Death in Paradise

This giant cephalopod—like sea creature

half octopus, half shark

is, many believe, the stuff of fantasy.

The kind of fictional monster Jules Verne might dream up.

But then, there are those more open—minded souls, like myself,

who believe this gigantic cryptid

to be as real as you or I.

I will present to you the evidence I have collated

proving this animal is no mere figment of the imagination.

And it all begins with the first sighting,

off the coast of Saint Marie in 1823, by this man...

...a pirate by the name of Pierre Laffite.

Pierre Laffite was my great—great—great—grandfather.

I tell you no lies still got the journal he had

when he was pirating away,

passed on from generation to generation.

And that's why this is the only boat trip

where you can experience the exact place

my ancestor witnessed the Lusca.

Roll up, roll up!

You know you want to!

And I promise you guys, you will not be disappointed.

So, how was it?

Are you a believer now?

To be honest...

...I think I'm even less of a believer than I was before!

I don't know why you bothered.

Because I want to be prepared.

I'm afraid nothing can prepare you for my ex—husband.

Either that's him,

or we've come to a soup kitchen by mistake.

Hello, Giles. Cara.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Oh, er...

Stop it.

This is... Rory.

Ah, yes.

Didn't, er, realise you were bringing him.

Nice to meet you, Rory.

It's great to finally meet you, Giles.

Can't wait to hear all your stories about the Lusca.

Absolutely fascinated about it.

Ah.

Um, would you... Would you like a glass of wine?

Just a cup of coffee'll do me, ta.

Um... let me see if can find a waiter.

Sit down?

So, how are you?

] mean, you know, the...

the anniversary.

Feels strange to be back.

Like it was only yesterday.

I'm taking the boat out later to...

to where it happened, if you fancy joining.

You know, remember him together. No, I'd rather stay here.

With Rory.

Poor guy.

Al right, my laddo?

The Lusca!

It's just a bad dream.

Yeah.

Where have you been?

Just went for a walk, that's all.

Thanks.

Morning, sir.

You good? No. I am not good.

What's wrong?

Turns out I am an uncle.

Yes, Mum. Yes, I understand.

But I came to visit Uncle Merv anyway.

That's Eloise.

The niece I didn't know I had.

So you're her Uncle Merv!

No, I'm not.

I mean, yes, I am her uncle, but not Merv.

Never Merv. Understood? OK.

Clearly touched a nerve there.

Well, I kind of miss him.

So she's Solomon's daughter?

I don't know why he couldn't just tell me that

in the first place. He could have just said,

"Well, as it happens, I do have a daughter."

Are he and her mother together?

Not for some time, apparently.

She's supposed to be staying with her Auntie Vondra,

but she doesn't like it there, so she ran away and came here.

We've got a case, I assume?

Oh, my God!

It's not a murder case, is it?

Please let me come on a ride—along, Uncle Merv!

Please!

Right, so, firstly,

you're not coming on any ride—along.

And secondly, it's not Uncle Merv.

It's Mervin. Remember?

Hi.

I'm Naomi, by the way.

I work with your Uncle Merv.

Right.

Go pack your stuff, young lady. You've got a boat to catch.

I am sending you back home to Antigua.

Whatever you say, Uncle Merv.

And it's not...

I like her.

Victim's name is Giles Parry.

58 years of age.

Body was found floating six miles out at sea.

Sergeant Fletcher is with the coastguard now.

A couple of fishermen going out early this morning

came across the body,

but paramedics reckon he'd been in the water since last night.

Thing is, this is already causing a stir around the harbour.

Why's that?

Because of those marks on his body.

They're all over his front and his back.

And the bruising, here.

Some people are saying it was caused by the Lusca,

and that's what killed him.

Sorry, what?

It's a sea monster.

A sea monster?

Like a local legend kind of thing.

Half shark, half octopus.

Wraps its tentacles around you and drags you under.

Hence... A sea monster?

Not everybody believes in this thing.

Most people don't, but... Er, do you?

No, but it's still part of our history,

part of our culture. Right.

Well, we can knock that theory on the head

as a possible cause of death, all right?

Except there's a little more to it than that, sir.

That's why he's here.

I always wondered whether this would come back to haunt me.

Seven years ago yesterday,

Giles Parry's 16—year—old son, Benjamin, drowned at sea.

In the exact same location

as Giles's body was found this morning.

A local fisherman told me that

Mr Parry had sailed out to that spot yesterday

to pay his respects.

Then he ended up dead himself.

Mm-hm.

Was it stormy yesterday?

Called the harbour master.

It was calm for the last 24 hours.

And do we know what time he left the harbour?

Just before seven o'clock, according to the GPS.

Also, there's a boat mechanic who's been fixing Mr Parry's engine.

He saw him leave.

He says there was definitely nobody else on the boat with him.

It arrived at the final destination half an hour later.

Radar shows no other boat near it at any point.

So what happened to him?

How did he end up dead with all those...

weird markings on him?

Unless, you know, it was the Lusca.

Hate to break it to you, Officer Rose,

but sea monsters don't exist.

No, yeah, I know.

But, it would be cool if they did, though, right?

Yeah. What's that?

It's a bullet.

Our victim wasn't shot, right?

No. And there was no gun found on the boat?

Not that I've found so far.

So what is that doing here?

I don't know what happened on that boat,

but the fact that we found this on it means it's suspicious.

I think someone else was there, you know?

I'm going to talk to Catherine.

From what I know, Giles Parry was an isolated figure,

but he did drink at her bar, and he would talk to her.

I'm also going to contact the Guadeloupe police

and request the Benjamin Parry case files.

What, so the search back then

wasn't led by the Saint Marie team?

As it was the Guadeloupe coastguard

who was first contacted when the empty boat was discovered,

they staked their claim.

I bet that rankled.

I did push for us to have a role,

but the senior investigating officer wasn't interested.

There's some people on Saint Marie

who think I should have pressed harder,

especially when they ran into a dead end early on.

It's always been felt more could have been done.

Done by me.

Considering I am already persona non grata,

I would like to do my bit to try and solve this case now,

and win back the community's trust.

I've located the victim's ex—wife.

She and her partner are staying at a hotel just outside town.

We arrived here two days ago,

to mark the anniversary of Cara's son's passing.

And I'm sorry to ask, Miss Smart,

but your son Benjamin,

why did he take the boat out on his own?

Giles had always been into UFOs and aliens, that kind of thing.

Our holidays were spent visiting Loch Ness,