Death in Paradise

Watch your step - bit tricky along here.

The nesting site's not far now.

We overnight ahead, and push on first thing.

Yeah, and I was lucky enough to get to Cyprus, finally.

Yeah, I did Cyprus. It was OK.

I got a red-backed shrike and a Bonelli's Eagle on the first day.

Boom.

Good Lord. Yeah, yeah, yeah! I had my own guide.

I don't know, it was a-mazing.

I bet it was.

So, have you ever seen a Bonelli's Eagle, Alec?

It's OK to say no!

I'll make a start with the clearing up, then. That's MY job.

No, no, let Doris get her pinny out(!)

HE LAUGHS

I'll give you a hand.

So, are we going to see the Saint-Marie Green tomorrow, Cap?

I'll do me best, guv, I'll do me best.

I went to Borneo a couple of months ago.

Did the northern mountain range.

Did you see the Serpent Eagle? I wish.

They don't think it's going to survive, you know.

There are only two breeding pairs, last I heard. That's terrible.

There were 18 pairs, no more than three years ago.

What happened? Poachers.

What, people steal them?

The eggs.

I'm so jealous. I've always wanted to see that part of the world.

Where else have you been? This year?

Ah, Madagascar, Vietnam, Nepal on the way back.

Oh, super!

Yeah, I get away when I can.

Someone should teach him some manners.

Yes.

They probably should.

What do you want me to do? There's no signal up here.

We can go back now if you want?

What, miss the chance of seeing the Green?

Good night's sleep, up at dawn,

quick bite to eat, then down to the hide.

Look, don't worry, it'll keep.

BIRD SQUAWKS

Yasmin? Yasmin?

Don't suppose you fancy a nightcap?

You know I don't. Now, go to bed!

Mr Burton, quick, wake up! It's Mr Talbot.

He's going without you! He's trying to see the Green first.

Look!

What the...!

Sneaky...!

Come on, everyone. Up!

Captain Jack? What is it? We need to get moving.

What's going on? Mr Talbot's already left.

Hang on, how long's he been gone? Minute or so.

OK, OK, just give me a sec. Oh, joy!

You'd better get your trousers on.

Talbot's gone already? It's a bit underhand, even for him.

Right, come on, everyone. Quickly, come on! All right, all right!

BIRDS CHIRP

Almost there. You hear that? That's them!

The Greens! Yeah, I'm worried he's seen them, then scared them away.

SHE SCREAMS

SHE WHISTLES

Sir? What?

Morning.

Ah! Morning, Camille.

Sorry, er, must have, er...

Oh, you, erm...

Yeah.

Ah, coffee. What's the occasion?

Murder. Right.

Two ticks. Mm-hm.

Oh, you'll need boots - we're off to the jungle.

Excellent!

What's in the jungle?

A group of birdwatchers.

And our victim?

One of the group. Mark Talbot, British.

Well, we'd better get out there, hadn't we?

Come on, Camille, no time to dilly-dally!

Ah, brilliant!

The parrot reserve - I've been meaning to come here.

So, what have we got?

Well, the victim was here as part of a bird-watching tour group.

Yes, to see the elusive Saint-Marie Green. Really? Exciting.

He travelled here with his wife. She's staying at a local hotel.

She has been informed.

He's been stabbed once, through the back and into the heart.

The knife has the initials MLT engraved on the hilt,

so we assume it belonged to the victim.

There are no prints, it's been wiped clean.

He had a camera on him, a pair of binoculars and nothing's been taken.

Not robbery, then. No.

And this was inside his left shirt pocket.

One sock?

Bit odd.

The other one not hereabouts?

Ugh! Clean!

One fresh sock. Anything else?

Er, life list? Sir?

Life list. Every self-respecting twitcher would have one.

It'll be a notebook - a list of all the birds they've seen,

where, when, etc. "Twitcher"?

Yes, it's a hardcore birdwatcher.

Is there something you want to tell us, Chief? N-No!

Well, I may have done a bit of bird-watching in my youth.

Just me, the trees... a lesser-spotted grebe or two.

Right.

Well, there was no notebook, no. No.

So, who found the body?

The rest of the tour group.

They were all together when they found him.

But our man was on his own. Why?

The staff think he wanted to beat the others to see the bird first.

So once they saw him go, they followed him here.

How far behind were they? About a couple of minutes.

OK, and where is camp, exactly? About half a mile that way.

OK, so tell me about this tour.

It was an organised trip, two members of staff

and four guests, all hoping to see the Saint-Marie Green.

Any sightings? I didn't ask, Chief. Pity.

So, what do we know about the others?

We have Alec Burton,

he's from the same bird-watching club as Mr Talbot in the UK.

Seems a bit odd.

Matthew Webster, specialises in bird photography.

Been on a couple of previous trips with Mr Talbot.

He's a bit odd too.

Daniel Parish, new to the group.

He's a birdwatcher, and freelance journalist.

Let me guess - a bit odd?

How did you know?

A wild stab in the dark.

Anyway, Mr Parish got very excited when he talked about the parrot.

Well, to be honest with you, they all did. Very odd.

Odd, perhaps, but not entirely surprising.

It is, after all, why they're all here.

And the staff?

Yasmin Blake, casual worker, just here for the season,

and Captain Jack Parrot, the tour leader.

Now, I know Captain Jack from way back in the day.

He's a bit of a rogue, but harmless enough, you know?

The fellow taking pictures?

Get the camera and any memory cards for me. Could be useful.

With pleasure, Chief.

So, apart from our two members of staff

and three fellow twitchers...

I can't let you have it - it's actually quite valuable.

Who else could get in here? No-one, sir.

Reserve security is pretty tight.

The Saint-Marie Green is extremely rare

and protected by the government. It's all fenced off.

Security cameras at the entrance show that no-one else came in

or out since the group arrived yesterday. So what's the likelihood

of a member of the general public scaling the fence,

fighting their way through the jungle unnoticed

in order to plunge a knife into Mr Talbot's back? Not very likely. No.

It would appear that the world of bird-watching may be slightly

more cut-throat than one might assume.

Ah! Captain Jack Parrot!

A triumph of nominative determinism.

What?

Your name. Parrot.

The business you're in. His real name's Jack Stanton, sir.

What a shame. Never mind.

Er, so, tell me, er, how does this tour of yours work, exactly?

We've got 16 species of parrot here. Really? Yeah!

But mostly they come to see the, er, Saint-Marie Green.

They're incredibly rare. Only one nesting pair left.

I have a deal with the parrot reserve to officially conduct

tours for interested parties, mainly birdwatchers.

Can you take us through what happened this morning?

I woke Mr Burton.

Any particular reason?

To be honest, I felt a bit sorry for him.

Mr Talbot was always belittling him.

So, have you ever seen the Bonelli's Eagle, Alec?

It's OK to say no.

You felt he was trying to outdo Mr Burton

by getting to the Saint-Marie Green first? Yes.

How long till you all followed?

Two, three minutes, I suppose.

I mean, they were all pretty angry.

And you all stayed together on the trail until you found the body?

Yes.

SHE SCREAMS

It was awful. I mean, that poor man!

So, you and Miss Blake must've been the last people

to see Mr Talbot alive. Yes, I suppose we were.

Look!

What the...?

Sneaky...!

It wasn't right, sneaking off like that.

Quite. You must have been angry.

Seething, if I'm honest.

So, you didn't get on?

Look, he's not...ah, sorry, he WASN'T really my kind of person.

But you were both twitchers. Members of the same club.

Birders. The correct term is "birders".

And actually common interest doesn't necessarily guarantee friendship.