Page 24 of Death on the Rocks (Lily Larkin Mysteries #1)

Chapter Twenty-Four

The walk from the hotel to the Mermaid Inn only took a few minutes. Lily pushed the door open and her eyes did a quick sweep of the nautical themed decorations before landing on the exact person she’d been looking for.

“I was hoping to find you here,” Lily said, sliding onto the stool beside Seren.

“It’s kind of sad how easy I am to track down.

” She smiled widely and gave Lily an affectionate pat on the shoulder in greeting.

“I’m not even working and I’m still here.

But in my defence, I just finished a shift.

I was waiting to see if Kit might appear, but I guess he’s already at home.

” Her features turned serious. “How are you doing? Are you managing to enjoy your holiday?”

That word again. She was staying in a B&B for a week in a popular holiday destination so she supposed it made sense that people assumed she was on holiday.

Maybe she should take it as a sign that she should use the rest of her time on the island to relax.

She didn’t seem to be very good at that, though.

It suited her much better to have something to do rather than sitting around doing nothing.

“It’s fine,” she said. “Probably not most people’s idea of a holiday, but it’s really okay.”

“Glad to hear it. Were you looking for me for something specific, or did you just want to hang out? Shall I get us a glass of wine?” She was off her seat and behind the bar in an instant.

Deciding she needed to keep a clear head, Lily passed on the wine and opted for water instead.

“I wanted to ask you a question,” she said, then waited for Seren to pour her drink and return to sit beside her.

“Go on then,” Seren said. “What’s the question?”

When she opened her mouth, Lily felt torn.

“To be honest, I have two questions… the first is about the ice cream shop. I was wondering if you can think of anyone who might know the owner. I tried asking the solicitor like Kit suggested, but he couldn’t tell me much.

He wouldn’t even give me a name. He was weirdly secretive, but I feel as though someone around here must at least know the name of the owner. ”

Seren looked thoughtful, then swivelled on her stool to look at the guy serving customers on the other side of the room. “Noah?” she called as he walked towards the bar. “Do you remember the name of the woman who owned the old ice cream shop on the promenade?”

“Nope,” he replied, dashing Lily’s hopes. “Mum would probably know, though. Why?”

“Lily’s interested,” Seren said, tipping her head.

Noah held out his hand and introduced himself. “You’re the one who found the dead body?” he asked quietly.

“That’s me,” she said with a wry smile.

“Noah is Kit’s brother,” Seren explained. “And he’s right that Mirren might remember the owner of the ice cream shop. I’ll message her and ask.” She tapped rapidly on her phone. “What was the other question?”

“Do you happen to know the young guy who works at the B&B? Oscar.”

Seren nodded. “Oscar Morris. I know of him. His dad is in here often.”

“Do you know how I might go about finding Oscar?” Hopefully, Seren wouldn’t find the question too strange.

“I know where he lives,” she said. “That’s as much as I could tell you.”

“That would be helpful.” Lily caught the questioning dip of Seren’s eyebrows. “I saw him earlier, and he was upset about the guy who died, but he rushed away before I could talk to him properly. Also, I saw his girlfriend earlier and she was in tears. I just want to check they’re okay.”

“See!” Noah quipped, eyes on Seren. “ Some people are upset about his death.”

“I didn’t say no one was upset,” Seren huffed, shaking her head. “Just that not everyone is.”

“What?” Lily asked, narrowing her eyes.

Seren shifted to face her. “Last night I saw Alanna had posted about the guy’s death on her social media accounts, and as I was scrolling through the comments. One woman posted this nasty message, basically saying she was glad he was dead.”

“Really?” Automatically, Lily got her phone out and opened social media to look for Alanna’s account.

“It’s not there any more,” Seren said. “Alanna must have removed it. But it makes you wonder what kind of person he was, if there are people out there who are happy he’s dead.”

Noah shook his head and leaned his elbows on the bar. “I told you, it’s internet trolls. Some people enjoy leaving nasty comments. It says nothing about the guy. I’ll bet if I were to die and you posted about it, there’d be someone crop up saying good riddance too.”

“True.” Seren’s lips twitched into a mischievous grin. “That’d be me!”

Reaching across the bar, Noah shoved a hand into her hair and ruffled it with all the affection of an annoying sibling. In response, Seren shoved his hand away with similar affection.

“It’s not actually true though,” Seren said. “You have to really have enemies for someone to say something bad about you after you’re dead.”

“The person probably didn’t even know him,” Noah insisted.

Lily’s head was bent over her phone. She’d located Alanna’s post about Vinny, all heartfelt and gushy. The comments beneath it were full of sympathy.

“She worded it a bit weirdly,” Lily mused. “The post is all about her… It’s like she’s using his death for her own benefit.”

