Page 41 of Death on the Rocks (Lily Larkin Mysteries #1)

Chapter Forty-One

When PC Grainger led Marc out of the room, the rest of them automatically followed.

Lily kept her eyes on PC Grainger’s back while they made their way off the ship, so was only vaguely aware of Alanna sobbing about how it would be the end of her career.

Mr Miller quietly consoled her with the reasoning that no publicity was bad publicity.

She calmed down at that, asking if he thought it might be a positive thing for her blog.

Passengers stood on the deck, watching them file off via the gangway.

Back on dry land a small crowd had formed.

Apparently the ferry being held up had caused quite the spectacle.

The chatter seemed to halt, and all eyes fell to PC Grainger, but he didn’t stop, just continued on his way with a hand firmly on Marc’s arm.

He hadn’t gone far when he glanced over his shoulder and met Lily’s eye.

His lips remained in a hard line, but the way his eyes bored into hers felt distinctly like a secret high-five.

Once he was out of sight, Lily tuned back into the conversations around her.

“I don’t know what to do,” Alanna was saying manically to Mr and Mrs Miller.

“PC Grainger said I was free to leave and he would contact me by phone later about making a statement, but it feels strange to leave now. Like I’m running away or something.

I think I want to stay for a little while.

Could I stay with you for another day or two? ”

“Of course,” Mrs Miller said. “We’ll take care of you.”

“Aren’t we getting the ferry, then?” Rodney asked his wife.

“No. We’ll stay and look after Alanna. We can’t leave her alone after all this.”

Alanna murmured her thanks, while Rodney looked bemused.

“I thought you were desperate to get away,” he said.

“I was, yes. But that was before…”

“Oh, I see! That was back when you thought you were married to a murderer? Is that why you wanted to go to Kerry’s place – so you weren’t alone with your monster of a husband?”

“I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?” Mrs Miller said frostily. “One mistake and it’ll haunt me forever.”

“Quite a hefty mistake,” Rodney said dryly.

“Have some compassion,” Flora growled through gritted teeth. “Imagine what I’ve been going through. On top of everything, I had the guilt of knowing it was all my fault that you’d got so angry with Vinny. If I hadn’t burned the bacon, you’d never have argued with him.”

Mr Miller looked perplexed by the turn of the conversation. “It’s not as though you burned the bacon on purpose.” His eyes widened as the truth dawned. “Oh, my goodness. You’ve been trying to get bad reviews, haven’t you?”

“I kept telling you I wanted to be closer to the grandchildren,” Flora replied sadly. “You wouldn’t listen.”

“I feel as though it’s me who’s been living with a monster,” Mr Miller grumbled without a lot of conviction.

Alanna started to cry into a wad of tissues.

“Sorry, love,” Mr Miller said sheepishly. “That was insensitive. This must be awful for you.”

“We’ve been together for ten years,” she said. “I can’t believe all of this.”

Mrs Miller rubbed Alanna’s back while mumbling sympathetic words.

“If we’re not going anywhere, I better see about getting our luggage off the boat,” Mr Miller said.

“Get Alanna’s things too,” his wife instructed him. He left immediately, while Flora continued to comfort Alanna.

“I don’t think I want to go anywhere now either,” Katie said, from behind Lily. She’d remained tightly by Oscar’s side the whole time. Lily turned and watched her look up at him with big, sorrowful eyes. “I’m sorry. I begged you to come with me and now I don’t want to go.”

“It’s fine,” Oscar said. “We’ll stay here. I’ll grab our bags.” He looked at Lily, silently telling her to keep an eye on Katie.

Lily moved to stand beside Katie, but she’d got her phone out and was too busy tapping away to notice.

“Are you okay?” Lily asked after a moment.

She sniffed as she looked up from her phone. “I messaged my mum and asked her to come and get me. I’m going to tell her everything.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

“I suppose I’ll need to speak to the police about it, so my parents will find out, anyway.”

“Everything will be okay,” Lily said gently.

“Yeah.” She drew in a deep breath. “My mum will be fine about it. My dad will probably freak out.”

“It’s probably still better to have it all out in the open.”

“I think you’re right.” She got distracted by Mrs Miller waving her arms around.

“My neighbour, Tina, is over there,” she told them. “I’m going to ask if she can drive us home. Do you want to come with us, Lily?”

“No, thank you. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Okay.” Flora patted her arm. “I’ll make you a nice cup of tea when you get back. With lots of sugar. That’s what we’ll all need after the shock of this morning.”

“Thank you,” Lily said, while trying not to grimace at the thought of her sugary tea. “I’ll see you later.”

