A Death in Smoking Paradise

"Sorry, I don't think there are any left I think you at them all last night. But Hannah I am just excited it's the freaking weekend, I don't need to work till Monday so I might well have a couple more drinks!" Martha grinned and placed her filter back between her lips.

"Ugh, my stomach, I must look like shit, I don't want Dexter seeing me like this."

Martha snorted "Get up, go have a shower, wash your teeth, get some slap on, I will pack our things together for a day out at the beach, and you will soon be fine..."

"...Trust me I'm a doctor" they both said in unison and grinned laughed and then coughed in unison at each other and Hannah with her jaw cupped in her hand supported by the table dragged again on her cigarette.

***

Davina glanced up from her papers and watched out the corner of her eye as another exhaled cloud of smoke permeating from the corner of Alice's lips as she looked focused on her computer, her cigarette firmly between her left-hand fingers and the mouse in her right. Davina took a gulp her coffee and noisily put the empty mug down and cracked her knuckles then stood up. "Officers, I am just going out for a walk on my own, need to gather my thoughts and see the lay of the land around here on my own."

"Can we come and assist you?" Ryan asked as he put down his coffee mug.

"No officers, I need you write up everything that has happened so far as a report...I need to just do something on my own. Can I borrow the buggy?"

Ryan and Alice looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. "Yeah, can't see why not!" Ryan replied and stood up and dug into his pockets for the key fob.

Davina stood up and put her hand out to accept them, "Oh, before I go does everyone do around here today?"

"It's Saturday so everyone heads to the beach, kicks back and relaxes as there is a bar, some food and everyone goes for a swim and takes in some sun." Alice pipped up.

"What time do they do that?" Davina asked.

Alice giggled "When they have recovered from their Friday night hangovers!"

"Is that any different from their Thursday night hangovers..." Davina shook her head..." anyway, great we can get those I need together on the beach this afternoon?"

"Err, I guess so." Ryan nodded in agreement.

"Excellent, officers, I will see you later." Davina stated as she stood up and headed towards the door. "Oh, do you have any of those bottles of water? It's hot again!" she sheepishly grinned.

"Yes, hopefully in the fridge." Ryan pointed in that direction twisting his face up hoping that some was in there.

"Excellent." Davina stated, marched over and found a bottle, and as she came back, she looked at the corner of the desk, smiled and picked up her pack of cigarettes and headed for the door.

As the door shut Ryan and Alice waved at the closed door.

"Okay, what the hell is she up to?" Ryan asked Alice.

"I have no idea!" Alice stated as she trimmed her ash from her cigarette.

"Well, we can try and follow her on the CCTV, at least." Ryan grinned.

"Should we?" Alice asked cigarette hovering tantalisingly in front of her lips.

Ryan glanced out the corner of his eyes, grinned "Yes!"

"Okay, let's do it!" Alice wickedly smiled and then dragged hard on her cigarette and Ryan opened the software on his computer.

***

Carrie-Ann bounced on the mattress "Darling you happy now, we made it to the boat with plenty of time, it doesn't go for ages?" she asked as she dragged on her cigarette, Michelle had just shown them to their room. "It helps it's the same room as last time, when coming back later tonight!" She giggled.

Mike sighed and sat beside her on the bed. "Happy and sad, the realisation that we actually doing this, moving to a remote island for what could be, you know, like forever!"

"It worked for Richard Branson; it can work for us too darling." Carrie-Ann grinned and dragged on her cigarette as she rearranged her dress over her legs as she settled on the bed.

"Yeah, but he owned it!" Mike specified as Carrie-Ann filled her lungs with smoke again.

"True..." Carrie-Ann cheesily grinned and then exhaled and blew Mike a smoke-filled air kiss across the bed "The important thing is we have each other."

"Are we staying here or going up on deck to watch us leave?" Mike asked.

"I feel winded and knackered from you power walking us along the quay, and can't face the stairs for minute, I just need to get my breath back and we can head up. But Mike, I don't want to miss the opening of the bar!" she grinned and dragged on her cigarette.

***

Davina knocked on the door "Good morning!" and she knocked again.

There was shuffling from the other side of the door.

"Oh hello, just getting dressed, I am on my way, but it should be open!" The voice called out from the other side of the door.

