Page 56 of Someone in the Water
Lola takes in her surroundings. This must be Porto Vecchio’s answer to a business district. Most of the buildings are replicas of the one she’s stood outside now, heavy doors bearing small plaques engraved with names likeBarre & Atonio FinanciersandNotaire, Porto Vecchio. Not a bar or tacky tourist shop in sight. She decides to head in the direction of the marina and hope she’ll find some shops en route to pass the time in. She might even pick up a few arty postcards for her mum – a peace offering after their falling-out this morning.
The next street down is more bustling. There are the same three-storey buildings, but with cafés and newsagents at ground level and more people milling about. There’s a large building on one corner – the tourist information centre – and opposite is theBibliotheque Municipale. Lola speaks enough French to know that means library, and it gives her an idea.
For eighteen years she didn’t even know her mum had been to Corsica. And then in the last two days, she’s found out that two of her mum’s friends died within a few days of each other here. And more than that, her mum was with Archie a few hours before he took his own life, and then in the water when Izzy drowned, feeling like she was being pulled under.
All Lola really wants is to help her mum come to terms with her past. But to do that, she needs to figure out what really happened that night in the sea, and not just accept the opinion of a Corsican police officer as the truth. She’s almost certain that libraries hold copies of newspapers from decades ago. If she can find out how the tragedies were reported back then, maybe she’ll come across a clue that will help. It must be worth a shot anyway. She pushes on the glass door and enjoys the cold breeze from the air conditioning as she walks inside.
‘Bonjour, madam. Puis-je vous aider?’ A middle-aged woman with red-framed glasses and a hairstyle that reminds Lola of a pineapple gives her a professional smile.
‘Um.Parlez-vous Anglais?’ Lola asks in a terrible accent.
‘Bien sûr, of course. We have a whole English book section. Would you like me to show you?’
‘Actually, I was hoping you could help me find a newspaper article. From 2004.’
‘Hmm, okay.’ The librarian drops the smile. ‘We might be able to do that,’ she continues hesitantly. ‘Are you looking for something specific?’
‘I am, yes,’ Lola starts, trying to impress with her politest voice. ‘A girl drowned from a local beach on the 31st July 2004. She was a friend of my mum’s, and as I’m here on holiday, I thought I could find out a little bit more about it. For my mum,’ she emphasises.
Suspicion is replaced by a wistful expression. ‘Ah, I remember that. So tragic. Even though we’re an island, drownings are quite rare here. Let me show you.’
Lola follows her to a desk at the back of the room with a large computer screen fixed against the wall. The librarian pulls the keyboard towards her and the screen lights up. She rattles out a username and password and a database opens.Journaux Francais.
She takes a couple of steps backwards. ‘Everything is digitised now, across France, so you can access old print versions of local newspapers here. And there’s an English translation option. As you know the date of the incident, it should be a simple enough task to find what you’re looking for.’
Lola thanks the librarian then senses her back away as she turns her focus to the screen. She types 1st to 31st August 2004 in the date range, and Porto Vecchio as a location, and watches a list of newspapers appear. She clicks on the first one – calledCorse-Matin– and then the ‘translate to English’ tab. And the librarian is right. There’s an article about Izzy on the front page of the newspaper dated 2nd August 2004.
Woman Drowns at Hotel Paoli
Tragedy strikes for the second time in a week at one of Porto Vecchio’s most popular hotels. In the early hours of yesterday morning, a woman lost her life off the beach predominantly used by the guests of Hotel Paoli. This follows the sudden death of 22-year-old Archibald Muir, a hotel employee, two nights previously. It’s hard to accept that one establishment can suffer such a torrid time.
A statement issued by local police confirmed that a female French national, aged 26, was pronounced dead at the scene by attending medics. The family of the deceased has been informed and her name will be released in due course. While no further details have been provided, we understand from witnesses that the woman is assumed to have drowned in the challenging sea conditions preceding the storm that blew through the island yesterday.
Hotel Paoli is owned by Salvo and Raphael Paoli, who sadly also suffered a personal tragedy earlier this month with the lethal shooting of Jean Paoli in Ajaccio on Bastille Day in what is thought to be an organised crime group killing. However, we understand that Jean had been estranged from his surviving brother for many years, and there is no suggestion that Salvo Paoli has any links with organised crime.
