I say something?’
‘Of course. What is it?’
‘You seem to be on fire.’
‘It’s not fire, Camille. It’s steam.’
‘Oh, I see. You’re steaming, sir.’
‘It’s the rain in my suit. The sun’s making it evaporate, okay? It’s just basic physics.’
‘Of course it is, sir.’
Ignoring the smirk on his partner’s face, Richard turned and looked at the plantation buildings as Lucy headed over. There were old barns, workshops, and other structures all made from the same grey stone, and they were all arranged around an ancient cobblestoned yard. In fact, if it wasn’t for the palm trees and jungle pressing in on all sides, Richard could imagine the farm buildings fitting just as well into a village scene back in Dorset. Oh, and the active volcano looming above the plantation, Richard noted to himself – that was the other clue that he wasn’t on a farm in Dorset.
As Lucy reached the Police, Richard took charge.
‘We’d better not waste any time,’ he said. ‘So can you tell us what you saw and when?’
‘I’ll try,’ she said, nervously. ‘But I don’t really know where to start.’
‘That’s okay,’ Camille said, knowing that if her boss was all clanking metal cogs, she had to be the oil. ‘Just tell us what happened in your own words.’
‘Well, I suppose it started a couple of weeks ago,’ Lucy said. ‘And I didn’t know it was happening at first. If you see what I mean. It was just a feeling I got. That someone was watching me. You know, that feeling where your skin prickles?’
‘How do you mean?’ Camille asked.
‘You know, when your skin creeps because you think someone’s looking at you? Well, I had that feeling a couple of weeks ago. When I was down here. But I couldn’t work out if anyone was actually looking at me. It was just this sensation I had that I was being watched. So I told myself I must be imagining it – even though it’s happened quite a few times since then. Mostly when I’m down by these buildings. Or out in the coffee fields.’ Here, Lucy indicated the land as it sloped down the mountain from the courtyard, and Richard could see that the whole hillside was covered in neat rows of densely-packed bushes, each about ten feet high.
‘Oh, are those coffee bushes?’ Richard asked.
‘They are.’
‘Where the coffee berries grow?’
‘We call them cherries, but yes, that’s where they grow.’
‘I see,’ Richard said, none the wiser. ‘Sorry, why do you call them cherries?’
‘Because the fruit of the coffee plant is red like a cherry. Don’t you know how coffee is made?’ Lucy asked, surprised.
‘Well, I know it comes in jars,’ Richard said before realising that this was probably the wrong thing to say.
‘It’s a bit more complicated than that.’
‘I’m sure it is,’ Camille said, trying to get the interview back on track. ‘But you were telling us that you felt you were being watched when you were down by these farm buildings?’
‘That’s right. And a couple of days ago I thought I’d got proof. I was just getting into my car when I had the feeling again – that someone was spying on me – and when I spun round, I caught this quick flash as whoever it was ducked behind that wall over there.’ Here, Lucy pointed at a stone wall that separated two buildings. ‘I was shocked, I can tell you. But I made myself go over and look behind the wall. If I’m honest, I was really scared. But what I saw was kind of the worst thing possible.’
‘Why?’ Camille asked. ‘What did you see?’
‘Whoever it was had gone. They’d just vanished into thin air. It was really spooky. Because I was sure I’d seen someone, but they were no longer there. And after that moment, I started to doubt my own shadow. It even occurred to me that maybe I’d been seeing things. But then this morning, I finally saw him. The guy who’s been stalking me. Plain as day. Let me show you.’ Lucy led them off to a clump of vegetation that pressed up against the side of one of the old buildings. ‘I was just coming back from the fields when I looked over and saw a man standing to the side of this bush here.’
‘And it was definitely a man?’ Richard asked, eagerly pulling his notebook and pencil from his inside pocket.
‘Oh yes. This old guy with a beard and straggly grey hair down to his shoulders. He looked like a tramp if I’m honest.’
‘What time was this?’
‘I don’t know. Something like 10am. Or just after.’
‘What colour was his skin?’
‘I think white.’
‘Did you recognise him?’
‘No. But I only saw him for a split second. Because the moment he realised that I’d seen him, he ran back into the jungle just beyond the bush here. And then I did a pretty stupid thing. I chased after him. Look.’ Lucy went over and indicated a couple of thin branches on the edge of the jungle. They were snapped back, and Richard could see the white sap seeping from the exposed wood inside.
‘You followed him into the jungle?’
‘I did.’
Richard could see how anxious Lucy was.
‘And did you catch him?’
‘No. He had a head start on me, and the jungle’s pretty thick around here, so about ten steps in, I lost him altogether. That’s when I came back out here, got straight into my car and came down to the Police station to report the incident. Because, whoever he is, it’s got to stop.’
‘So,’ he said, ‘this man could be anywhere by now?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Well, let’s see about that,’ Camille said, and before Richard could stop her, his partner had pushed through the broken branches and started to wade into the thick jungle.
‘Camille, what are you doing?’ Richard asked, unable to keep the panic out of his voice.
‘Police work,’ she called back, at which point Richard saw her stop dead in her tracks. Oh God, he thought to himself, what if a giant spider had just jumped at Camille’s face? Fortunately for Richard, before he had to pretend that he was about to come to his partner’s aid, Camille headed off at a new bearing, and he realised that she’d only paused to check that she was on the right track before continuing on her way.
As the dense vegetation finally swallowed Camille, Lucy turned to Richard.
‘We’d better follow her,’ she said, before pushing into the jungle and soon disappearing herself.
Richard looked about
