Page 26 of Death on the Rocks (Lily Larkin Mysteries #1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Oscar’s house was on the north-east corner of the island, meaning Lily got to walk a different path than she was used to.

Not that the view was much different since she could still only see a few metres ahead.

Stone walls ran alongside the narrow lane and beyond them green fields were just visible.

Now and again, the verge would offer a smattering of wild flowers, but since Lily wasn’t someone with a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature, she gave them little notice.

Besides, she had too much on her mind to pay attention to her surroundings.

Nearing the house, she pondered what she’d say if faced with Oscar’s parents, but her worries were unnecessary since she spotted him walking out of the house as she approached it.

He had his hood up and didn’t spot her as he hurried along the lane ahead of her.

Lily called out to him, then broke into a run to catch up with him when he turned.

“What are you doing here?” He glanced around shiftily.

“Looking for you. I was worried about you after I saw you at the hotel.”

“I’m fine,” he said impatiently. “How did you even know where I live?” He shook his head. “It doesn’t even matter. I’m on my way to meet someone. I can’t stop, I’m afraid.”

“Wait.” Lily put a hand on his arm to stop him. “I was worried about your friend, too. I got the impression Alanna might have upset her.”

“I’ll check on her, but I’m sure she’s fine.” Tugging his arm away, he set off at a brisk pace which Lily struggled to keep up with.

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting to gain from following him, nor how long she intended to keep it up. Given the way he kept glancing back at her, she didn’t think he’d put up with it for very long.

“What are you doing?” he asked, finally swinging around.

“I don’t know.” She fought off a laugh at her own terrible investigative skills.

Covert operations clearly weren’t her strong suit.

She rubbed her hand across her forehead.

If she was going to get to the bottom of what was going on, maybe the covert approach wasn’t the best way to go about things, anyway.

“I know about the camera,” she blurted out.

He eyed her with a mix of distrust and suspicion. “What are you talking about?”

“I found Vinny’s camera in the shed. I know it didn’t just get lost. Someone took it.”

“It was lost.” He swallowed hard. “I found it in the garden this morning. Mr and Mrs Miller took it to the police.”

“You’re lying,” she said. “Yesterday it was in the shed, not lost in the neighbour’s garden.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just found it in the neighbour’s garden today.”

She might have believed him, but he couldn’t stand still and had guilt written all over his face.

“Look,” she said, taking a softer tone. “I don’t care that you stole the camera, but I need to know where the memory card is.”

“What memory card?” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed again.

“The one with the naked photos on it.”

The fact that he didn’t look surprised by the statement told Lily that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

“How do you know about that?” he asked.

“I found the camera in the shed yesterday and looked through the photos.”

“Why were you even in the shed? No one goes in there except me.”

“I told you; I was rescuing the cat…” She frowned, realising the implications of what Oscar had just said about being the only one to go in the shed. “You did steal the camera, then?”

“She only wanted the photos,” he said meekly. “She changed her mind and just wanted them destroyed, but he wouldn’t give them back. That’s the only reason I took the camera – to get the photos.” He paused and looked thoughtful. “And maybe to teach him a lesson.”

“You need to slow down and explain this to me properly,” Lily said. “Who wanted the photos?”

“Katie.” He blew out a breath and glanced up and down the lane.

“The girl you were with at the house? The one who ran off in floods of tears today?”

“Yes.”

“Wait.” Lily squeezed her eyes closed, recalling the photos which she’d rather erase from her memory. “The photos were of Katie?”

“Yes.”

“Why did Vinny have photos of Katie?” A wave of nausea swept through Lily as she thought of the look on the face of the girl in the photographs. So full of fear and vulnerability.

“He took them.” Oscar glanced around again. “He offered her money and said the shots would be artistic and classy, but then he turned out to be a creep. He didn’t pay her what he said he would and he threatened to put them all over the internet if she told anyone.”

“So you stole his camera?”

“Yes,” he said sheepishly. “Katie knew he was staying at the Miller’s place, so she asked if I’d come with her to speak to him.

She thought that if she had someone else with her, he might give her back the photos.

But he just laughed at us.” He sucked in a lungful of air.

“The next day, I swiped his camera. I didn’t even know for sure that the photos were on it, but I was so angry.

I wanted to get back at him. So I stashed the camera in the shed and was going to throw it in the sea when I had a chance to sneak it away, but then he died.

” His voice switched to a low whisper. “I didn’t know what to do then. ”

“But you handed it in to the police?”

“I was worried how it would look if someone caught me moving it. There’d be a lot of questions.”

“Yeah.” He was right about that. “So what did you do with the memory card?”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean where is the memory card now?” She tilted her head. “What Vinny did was wrong, and the police should know about it.”

“They do know,” he said. “I handed the memory card in with the camera. It was in a pocket in the camera case. I shouldn’t have, because I told Katie I’d give her the memory card. She’s going to kill me when she finds out I handed it in. ”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Lily said as her mind whirred. “The police don’t have the memory card.”

“They might not have seen it yet, but when they properly look through the camera case, they’ll find the extra memory cards.”

“They already did,” she said. “But the one with the photos of Katie wasn’t there.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I was at the police station this morning, and I looked through the camera case with PC Grainger.”

His eyes widened. “Are you sure it wasn’t there?”

“Certain.”

He released a relieved breath. “That’s good.”

“Why is it good?” Lily asked. “And where is the memory card now?”

“It’s good because Katie doesn’t want anyone to know about the photos.

But I don’t know where the memory card could be…

” He looked thoughtful. “I’m sure I put it back in the camera case.

At least, I think it was there… I thought I checked it…

but I was also panicking about getting caught. Maybe I dropped it.”

Lily rubbed her hand across her forehead. “Without the memory card, the police won’t investigate further…”

“You want them to investigate the photographs?” Oscar’s words were slow, cautious.

She shook her head. “I want them to investigate Vinny’s death.”

“But he just fell,” Oscar said, eyes narrowing. “Him being a pervert doesn’t make his death suspicious, does it?”

“Not according to PC Grainger.”

Oscar’s shoulders relaxed and he pulled his phone from his pocket to respond to a message. “I have to go,” he told Lily. “Katie’s waiting for me. She was ignoring my calls after Vinny died, but suddenly she’s desperate to talk. I’m on my way to her place.”

“Can I come?” Lily asked.

“I don’t think she’d like it. She’s been pretty shaken up since Vinny did his so-called photo shoot. She’s terrified of people finding out about it. You can’t mention it to anyone.”

“Maybe she’d like to speak to another woman about it,” Lily ventured. “It must be hard for her to keep it to herself. I might be able to help.”

If he said no, she suspected she’d follow him anyway. Perhaps he suspected the same, as he gave a noncommittal shrug and led the way.