Page 18 of Dead in the Water (Lily Larkin Mysteries #4)

Chapter Eighteen

For most of her walk back to the shop, Lily was too lost in thought to notice anything around her.

But the woman with the striking auburn hair caught her attention.

Watching her walk along the promenade with the two other men, Lily clicked into the notes on her phone to remind herself of their names.

Kerry Cooper. Her husband, Vic, walked on her left – his bald head covered by a beige trilby hat. That left Russell on her right – the guy who wanted to buy Joseph’s share of the boat.

Walking uncomfortably slowly, Lily maintained her distance from them. She almost slowed to a stop when they paused outside of the cafe. After exchanging a few words, they went inside.

Lily had no hesitation over whether to follow them in. She waited a few minutes, though, giving them time to order and get settled.

With most of the tables occupied, it was easy to go unnoticed in the bustle. It also helped that Kerry’s group had taken a table by the window and seated themselves to look out and take in the view of Porthcressa Beach. Once Lily was at the counter, they all had their backs to her.

“I was just thinking about you,” Pippa said warmly. She gave a subtle nod towards the window.

“I saw them come in,” Lily whispered. “And I suddenly had a craving for a cappuccino.”

Pippa leaned closer. “Grab that table behind them and I’ll bring it over to you.”

“Thank you.” Lily got out her purse to pay, but Pippa waved her away.

The small round table was perfect for eavesdropping. Lily took the chair directly behind Kerry, and sat so she could easily keep an eye on the three of them, but could also turn her back to them if any of them turned around.

Engrossed in their drinks and the view, they were irritatingly quiet for a good few minutes. Finally, Kerry commented on the quality of the coffee and cake. That led to a conversation about the food at the hotel restaurant, which they were all very impressed by.

“I wonder if James will eat with us tomorrow?” Kerry remarked eventually.

At the mention of Joseph’s son, Lily stopped with her mug in front of her lips.

Vic draped an arm along the back of his wife’s chair. “If he does, we should convince Keith to keep Joyce out of the way. James will be feeling bad enough without having to endure an evening of her snivelling.”

“I should have a word with her anyway,” Kerry said, tilting her head. “You know what James is like… he’ll feel duty bound to comfort Joyce if she keeps blubbering like she has been. That’s not fair to him. I’ll tell her we all need to be strong and help him through all of this.”

The men on either side of her nodded their agreement.

“And we’re definitely going to speak to James about me buying the boat?” Russell asked. “You don’t think we should wait until after the funeral? Give the lad some time first?”

“No,” Vic said. “I don’t want this hanging over us. I’m sure James will feel the same. He’ll be happy to have one less thing to think about. And if we tell him his dad already agreed to it, that should sway him.”

Kerry stared out of the window. “Hopefully, Joseph hadn’t said otherwise to him.”

“Maybe I should offer him more,” Russell said.

Vic barked out a laugh. “You wouldn’t budge on the price for Joseph! It would have saved a lot of grief if you had. I guess you were happy to take advantage of your old friend, but draw the line at conning his grieving son?”

“I wasn’t trying to take advantage,” Russell said, a bite to his words. “And I’m not conning anyone.”

“Stick with the price you offered Joseph,” Kerry said firmly. “I’m certain James won’t quibble over it. If it’s an issue for him, you can offer him a bit more, but there’s no sense in going in too high. Tell him the boat is due for repairs and the price takes that into account.”

“I suppose so,” Russell replied.

Lily took another sip of her coffee. That sounded as though the boat wasn’t due for repairs at all. It seemed it was just like Joseph had said and they were trying to screw him over.

“We should take the boat for a spin tomorrow morning,” Kerry said. “I need something to kill the time until James arrives in the afternoon. All this sitting around is tedious.”

“A boat trip is a good idea,” Vic said.

Kerry lifted her coffee, pausing with it halfway to her lips. “It’ll probably be good for Joyce too – might help sway her.”

