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With a shake of her head, Alanna turned on Marc. “Just show him what’s in your bag and then we can leave.” She pulled on the zip of her oversized handbag and opened it in PC Grainger’s direction. “Let’s all just show him,” she went on. “He’s only doing his job. Then we can all get on our way.”
As everyone else opened their bags, Marc kept a hold of his.
“May I?” PC Grainger said, his hand still outstretched.
“Oh, my goodness.” Alanna snatched it from Marc and handed it over. “What on earth is the problem? He only wants a quick look.”
Lily let out a silent sigh of relief.
Unless she was very much mistaken, her best guess was spot on.
Chapter Forty
“It’s not how it looks,”Marc said, when PC Grainger pulled two laptops from his bag.
“Really?” PC Grainger asked while drawing a zipper bag containing memory cards from the backpack. “I’m going to need you to explain all of this then, so I don’t jump to the wrong conclusion.”
While everyone else seemed to take a step back, Alanna shot to Marc’s side, eyes darting between his face and the laptops. “Why have you got Vinny’s computer?” she asked. “And what are these?” She pointed at the bag of memory cards.
“Look…” Marc exhaled a frustrated sigh. “I really didn’t want you to know about this.”
“About what?” she spat.
“Vinny was into some dodgy stuff.”
“What kind of dodgy stuff?”
Marc shook his head, but still didn’t look overly concerned by the situation. “He took photos of women and he had a website where people could view them.”
“Right,” Alanna said. “What’s so bad about that?”
“Pornography,” Lily supplied gently. “Sometimes the women were terrified teenagers.” She stopped talking when PCGrainger’s eyes landed on her. “I think,” she mumbled and shrank back out of the conversation.
Alanna blinked rapidly. “No. That can’t be right.” Her eyes widened when realisation dawned on her. “The women who kept posting nasty comments on my blog?”
Marc nodded. “That’s another reason I told him to stop. It was hurting your business and I couldn’t have that.”
“Could I ask why you tried to cover this up after Mr Roth’s death?” PC Grainger asked.
“I thought it would be upsetting for people if it came out. And I didn’t really see the need for it to come to light. Vinny’s dead, and the website is shut down.”
“How was the website shut down?” PC Grainger asked.
“I had his laptop,” Marc said, as though it was obvious.
“And you just happened to know his password and all the details of his illegal activity?” PC Grainger pressed.
“I already told you I knew about it.”
“You must have known a lot, though, in order to put a stop to it.” PC Grainger tilted his chin. “Were you involved in this illegal activity, too?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Definitely not.”
PC Grainger puffed his chest out. “I should inform you that the investigation will be thorough. That includes going into your phone records and bank records. If you had any involvement, we will find out. If you’re lying now, it will make things much worse for you later.”
The entire room fell utterly silent.
“I might have been helping him out a bit…”