The Impossible Murder is the third episode of Series 6 of Death in Paradise.
Humphrey and Martha's romantic weekend at the remote Hotel Cecile is disrupted by the murder of the hotel owner on the first night of their stay.
BBC
Synopsis
During a romantic getaway, DI Humphrey Goodman and Martha Lloyd are caught up in a murder investigation.
Plot
Humphrey Goodman and Martha Lloyd go for a romantic getaway at La Maison Cecile, run by Elliot and Linda Taylor. During dinner, they overhear an argument between Elliot and his brother, Charlie Taylor. As the evening draws to a close, a woman's scream alerts them to the fact that Charlie has been murdered.
Humphrey begins to investigate the room, noting that the room still contains Charlie's laptop, but that his wallet and watch are missing. All signs point to a robbery gone wrong. There is only one set of stairs to access the floor where the room is, and Humphrey had a good view of them throughout his meal with Martha. As the hotel is on an island, the jetty is the only place to moor boats as the rest of the shoreline is too rocky. A check of the jetty finds no boat. The killer, Humphrey surmises, is still on the island. Since nothing can be done until the morning, Humphrey seals the crime scene. However, he takes Martha outside and shows her the balcony to Charlie's room. There is no evidence of an intruder on the outside - no broken flowers, and no footprints in the soil. Humphrey believes that the scene was staged to look like a robbery and the culprit is inside the hotel.
The rest of the police and the paramedics arrive and Humphrey briefs them. At the time of the murder, he can account for all of the guests since they were in the dining room with him. However, the staff were out of his sight at the time, and are the likely suspects. Humphrey just needs to figure out how they got up to the room without him noticing.
Humphrey questions Ernestine as she is the only one known to be alone with the victim. She tells Humphrey that she saw Charlie arguing with Irie Johnson, the receptionist The murder weapon is found in the dishwasher, and is the only item to be washed. A British phone number found on a notepad in the room is found to be for the Metropolitan Police's fraud squad. They are investigating a series of credit card clonings, and the link is that all the victims stayed at the hotel. Humphrey thinks that Irie might be behind the card cloning and that Charlie found out, and goes to confront him. Irie admits to the fraud because he needed the money to pay for his daughter's childcare. When Humphrey posits that he could have killed Charlie to hide the crime, Irie tells him that Charlie understood when he told him about his daughter, Carly, and that he would make it go away.
Humphrey is puzzled by the presence of an old pack of cigarettes, several years past their best. His research shows that Brompton Cigarettes ceased production in 1993. An analysis of the laptop shows that Charlie had met with local Saint Marie solicitor Jacob DeCosta, and that he had booked a ticket to fly back to the Sudan for the day after he was killed without telling anyone.
While looking through old photos, Florence Cassell finds that Samuel Palmer and Charlie were friends. Samuel had a previous conviction for arson, and when confronted he reveals that Charlie was involved in the fire. It was a teenage prank that went wrong and Charlie was also responsible. However, Samuel was caught and did not implicate Charlie. When Charlie returned to the hotel several months ago, Samuel asked for a job and he recommended him for the post of barman and waiter. However, he did not let on that the two knew each other.
Dwayne Myers and JP Hooper visit the solicitor, Jacob Decosta, who reveals that the hotel is on the brink of bankruptcy, and that Elliot and Linda are in denial over the seriousness of the problem. Jacob requested Charlie come back to deal with the matter. The two arranged liquidation papers for the hotel for both Charlie and Elliot to sign, but the documentation has gone missing. The Taylors admit to removing the signed paperwork from Charlie's room after his death.
Dwayne has a splinter in his finger, and Humphrey suddenly realises what happened. Charlie was not stabbed in the room, but in the kitchen. And his killer was Linda. Humphrey realises that Charlie had been in love with Linda since they met, but refused to betray his brother so he left. After being called back to deal with the hotel's financial situation, the two found that their feelings were still strong. As Charlie worked up the courage to telling Linda he was leaving forever, she tried to make him take her with him. Refusing again to betray his brother, he refused, but in the struggle Linda accidentally stabbed him. Not wanting Linda to go to prison for his murder, or for his brother to find out their secret, Charlie stemmed the flow of blood with Linda's scarf, then returned to his room. He made it look like a robbery gone wrong, even going so far as to hide the wallet, watch, and scarf in a secret compartment where he used to hide his cigarettes from his mother. Breaking with his usual pattern, Humphrey confronts Linda alone with the facts and she admits to killing Charlie.
Quotes
Cast
- Kris Marshall as Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman
- Joséphine Jobert as Detective Sergeant Florence Cassell
- Danny John-Jules as Officer Dwayne Myers
- Tobi Bakare as Officer JP Hooper
- Élizabeth Bourgine as Catherine Bordey
- Sally Bretton as Martha Lloyd
Guest Stars
- Gary Beadle as Samuel Palmer
- Kingsley Ben-Adir as Irie Johnson
- Angela Bruce as Ernestine Gray
- Kerry Fox as Linda Taylor
- Jason Hughes as Elliot Taylor
- Mark Powley as Charlie Taylor
Music Played
Gallery
External Links
Discussion
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| Death in Paradise |
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| Series 6 Erupting in Murder The Secret of the Flame Tree The Impossible Murder Stumped in Murder Man Overboard - Part One Man Overboard - Part Two In the Footsteps of a Killer Murder in the Polls Series 1 • Series 2 • Series 3 • Series 4 • Series 5 • Series 6 • Series 7 • Series 8 |