Page 40 of Death on the Rocks (Lily Larkin Mysteries #1)

Chapter Forty

“It’s not how it looks,” Marc said, when PC Grainger pulled two laptops from his bag.

“Really?” PC Grainger asked while drawing a zipper bag containing memory cards from the backpack. “I’m going to need you to explain all of this then, so I don’t jump to the wrong conclusion.”

While everyone else seemed to take a step back, Alanna shot to Marc’s side, eyes darting between his face and the laptops. “Why have you got Vinny’s computer?” she asked. “And what are these?” She pointed at the bag of memory cards.

“Look…” Marc exhaled a frustrated sigh. “I really didn’t want you to know about this.”

“About what?” she spat.

“Vinny was into some dodgy stuff.”

“What kind of dodgy stuff?”

Marc shook his head, but still didn’t look overly concerned by the situation. “He took photos of women and he had a website where people could view them.”

“Right,” Alanna said. “What’s so bad about that?”

“Pornography,” Lily supplied gently. “Sometimes the women were terrified teenagers.” She stopped talking when PC Grainger’s eyes landed on her. “I think,” she mumbled and shrank back out of the conversation.

Alanna blinked rapidly. “No. That can’t be right.” Her eyes widened when realisation dawned on her. “The women who kept posting nasty comments on my blog?”

Marc nodded. “That’s another reason I told him to stop. It was hurting your business and I couldn’t have that.”

“Could I ask why you tried to cover this up after Mr Roth’s death?” PC Grainger asked.

“I thought it would be upsetting for people if it came out. And I didn’t really see the need for it to come to light. Vinny’s dead, and the website is shut down.”

“How was the website shut down?” PC Grainger asked.

“I had his laptop,” Marc said, as though it was obvious.

“And you just happened to know his password and all the details of his illegal activity?” PC Grainger pressed.

“I already told you I knew about it.”

“You must have known a lot, though, in order to put a stop to it.” PC Grainger tilted his chin. “Were you involved in this illegal activity, too?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Definitely not.”

PC Grainger puffed his chest out. “I should inform you that the investigation will be thorough. That includes going into your phone records and bank records. If you had any involvement, we will find out. If you’re lying now, it will make things much worse for you later.”

The entire room fell utterly silent.

“I might have been helping him out a bit…”

Alanna gasped and clutched at the back of the chair beside her as though she needed the physical support. “This can’t be happening,” she muttered and then gasped again. “When did Vinny start all this?” she asked Marc forcefully.

“A couple of years ago.”

Tears filled her eyes. “About the time you got a new job?” she asked angrily. “Your well-paid job in website design and maintenance?” She shook her head in disgust. “How could you?”

“You always wanted me to travel with you? It was you who suggested I get a job where I could work remotely. And somehow you expected me to afford flights to all the fancy destinations you wanted to go to.”

Alanna continued to shake her head. “You’re sick,” she said. “I was telling my female followers to empower themselves and all the time you and Vinny were exploiting women right under my nose. How didn’t I see this?”

“It’s not your fault,” Mrs Miller said kindly, approaching Alanna and giving her shoulder a sympathetic pat.

PC Grainger spoke again, directing his words at Marc.

“I’m going to need to ask you again where you were at the time of Mr Roth’s death.

And I would remind you that our forensic technology is highly sophisticated.

We’ll be able to build a clear picture from fibres and fabrics on the corpse so it would be much better if you provide us with anything you know about his death. ”

Marc ran a hand down his face, but still didn’t appear overly stressed. “I messaged him that morning, asking him to meet me. I only wanted to talk to him.”

“What happened?” PC Grainger asked.

“We talked. I told him we needed to stop all that seedy business before we got into real trouble.”

“What did he say?” Alanna whispered.

“He wouldn’t listen to reason. He’d got greedy and wanted more and more money. He wasn’t going to stop.”

Alanna’s hands came up to her ashen face. “What did you do?”

“It was self-defence really,” Marc said in a rush. “He pushed me, so I pushed him back.”

“Oh my god,” Alanna muttered, taking steps back. “You killed him. You actually killed him.”

When Marc took a step towards Alanna, PC Grainger calmly put himself between them.

“You should thank me,” Marc said to Alanna. “I did you a favour. You wanted him out of the business.”

“Not like this,” she said, her voice trembling. “I didn’t want him dead.”

“I’m going to need you to come back to the station with me,” PC Grainger told Marc.

He shrugged. “I’m not saying anything else until I have a lawyer.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea.” PC Grainger removed his handcuffs from his belt. “Do I need these, or will you come without a fuss?”

“I’ll come,” he said, then looked at Alanna. “We’ll get all of this sorted out, babe. Once they realise what kind of person Vinny was, no one’s going to be too concerned with what I did. It’ll all blow over.”

Lily’s eyes widened at the look on Marc’s face – as though he truly believed what he was saying. He genuinely didn’t think he’d done anything wrong.

He actually thought he could get away with killing someone because the victim wasn’t a nice guy.

She suspected he was in for quite a shock.