Page 3 of Death on the Rocks (Lily Larkin Mysteries #1)

Chapter Three

After a quick lunch in a cafe by the harbour, Lily made the gentle walk back across the island.

Approaching the bed and breakfast, she spotted the gardener, Oscar, standing beside the low stone wall.

With his head bent, he chatted to a girl around his age.

Her sweep of long dark hair cast her face in shadow, intensifying her scowl as she spoke in a rush.

She jabbed Oscar in the centre of his chest, punctuating whatever she was saying.

Slowing her pace, Lily waited for them to notice her.

“He’s a creep,” Oscar snarled. “We should go to the police and tell them everything. He should be locked up.”

“I don’t care about that,” the girl said. “I just want––” Her head snapped to Lily. “Hi,” she said, her features softening.

“Hello.” Oscar rocked back on his heels and stepped casually away from his friend. “Have you been exploring the island?”

Lily nodded and moved automatically to the garden gate. “I had a wander around Hugh Town and got some lunch. Did the guy’s camera turn up?”

Oscar’s cheeks pinked, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other while his friend took a sudden interest in the gravel by her feet, pushing a couple of loose stones with the toe of her scuffed trainer.

“Not yet,” Oscar said. “He thinks someone might have slipped into the garden and stolen it, but we were all here and no one saw anything.”

“I’m sure it will turn up,” the girl said. “I better go.” She glared at Oscar, then wandered away down the lane.

“It’s a work camera,” Oscar said, leaning against the wall, then immediately straightening up again.

“I guess that’s why he’s freaking out. He needs it for the job.

He takes photos for Alanna’s blog. She’s kind of famous, I think.

I hadn’t heard of her but Katie follows her blog.

” He tipped his head in the direction of his retreating friend.

“Hopefully he just put it down somewhere without thinking,” Lily remarked. “I do that with keys a lot.”

Oscar cast a glance at the house. “Flora called the police to report it. Which seems premature if you ask me, but she said when it comes to guests she has to do everything correctly. Vinny’s not happy, though.

He says he doesn’t want to spend his time dealing with the bizzies.

He seems to have an issue with police in general. But then…”

“What?” Lily asked, jutting her chin out.

“Nothing.” He waved a hand dismissively. “I guess no one wants to have to deal with the police on holiday, even if it is a working holiday.”

“Yeah.”

Oscar’s eyebrows drew quickly together. “We don’t usually have problems like this. Thefts and whatnot. There’s hardly any crime on the island. As you can tell by the fact that the police officer arrived ten minutes after Flora called. They’re not exactly snowed under with work.”

“The police are already here?” Lily asked.

“Yes. Out in the garden. The scene of the crime.” His eyes flashed mockingly.

Lily took steps along the front path. “I didn’t think staying in a quiet little bed and breakfast would include so much drama.”

“It’s honestly not usually like this.” He tipped his head in a farewell gesture when she reached the front door.

Inside, the sound of raised voices drifted along the hallway. Slipping straight upstairs, Lily placed her backpack on the bed before tiptoeing to the window to reclaim her viewing spot.

Down in the garden, the small group stood around the table on the patio – Alanna and Marc at one side, and Flora and Rodney on the other. The uniformed police officer held court at the head of the table, his gaze following Vinny, who paced like a bee buzzing around the group.

Curiosity had Lily reaching for the window handle. The modern window frames opened soundlessly, and the scene below was immediately unmuted.

“I don’t want to make a fuss, that’s all,” Vinny was saying, his tone rough with anger. “There’s no need to make a report or anything. It’ll probably turn up with a thorough search.”

The officer continued to try and pin Vinny with his gaze.

“It’s not a problem. Mrs Miller said there’d already been a thorough search.

I can take a statement. Then I can put an alert out to the staff at the airport and ferry to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

You’ll also need a police report to file an insurance claim. ”

“I don’t have time for all this,” Vinny said, waving an arm.

“It’s not as though you can do any work without your camera,” Alanna pointed out, with a dramatic sigh.

“Sorry to have bothered you,” Vinny said to the officer. “I really think the camera will turn up. There was no need to waste your time.”

Flora smoothed down a lock of frizzy grey hair by her temple as she cleared her throat. “I don’t think it’s wasting time. If there’s been a theft, it needs to be properly reported, and the thief caught. It reflects badly on our business otherwise.”

“It’s hardly our fault,” her husband put in, propping his hands on his narrow hips, making him appear even more gangly.

“I know that, but it doesn’t stop people from writing bad reviews, does it?” Flora said, quietly enough that Lily could only just make out her words.

“There was no chance of you getting a good review from me, anyway.” Finally, Vinny stopped his pacing. “Not after that breakfast this morning. You realise you’re supposed to stop cooking bacon before it turns black?”

Lily pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing. He was right though; the breakfast hadn’t been great.

“The bed’s bloody uncomfortable, too,” Vinny continued to rant.

“I realise the description of the place is only bed and breakfast but there’s an expectation that the bed will be at least reasonably comfy and the breakfast edible.

” He shook his head. “At least it won’t be difficult to come up with a heading for my review – Terrible bed and even worse breakfast! ”

While Rodney jumped to the defence of his wife’s cooking with an excuse about a fault in the stovetop, Lily’s gaze fell to the officer who slid his fingers around the back of his neck to massage the muscles and muss up his dark hair while he was at it.

He looked bored out of his mind. The slight shadow under his eyes hinted at a lack of sleep, and there was something about the way he winced at the increasing volume of the group that gave Lily the impression he might be nursing a hangover.

Her eyes were still on him when he lifted his gaze to her window. Freezing in place, she locked eyes with him as his eyebrows drew together. Then he was back to the situation in front of him, holding out his palms as he urged everyone to settle down.

“I’m sure the breakfast will be better tomorrow,” he said. “Why don’t you all take some time to calm down? If the camera still hasn’t turned up by tomorrow I’ll write up an official report.”

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” Vinny grumbled. “But thanks for coming out.”

“Yes, thank you so much, PC Grainger,” Flora said, following him around the side of the house with her husband in tow.

The other three stayed in the garden, Marc taking a seat while Alanna and Vinny remained standing.

“I guess you can’t have your photo shoot,” Marc said, eyes flicking to the two-seater couch and coffee table which adorned the far corner of the garden.

“I can use my phone,” Vinny said with an irritated shake of the head.

“You should probably have a backup camera,” Alanna said. “I’m not paying you to take photos on your phone. I could just as well get Marc to take them.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Vinny snarled, his tone and posture full of menace. “Was it you? Did you take my camera?”

“Why would I take your camera?” she asked with a roll of her eyes.

“It just seems a bit suss that you keep threatening to replace me, and then my camera goes missing.”

Marc drummed his fingers on the table in front of him. “Calm down,” he said to Vinny. “You know Alanna didn’t touch your camera. Getting all worked up about it isn’t going to help find it.”

“Someone must have taken it,” Alanna said, negating her boyfriend’s attempt to quell Vinny’s agitation.

Vinny looked thoughtful as he set off pacing again. “Where’s that scrawny young lad? I ought to ask him.”

“Why would he steal your camera from right under your nose?” Alanna asked.

“I don’t know, but he could have easily done it.” As his eyes darted around, they came up to the window and snagged on Lily before she could move out of the way. “What are you staring at?” he bellowed.

As she instinctively retreated, the voices outside faded until all was quiet. The stillness didn’t last long, broken by the sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs.

With a feeling of trepidation, Lily stared at the door.

The wood shuddered slightly when someone banged on the other side of it.