DEATH ON PARADISE ISLAND: Fiji Islands Mysteries 1

by B. M. Allsopp

  ‘Dirty weekends?’

  Ledua rolled her eyes, scornful. ‘The interns of course! They’re all female, all pretty. When he has one in tow he usually stays the night. They all share his bure—naturally Ian couldn’t be expected to provide another free! I can tell you our ladies don’t like waiting on them at dinner!’

  ‘Do the staff resent Dr Chakra?’

  ‘Well, I don’t want to exaggerate. They’re grateful for the clinic, and they trust he knows what he’s doing. I can’t say anyone likes him much, though. His immorality deeply offends some of the devout Christians on staff.’

  ‘Jona?’ Singh suggested. The housekeeper shrugged, looked away.

  ‘Ledua, the police examiners will come here this morning to check the store room where Nisi’s body was kept. They’ll also need to take samples of the tonics for analysis in the lab.’

  Ledua nodded silently.

  ‘In the meantime, I’d be grateful if you could make an additional statement detailing the tonics Nisi took, the doses, and the period she’d been taking them for. Let’s go through it together now.’

  When Horseman called at the housekeeper’s room on his way to photocopy Jona’s boat records, he was surprised to find a subdued Ledua huddled at the table with Singh, writing something. Both women looked up, almost guiltily. Singh smiled. She sprang up to fetch a clean glass, and poured cold water for him. ‘Sit down, sir, drink some water. We’re just finishing up Mrs Marama’s supplementary statement.’

  ‘Vinaka, Sergeant.’ He downed the water standing up, excused himself to the housekeeper and returned to the steam bath outside. Singh followed him. ‘Struck gold, Susie?’

  ‘Not quite, but could be useful.’ She quickly outlined her accidental find of the remedies.

  ‘Well done, great work. I’m going to find Maika now. Guy Dawson’s out on a dive, so I’ll see him when he gets back. Kelepi and Musudroka are on the reef with the SOCOs. I’ll get Musudroka back to guard this block. No one is to enter until the SOCOs are finished.’

  ‘Right sir. I’ll be at least another 15 minutes with Ledua. Then I’m going to the research camp to update the scientists.’

  ‘Fine, but there’s a complication now. Mr McKenzie told me the Professor went back to FIMS today. I still want him to hear about the PM from us, though. After you’ve spoken to the boys at the camp, why don’t you take the boat back to Suva with the team and visit him there. I may well be delayed here. I want to take my time with Maika, and then I’m seeing Guy Dawson after his dive.’

  ‘Sure. Do you want the boat to come back here for you?’

  ‘If possible. But I know Mr McKenzie will be only too delighted to provide a fast boat to take me away!’

  Horseman stood on the sea wall and looked over the wide expanse of grey rubble towards the team on the reef. McKenzie was right, it was highly unlikely they’d find anything after six tides, but the search had to be thorough. He shuddered at the image of Akanisi’s lifeless body trapped among the sharp coral. He radioed Kelepi and asked him to send Musudroka in.

  24

  PARADISE ISLAND

  Horseman found Maika working right near the beach, repairing the cracked hull of a fibreglass catamaran. Horseman admired the craft’s lines. Sailing must be exhilarating—he’d like to learn some day. Fifty years ago coastal Fijians still built and sailed outrigger canoes, but those skills, along with the canoes, had disappeared.

  ‘Bula Maika, sorry to interrupt your work. I need to talk to you.’ He spoke in Fijian.

  Maika got up from the steel drum he was perched on and politely returned the greeting. He looked serious, but neither alarmed nor fearful. ‘I need to finish this patch before the resin goes off. I’ll be done in a jiffy.’ He dipped his brush in a tin and stroked transparent goo evenly over the patching strip, dipped it again and applied more, tapping the end of the bristles into the coarse weave until it was completely drenched in the treacly resin. Unfortunately, this gave the boy time to think, but then he’d already had three days and three nights to concoct a story. He wiped the brush on a rag, leant over and swished it vigorously in a tin on the ground.

