“And why was that assumption made?”
“He was a guest at the resort, and Gros Piton is a popular attraction. It was a reasonable assumption to begin with, assuming the tranquil and isolated nature of the resort.”
“And when did your assumptions change from an accident to homicide?”
“My first clue was a blood splatter that we discovered on the bluff.”
“The blood you found,” Sidney said, imagining the crime scene photos that would run over the audio of her interview, “made you suspect foul play?”
“Of course. If the original assumption was that Julian had fallen accidentally, then there was no way to explain the blood splatter.”
“With the discovery of blood, you figured someone had struck him.”
“That’s correct.”
Sidney paused for a moment before asking her next question.
“More than one hundred guests stayed at the resort on the night Julian Crist was killed. How did you so quickly settle on Grace Sebold as the one who killed him?”
The Girl of Sugar Beach
“Pilot” Episode
*Based on the interview with Claude Pierre
Grace Sebold sat in a small meeting room behind the lobby’s reception desk where the St. Lucian police had set up an impromptu interview area. A small rectangular table sat with three chairs: two on one side for Pierre and his assistant, and a lone chair across from them, where the subject of their interview would sit. Grace was first up, with a long list of others to follow as the day wore on.
“How did you know Mr. Crist?” Pierre started in a flat affect, all business. He sat with his hands folded on the table, his long, thin fingers interlaced. His assistant scribbled furious notes onto a legal pad. A recorder sat in the middle of the table to capture the interview.
“He was my boyfriend.”
“And what was the nature of your visit to the island of St. Lucia?”
The thick Caribbean accent, along with her nerves, made it difficult for Grace to understand the detective.
“The nature of what?” Grace asked in a strained voice that was on the verge of tears again. She’d been crying all morning, and had become hysterical when the tuk-tuk that transported the gurney pulled past her group. Word had spread by then that Julian was missing and a body had been discovered in the water.
“Why are you here, Ms. Sebold?” Inspector Pierre asked in a stronger tone. “Vacationing?”
“No. Yes, my friend was married a couple of days ago. We are here for the wedding.”
“Who iswe?”
“Uh . . . Julian and I came together. But we met my parents and brother here as well. And all my friends.”
“What is the name of the friend who was married?”
“Charlotte.”
“Surname?”
Grace shook her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand what you asked.”
“Surname?” Pierre said in a booming voice.
The charming Caribbean accent that Grace had so enjoyed from the resort staff had now turned into an ugly obstacle she had trouble hurdling.
“Your friend’s last name,” the assistant said in a calm voice less deluged by impatience.
