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“I’m going to cancel the bookings.” Sniffing, Flora dabbed a tissue under her eyes.
“You can’t just cancel bookings. Especially not at such short notice. Are you trying to ruin us?”
Flora opened her mouth to reply, but spotted Lily and smiled gently instead. “Hello, love,” she said. “Such a shame about the weather. Hopefully it’ll clear soon so you can properly explore the islands.”
“Yes,” Lily said, glancing past them at the door of the police station.
“Were you coming to see PC Grainger?” Rodney asked.
“Umm…” She hesitated. “Yes. I wanted to check in and see if he had any more questions for me or anything.”
“You can’t stop thinking about all this business either, I take it?” Rodney said. “Poor Oscar is the same. We had to give him the day off because he’s so shaken by the whole thing.”
“Terrible,” Flora muttered. “Life goes on, though. Make every moment count. It just makes me want to be with my daughter and grandchildren.”
Rodney’s eye roll was subtle, but Lily caught it all the same. “PC Grainger is there now,” he said, standing aside to let Lily pass.
“See you later,” she said, managing a weak smile as she left them.
“Hi,” PC Grainger said, looking up from his computer screen.
“Morning,” she said, then glanced at her watch, happy to find itwasstill morning.
He flicked a hand toward the chair opposite him. “How can I help you?”
“I wanted to talk to you about the camera. Vinny’s camera,” she clarified. “The stolen one.”
He nodded slowly. “I haven’t contacted his sister yet, but when we do, his belongings will be returned to her. The camera included.”
Lily blinked rapidly. “What?”
“His sister is his next of kin, so his things will go to her.”
“Including the camera?” she asked, confused.
“Yes.”
“But…” Her mind whirred. “The camera is lost.”
“It turned up.” The tilt of his head made it clear that he’d assumed she knew that.
“It can’t have turned up,” she said. “What do you mean?”
“Mr and Mrs Miller have just handed it in. Apparently, it was misplaced all along.”
Lily struggled to get her brain to catch up. “Where was it found?” Presumably the Millers had also stumbled across it in the shed. Whoever had stashed it there must be kicking themselves for their poor hiding spot.
“In the neighbour’s garden,” PC Grainger said. “At the time it got lost I understand furniture was being moved around. I guess Vinny set it down on the garden wall and it got knocked off.”
“No,” Lily said on a quick inhale.
“Excuse me?” PC Grainger said.
“It was in the shed. Someone hid it in the shed. Have you checked the photos on it?”
“I had a quick look,” he said, eyes drifting to the bulky camera case on the sideboard, which Lily hadn’t noticed until now. “It’s all work photos.”
“The other memory cards,” Lily said in a rush. “Did you look at them?”