Page 66

“My neighbour, Tina, is over there,” she told them. “I’m going to ask if she can drive us home. Do you want to come with us, Lily?”
“No, thank you. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Okay.” Flora patted her arm. “I’ll make you a nice cup of tea when you get back. With lots of sugar. That’s what we’ll all need after the shock of this morning.”
“Thank you,” Lily said, while trying not to grimace at the thought of her sugary tea. “I’ll see you later.”
Mrs Miller waved Mr Miller over as she led Alanna away. Oscar was just stepping off the ferry as well, laden down with bags.
“He’s been so sweet,” Katie said quietly to Lily. “We were at school together, but I didn’t really know him properly until the last few weeks. He’s really lovely.” Her cheeks pinked and she turned her face away as Oscar walked towards them.
“Got it,” he said, depositing Katie’s compact suitcase by her feet.
“Thank you,” she told him shyly. “I messaged my mum. She said she’d come straightaway and take me home. I’m going to have to explain everything.”
Oscar rubbed her upper arm. “It’ll be okay. Your mum will understand when you explain it all.”
“I think so.”
They spent the next five minutes dissecting everything that had happened on the boat and exclaiming over how shocked they were by Marc’s confession. Then Katie’s mum arrived and bundled her into her car, looking sympathetic and concerned without yet knowing what had happened.
“I really like her,” Oscar said, remaining by Lily as they watched the car drive away.
“Katie?”
“Yes.”
“I think she really likes you, too.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “She’s going to hate me when she finds out what I did.”
As the car turned the corner, Lily turned to look questioningly at Oscar.
“I looked at the photos,” he said. “I promised her I wouldn’t, but I did. I don’t know why I looked at them.”
Lily smiled gently. “You had naked photos of the girl you like. It’s not really that shocking that you looked at them.”
“But I’d promised her I wouldn’t.”
“I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it too much,” Lily said.
“I have to tell her, though, don’t I?” He looked at her as though she were the fountain of all knowledge. All she could do was shrug. “I definitely have to,” he went on. “I can’t keep lying to her. If she hates me for it, that’s probably what I deserve.”
Lily shook her head. “We all make mistakes. Tell her and apologise. If it were me, I’d be furious, but I suspect she might forgive you.”
He shifted his weight, eyes fixed on his shoes. “The photos freaked me out. I thought they’d be different, but she looked so scared in them. That’s why I left the memory card in the camera bag when I handed it in. I thought people should know that he wasn’t a good person. Even if he was dead, I thought people should know.”
“He definitely wasn’t a nice guy,” Lily said.
“What happened to the memory card?” Oscar asked. “I guess Marc took it, but how?”
“After you gave the camera to Mrs Miller, she gave it to Alanna so she could download the photos before it was handed to the police. Marc would have had a chance to get the memory card then.”
“That’s another thing I need to explain to Katie; that I purposely tried to get the memory card to the police instead of keeping it like she wanted. She still doesn’t know that I don’t have it. She thinks I’ve been keeping it hidden all this time.” He dragged his hands through his hair, then seemed to gatherhimself. He picked up his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Do you want me to walk you back to the Miller’s?”
“No, thanks.” She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but she didn’t want to head back there just yet.
“Are you okay?” Oscar asked, giving her arm a squeeze.