  ‘Should be fine in the solvent while we talk,’ he said, as if Horseman might worry about the state of the brush. Maika pointed out a few plastic crates under an overhanging tree. They sat down in the pleasant shade facing the jetty and the jade shallows where their police boat was now moored.

  ‘Thanks for answering Sergeant Singh’s questions on Sunday, Maika. And for your statement. I know you were close to Akanisi so I wanted to tell you about the post-mortem. Have you already heard that she was pregnant?’ He had complete faith in the coconut wireless.

  Maika nodded sadly. ‘Sai told me. Mrs McKenzie told him. Is it true?’

  Horseman stated the facts, as Maika continued nodding, head bowed. ‘Were you the father of Nisi’s child, Maika?’

  Maika looked up, horrified. ‘No, of course not!’

  ‘Why not, Maika? You told Sergeant Singh you loved Nisi. Everyone at Paradise who guessed about you two thought you made a good couple. Why the secret, Maika?’

  The boy deflated. ‘I didn’t know the staff here knew. How? We were careful. Nisi’s parents were so strict, and her uncle too, my boss Jona, keeping watch.’ He bowed his head again.

  ‘Did you intend to marry?’

  ‘Sort of. She’s eighteen, I mean, was—, I’m twenty. We’re too young to marry. I love—loved her, I couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else. But nothing was settled.’

  ‘Was it Akanisi who was unsure?’

  Maika shrugged. He looked the bewildered boy that he was. ‘Yes, and she told me I was too. Now I realise I wasn’t unsure at all. She was the one.’

  Horseman was stern. ‘Do you still say you couldn’t have been responsible for her pregnancy? Come Maika, be honest, please. Did you and Nisi have sex?’

  Maika looked down. ‘Well, yes, we did—sometimes. But it isn’t easy to be alone here, you know. Jona would have thrashed us both if he’d known. And not recently. Nisi wasn’t well this last month. So I don’t think I could be. But no way anyone else. . . look, couldn’t there be some mistake?’

  Not for the first time, the deplorable ignorance of Fiji’s teenagers about the basic facts of human reproduction shocked Horseman. ‘Nisi would have conceived two or three months ago, Maika. Think, man. Did you have sex with her then?’

  Maika curled an arm around his crinkled black head, warding off Horseman’s words, squirming with embarrassment. Eventually he nodded.

  ‘Did Nisi tell you she was pregnant? The truth, now, Maika.’

  ‘No, I had no idea. That’s the truth.’ He clutched his head tighter.

  Horseman tended, on the whole, to believe Maika had just told the truth. ‘Did you ever suspect another man of courting Nisi?’

  Now he raised his voice in anger. ‘No, no!’

  ‘Really? Everyone here tells me what a lovely girl she was, Maika. It’s hard to believe none of the other men fell for her. What about a jealous admirer back on Delanarua? She went home for a week every month, didn’t she? Someone there could have got her pregnant, maybe raped her, maybe killed her. Have you thought of that, Maika?’

  Maika stared at him. His glowing dark face sallowed. Horseman, relieved that reality had at last sunk its teeth into the youth’s consciousness, appealed again. ‘The only help you can give her now, Maika, is to help me. Tell me the truth about your suspicions.’

  Maika still stared. ‘I really never thought about anyone back in the village. I don’t think so. Why d’you want to make me doubt her?’ He sounded bitter. ‘I admit I was jealous of Guy Dawson. Nisi said she just liked to talk to him. I trusted her. She was so friendly, mad about overseas. Couldn’t get enough of talking to foreigners when she got the chance. . . she was a hard worker, though. Never ski
ved off any job.’ He paused. The blood slowly returned to his face.

  ‘The two of you often went to the research camp. Why would you do that when you could have spent time alone, in some private nook in the scrub?’

  Maika looked offended. ‘Sometimes she was free but I was working, so she tagged along with me.’ He sounded defensive. ‘The resort helps the scientists out when they need it. That’s how Nisi got interested, by talking to the guys while she was waiting around for me. The Prof liked her and showed her how to do some of the jobs. Everyone liked her. Hanging out there with the young guys was fun. And what they’re doing is cool, you know. Made us think about the lagoon differently.’

  ‘And later, when she started going there on her own, how did you like that?’