Mrs Miller waved Mr Miller over as she led Alanna away. Oscar was just stepping off the ferry as well, laden down with bags.

“He’s been so sweet,” Katie said quietly to Lily. “We were at school together, but I didn’t really know him properly until the last few weeks. He’s really lovely.” Her cheeks pinked and she turned her face away as Oscar walked towards them.

“Got it,” he said, depositing Katie’s compact suitcase by her feet.

“Thank you,” she told him shyly. “I messaged my mum. She said she’d come straightaway and take me home. I’m going to have to explain everything.”

Oscar rubbed her upper arm. “It’ll be okay. Your mum will understand when you explain it all.”

“I think so.”

They spent the next five minutes dissecting everything that had happened on the boat and exclaiming over how shocked they were by Marc’s confession. Then Katie’s mum arrived and bundled her into her car, looking sympathetic and concerned without yet knowing what had happened.

“I really like her,” Oscar said, remaining by Lily as they watched the car drive away.

“Katie?”

“Yes.”

“I think she really likes you, too.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets. “She’s going to hate me when she finds out what I did.”

As the car turned the corner, Lily turned to look questioningly at Oscar.

“I looked at the photos,” he said. “I promised her I wouldn’t, but I did. I don’t know why I looked at them.”

Lily smiled gently. “You had naked photos of the girl you like. It’s not really that shocking that you looked at them.”

“But I’d promised her I wouldn’t.”

“I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it too much,” Lily said.

“I have to tell her, though, don’t I?” He looked at her as though she were the fountain of all knowledge. All she could do was shrug. “I definitely have to,” he went on. “I can’t keep lying to her. If she hates me for it, that’s probably what I deserve.”

Lily shook her head. “We all make mistakes. Tell her and apologise. If it were me, I’d be furious, but I suspect she might forgive you.”

He shifted his weight, eyes fixed on his shoes.

“The photos freaked me out. I thought they’d be different, but she looked so scared in them.

That’s why I left the memory card in the camera bag when I handed it in.

I thought people should know that he wasn’t a good person.

Even if he was dead, I thought people should know. ”

“He definitely wasn’t a nice guy,” Lily said.

“What happened to the memory card?” Oscar asked. “I guess Marc took it, but how?”

“After you gave the camera to Mrs Miller, she gave it to Alanna so she could download the photos before it was handed to the police. Marc would have had a chance to get the memory card then.”

“That’s another thing I need to explain to Katie; that I purposely tried to get the memory card to the police instead of keeping it like she wanted.

She still doesn’t know that I don’t have it.

She thinks I’ve been keeping it hidden all this time.

” He dragged his hands through his hair, then seemed to gather himself.

He picked up his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“Do you want me to walk you back to the Miller’s? ”

“No, thanks.” She wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but she didn’t want to head back there just yet.

“Are you okay?” Oscar asked, giving her arm a squeeze.

“I think so. Still a bit shocked.” She glanced at the ferry, trying to comprehend the morning’s events. “You get going though. I might just go for a walk or something.”

“You’re leaving tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.” She’d forgotten about that. The week seemed to have gone by in a blink, and the thought of leaving made her stomach feel heavy.

“I might not see you again.” Oscar looked at her sadly, then surprised her by gathering her into a hug. “Thanks for everything,” he said before flashing her a bashful smile and striding away.

“Bye,” she muttered, ignoring the way her stomach tightened even further.

Oscar was barely out of her sight when a familiar voice called Lily’s name. Seren and Kit were walking hastily towards her.

“Are you okay?” Seren asked, placing a hand on Lily’s forearm. “We heard the police ordered the ferry to stop, and that someone was arrested. Something to do with that guy who fell from the cliff.”

Lily nodded. “I stopped a killer from getting away,” she said, the words sounding strange, but also giving her a distinct tingle of pride.

After spending half the week doubting herself, it felt good to find that she hadn’t been going completely crazy.

She laughed at the shocked expressions of Seren and Kit.

“ You? ” Kit asked. “You stopped a killer?”

“Yeah.” She couldn’t stop grinning now. “I did. With just a little help from PC Grainger.”

Seren’s eyebrows rose steadily upwards. “Why do I feel this story needs to be told over drinks?”

Lily checked her watch, having lost all sense of time. It wasn’t quite midday, but it also wasn’t far off. “I could definitely use a drink,” she said. “And food. I haven’t eaten anything today.”

“Right.” Seren linked her arm through Lily’s. “We’re getting you food and a drink. And then you can tell us everything.”

“It might take a while,” Lily said, thinking back on all that had happened over the last week.

“We have time,” Seren said, as the three of them set off walking toward the pub.