“Enough intrigue,” Sidney said.
Inspector Pierre smiled. “I’m not sure I’d call a young man’s tragic death ‘intriguing.’ I’ll presume you’re looking fordisturbingmore than anything else.”
Sidney was looking for much more than a disturbing story. She was looking for holes in the case. For things that might have been missed by Inspector Pierre and his associates. She was looking for clues that would confirm the story she’d read in the hundreds of letters Grace Sebold had sent her over the past two years in which the woman clung to her innocence and offered many examples of how the case had been mishandled. So, was she looking for disturbing? Sidney would never argue that unsettling stories didn’t sell, but what she was really after was anything she could take back to her bosses at the network that might convince them a grave injustice had taken place.
Sidney was tasked with putting together the pilot episode of her proposed documentary about Grace Sebold. The network would then decide if they’d give the project a summer run after they viewed the first few cuts. The documentary—assuming she could get it off the ground—would be Sidney’s fourth. Her first two films had been online-only events streamed through a subscription service, and her third was an add-on to the prime-time news programEvents,Sidney’s first foray into television. She had done all the work—filming, writing, producing the hour-long special—only to play a secondary role to Luke Barrington, the face of the network’s prime-time lineup, who insisted on narrating the special edition and ultimately received most of the credit for the documentary’s success. Still, the network liked Sidney’s work, and contracted her for another film. Her pitch was a biopic that broadly covered Grace Sebold’s life, including the girl’s lovestory with Julian Crist, her conviction for his murder, and the ten years she’s spent in a St. Lucian prison, claiming innocence of the grisly crime. But to get such a project green-lit, Sidney needed proof that Grace Sebold’s case had been mishandled. Proof that the St. Lucian government had pinned on her a crime she did not commit. That they’d made assumptions and mistakes ten years ago that had cost an innocent woman her freedom.
Sidney would share none of this with the man who was responsible for putting Grace Sebold behind bars. In order to keep her true motives hidden from Claude Pierre, she would focus her questions today on Julian Crist.
“Disturbing or otherwise, Inspector Pierre, I’m looking for facts,” Sidney finally said. “It’s been ten years since this boy was killed. Sadly, America has forgotten about him.”
This statement was mostly true. Americahadforgotten about Julian Crist, but not about his death. American popular culture remembered only that a young medical student had been killed in St. Lucia, and that his girlfriend was convicted of his murder. Julian Crist was a footnote in Grace Sebold’s story. She had stolen the headlines over the last decade. Her appeals and cries of injustice had been loud. America knew her as the girl stuck in a foreign land, accused of a murder she claimed not to commit.
A convict claiming innocence was nothing new. Many convicted felons ran the gamut of the appeals process. But only a select few found a voice. Those who follow news about the wrongfully convicted knew Grace Sebold well. Indeed, entire websites had been created to prove her innocence. Donations had been collected to help mount a fight in her defense. Grace had been fortunate enough to fall under the eye of the Innocence Project, a watchdog group that worked to overturn convictions of those they feel were wrongfully accused and unfairly sentenced. This group had taken Grace Seboldunder their wings years ago and had staged more than one assault on the St. Lucian judiciary system, which the group claimed used illegal interrogation techniques and false testimony from expert witnesses to gain a conviction. The St. Lucian government was motivated, the group argued, by the desire to solve Julian Crist’s death quickly so that the island did not endure a drop in tourism. But despite spirited assaults, all previous attempts to free Grace had failed.
“Well,” the inspector said, “I have not forgotten about Mr. Crist, nor has St. Lucia. I am aware, however, of America’s true-crime documentary obsession. I’ve watched many of them myself. The police and the prosecution are not typically presented in a brilliant light, but rather cast as irresponsible in our search for justice.”
Despite his easy Caribbean vibe, Sidney sensed that Inspector Pierre was not only proud, but fierce in his convictions. He was responsible for putting Grace Sebold behind bars, and much scrutiny had fallen on his shoulders over the last decade. He’d managed so far to keep the weight from crushing him.
“Of course, you haven’t,” Sidney said. “That’s why I’ve come to speak with you. American citizens only know the story of Grace Sebold. They only know her claims.”
“That’s a travesty. But that is not how it is here. In St. Lucia, people know the boy who was killed. And people know the one who killed him has been brought to justice.”
“So help me, will you?” Sidney said. “Tell me about your investigation. About what you discovered and your path to find justice.”
Inspector Pierre thought on this a moment. “I’ve gotten a lot of pressure from the group in America that thinks this girl is innocent.”
“The Innocence Project. Yes, I know.”
“Will your documentary show the truth, or whattheybelievethe truth to be? Because the truth about Ms. Sebold, I assure you, is overwhelming.”
“That’s what I’m after,” Sidney said. “The truth. Will you help me find it?”
A void of silence stretched between them. Sidney could see that Inspector Pierre not only wanted to talk, but after so many yearsneededto tell his story. He needed to defend his decisions and his actions. The thought of doing so in a documentary that could potentially reach a large audience outside of his tiny island was appealing.
Pierre nodded slowly. “I’ll help you.”
The Girl of Sugar Beach
“Pilot” Episode
*Based on the interview with Claude Pierre
St. Lucian police from the Southern Division station were first on the scene and quickly roped off the area, which included not only Sugar Beach but also the base of Gros Piton. Instructed by the medical examiner in Castries not to disturb the body, one officer was tasked with the dismal job of standing in waist-high water clouded by blood and holding with gloved hands the heel of the dead man’s shoe to prevent the tide from carrying him out to sea. Eventually, around 9:00 a.m., Claude Pierre arrived and took control of the scene.
“Sir,” the manager said when Pierre had asked to speak with him. “When do you suppose the beach will be back up and running?”
Pierre looked at him with dark eyes slightly squinted with disbelief. “A dead body was just discovered floating off its shores. It will be some time. Now I’ll need a list of everyone at the resort. And I’ll need to know if any guests are missing or unaccounted for.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll pull a register off the computer. It is still early, so many of our guests are not awake.”
“Start knocking on doors, man! You are the only resort on this beach and it is quite likely one of your guests is dead. Do it now, please.”
“Sir,” another officer said. “Dr. Mundi has arrived.”
“Show him down,” Inspector Pierre said.
Moments later, Emmanuel Mundi stood on SugarBeach and peered out into the water. He waved at the officer in the water who was holding the dead man’s heel. “Bring it here.”
