Deadly Deceit by Jean Harrod

weren’t human, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
    “Have they been properly analysed in a laboratory?” she persisted.
    David shrugged again. “Doubt it.”
    Carrie, who’d been sitting quietly, said: “It would explain what’s happened to all these pets, if they have been sacrificed.”
    “Oh!” Rebekah gave a strangled gasp.
    “Sorry, Rebekah,” Carrie said. “I didn’t mean to upset you, but these ceremonies go on all over Haiti in July and August. And they do use animals.” She shivered. “I live near the beach, and I’ve heard drumming and chanting in the middle of the night.”
    David put a comforting hand over Carrie’s. “It’s nothing to be frightened of.”
    Sally picked up her glass and emptied it in one gulp. “Well, if you ask me, Rebekah, you shouldn’t have let Benji out to roam around on his own. You should have taken him out on a lead.”
    Rebekah reacted as if she’d been punched.
    “So you’ve only got yourself to blame really,” Sally added.
    There was a stunned silence.
    “ You bitch! ” Rebekah shouted at her, and jumped to her feet.
    Everyone around the table sat frozen, as they listened to Rebekah’s footsteps stomping around the verandah and out of the Residence.
    “Rebekah?” Dominic called after his wife. “Come back.” He jumped up and went after her.
    Jess stared at Sally in disbelief.
    “Well, she winds me up,” Sally said, through gritted teeth. “Lady-la-di-bloody-da!”
    Jess expected David to go after the Cannings, but he sat like a rabbit in headlights. She threw her napkin on the table, and hurried after them. “Dominic,” she called.
    He stopped and turned.
    “I’m so sorry,” she said. “Sally’s rudeness is inexcusable.”
    Dominic’s face softened. “Don’t worry. Rebekah’s just, well, she’s just upset about Benji, that’s all.” He glanced over Jess’s shoulder to check they were alone, and lowered his voice. “Look, we haven’t got time to talk privately before I go to London. Just keep your head down and hold the fort for a few days.”
    “But, I need to…”
    “Don’t ask any more questions about Clement’s death, or about the Government Inquiry. I’m going to talk to London about it all. So just leave it until I get back.” He stopped as footsteps approached from behind.
    Brad came up. “I’d better take Sally home. She’s had too much to drink.”
    Jess nodded. “That’s putting it mildly.”
    “Don’t be too hard on her, Jess,” he went on, “she’s really upset about the Governor.”
    “So’s everyone else!” She wasn’t going to let Sally off the hook so easily.
    When she turned back, Dominic had walked to the end of the verandah by the front entrance. He gave a fleeting glance over his shoulder before disappearing into the night after his wife.
    Jess frowned. The look on his face at that moment would play on her mind for some time. If she’d had to explain it to anyone, she’d have said it was a look of fear.

8
    They call this place the graveyard of souls.
    Bad spirits wait here for unsuspecting sailors, to scupper their boats and drag them down into the deep, so the locals say. Not everyone is superstitious of course, but they all keep their distance and navigate their vessels around the area.
    And who can blame them after what’s happened over the centuries?
    No-one comes here, except me. I love being in the boat, especially on a dead calm night like this, when the inky sky and black sea merge and wrap themselves around me. Navigating by the stars, I’m at one with the sea.
    I can breathe out here, with the trade wind in my face, and waves slapping onto the bow as they try to push the boat towards the reef. I’m not afraid, because I belong here. I feel it deep inside.
    Sometimes, sitting here, I imagine I hear the roar of the wind and cracking wood as another overladen vessel smashes apart on the reef. I hear terrified screams as its human cargo plunges into the ocean. I see them