A Meditation On Murder

Paul had to think for a moment before he answered. ‘I was down at the beach. Wasn’t I, darling?’

Ann looked at her husband, uncomprehending. ‘You were?’

‘Of course I was!’ Paul said, exasperated. ‘I was with you.’

It took Ann a moment to register this fact. ‘Oh, of course!’ she eventually said. ‘That’s right. We were both down on the beach, weren’t we?’

Richard found himself briefly wondering why it took Ann so long to remember that she and Paul had been on the beach together. Had she really forgotten?

Richard turned to Ben and waited for his answer.

‘Alright,’ Ben said, ‘I was in my room. On my own.’

‘So you’re saying that no one can alibi you for about 6pm yesterday evening?’

Ben looked at Richard with the first hint of irritation.

‘That’s right. I went to my room at about five for a bit of a lie down. I’d had too much sun. I then didn’t leave my room until seven when I came down for dinner. But I don’t need an alibi, I didn’t kill Aslan Kennedy.’

‘I see,’ Richard said, making a note of this fact.

Richard decided he’d got enough from the witnesses for the moment. At the very least, he needed to corroborate what they’d so far said with Aslan’s wife, so he thanked the witnesses for their time, told them that an officer would be asking them to write out their formal statements later on, and then he went off to find Camille.

She was upstairs comforting the grieving widow in her bedroom.

Richard felt himself relax as soon as he entered Rianka and Aslan’s bedroom. The shuttered windows let in only the thinnest stripes of sunlight, the dark floorboards were polished and cool, and a ceiling fan ticked lazily overhead. There was even an aspidistra in a pot in the corner of the room, Richard noted with a sigh of quiet approval.

Camille and Rianka looked up as he entered.

‘Mrs Kennedy?’ Richard asked.

‘Please … it’s Rianka.’

Richard took a moment to consider Rianka. She was slender, her hands were elegant and long-fingered, her grey hair was fixed behind her head with two chopsticks, and while her clothes were colourful and ethnic, she herself appeared quiet and demure. Prim, even. Even so, it was easy to see the beautiful young woman who had turned into this beautiful sixty-something-year-old woman.

A woman who was now experiencing the shock of sudden grief, her cheeks tear-stained, her eyes wet with pain.

‘I’m sorry to intrude, but I do have a few questions.’

‘No … of course.’

‘I’ll be as brief as I can.’

Rianka nodded.

‘Starting maybe with last night. You see, we’ve got a witness who says that she heard a man arguing with your husband in his office yesterday at about 6pm. Do you happen to know anything about that?’

‘An argument?’

‘Apparently so. At about 6pm.’

Rianka had a good think, sorting through her confused thoughts. ‘I’m sorry. I was in the kitchens then, I don’t know anything about that.’

‘Then perhaps your husband mentioned an argument to you later on?’

‘No. Aslan didn’t argue with people. He wasn’t like that. And he definitely didn’t mention any kind of argument to me yesterday.’

Now that was interesting, Richard thought to himself. Saskia said she overheard Aslan having an argument. So why hadn’t he mentioned this fact to his wife later on?

‘Then can I ask,’ Richard continued, ‘whether or not there was a man in your husband’s study shouting at him yesterday, did anyone have any grievances against him?’

‘No, of course not. Aslan was wonderful. Everyone loved him …’

Rianka trailed off and Richard could see that something was on her mind.

‘Although?’ he prompted.

‘Well, it’s maybe nothing, but he and Dominic haven’t been getting on for a while.’

‘And who’s Dominic?’

‘The handyman. It was Dominic who brought you to the Meditation Space.’

‘Oh, him?’ Richard said, surprised.

‘Although Dominic was outside the Meditation Space when it was opened up, so I don’t see how he could be involved.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Richard said. ‘We’ll look into it. But if we come on to the events of this morning. Can I just start by asking, when did your husband get up?’

‘At sunrise. That’s when he gets up.’

‘I see. And you?’

‘I lay in bed for half an hour or so longer and then I got up as well. I had some breakfast, and then I remembered there was some sewing I could be getting on with. So I went out onto the verandah to do it.’ Rianka gathered her courage as she forced herself to remember. ‘I saw Aslan and the others go into the Meditation Space. They closed the door. And that was the last time I saw him …’

‘And do you know what time this was?’

‘I have no idea. Not really. Maybe half past seven? Or just after?’

‘Then can I ask, did you stay on the verandah the whole time your husband and the other guests were inside the Meditation Space?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you perhaps see anyone enter or leave the Meditation Space during that time?’

‘No. I didn’t.’

‘Are you sure?’