  Maika stared, mystified. ‘Fine, I was chilled. Better than hanging round the staff quarters. She and the guys got on well.’

  ‘Did any of them pay her too much attention?’

  He shook his head, frowning. ‘No, of course not. You didn’t know her. She wasn’t like that.’

  ‘Maika, I’m not criticising Nisi. I want to find out why she died. Did any of the team at the camp take a special interest in her, or seem jealous of you?’

  Maika shrugged. ‘No, not that I noticed. I guess I’m just not the suspicious type.’

  Could Maika possibly be so ingenuous? If so, he’d better notice more in the future, for his own sake.

  ‘If I was suspicious of anyone, it was Dr Chakra,’ Maika suddenly blurted out.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘She went to see him a few times and wouldn’t say what was wrong. But that’s not really why—it’s just that he’s such a sleaze bag!’

  ‘Why do you call him that?’

  ‘The girls he brought over—assistants my arse! He swanned around looking down on all of us, superior prick!’

  ‘Did Nisi say anything at all about her consultations with him?’

  ‘Not really. She just said she felt sick and that she went to see Dr Chakra about it. But she was worth any number of his dolled-up assistants so I’d hardly be surprised if he’d tried it on, you know.’ He continued resentfully. ‘You asked me who made me suspicious.’

  ‘Vinaka, Maika. Now I want you to think back carefully to Saturday. You said in your statement that you didn’t see Nisi that day. Are you sure about that?’

  ‘Io, I was working on the boats all day.’ Maika frowned, looked lost in thought for a minute, then looked up. ‘Hang on, I did see her! But it was from the boat. That must be why I forgot.’

  ‘Tell me about it, Maika. Take your time. Think back carefully.’

  ‘Well, after we got clear of the crowd at the jetty, and overtook the kids who ran after us, we didn’t see anyone at all. The whole foreshore was deserted until we were almost back at the resort, at the bay around the point from our quarters—round there.’ He waved his arm to the right. We saw some people on the beach so Jona came in closer to give them a good view—it’s deep there. I recognised Nisi straight away, she was waving to us. We must only have been thirty metres from them—fifty at most. We waved back, at least I did. The blessing was supposed to be a solemn occasion, I guess that’s why Jona and Ratu Ezekaia didn’t wave. But Reverend Mosese was smiling—he held up both hands. I don’t know how I could have forgotten. When we ran into the rock I guess everything else went out of my head.’

  ‘Who was with her, Maika?’

  ‘Guy and Winston Lee. Winston’s one of the regular guests.’

  ‘Did Nisi know him well?’

  Maika frowned. ‘There you go again! Not well! Maybe she only met him this trip. He usually comes from Hong Kong for a week, twice a year. He knew Guy, because he was a keen diver. Keen on all water sports. It was Winston that stove in this cat I’m fixing. Not sure how.’

  ‘Did you share Nisi’s curiosity about foreign places?’

  ‘Oh, sure.’ Maika sounded less than enthusiastic.

  ‘Did you plan to travel with her, perhaps work overseas somewhere?’

  Maika looked over the pure white sand and rippling aqua shallows to the dramatic purple heights of his home, Delanarua, on the horizon. ‘No, not me. I’m happy here. Or I was, before this.’ It was hard to picture this blinkered, naive boy as a killer, yet Horseman had seen Oscar-standard performances from the guilty before.

  25

  SUVA

  Singh had never visited the Fiji Institute of Marine Science campus, so was glad to find that Professor Burgermeister was working there today. Five years ago, the Carnegie and Rockefeller foundations had enabled the fledgling university research unit to buy a decaying fish cannery, consisting of a wharf, slipway, and rusting buildings best described as sheds. A controversial purchase, the bleak site was in stark contrast to the leafy enclave of the university.

  ‘The professor could be anywhere, Detective Sergeant,’ the guard volunteered when she showed her ID. ‘I’ll let his secretary know you’re on your way.’ He picked up a phone, waving cheerily to her as he did so. No time for a quick reconnoitre of the campus, then. Perhaps the professor would show her around later.