Sway her into what? Kerry’s message to Keith earlier had also mentioned them trying to convince Joyce of something.

Apparently, Lily wasn’t going to get an answer as the chatter shifted to a conversation about the food supplies they needed for the boat.

Five minutes later, the group stood to leave. Lily turned in her seat and bent her head over her coffee. Chances were they wouldn’t recognise her anyway, and even if they did, sitting on the next table in the cafe was unlikely to raise suspicions.

Even so, she was happy when they left the cafe without noticing her.

Their conversation played on her mind for the entire afternoon. Scheming to take advantage of a grieving son was pretty low. She hoped James would realise what they were up to and not let them get away with it.

Maybe she should try to speak to him when he was over. He’d be upset, though, and might find it intrusive.

With her thoughts all over the place, and that niggling feeling that something just wasn’t quite right about the situation, it annoyed her that she couldn’t chat to Flynn about it. Or wouldn’t speak to him.

He called her mobile shortly after Lily had closed up the shop but, after dithering for a moment, she ignored it. It wasn’t as though she thought she could avoid him forever – or wanted to. She just needed a little space to figure out how to just be friends with him.

The thought that he might come over to her place after she’d ignored his call contributed to her decision to take an evening stroll. Not just that though – she also had the overwhelming urge to snoop around Joseph’s friends a little more.

Slamming his mobile down on the desk, Flynn released a quiet growl. Lily wasn’t just angry with him, but ignoring him, too.

“Everything okay?” Sergeant Proctor’s baritone made Flynn jump.

“Fine,” he said, glancing at his boss, who stood in the doorway behind him.

“I think you’ve been over those witness statements enough now.” He wandered over to the desk, which was strewn with papers. “Don’t you?”

“I feel as though I’m missing something.” Flynn ran his hands through his hair. “Maybe Lily’s right that there’s more to this case than an accident.”

“I’m not really seeing anything to suggest that.”

“It is strange that no one heard anything. The way they were all talking about having slept so well seems a little off.”

“They’d all been drinking, so that’s a factor.”

“I suppose. But what about the dispute over selling the boat?”

The sergeant shrugged. “I’d agree that would be concerning if they’d tried to hide it, but they were upfront about it.”

Flynn released a frustrated breath. “What if they were upfront about it because they knew it would be suspicious if it came out later? They seem like intelligent people. Maybe they thought being honest would put us off investigating further. Make it look as though they have nothing to hide…”

“Honestly, I’m not sure what we can do except wait for the post-mortem. You’ve already combed through the statements.”

“When will the post-mortem be?”

“I imagine the beginning of next week at this rate.”

“Why so long?”

“I spoke to the guy’s son. He’s arriving tomorrow afternoon. He wants to spend Friday going through his dad’s things on the boat. Then he’ll fly back with the body on Saturday morning. Realistically, nothing will get done over the weekend.”

Flynn turned his phone over, willing Lily to call him back. His gut was telling him something wasn’t right, but he wanted to hear it from Lily. Trusting her instincts was far easier than trusting his own.

“That’s too long,” he said eventually. “You need to override the son’s wishes and put a rush on it.”

The sergeant perched against the corner of the other desk. “Do I?”

“Something isn’t adding up,” Flynn said. “I can’t put my finger on it, but I think it’s worth pushing for the post-mortem as soon as possible.”

“I’ve just spent the afternoon arranging to transport the body on Saturday.”

Flynn massaged his temples. “Okay.”

“I guess I could try to reorganise it for tomorrow, but it would involve several phone calls and probably a lot of grovelling and calling in favours. I’d also have to convince the coroner to put a rush on it… and who knows if there’s even a forensic pathologist available before next week…”

Flynn raised a hopeful eyebrow.

“I’ll see what I can manage,” the sergeant said, shaking his head as he walked back to his office.

“Thank you!” Flynn called after him, a surge of triumph lifting his spirits.

The impulse to tell Lily had him reaching for his phone, before remembering she wasn’t speaking to him.