"No rush!" Davina called back as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other in anticipation of the door opening tapping her fingers on the cigarette pack in her pocket.

Martha smiled as she opened the door wearing her usual sarong. "Oh hello...officer?" and folded her hand across her naked chest.

Davina introduced herself and Martha invited her in, explaining Hannah was in the shower as she briefly popped into the bedroom and threw on a loose-fitting blouse in the process before they both sat in the comfy sofa chairs around the coffee table.

"I understand you are one of the doctors on the island?" Davina enquired.

"Yes, that is correct. Are you okay?" Martha stated as she shuffled forward on the sofa and leaned across the coffee table and extracted a cigarette placing it between her lips before turning the pack to Davina who shook her head. Martha shrugged her shoulders and lit the cigarette.

Davina laughed as Martha inhaled, "Yes doctor, I am absolutely fine, my main question for you, is nothing medically to do with me and all to do with the investigation into Chardonnay...has any resident got a prescription of sleeping tablets from you in the last few weeks?

"Oh, yes poor girl, okay, let me think," she paused and screwed her face up as she thought, "sorry for being slow, I will admit I have a headache as I had a couple of drinks last night!" She grinned and pointed at the two empty wine bottles on the table in front of them "err, I don't think I can really tell you our patients medical records?"

Davina nodded "okay...Is it usual for residents to need them? I can't imagine much anxiety in this tropical oasis?" she asked as Martha nodded as she inhaled on her cigarette.

"It is no different to anywhere else in the world, the residents start to have concerns about being away, they have worries about family at home, worries about people here, so yes there is lots of depression and of course, we are all drinking and smoking far too much!" She acknowledged with a brief rise of her eyebrows and flicked her cigarette above the ashtray and then wiggled her backside into the sofa squashing the matching cushion with her elbow as she went and once settled deeply inhaled again.

"I know you are a doctor, but how about we play a little game, if I wrote a list of names down that have recently had sleeping tablets from you, could you just tell me if at least one of them had got them?"

"So, I am not telling you which?"

"No, just if one or more of them on the list had recently had a prescription."

Martha wiggled forward on her chair and sat up and gently coughed, "yes officer I guess I can do that." She said a little unconvinced, but nodded and looked at Davina writing her list with one eye as she slowly took a lungful of smoke as she dragged on her cigarette.

***

Ryan and Alice sat side by side staring at the screen two streams of smoke rising up from their hands whilst they were glued to the screen. "Why is at Martha's, is she sick?"

"She didn't seem to me?" Alice asked as she exhaled and extracted another cigarette from the pack beside her and went through the process of chain lighting it, stubbing the spent one out beside her as she dragged again.

"So, then what is she up to?" Ryan mused. "What has Martha got to do with Chardonnay?"

"I don't know..." Alice replied and flicked her freshly growing ash.

"Interesting, let's see where she goes next."

***

"So, one of these names recently got a prescription for the tablets?"

Martha leaned forward again flicked her ash, briefly ran her hand across her nose and sniffed, "Yes, I can confirm that of the people on that list some of them recently got a prescription for sleeping tablets. Martha reaffirmed as the roar of water from the shower in the nearby bathroom stopped.

"Thank you Martha, I appreciate your information."

"No problem...I am intrigued, but I am glad that I can be of assistance, can I ask...I assume how this is related to Chardonnay, poor girl!"

"I am not really at liber..." Davina started to say as the bathroom door burst open with a cloud of steam.

"Oh Martha sorry for being so long, I think I actually fell asleep in there, it was so nice, but you will never guess, I actually now rather need a ciggy, who would have thought it, hey ho, but you were so right a shower has made me feel so mu..." Hannah rambled as she mooched out of the bathroom busily drying her hair not taking notice of anything, before suddenly looking up and realising that they had company. "...more human...Oh fuck! Sorry, fuck, can I get past, I, fuck, err, sorry I need my clean clothes, err and they are in the suitcase behind you." She pointed at the clothes strewn plastic coated purple suitcase on the floor next to the sofa.

Davina smiled and introduced herself and politely got up and allowed the naked Hannah to get past as she held the towel roughly over her body to maintain her modesty.

"Well Martha thank you for your time, have a good day, and I will see you I assume up at the beach for a drink later?" Davina asked as she excused herself and smiled as she left the two sisters alone and headed back outside.