The hotel was first opened as a beachside café in 1951 by two sisters, Marie and Teresa, following the post-war efforts carried out by the US army to clear the surrounding beaches of mosquitoes. The café was eventually passed to Marie’s younger son, Salvo, who turned it into a restaurant. Salvo’s son – Raphael – joined the business in 1992 and was the mastermind behind its most ambitious transformation. Hotel Paoli opened its doors in 1998.
With 48 rooms, a beautiful seafront location, and a high-quality restaurant, Hotel Paoli has become one of Porto Vecchio’s most popular places to stay, but guests will be shocked and saddened by these tragic incidents. We asked the hotel for comment but have not yet received a response.
Lola clicks out of the article. Seeing the details in black and white makes it more real, but it doesn’t tell her anything she doesn’t already know about Izzy’s death. While it’s interesting to read that Raphael’s uncle was part of the mafia scene, if they were estranged like the article says, that can’t have had anything to do with Izzy’s death. She checks the next day’s paper, and the incident is still front-page news.
Drowning Victim Named
Local police held a press conference yesterday afternoon concerning the death of a 26-year-old French national in the stretch of water behind Hotel Paoli. Capitaine Bartoli confirmed that the victim had been swimming in the sea following a night out with friends and was found unresponsive in the water by a member of the public – widely quoted as being the hotel owner, Raphael Paoli. CPR was given but medics confirmed the death at 01.45 a.m.
Capitaine Bartoli also named the victim as Isobel Bassot, and confirmed that she had been employed by Hotel Paoli as a sailing instructor. He explained that they were still in the process of taking witness statements. However, they confirmed that Isobel had a significant amount of alcohol in her system when she went into the sea, and that they believe this – coupled with the difficult swimming conditions – led to her death.
Sadly, it seems that tragedy is not unfamiliar within the Bassot family. Isobel was born in Nice, to Luca and Nicole Bassot. Luca was well known in the 1980s as the talented chef behindSur Mer, one of Nice’s finest seafood restaurants. However, he was killed in a road traffic accident in 1991, when Isobel was 13, and the restaurant never reopened following his death. Forensic evidence showed that Luca Bassot was travelling considerably higher than the speed limit when he lost control of the car and veered off a mountain road. The coroner ruled the incident as death by misadventure, and it is very sad that, 13 years later, it appears history has repeated itself.
Lola sits back in the chair. Izzy’s dad died in an accident too? That must have been terrible for Izzy, losing him when she was only thirteen. And what about her mum? How did she cope with losing her husband so suddenly, and then her daughter too?
Nicole Bassot. Lola conjures up a picture of a grief-stricken French lady. The phone ringing, a Corsican police officer on the other end.I’ve got some terrible news.How does anyone cope with that much tragedy in their family? The article didn’t mention any siblings. Was Izzy an only child like she is? Has Nicole had no family to lean on for twenty-one years?
Lola eyes the Google Chrome icon at the bottom of the screen. She runs her fingers along the keyboard, listening to the soft crackle of the keys dipping. Then she taps on the icon, and types ‘Nicole Bassot’ into the search box. But that’s not enough detail, so she adds ‘Luca Bassot car crash’ and a list of links appear that all seem to relate to Izzy’s parents. Articles about the car accident. Restaurant reviewers missingSur Mer. And then more links around the time of Izzy’s death.
But it’s a more recent blog piece that catches Lola’s eye. Dated July 2024.My battle with loss twenty years on, by Nicole Bassot. That must be about Izzy. Lola’s stomach lurches as she wonders what Nicole knows about that night, and if she holds her mum responsible too. She clicks on the link, but suddenly can’t face reading it. Seeing her mum blamed in black and white.
The blog is hosted on a simple website for a yoga studio in Lille, so as a diversion tactic, she clicks on the About page. There’s a photo of a petite woman in yoga pants and a long-sleeved Lycra top. She looks old – grey hair and faded blue eyes – but more than that, she seems haunted. That must be Nicole, Lola thinks, but is she haunted by grief, or a grudge against her mum?
