Chapter 5: The interesting fauna of Saint Marie
Summary:
Richard Poole discovers his new destiny, his new probable future life and Camille Bordey loses her luggage...
Time goes faster when we are happier! Or so they say. Richard and Camille arrive in Saint Marie and there Richard meets the motley fauna that will undoubtedly brighten up his hitherto rather drab life.
He will finally be able to celebrate Christmas like he hasn't done for years!
Chapter Text
"Camille, Camille! We have arrived. We've landed."
She's insisted that they take a turn at being on a first-name basis.
The DI is so uncomfortable. Not only does he wake up with his cheek resting on hers, but he's not sure if he's done anything inappropriate in his sleep.
When he wakes up he can't help buthearthe whispers of the stewardesses as they laugh and watch them.
It seems that Camille, as soon as she wakes up, alsotakesa little while to remember the chain of events that led her to beonthis plane on her way to Saint Marie.
But, unlike Richard, she doesn't seem at all uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, Richard. These long trips always get to me." She comments as she picks up her handbag. "I hope tomorrow night I can be well enough to celebrate Christmas Eve. You'll see how much fun you'll have! I mean..." she looks at him with sudden shyness "...if you haven't changed your mind."
Richard has already grabbed his briefcase with the laptop and the documents of the case that has led him to change his life so drastically.
"Of course I haven't. Besides, I think it's a good chance to meet Commissioner Patterson in person."
Camille rolls her eyes as they are already descending the steps of the plane.
"Non, non, Richard! If you want to talk to Commissioner Patterson, I recommend you take a few hours rest and talk to him today. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! In addition, you will meet two friends of mine: Fidel and Dwayne. And, of course, my mother, who makes the best tea on the island, you know that."
Richard shrugs and suddenly stops.
Camille turns around, she had kept walking. She asks him:
"Did you forget something in Paris?"
"No, I wanted to give you a message from a friend of yours that I met in Croydon by chance, I almost forgot again! I wish I had told you on the plane..."
Camille looks at him in confusion.
"In Croydon? That's impossible. I've never been there in my life and I don't know anyone."
They keep walking until they stop at the airport building to pick up their bags.
"I'll give you a hint, she was on tour. She's a singer."
They are already where the airport staff haveplaced the passengers' luggage, he at once locates his suitcase.
Camille looks at him in surprise and excitement as she searches for her luggage.
"Aimée, how is it possible that you met her in Croydon? I haven't spoken to her for a long time, but she emails and texts me from time to time and hadn't said anything. How is she?"
Camille can't help but think that Richard and Aimée having met is a sign, a great sign.
"Oh, she's fine! I guess excited about her upcoming performance. Shesendsher regards andsaysto call her or that she would call you. I don't really remember very well. We were talking about you. She thinks you have a lot of genius and that you're a great cop."
Camille, who still hasn't found her suitcase, answers with a laugh:
"She and I used to make a fuss when we were little. I'll call her... By the way, where's my suitcase? I think it should have turned up by now.
Richard notes thatall the other passengers have left but Camille's suitcase is nowhere to be seen.
"It's a good thing it's really hot in here. I don't think you'll need the winter clothes you wore in Paris. I'm going to ask at the airport offices..." Richard tries to console her.
Fifteen minutes later an angry Camille and a worried Richard leave the airport on their way to "La Kaz". Richard needs to have a nice cup of tea and get on the phone to Commissioner Patterson to let him know of their arrival.
He doesn't even know where he's staying yet!
It is too hot to think and Richard is tired. Camille points him to a table, the coolest table in the bar she thinks. He thinks it must make very little difference.
Camille goes to the kitchen to talk to her mother. The bar is not very big and the DI can't help overhearing some of the conversation.
It seems that Catherine,Camille's mother and the owner of the bar, is slightly angry. She seems to be somehow blaming Richard for something. He tries to listen even harder and better. This situation could affect his immediate plans.
"Camille, darling, how can you not want me to feel offended? I beg you to come, asIdo every year, to spend Christmas with me and you tell me you can't, that you have too much work. And this man, a complete stranger, a stranger in a woollen suit under the Caribbean sun, manages to change your mind in two days!"
Camille's response is a little harder to hear.
"Maman, it's not that, really. He came to give us some lectures and, as I started talking to him..."
Catherine interrupts with a sardonic laugh.
"... as I started talking to him," Camille continues imperturbably, "he informed me that he had been assigned to Saint Marie to solve the murder of two Detective Inspectors! I have to admit that that alarmed me a lot, maman. I just wanted to make sure everything was going well around here."
"Julie, your friend of Paris, called me to let me know very kindly of your arrival, and she told me you met the Inspector in a bar in the early hours of the morning."
If Julie walked into the bar right now, Richard would happily murder her.
"That's true. But it was a coincidence. Richard..."
"You're on a first-name basis?"
At that moment the DI notices a change in Catherine's tone. Perhaps it is now less aggressive.
"Yes, maman, that's his name. He dropped his mobile phone under our table, the table where Aurore, Isabelle, Julie and I were seated, and at that moment he told me about the conferences. That's all. The rest you know. And now, please, can we prepare that tea I have told him so much about, please? He still has to talk to Selwyn."
