Page 36 of Death on the Rocks (Lily Larkin Mysteries #1)

Chapter Thirty-Six

“Someone definitely killed him,” Lily said when she burst into the police station half an hour later.

As usual, PC Grainger was sitting behind his desk, looking utterly bored.

“Good morning,” he said, not reacting to her tone or the fact that she was sweating profusely and no doubt looked a complete state after running the entire way across the island.

“Someone killed him.” She sucked in a breath.

“All the suspects are about to board the ferry.” She heaved another lungful of air as she stood in front of him.

She wouldn’t sit. There was no time for that.

“You need to stop the boat,” she said, as firmly as she could while still short of breath.

“If you don’t stop the boat, the killer will get away. ”

“Do you have some new evidence for me, Miss Larkin?”

“I do.” She clutched at her side. “I was on the rocks this morning,” she told him, then shook her head when he gestured for her to sit. “I was on the rocks where Vinny supposedly fell, and I realised there’s no way he could have fallen.”

His eyebrows drew together. “Why?”

“He was too far from the foot of the rocks,” she said, still gasping for breath.

“If he’d accidentally stepped off the edge, he’d have dropped like a stone, straight to the bottom.

But that’s not where he ended up. His body was too far away from the cliff.

There are only two ways he could have landed where he did – either he took a running jump, or someone pushed him with force.

” Panting, she doubled over and pushed her fingers into her side.

“Are you okay?” PC Grainger asked.

She nodded. “I ran here. Got a stitch.”

“Do you need a glass of water or something?”

“No. I need you to stop the ferry and figure this whole mess out.”

He looked pained, but didn’t respond.

“Oh, come on,” she said, irritated now. “You can’t deny this. I’m talking about laws of physics… if there’d been a ledge for him to hit, that could have propelled him away from the rocks, but there’s nothing there. He would have fallen straight down. But he didn’t, because someone pushed him.”

PC Grainger sighed heavily. “And based on this, you want me to waylay the ferry and disrupt hundreds of people’s day?”

“In order to catch a killer, yes. I think it’s an entirely reasonable course of action. Also, not just based on this. Based on everything else I’ve told you.”

“And when it turns out that there is no killer? That Mr Roth just slipped and fell? What then?”

“Then we’ll be able to sleep better at night knowing we investigated properly.”

“I’m not sure how well I’ll sleep when I’m out of a job and am suddenly homeless,” PC Grainger muttered while massaging the back of his neck.

Lily stared at him for a moment. “Excuse me?”

“Nothing. Ignore me.”

“Is that the real issue?” Lily said, frowning as she slipped onto the chair. “You’re scared of your boss? Did the sergeant tell you to leave things alone and you don’t dare to follow your own instincts?”

“That’s how it works in my job,” he said wearily. “There’s a hierarchy. A chain of command.”

“And you won’t break that even when you know the sergeant is wrong?”

“I don’t know that he’s wrong.”

“Okay,” she huffed. “But if it was entirely your decision and there were no consequences, what would you do?”

“There are always consequences,” he said, a glimmer of annoyance in his eyes. “And there’s a reason more experienced officers get to make the call.”

“You’d investigate it though, wouldn’t you? Because you agree that I’m onto something, and that something here doesn’t add up. Lots of things, actually.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking her right in the eyes. “I can’t do anything. My hands are tied.”

She resisted the urge to stamp her foot, or throw things, or shout at him. Instead, she held his gaze as though she might will him to grow a backbone.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” she said, deciding that getting angry probably wasn’t the most effective approach. “If we end up being wrong, you’ll get a slap on the wrist, right? Surely you won’t get into proper trouble over it.”

Finally, he looked away. “In normal circumstances, that would be true,” he said. “But…” He sighed and shook his head. “Never mind.”

“What?” she prompted.

“I didn’t choose to work on the Isles of Scilly,” he said slowly, as though nervous he was saying too much. “I’m here as a punishment. The sergeant would love an excuse to make a formal complaint against me. This really isn’t the time for me to go rogue.”

Realising she was fighting a losing battle, Lily stood. The sense of defeat was almost overwhelming. How could she come so close to figuring things out, only to be thwarted at the last moment?

In the doorway, it came to her that there was one last tactic she could use to try to sway PC Grainger.

He might not help her because it was the right thing to do, or because he believed she was right, but maybe she had one more way to get to him.

She swallowed the lump in her throat.

“Please,” she said, the word seeming to hang in the air before her lips.

Briefly, he seemed to consider her plea.

He rubbed his hands down his face before he looked at her. “I’m sorry,” he said in a tone that signalled the conversation was over.

PC Grainger’s resolve crumbled about three seconds after Lily walked out of the door.

The battle he fought with his conscience felt like barely a battle at all.

Because he was certain Lily was right. There was more to this case.

He wasn’t entirely convinced it involved murder, but there was more investigating to be done. That much he knew for sure.

At what cost, though?

Most likely, he’d be looking for a new career.

With a sigh, he pushed back from the desk and crossed the room, contemplating how much he loved his job.

Or had done until recently. What he’d been doing in the past month certainly wasn’t the job he’d signed up for.

Pushing pencils and gaslighting a woman into thinking she was imagining suspicious activity wasn’t exactly fulfilling.

But, if he could keep his head down for five more months, he could get back to doing the job he loved in a place he thrived.

Wandering outside and into the road, he caught sight of Lily walking in the opposite direction to the bed and breakfast.

She could be heading down to the harbour to wave off the ferry, or to a cafe for a morning coffee, but he knew she wasn’t. The sureness of her gait told him she was going to do something stupid.

Brave, but stupid.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he let out a low growl. He wanted to be like her – to follow his gut and fight for what he knew was right.

He could still put things right.

It just meant jeopardising his career.