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“And you won’t break that even when you know the sergeant is wrong?”
“I don’tknowthat he’s wrong.”
“Okay,” she huffed. “But if it was entirely your decision and there were no consequences, what would you do?”
“There are always consequences,” he said, a glimmer of annoyance in his eyes. “And there’s a reason more experienced officers get to make the call.”
“You’d investigate it though, wouldn’t you? Because you agree that I’m onto something, and that something here doesn’t add up. Lots of things, actually.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking her right in the eyes. “I can’t do anything. My hands are tied.”
She resisted the urge to stamp her foot, or throw things, or shout at him. Instead, she held his gaze as though she might will him to grow a backbone.
“What’s the worst that can happen?” she said, deciding that getting angry probably wasn’t the most effective approach. “If we end up being wrong, you’ll get a slap on the wrist, right? Surely you won’t get into proper trouble over it.”
Finally, he looked away. “In normal circumstances, that would be true,” he said. “But…” He sighed and shook his head. “Never mind.”
“What?” she prompted.
“I didn’t choose to work on the Isles of Scilly,” he said slowly, as though nervous he was saying too much. “I’m here as a punishment. The sergeant would love an excuse to make a formal complaint against me. This really isn’t the time for me to go rogue.”
Realising she was fighting a losing battle, Lily stood. The sense of defeat was almost overwhelming. How could she come so close to figuring things out, only to be thwarted at the last moment?
In the doorway, it came to her that there was one last tactic she could use to try to sway PC Grainger.
He might not help her because it was the right thing to do, or because he believed she was right, but maybe she had one more way to get to him.
She swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Please,” she said, the word seeming to hang in the air before her lips.
Briefly, he seemed to consider her plea.
He rubbed his hands down his face before he looked at her. “I’m sorry,” he said in a tone that signalled the conversation was over.
PC Grainger’s resolve crumbled about three seconds after Lily walked out of the door. The battle he fought with his conscience felt like barely a battle at all. Because he was certain Lily was right. There was more to this case. He wasn’t entirely convinced it involved murder, but there was more investigating to be done. That much he knew for sure.
At what cost, though?
Most likely, he’d be looking for a new career.
With a sigh, he pushed back from the desk and crossed the room, contemplating how much he loved his job. Or had done until recently. What he’d been doing in the past month certainly wasn’t the job he’d signed up for. Pushing pencils andgaslighting a woman into thinking she was imagining suspicious activity wasn’t exactly fulfilling.
But, if he could keep his head down for five more months, he could get back to doing the job he loved in a place he thrived.
Wandering outside and into the road, he caught sight of Lily walking in the opposite direction to the bed and breakfast.
She could be heading down to the harbour to wave off the ferry, or to a cafe for a morning coffee, but he knew she wasn’t. The sureness of her gait told him she was going to do something stupid.
Brave, but stupid.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he let out a low growl. He wanted to be like her – to follow his gut and fight for what he knew was right.
He could still put things right.
It just meant jeopardising his career.
Chapter Thirty-Seven