“No. We pulled the phone record from Julian’s room. It showed three calls to a New York extension during his stay. When we tracked down the recipient of the calls, we discovered that it was Julian’s past girlfriend. What you called, alover.The final call to New York was made on the afternoonbefore Julian was killed, and immediately preceded the witnessed argument between Julian and Ms. Sebold. And when we pulled Ms. Sebold’s phone log, we found an outgoing call to the same New York extension. So it was my logical conclusion that Ms. Sebold discovered that Julian had been phoning his ex-lover, and that she called the number to confirm her suspicion.Thisis what caused the argument between them. And despite how Ms. Sebold would like things perceived,shewas the one who was angry that day, not Julian Crist.”
“This ex-girlfriend of Julian’s,” Sidney said. “Does she have a name?”
“Ms. Allison Harbor.”
“You spoke with her during your investigation?”
“Of course. And she confirmed that her and Julian’s relationship was still ongoing.”
“Ongoing in what way?”
“In an intimate way, Ms. Ryan.”
Sidney took a moment to collect her thoughts. The idea of Grace discovering Julian’s continued relationship with a past girlfriend had caught her off guard. Finally, she looked back at the inspector.
“I can understand how this omission on Grace’s part could be considered deceptive.”
“I would classify it as a lie,” Pierre said.
“Understood. But this single misrepresentation of an argument, given by a young girl under tremendous stress—remember, her boyfriend had just been found dead, and she was now being interrogated by the police—that was enough to cause you to focus your investigation so tightly on her, and her alone?”
Inspector Pierre shook his head. “No, Ms. Ryan. You asked how Ms. Sebold originally came under my suspicion when more than one hundred guests were registered at the hotel.Her lie about the argument was the origin of my distrust. But it was the blood that caused me to suspect Ms. Sebold above anyone else.”
“The blood?” Sidney said.
“Yes.”
Sidney had seen the photos of the splatter on the bluff many times. “The blood was so minor, though. I’m confused.”
“I would argue that the blood was minor in no way. There was a great deal of it.”
“A great deal?”Sidney asked. “Four drops of blood, isn’t that correct? The splatter pattern on the bluff contained four drops of blood?”
“That’s correct. Plus another collection of blood from a second location on the bluff.”
“So a single splatter of four drops and a second collection is considereda great deal of blood,by the St. Lucian Police Force? And how, exactly, did the blood up on Gros Piton raise your suspicion that Grace was involved?”
Pierre narrowed his eyes and slowly shook his head. “You are considering only the blood found on the bluff, Ms. Ryan. When taken with the other blood we discovered in Ms. Sebold’s room, it can be described as a great deal.”
The Girl of Sugar Beach
“Pilot” Episode
*Based on the interview with Claude Pierre
“That man has a serious authority problem,” Ellie Reiser said as she stormed into Grace’s cottage. “It’s abuse of power and intimidation.”
Detectives had interviewed all the members from their group, shuffling them one by one into the small conference room near the front lobby of the resort. Soon after Grace was allowed to leave, they had summoned Ellie Reiser.
“What happened?” Grace asked, her eyes still red-rimmed from her time with Inspector Pierre.
“He’s an asshole. He can’t treat us like that.”
“Ellie! What happened?”
“He asked me the same question a hundred times while his little minion scribbled everything I said into a notebook. I asked why he was transcribing my words if they were recording the interview. No answer. They’re trying to intimidate us.”
“God, Ellie. Just tell me what you said. It was the same detective, right? Pierre?”
