Page 11 of Death on the Rocks (Lily Larkin Mysteries #1)
Chapter Eleven
After the tension in the living room, the quiet in the breakfast room was welcome.
PC Grainger gently guided Lily through her recollection of the morning and finding Vinny’s body.
It was pretty straightforward, and he didn’t even seem to make many notes as she spoke.
Once she’d finished talking, she let out a breath of relief.
“Are you okay?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes. I think so.”
“Would you like a drink that isn’t laced with sugar?”
“Please. Coffee would be good.”
He went to the table at the side of the room and made drinks for them both before coming back to sit with her.
“What will happen now?” she asked, wrapping her hands around the warm mug.
“I’ll write it up later, then I’ll just need you to read over it and sign it if everything is correct.”
“Right.” She hadn’t meant about the statement. “But what happens with everything else?”
His lips pulled to one side. “Do you mean with the body? Arrangements will be made to have him taken back to the mainland.”
She gave a low hum of acknowledgement, but that also wasn’t the answer she was looking for. “Will there be an autopsy?” she asked. “And an investigation?”
Slowly, he shook his head. “That would only happen if there were suspicious circumstances.”
“How do you decide if circumstances are suspicious?” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.
PC Grainger leaned back in his seat. “I suppose if there is anything which seems off. If we had any reason to believe it wasn’t an accident…”
“But there’s nothing like that with Vinny?”
His left eyebrow quirked upwards. “It doesn’t seem so. If the sergeant thought it was anything other than an accident, the body wouldn’t have been removed so quickly.”
Lily pursed her lips. “But how could he really tell? And doesn’t he need to speak to people as well?”
“Like who?”
Lily tipped her head toward the voices from the living room.
“I spoke to them,” PC Grainger pointed out.
“Did you tell Sergeant Proctor about it?”
“I gave him the highlights. Is there something in particular you think I should have told him?”
Lily shrugged. “Alanna had recently argued with him,” she said. “Mr Miller had also been unhappy with him. You saw them arguing yesterday?”
His lips barely shifted, but his amusement was clear in the sparkle in his eyes. He leaned forwards and whispered. “Are you suggesting Mr Miller killed him because he complained about burnt bacon?”
“No.” Lily’s lips pulled into a wide smile and the accompanying warmth in her belly felt like a relief after the sombre morning. “Sorry,” she said, realising how she must sound. “I only really wondered what the procedure was. My imagination might have flipped into overdrive for a moment.”
His smile was warm and friendly. “It’s my experience that when something looks like an accident, nine times out of ten, that’s exactly what it is.”
She nodded, feeling silly.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Mrs Miller said, appearing in the doorway. “How are you getting on in here?”
“We’re all done,” PC Grainger said.
“Great.” She opened the door wider. “I just realised no one has had breakfast. I don’t suppose anyone really feels like a proper meal, but I thought I could get some bacon sandwiches going.” She made her way across the room. “You’d both eat one, wouldn’t you?”
They nodded and she continued into the kitchen. Lily wondered if PC Grainger was also thinking about their previous conversation.
She was biting back a grin when he leaned in. “She better not burn the bacon,” he whispered. “I can’t be held responsible for my actions if she does.”
Lily covered her mouth as a laugh escaped her. Her eyes widened and she tried to reprimand him with a stern look. “You can’t say that!”
“Sorry,” he said, not looking remotely remorseful. “Copper’s humour. You have to find ways to make light of stuff or you go crazy.”
“It’s a little inappropriate, though.”
One corner of his mouth twitched. “You started it by suggesting Mr Miller had committed murder over burnt bacon.”
“Over a bad review, actually,” she said. “But I see your point.”
When he said it back to her, it did sound fairly absurd.