Death in Paradise reveals what happened to Mervin's mother – but there's another mystery

A man called Roy Palmer, who appeared briefly last week, was unmasked as the mastermind behind her grisly demise, with Dorna's friend and neighbour Brianna, who had fallen victim to his manipulative charm, giving him a helping hand.

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The bar owner had first met his victim on the island over fives decades ago, which is when she fell in love with Mervin's father Christopher and fell pregnant, before being forced to give up their baby by his parents.

At that time, Christopher had also given Dorna a ring, which she had worn every day since.

"It hurts, and it’s not what I wanted," she wrote to him in a letter after saying goodbye to newborn Mervin. "I’m never going to be the same person I was after this. It's broken me.

"Also, I think you should hear this. I have not taken it off since I got back here and I'm never going to. I’m always going to wear it, and whenever I look at it, I’m always going to think of our little boy."

But that ring is now worth $2 million, and with Roy's debts mounting, he decided to take it for himself.

Dorna's father was a regular at Roy's bar, which he exploited to form a friendship with his daughter.

On the day of her death, he paid Mervin's mother a visit and convinced her to scatter her dad's ashes that same day, before covertly drugging her with a sedative.

She then set out with the urn to do just that, intending to say goodbye to her father on the beach because of the storm.

But while en route, she had to pull over after becoming drowsy. Roy then drove an unconscious Dorna back to her own home, where he stole the ring right off her finger, while Brianna changed into the clothes Dorna had been wearing that morning.

Roy then took Dorna out to sea, where the storm was heading, and left her there in his boat while he returned to shore in a dinghy.

Shortly after, Brianna, dressed as her friend, went out to sea in the fishing boat that belonged to Dorna's father. She then changed out of the clothes, placing them back on the victim, who she then moved into the fishing boat, before returning to shore in Roy's boat.

But there was a hitch...

The sedative Roy had given Dorna had worn off, so when the category 4 storm hit, she woke up and called the harbour master with her mobile.

But fortunately for Roy, the signal was poor and the line cut out. He was home and dry, or so he thought...

"Look, for what it's worth, it was never personal," said the bar owner.

"Maybe not, but this is," replied Mervin, before putting him in handcuffs, while Brianna was also arrested and the ring recovered.

But while the mystery of his mother's death has finally been solved, the teaser for the season 14 finale has teed up another intriguing question...

Mervin is all set to head back to London, as he always planned, when he comes across a card left on Dorna's grave that reads: "Rest in peace. S."

"Who's 'S'?" he asks.

But will Mervin decide to stay and find out?

"I’m asking you to reconsider your decision to go back," says Selwyn.

"You are not at the end of your journey. You are at the beginning."

Death in Paradise is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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