As Camille approaches his table with a big, prefabricated smile, Richard pretends to be absent-minded, looking for some totally unnecessary papers in hisbriefcase.
When he looks up, he catches Catherine's gaze on him: curious, as if Patterson isn't the only one with specific plans for him.
These French women are a little eccentric...
That night, Richard Poole is relaxing, watching the ocean waves lapping at the beach, his private beach.
Were it not for the fact that this shack, the former home of DI Hulme (Anderson preferred a room in the town's main hotel, fortunately for Richard, as he would hate to live and sleep where his murdered former colleague did), is so dilapidated, so full of sand, so ... unhygienic, Richard would at that moment be a completely happy man watching the moon reflected in the sea.
The meeting with Patterson has clarified for him his new position on the island, his responsibilities at the station, even a way of proposing that Camille work for him - with him! as Detective Sergeant without having to confess that she has been in on the Commissioner's plans, with Richard's connivance, from the beginning.
He sees the murders of his former colleague and DI Hulme, the smuggling, the people trafficking ... as fully justifying any interest Camille might feel in the professional possibilities of her career at Honoré.
Richard would see to it that she felt needed and valued as a policeofficer. He has read her report, she would make an excellent DS, indispensable for theherculean taskahead of him.
Besides, he doesn't want to be the one to provoke another outburst of temper from the, he hopes, future DS of the Saint Marie police station!
As for the rest of the officers, he will meet Fidel and Dwayne tomorrow at the Christmas Eve celebration.
Sergeant Thompson has declined Catherine's offer.
Without explanation. Interesting. Bearing in mind that its necessary to get to know the new DI. Although, only Richard knows that hes destined for something permanent, hes officially an eventual DI.
Richard laughs, still remembering Camille's anger when her suitcase is nowhere to be found. He's confident it will turn up eventually.
He also remembers how kind and nice Catherine, Camille's mother, was to him. Even after tea, though. At first Catherine looked at him with distrust, almost resentment.
But when Camille approached him to formally introduce him as the DI who was going to bring the island's criminals to heel, Catherine was all politeness.
Richard suspects why Camille's mother's mistrust magically transformed into friendliness (and excellent tea).
His mother herself has been pestering him with blind dates.
Of course, who knows, maybe he should be open to all possibilities, not just the professional ones - who is he toargue witha French maman!
Better to leave that for later, much later. Best left for the world of dreams.
Suddenly, a green flash of lightning passes like antiny cometas he gets up to get ready for bed.
He freezes until he discovers it's just a small lizard.
"I hope it's just a courtesy visit, mate. I wouldn't want to share my home with a wild animal. Good night."
For a second, Richard would swear the lizard has smiled slyly at him.
And he flashes back to his unexpectedlyenjoyableChristmas Eve dinner.
Christmas Eve dinner
It's eleven o'clock at night, a barbaric time to eat, but that seems to be the tradition on the island and Richard accepts it with resignation.
From the beginning, Catherine has gone out of her way to make sure Richard doesn't feel strange.
Camille, long before getting ready for dinner, has approached him and warned him:
"I hope I don't hear that you've discussed work with anyone, Richard. I know Saint Marie is facing serious problems, but tonight is a night of peace, of brotherhood, of love... for all mankind, you know."
Richard stares at her. So she looks, if not interested, intrigued. Very well. He'll go carefully, of course. First he'll have to organize the station, but it seems to him that the dreams might be more real than they appear at first glance.
"Sir..."
The DI realizes that Fidel Best, one of the police officers at the station, is talking to him.
"We're not at the station yet, Fidel."
But Richard takes note, Fidel Best's report is accurate. He likes that officer.
"I just wanted to tell you that I, that Dwayne and I are very happy to have you here. Honestly the police station is a shambles."
What Fidel is silent about is that with Richard Poole he feels safer. He trusts that Lily will stop making his life miserable with this man in front of him. A man who exudes a lot of confidence and professionalism.
Dwayne, after winking at one of Catherine's waitresses, says to Richard.
"Of coursewedo, Chief. But please don't make any dangerous moves on your own. I'd hate to lose another DI. And we like you."
Dwayne tells him that as he points his finger at him with a big smile.
As his appointment is not yet official, Richard refrains from telling Agent Myers that he's overdoing it on the beers.
Richard will make sure that he doesnt drive, as far as possible, that night.
"The truth is, I'm going to try out at this station what I wasn't allowed to do at Croydon: work as a team. We will all support each other. Of course there will be differences in rank, but everyone's work is valuable and important. Of course I will demand serious and professional work. I can assure you that with me it is not difficult to move up the police ranks. But I demand, I repeat,I demandresults. I want the Saint Marie police to be recognized once and for all".
The truth is that, although Richard looks at Dwayne especially when he talks about demanding professionalism and seriousness, not only does Myers nottake the hintbut, winking at him, he turns his attention back to Amélie, Catherine's waitress.
Richardfeelsa pair of hands onhisshoulders.
"I told you no work!Joyeux Noël, Richard!"
Richard still feels not exactly unpleasant shivers when he remembers that particularmoment with his new DS.
This island is definitely terribly hot...in more ways than one.