  The largest building was a long two storey industrial shed clad in pale grey corrugated metal. She failed to comprehend why so many building designers settled on grey these days. It had to be a conscious choice. It wasn’t possible that grey was a sort of default setting, one that the painters used if the designer had forgotten to specify the colour. White could be too glary in this climate, but why grey? Surely soft lemon, lilac or a pink tint would create a more pleasant environment.

  She opened the door and entered an atrium where palms, gingers and fleshy forest plants flourished beneath skylights and spinning ventilators high above. The receptionist got up quickly and ushered her through a door marked ‘Staff Only’. She followed the receptionist along a wide polished concrete avenue running the length of the building and divided by a series of rectangular ponds two metres wide, where fish flashed crimson and gold among water plants. Doors, most of them shut, led off the avenue on either side. At intervals, open steel stairs climbed to a balcony that ringed the entire upper level.

  She gazed up at the steel-trussed roof that hovered above the palm tops like a cloud pierced by shafts of light. It was a wonder, yet she could see that what had been done to the decrepit factory was really quite simple. If Police headquarters were like this, no one would want to leave the building. As it was. . .

  ‘Biology’s just a bit further along. They take up about half this side of the ground floor. Here’s the admin office.’ Inside a plump middle-aged woman wearing a name badge greeted her warmly.

  ‘Come, come in my dear. Well, well, you’re just a little slip of a girl, and a detective sergeant! I never knew the police force had such little lasses in its ranks!’ No way was she a little slip of a girl, but she responded to the older woman’s warmth with a smile.

  ‘Susie Singh, Mrs Koroi. It seems you’re expecting me.’

  Mrs Koroi looked at her over the top of her silver-framed spectacles and smiled. ‘Yes, Petero on the gate does a good job, Detective Sergeant. Would that it were not necessary, eh?’ She shook her head in regret. ‘A sorry state the world is in, do you not agree? If only the police could catch all the thieves and lock them up! Oh, excuse me, I’m sure you do your best, my dear.’ She smiled again, apologetically. Adi Litia in her fifties would look much like Mrs Koroi, especially if she got off Paradise Island and found some happiness. ‘Please take a seat, dear. Professor Burgermeister should be along any moment.’ Mrs Koroi turned her attention to her computer.

  She sat as requested and picked up a glossy newsletter from a pile on the table beside her. She’d no more than glanced at it, however, when the blue-clad bulk of the professor’s abdomen preceded the rest of him into the office. His sharp little eyes appraised her as she stood and shook his warm,
damp hand. ‘Aha, you wanna apply to study with us, Detective Sergeant?’

  Singh smiled. ‘Not today, Professor.’

  Now his eyes twinkled. ‘Oh shame! But I guess you’re still sizin’ us up. I’m slavin’ away in the aquarium now. Okay to talk there?’

  He led the way along the central avenue to an unmarked blue door which clicked open at the touch of a card. They entered a laboratory that didn’t look much different from others she’d been in, except that everything here was shinier, newer.

  The professor flicked on the overhead fans and gestured extravagantly to a bench stool under the high louvered windows. ‘Best seat in the house, Detective Sergeant. What can I do for you today?’ He perched one immense buttock on another stool, so that one foot was still on the floor, the other on the rung.

  She told him about the post-mortem results. He sat still, looking at her intently as she continued. ‘So you can see murder is now probable. Is there anything more you can tell me that you didn’t think of before?’

  He was entirely still and silent for some moments. ‘That poor little kid, she didn’t deserve this. Sure, I’ll try to help.’

  ‘Do you know who was responsible for her pregnancy?’

  ‘Nope. I’m shocked, y’know. I sorta assumed she and Maika were an item. They were great pals, but they never touched, held hands or anythin’ when I was around. Not the Fijian way, is it? So, who knows?’

  ‘Any signs of jealousy of the two of them among your team?’

  He looked offended. ‘Hell, no. We all loved the kid. What are you thinking?’

  ‘I’m keeping an open mind, Professor. It looks like someone on the island last Saturday afternoon killed Nisi. It may not have been intentional, but someone, at the very least, lost their temper and pushed her so hard she struck her head on a rock and died.’