do anything you want. Only what you want." He emphasizes.
Camille is so shocked that she doesn't have the strength to let go of him.
This is so unexpected!
Even if it's just the three of them in the garden at the time.
And Megan has gotten the message. Or so Richard hopes.
That afternoon, at Richard's shack, he gets a more than pleasant surprise from his team. His friends Fidel and Dwayne, along with Camille, have taken care of the poor wrecked boat he always watched cluttering up his beach.
Camille's idea, of course, but he has to admit that he has friends now, and very good ones.
And all of them have not only managed to fix "Roast Beef", they have also managed to fix his own life. No way would he leave the island now.
"I've got beers for everyone, but don't fill my shack with sand!" Richard is still Richard after all.
It is a very dark night... and there's some commotion in Richard's bedroom.
Somehow, Camille was feeling so pleasurable that, as she went to sleep, it was more than clear to her that she wanted to spend the night with someone who had literally jumped into the pool and declared his love for her in public. And in front of Megan Talbot!
"Camille, that's enough! It's clear to me by now that you're more than happy, I assure you. I can't take it anymore! Could we just take a break and ... talk? Please!"
Of course, Richard's tone reveals too much complicity and happiness to take him too seriously.
Regardless, Camille lifts a few inches off Richard's body with her famous predatory gaze.
"It's okay, Richard. We can talk."
She shifts and positions herself as comfortably as possible next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" she teases him.
She knows that he, right now, is out of breath.
He takes a deep breath, looks at her to make sure she's going to keep her word and manages to articulate:
"You know, Camille. I don't think, apart from Mrs. Talbot, you're too fond of Mrs. Knight, am I wrong?"
Any topic will do for him to try to get some rest. Even if he is absolutely sure of Camille's answer.
She raises her head slightly, looks at him, and answers him with anger in her gaze.
"She said you were a bully! That's unfair. And untrue. I still remember how they treated you in Croydon. And I loathe them with all my soul."
Richard smiles, closing his eyes. What Mrs. Knight said to him would have affected him before he met Camille. Somehow it doesn't now.
Camille misinterprets his smile and says to him:
"But make no mistake! You're still a stubborn, serious Englishman." Then she hugs him tightly to make it clear to him, "But you are mine, Richard. My stubborn, earnest Englishman."
"My impulsive Frenchwoman. I have broken with my pathetic past. I have you, Camille. I love my future." Richard manages to murmur.
"You know, Richard? I was wrong about you. You never really felt anything for Megan."
Richard sits up sharply making Camille almost fall off the bed:
"Of course not! How can you keep thinking that?"
Camille quickly hugs him to placate him and reassure him.
"I liked the way you made our relationship clear to , Richard. You need to know that..."
"Did you?" asks Richard in alarm. He cant help always thinking the worst. Right now he's not sure. What if...?
"I've told Maman, Richard."
He is taken aback.
"What exactly did you tell her? Did you tell her about the dreams, about the Loas, about us? How come she hasn't come here to kill me yet?"
She laughs heartily.
"I told her it was a crush. I couldn't tell her otherwise, my love."
He sighs and answers her:
"I know I crossed a very important line without consulting you first, Camille. I apologize. But I've had enough of hiding from everyone. I'll talk to the Commissioner tomorrow."
"We will do that together, Richard. Im not a weak English rose."
Richard smiles, looking up at the ceiling.
"Of that I can be sure. You are my Caribbean goddess."
"Will you tell Fidel and Dwayne too, Richard?"
He looks at her fondly and replies:
"I think I'll leave that to you. Dwayne would embarrass me to no end and I don't think poor Fidel would know what to say. You can prepare them very well.
"Whatever you command and order."
She approaches him with her intentions more than clear. The truce is over and Richard has had enough rest.
And this night, the Loa give the gift of extra time as well as endurance. The Loa - lizard has arranged it so that his friends, can enjoy a very well-deserved reward.
Notes:
Sorry for the delay. But my computer's hard disk has been replaced and reset. When I read about the crashed hard drive in another story (Summersurf's 'Just visiting' in Death in Paradise FanFiction Archive chapter 41) I didn't find it so unpleasant and inconvenient. But it's repaired and very modernised now! That's what matters. As always, thanks to Sweepeaspatch for her great work, for her really valuable and necessary corrections and suggestions. !