***

Marion coughed and sniffed as she sat down the on the sofa and crossed her legs over flicking her satin gown over her tanned knees which swiftly slipped on her smooth legs back open again as she leaned over and flipped open her paracetamol pack and popped two tablets in her mouth before picking up her coffee cup and swallowing them. She looked up and smiled at Dexter who was nervously sitting opposite her on the sofa, "Nice to properly meet you Dexter, I have got rather used to seeing the back of you." Marion groggily croaked glancing at the door he had run through in the previous day, she smiled and sipped her coffee again with an audible gulp. "Not running away from me this morning?" She asked before retrieving the burning cigarette in the ashtray between them and taking a deep, long drag.

"Err, Tanya said she was going to drop me back in to town."

"Oh, is she? How long are you planning on staying on the island?"

"Err, I will be gone tomorrow if I can."

"So, for you, this has been literally a flying, spying, shagging my daughter sort of visit?"

It was Dexter's turn to cough. "No, that wasn't clearly the intention of the mission, I mean visit, I am sorry."

"Umm..." Marion said before dragging on her cigarette getting ready to ask another question.

"...Mom!" Tanya squawked stopping the conversation as she came down the hallway from the computer room "What have you done with Dad?" she asked before taking a bite out of the slice of toast she was eating.

Marion laughed, coughed, and shook her head, "Nothing, I haven't seen the bastard since he left me alone on the sofa last night. Is he not in the bedroom?" and dragged hard on the cigarette, before letting a gentle stream of smoke slowly drift out her nose and then mouth.

"Oh, I hadn't looked, as long as he is around."

"Yes, he should be, he can't go anywhere!" Marion cackled.

***

"Is she heading to our place?" Alice asked with her exhale bounding off the screen as they sat there staring at the images in disbelief clicking on the different cameras as she walked across the compound. "Why would she do that on her own? We haven't got anything to hide, have we?"

Ryan tapped his next unlit cigarette on the desk before placing the filter between his lips. "No, we don't, I assume you left your panties and bra still hanging on the cameras?" he asked before moving his cigarette toward the flame of his lighter.

"Err yes, the ones we put there a few weeks ago when we, you know what..." Alice wickedly smiled and her spare hand crept closer to Ryan's and touched.

"Well Al..." Ryan said removing his hand "...there is one positive out of this; at least Martin won't able to watch back and see what Davina is looking at!"

"Fuck."

***

Davina pushed open the as expected unlocked front door of Ryan and Alice's shared house, she momentarily paused and coughed at the smell of stale cigarette smoke that permeates most buildings on the island, the curtains were still drawn it was a dusky light in the room, it was also a mess, the kitchen table still had the bowls and coffee mugs from breakfast on it with a half full ashtray conveniently located between the two bowls. On the coffee table an empty bottle of wine and two empty bottles of beer again with a filled ashtray. Clothes were liberally scattered around the place.

She ignored the mess of the kitchen and opened the door to the bathroom she stepped over the pile of underwear on the floor and opened the vanity mirror cupboard and looked inside. Two sets of toothpaste, some aspirin, creams for scratches, nothing exciting, she then stepped back over the dirty underwear on top of the blue police shirts and walked in to the first bedroom; it was pristine tidied to inch of its life, everything was in its place, she opened the wardrobe there were several shirts all ironed and on hangers, the draws had socks and boxers all folded. She headed to the bedside table and pulled open the draws with the exception of a pack of half empty pack of ribbed condoms, an odd blue sock, and an empty pack of cigarettes there was nothing of interest to be seen.

Davina stopped and looked around once more, everything was where it should be, and she moved to the second bedroom, it was as messy as the front room. It was clearly Alice's room as the room was strewn with shorts and strappy tops and her makeup case open in the floor in front of the full-size mirror.

Davina opened the draws of the bedside unit, to find a couple of packs of cigarettes, a pack of sanitary towels, a pack of condoms and pair of large pair of red cotton knickers, Davina smiled knowingly folded them up and put them back, she closed the draw and lifted the mattress and looked under and stared at the empty space before tucking back together again. She paused and opened the lower draw of the bedside unit, it was empty except for one thing she picked up put it in her pocket, and walked back out the bedroom and looked up at the ceiling and smiled and waved at the zebra print bra with its cup hanging over what looked like a motion sensor in one corner of the room and a pink thong with its narrow gusset stretched over covering the monitor in the opposite corner.