“I thought that too.” Seren took a swig of her Coke. “There’s something quite insincere about the tone of it, but if you look through her other posts, nothing sounds very genuine. I’m not sure how she has such a massive following.”

“Probably because she’s fit,” Noah said, straightening up.

Seren rolled her eyes. “Can I tell your girlfriend you said that?”

“Probably better if you don’t.” He seemed to mull it over before he gave a subtle shrug. “Although Keira’s pretty cute when she’s jealous.”

“I don’t think Alanna’s that attractive,” Lily said, lifting her eyes from her phone. “Plus, I guess most of her followers are women.”

“The women want to be her,” Noah said. “The men want to…” His lips twitched mischievously. “Be with her,” he ventured.

Lily really couldn’t see his point of view. “I don’t understand why people are drawn to someone so insincere.”

“It’s all about image,” Noah said. “A lot of people are sucked in by all these perfect photos. They want to believe that Alanna has a perfect life. If she has a perfect life, it gives them something to aspire to.”

“Maybe,” Lily conceded. “But there’s something fishy if you ask me.”

“How do you mean?” Seren asked.

Realising what she’d said, Lily shook her head. “Nothing. Never mind.”

Seren dipped her head and lowered her voice. “Something fishy about Alanna’s social media post?”

“No.” Lily winced. “Ignore me. I shouldn’t say anything.”

“Well, now you have to tell us,” Noah said, leaning in.

She hesitated and instinctively glanced around before speaking.

“I had this feeling that maybe Vinny’s death wasn’t an accident.

I mentioned it to PC Grainger this morning, and it seemed as though he was going to look into it…

but this afternoon he did a complete turnaround and said there was nothing to investigate. ”

The pair of them stared at her as though they weren’t comprehending her.

Noah frowned deeply. “But if it wasn’t an accident…” He trailed off and shook his head.

“You think someone killed him?” Seren whispered.

“It sounds ridiculous, I know.” She smiled, hoping they wouldn’t think she was mad. “I’m probably way off the mark, but something just feels off about the whole thing.”

Seren eyed her sympathetically. “It must have been really horrible to be the one to find him.”

“Was there something about the way you found him that made you think it wasn’t an accident?” Noah asked, seeming more willing to believe her than Seren.

“No, it’s not that.” She forced a smile. “You’re probably right – it was just the shock of finding him that has sent my mind racing.”

“I didn’t mean to be dismissive,” Seren said. “If you really think there’s more to it, speak to PC Grainger again. Make him listen to you.”

“I’m sure he’d look into it further if you convinced him there was a reason to,” Noah agreed.

Seren tucked her chin. “Is that why you wanted to speak to Oscar?”

“Kind of. He seems like a sweet kid and I was worried about him when I saw him earlier.” He’d definitely seemed cagey, just as he’d done when he’d found Lily in the shed. There was also the time she’d seen him with his friend outside the B&B when Vinny’s camera had gone missing––

Lily’s eyes felt as though they might fall out of her head as that encounter came back to her. The two of them had been talking secretively. Something about someone being a creep and Oscar talking about going to the police about it.

Of course! It was them who’d taken the camera, and they clearly knew about the seedy photos. But what on earth had they done with the memory card?

She needed to speak to Oscar and find out.

Schooling her features to disguise her panic, she looked at Seren. “If you don’t mind giving me Oscar’s address, I think I’ll call over and see if he’s okay.”

“Of course.” Seren looked at her phone screen. “I didn’t hear back from Mirren yet. Do you want to give me your number and I’ll let you know when she replies?”

They exchanged numbers and Seren showed her Oscar’s place on the map. His parent’s place. An old farmhouse on the eastern side of the island.

Lily thanked Seren for her help and left the comfort of the welcoming pub.

Out on the street, she stopped short as her eyes landed on PC Grainger across the road. He didn’t notice her, his gaze not leaving the blonde woman who whispered in his ear. The same woman he’d been in the pub with the other evening.

She had her hand on his arm and her breasts pushed inappropriately close to his chest. Not that Lily would usually judge the closeness between a couple, but he was in uniform. It didn’t make for the most professional vibe.

Even if they were a proper couple it wouldn’t be appropriate, but as far as Lily could make out, the woman was just one in a string of flings.

It wasn’t right that he was neglecting his duties to the public in favour of looking down some woman’s top.

Irritated, Lily didn’t bother to avert her gaze when PC Grainger finally looked up, and instead glared at him with overt disgust.

He didn’t even have the decency to look contrite. Just stared back at her with a glint of humour in his eyes. He maintained eye contact for too long, only breaking it when he had a hand on the small of his friend’s back to encourage her along in the opposite direction.

Lily seethed.