Robert Thorogood - A Meditation On Murder

Julia smiled slowly. ‘But he’s not a handyman. He’s a Seer.’

‘A Seer?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Please could you tell me what a Seer is.’

‘He can see things.’

Richard took a deep breath and waited for the surge of irritation to wash away.

It didn’t, so Camille stepped in. ‘And what sorts of things can he see?’ she asked.

‘The future of course. But he can also see the past.’

‘And how does he do that?’

‘Well, in this case, he’d put me into a trance state. You see, he used to be The Retreat’s hypnotherapist.’

‘Used to be?’ Camille asked.

‘That’s right. He stopped doing that just after I arrived.’

Richard and Camille shared a glance.

‘Is that why Dominic and Aslan have been arguing?’

Julia was puzzled. ‘You know about that?’

‘Why don’t you tell us?’ Richard said, probing.

Julia smiled sadly. ‘It’s hard to talk about without making it sound worse than it is, but they weren’t ever going to get on. You see, Dominic’s a Capricorn and Aslan’s a Libran,’ Julia said as if that explained everything. ‘And I think Aslan felt that Dominic was taking advantage of the guests in his hypnotherapy sessions. Not that he was. Dominic’s hypnotised me often enough. So I know how gentle and supportive he is. He doesn’t take advantage of anyone. But Aslan told Dominic he didn’t want him offering any more hypnotherapy sessions. Dominic was furious, but there wasn’t much he could do. The hotel belongs to Aslan and Rianka. But here’s the thing, Aslan said Dominic could stay on as the hotel’s handyman. That’s the sort of guy Aslan was. He still offered Dominic a job even though they’d argued so badly.’

‘And Dominic took it?’ Richard said, surprised.

‘It allowed him to stay on the island,’ Julia said.

‘I see,’ Richard said, even though he couldn’t.

‘But the thing is, you have to believe me, Dominic is amazing at getting people to remember memories they’ve buried because they find them too upsetting. And if you let him hypnotise me, I bet I’ll be able to tell you how I got the knife into the Meditation Space. And why I … did what I did,’ Julia finished with a gulp.

‘Unfortunately,’ Richard said, ‘that would be totally unethical. So why don’t we just leave you here for a bit longer, and when you remember anything that might help us, you just call out. We’re only next door.’

Sensing that Camille was disappointed with this ruling, Richard returned to the main office, calling out to Fidel as he entered through the bead curtains.

‘So have you dusted the drawing pin?’

Fidel looked up from his desk in surprise.

‘Yes, sir, I have.’

‘And what did you find?’

‘Well, sir, I was only able to dust the flat bit you press down on with your thumb.’

‘Of course. But is there a fingerprint there?’

‘No, sir. There’s no print on it, it’s entirely clear.’

‘Now that is interesting,’ Richard said, excitedly.

‘Yes, sir,’ Fidel said, baffled by his boss’s sudden enthusiasm.

‘But doesn’t that just mean it’s never been used?’ Dwayne asked.

‘And that’s where you’d be wrong,’ Richard said as he started writing on the board.

‘I would?’ Dwayne asked, puzzled.

‘Yes, because I think that drawing pin was part of the killer’s plans—and they then wiped it clean of prints once it was used.’

Richard wrote up this latest development on the whiteboard, and then he took a step back to look at his handiwork.

‘Okay, Dwayne,’ Richard eventually said. ‘I want background checks on our suspects. One of the five people locked inside the Meditation Space with Aslan Kennedy killed him. Who was it? And why?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘As for you, Fidel, I want you trying to lift whatever fingerprints you can from the murder weapon. And if you can’t get any admissible prints from the handle, at least see if you can tell if it was wielded left-handed or right-handed.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Which leaves you and me, sir,’ Camille said, ‘and I think we should go back to The Retreat.’

‘You do?’ Richard asked, already suspicious of his subordinate’s motives. ‘And why exactly is that?’

‘Well, sir,’ Camille said, her eyes shining with innocence, ‘you said it yourself. There’s something about the Meditation Space that meant Aslan had to be killed in there and nowhere else. I think we need to inspect it again.’

Richard took a step towards Camille and drew himself up to his full height.

‘And this has got nothing to do with finding Dominic so we can ask him to put Julia into a hypnotic trance, has it?’

Camille was shocked by the suggestion. ‘Of course not, sir. You’ve already said that would be unethical. But there’s also the matter of the murder weapon to consider. Because if Julia didn’t have the carving knife about her person when she went into the room, it must have already been hidden in the Meditation Space beforehand. I think we need to work out how Julia got the carving knife into the murder room.’

Richard looked at Camille a very long moment.

‘And you promise that this has got nothing to do with asking Dominic to put Julia into a trance?’

‘Of course not, sir,’ Camille said, shocked by the suggestion.

‘Very good,’ he said. ‘Then I think you’re right. We should go back to The Retreat.’

Satisfied that he’d clipped Camille’s wings for once, Richard went off to get his briefcase. But what he didn’t see was the sly grin and slow wink that Camille gave Dwayne and Fidel the moment her boss’s back was turned.

Getting Dominic to put Julia into a trance was precisely why Camille wanted to go to The Retreat.

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