***

Tanya pulled the buggy to a stop outside the bar. "Are you sure you don't want to come with me today?" She asked and gently stroked her hand across his thigh. "It's only the Outhwaites, I am sure they wouldn't mind?"

He grinned and then shook his head, "As I have said several times, I will probably get up to the beach there later under my own steam." He replied and toked on his cigarette before starting to exhale he flicked it across the road and momentarily watched it as it rolled over several times until it hit a stone and come to a halt.

"Also see my Mom, didn't bite, when she is sober, she can be nice sometimes."

"I assume that is mostly when she is sober?" Dexter asked as he dragged on the butt of her cigarette as Tanya shrugged her shoulders and then ignored the question

"Anyway, today, please be good with Hannah." She winked and waited for him to finishing exhaling and to flick his cigarette away before she leaned in and gave him a kiss.

"I will, who said anything about Hannah today, don't you worry, and nothing is going on."

"As you have said several times, and for my sins I believe you, but hundreds wouldn't'!" Tanya said and leaned in for yet another kiss. "You promise you will come up to the beach, even if it's with Hannah?" Tanya raised her bushy eyebrows as a threat.

"I promise!" Dexter grinned and quickly leaned back in for a very quick kiss before he hopped out of the buggy. Tanya smiled back at him, extracted a cigarette from pack on the dashboard, and quickly lit it with a quick drag, and the buggy slowly whirred off kicking up the dust as she went.

***

Martin scratched his chin and smiled as he clicked between a blank screen and a hazy one of Davina walking around Ryan and Alice's living room as seen through the burring of a pink mesh covering the camera. He tutted and extracted another cigarette and placed it between his lips.

"We are going to have to have words about health and safety and monitors aren't I!" he said out loud to the empty room and leaned over the lighter and lit the cigarette.

***

As Michelle filled their wine glasses, Mike watched as a girl in a short red miniskirt and loose fitting white strappy crop top revealing just how much of her body was covered in blue tattoos as she unsteadily walked through the bar as the boat slowly rose and fell over a gentle wave.

"Caz, I think recognise her!" Mike stated as Michelle turned the bottle to catch the drips as she followed Carrie-Ann's glass on the wave.

"Oh yes that gorgeous girl is Carmen Thorne, the islands new hairdresser." Michelle replied.

"Well, there is one guy here who won't be running to her for a haircut!" giggled Carrie-Ann whilst looking at Mike shaking his head.

"Yeah, not a fan of all body tats! Is she the replacement for Chardonnay?" Mike asked.

"Yes, it's so sad, isn't it we only found out when she turned up and introduced herself. We are sort of used to bringing bodies back to the mainland, but you don't expect a colleague, do you?"

"Especially such a young girl, we actually saw Carmen yesterday in floods of tears, she was at the harbour in crying her eyes out last night didn't we Darling?" Carrie-Ann repeated herself asking the question.

"Yes, darling we did. At least we are happy to be coming out here, I don't think she is!" Mike mused.

"Don't worry," she smiled "I will have a quiet welcoming chat and drink or two with her later." Michelle suggested as the three of them looked Carmen leaned against the bar exhaling smoke through her nose, her wide pink bra straps contrasting with the blue tattoos on her shoulders, her cigarette dangling in the corner of her natural red lips as she stood waiting for Michelle's return.

"It might be wise to!" Carrie-Ann nervously smiled.

"I am sure Henry if he up to it, will sort her out later, he is normally very good at welcoming new members to the team and ensuring they fit it. Right, anyway call me for another drink, I better look after her!" Michelle stated and turned and swished back to the bar.

***

Davina sped back into the police station; she slowed down and stopped as Dexter lolloped along the path. She waved him over and had a brief chat, he nodded and turned and headed off down the hill towards where Katya stored her canoe. Davina then sped off kicking up a cloud of red dust as the wheels span and headed back to the police station.

She coughed as she opened the door to a haze of smoke both exhaled and from the constant stream pouring off the end of the two cigarettes and as she entered, she left the door open for air and quickly took to her chair. She instantly tutted as she had to pump it back up again. Once at the right height she clasped her hands together and looked at the two police officers in front of her.